When you get yourself a new hamster, you want to make them feel at home with you and your family. You want to have the perfect cage set up, so your hamster will be happy and comfortable. And you, of course, want to be prepared with the supplies for a proper diet. It’s also important to pay attention to your hamster’s behavior when you first bring them home. It can be stressful for a hamster since they are suddenly in a completely new place.
As a general rule, It is advised to leave your new hamster alone during the first 24 hours after bringing them home. Set up your hamster’s cage keep them in a quiet spot in your home. This will give your new hamster time to adjust to their new environment, preventing them from feeling overwhelmed by the sudden change.
As tempting as it will be to play with your hamster right away, it’s best to give your new pet some space.
Since hamsters are naturally skittish animals, they are likely to be shy and afraid. By providing your hamster time to become acclimated to their new home, you give them a chance to feel safe and build confidence.
Bringing Your Hamster Home
First, you need to prepare for traveling home with your new hamster. While many places where you can adopt a hamster will offer a cardboard carrier when you leave, it’s safer if you can purchase your own in advance.
However, these carriers are a little on the expensive side. If you want a more typical carrier for your hamster, read about the pet safety guidelines for car travel with a pet carrier.
When bringing your new hamster home, it’s also ideal if you can take some of your hamster’s current food with you.
Since hamsterss have a sensitive digestive system, you want to avoid switching them to a new food brand right away. Ask what brand of pellets your hamster currently eats, or if possible, see if you can bring home a week’s worth of their current food.
You can mix this with the brand you choose to get for your new hamster to transition them to their new food source more easily.
What Behavior To Expect From Your New Hamster
Once you bring your new Hamster home, there are a few things you must keep in mind. Hamsters have a prey mindset, which basically means that they are most likely to be scared and wary of their new environment.
New Hamsters will take some time to become their true self. There might even be cases such as, the Hamster was pretty confident and playful before the adoption, but it has not started acting shy.
During the first few days, do not take them out of their enclosure. Give them some time to become acclimated to their new home.
Once your hamtser has settled, it will begin to feek safe and at home.
During the first few days, you hamster might act pretty weird. However, it’s common to expect such nervous behaviors from your new Hamster.
Your new Hamster will tend to hide more, which basically makes them feel safe. Once your per starts to feel safer, they will begin to come out of their hiding spot.
New hamsters often spend most of their time on the farthest corner of their cage. A hamster afraid of interacting with people will try to keep out of your reach. Don’t force them to interact, and let them choose to come up to you when they feel more comfortable.
Sometimes, a new hamster might also squeak when you come near (a low-pitched squeak sound) to tell you to back off. They are not ready for human interaction yet, and you should wait until your hamster can relax a little.
How To Behave Around Your New Hamster
During the first few days, the best idea would be to more or less ignore your Hamster.
Your Hamsters will need some time to get used to their new environment and new people moving around them,
Once you let your Hamsters into their new cage, leave them alone for the day to let them explore their new house.
I recommend you set up your Hamster’s cage in a separate room from any other household animals or young children so that your Hamster can have peace while they get acclimated to the new environment.
It is still okay to hang out in the same room as your little Hamster as long as you remain quiet and understand that they are probably anxious about their new space.
This will also allow you to check up on your Hamster to ensure they are not too stressed.
Observe your Hamster’s behavior to make sure they are starting to feel at home. If you notice they are alert because of the TV’s sound in the other room, turn the volume down.
Ensure your Hamster has started eating and pooping (hopefully in the litter box). This means they are starting to truly feel at home.
Setting Up Your Hamster’s Enclosure
The first and most crucial step involves selecting the best enclosure for your little one. The enclosure you pick should be safe and comfortable for your Hamster.
Choose an enclosure that is durable, leak-proof, easy to clean, and access. Also, make sure that it does not have sharp corners; your Hamster may hurt itself. Select the ones with round corners.
Wire Cage Vs. Glass Cage
I believe a glass enclosure or tanks are perfect for Hamsters. This keeps your Hamster safe and makes sure that your Hamster does not escape.
The top of glass enclosures should have mesh covers so that the place stays well-ventilated and Hamsters don’t escape. Also, you can easily see your Hamster doing its daily activities in a glass cage.
Wire cages become your Hamster’s favorite chew toys. Also, in wire cages, there are high chances that the bedding you prepared will be destroyed and thrown out by your Hamsters.
A lot of wire cages have a metal wiring floor. Your Hamster can quickly get stuck there and hurt itself.
If you still prefer choosing a cage, make sure the spacing between bars is not more than 1 inch.
Multiple Levels Vs. Ground Level Cages
Hamsters don’t care about multiple levels as long as they have room to play. However, multiple levels make your Hamster’s enclosure look attractive and provide extra space for Hamsters to play.
If you choose to make multiple levels in the enclosure of your Hamster, always prefer using tubes than ramps. Hamsters do not know heights and may jump from one level to another if they find a shortcut. So, try not to keep the levels too far off.
Also, place enough bedding on the ground level so that in case the little one jumps, he will not hurt himself.
Other Cage Supplies
You don’t need a whole lot of fancy supplies when it’s time to set up an enclosure for your new hamster.
You only need to get a cage big enough for your hamstger and supplies for your it to play, hide, eat, and poop. Many of the items to achieve this can be easily bought or made cheaply from home.
There are, of course, a lot of other fun toys and accessories you can get for your hamster, but not all of those expensive accessories are strictly necessary.
It can be a lot of fun to give your hamster new toys or watch them investigate their latest piece of furniture, but as long as you have these basic supplies ready, then your hamster will be set up for success in their new home.
Listed below are a few things that you a new hamster might need in his cage:
- A wheel
- Hiding house
- Food and water bowls
- Litter box and litter
- Chew toys
Your Hamster’s Diet
It is very crucial to feed your Hamster the correct diet. If you are a new Hamster owner, you will soon learn that Hamsters can be picky for food.
Keep in mind that Hamsters have the habit of hiding their food. They often hide their food to save for later. They sometimes hide it under their beddings. Other times they just hide it in their cheek pouches.
Food
Some Hamster owners prefer to feed their little ones with homemade food, while others prefer dry pellets made for Hamsters available in all local pet stores.
You can also add food supplements to your Hamster’s diet, keeping them fit and healthy.
One feeding per day is ideal for Hamsters. Always throw the leftovers before giving him any new food.
Water
On average, a Hamster needs 100-300ml of water per day.
Hamsters often ruin their water by excreting it; therefore, providing your Hamster with fresh water every 24 hours is very important.
I prefer water bottles over bowls. Water bottles help me track my Hamster’s water intake and keep the water clean and dust-free.
Treats
You should always serve treats to your Hamster at least once a week. Besides making your Hamster happy, it also has some health benefits.
As Hamsters are prone to diabetes, treats must be given in moderation. An excess amount of treats can upset your Hamsters stomach.
Treats such as Watermelon, Cheese, or Carrots work wonders. You can also give them ready-made treats. Ready-made treats are readily available at any local pet store.
Avoid treating him with citrus fruits and vegetables. It can be harmful to your Hamster.
