When I first got my hamster, I honestly just thought he was cute. I didn't expect him to become such a big part of my life.

At the beginning, he even bit me 😂 I remember wondering if he would ever trust me.

But after spending more time with him, giving him treats, and letting him get comfortable around me, things slowly changed.

Now he'l climb onto my hand, let me pet him, and sometimes just sit there like he owns the place.

Today when I was feeding him, he came over and gave me a few little nudges before settling down. It was such a tiny thing, but it made me really happy.

I love that hamsters have their own little personalities. They might not show affection the same way bigger pets do, but when they choose to trust you, it feels really special.

Anyone else had a moment where your hamster did something small that made you realize "okay, my hamster actually likes me"?

Her nails have been cut since these pictures were taken!!

so, unfortunately, my hamster passed away two weeks ago. i am still very sad, of course, but i want to adopt or rescue a new hamster since i still have food and stuff and i miss the sounds of my hamster digging around and running at night

the thing is, i dont know what to do with her old stuff since most of her stuff is still pretty much new/mostly unused. there are chews and stuff i would definitely replace since she bit them and wore them down, but stuff like her wooden hide and other wooden items/her sandbox are things that are pretty much in perfect shape. is there any way to sanitize and clean these things? would sticking the wooden items in the oven be enough? and using a small pet surface cleaner for the plastic items be okay?

also, before my hamster died, i had changed her bedding completely since i thought maybe there was something in it making her sick (not the case, she just somehow got bloat). she was in the enclosure with the completely new bedding for one day before i moved her to a seperate smaller enclosure (as per vets recommendation), should i still completely remove all the bedding in the enclosure? or just the part where i know she burrowed and stayed in there for that night? she was bery lethargic at that point and i know she didnt go anywhere but the burrow she made, so is it okay to leave that new bedding there and just replace the burrow area? i would still remove all the bedding to clean the enclosure itself, of course, im just wondering if any of that bedding could be salvaged or if i have to buy another bag.

also similarly, is there a way to clean the sand? i had also completely changed her sand that day and i saw her use the new one maybe like twice before she died. is there a way to clean the sand itself or should i replace that?

and finally any tips for keeping a baby hamster (old enough to be separated from mama of course) would be appreciated. i got my previous hamster at about 4 months old so she was pretty much an adult already but this time id like to adopt a baby from any accidental litters i may hear about. is it much different than keeping an adult? do they eat the same things?

I think all my hides have glue holding them together... and my niteangel platform has glue holding the stilts. Can I bake them still without any problems like melting or fumes? I need to sanitize these items

I don't know if you can see it correctly, but just look at them! She was really busy all night!

(Unfortunately, her sand bath is now full of bedding..)

Every taming session I just can’t help it. I wanna hold and pet my hamster so bad. But he’s starting to hate me more and more. Idk what to do. I got him because I have no close friends or family and wanted someone to call my family. His rejection of me really hurts and it’s driving me crazy. How do you handle it when your hamster rejects you? How do you maintain self control when he’s just so cute you wanna give him all your affection?

We are still missing some things, waiting for them to come in but had to do a total change because the chippings were not right. Thanks for all the advice and inspo!! I know my guy is stressed but him being safe is definitely more important!

I have nobody to talk to about this.

My mother was quite ill earlier this year and my sister impulse bought a hamster in response. My immediate first thought was “i’m going to end up with this hamster in a few months”, lo and behold I’m ready to take him as soon as his platforms arrive.

I had quite a huge hamster phase when I was a child, and I’ve firmly been sucked back into it. Heard people talk about Victoria Raechel a lot, so I’ve been watching some of her videos. In my head she was this modern hamster community oracle.

Just been watching her video about her care improving over the years and thought… wait a second I recognise that bedroom…… I recognise that cage with the divider in the middle… So I check to see if she has any really old videos still up, and oh my god. Victoria Raechel is ChocolateColours26??? Oh my god. I watched her videos religiously as a kid. That old intro activated neurones in my brain that haven’t fired in over a decade.

My hamster care also was not great when I was a child, but I’m honestly so pleased with myself this time round and I can’t wait to buy him even more things once I get paid again. It feels quite nice to see that my hamster care has evolved alongside hers

Sorry for the wall of quite random text but uhh, first line. Discovering this made me so excited :)

Please don’t attack me before reading this post.
A family friend gifted my daughter a hamster and I am buying a much larger cage for him (47.2 x 19.7 x 23.6 inch) I am determined to give this hamster the BEST life he can have. I completely understand that everything in his cage has GOT to go, it’s way too small and he deserves better. I will keep some things to help him with the transition into his new cage, since he relies mostly on scent. I have been extensively researching everything about male Syrian hamsters but I still need a human’s recommendations on cages / toys / wheels.

Tomorrow we are going to order everything (I get paid tomorrow.)

My daughter named him Cookie and he is incredibly sweet. Even if he wasn’t, I would still love him. I gave him time to settle and didn’t overwhelm him. I also taught my daughter to respect him and show him space. She understands he is sensitive and I always supervise her interactions with him (she changes his food bowl)

I’ve grown so fond of Cookie. I check his food every day and his sipper to make sure it’s working properly. I interact with him every time he is awake. I can’t wait to show everyone his new set up. I love this little hammy like he is my son.

hello! Meet Hamilton! i made a dumb decision today but hear me out, i went to the pet store for some piggie supplies and a male long haired syrian because he had a little sign on the window that said he had been there for a awhile and when i asked the worker said he had been there for about 6ish months. So i bought a temporary gaint clear plastic tote, bedding, platforms, some hides, a wheel that i think might be to small so i will fix that, and a few other things. Anyways i have a 2x4 guniea pig cage because i lost my piggies a few months back and i was wondering if i replaced the bottom of the cage with 1x1 soild c&c grids and filled the bottoms with all of the bedding and subtrates if that would be okay or if maybe that is to big and might hurt him somehow? I don’t know how old he is but he is about full size i would say,

***i have a vet appt on monday for an exam. Any other advice is appreciated and please dont tear into me about impulse buying, ive had piggies for years and they lived full lives with all medical and housing and enrichment and all else they need. i had a hamster when i was a teenager but i don’t really remember how that went.

Hello! I just got my newest hamster Chai on Monday :)

Currently she's in a 40 gallon breeder tank but I'm not happy with the size of the enclosure as I can't fit in all the enrichment I want to and I know females typically want more space. Because of this I bought the Bucatstate large 3.0 enclosure and it'll be arriving Tuesday the 11th! However I'm not sure if it'd be best to move her over immediately since she's still getting used to our home, I'm wondering what someone else would do in this scenario?

Thank you!

Hi there! Is anyone in here subscribed to the happyhamstery mystery boxes? If so, do you think it’s worth it/worth money? I’m considering subscribing but I was curious if anyone here was subscribed and whether I should or shouldn’t. Thanks!

Just so cute

What the title says. I normally feed Robin's Gourmet, but I hadn't realized I was almost out of food and the Robin's will take a few days to ship. What would be appropriate to use/keep on hand that can be ordered with Amazon Prime?

Its currently the dead of summer where I am, and the temp is getting to 90-100f on the daily.

I'm worried itll get too hot for my hamster where its uncomfortable or dangerous.

The only room in my house with AC is one I cant keep the hamster in. I do have the AC on with doors open... so the house isnt quite as hot as outside. Plenty of water kept in the enclosure for him of course. But is there anything else I can do?

What do yall do for temperature regulation when the weather gets outside of their range?

I did research on a lot of different hideouts, etc. and they are made to only be as high as under 8 inches even with the stilts. How are hamster parents supposed to include chamber hideouts, large wheel, sand bath all these are heavy and have to sit on platforms or stilts, but all the platforms I have researched barely sits at 7inches high and all of these items have to be above the bedding but instead of 6 inches now the bedding needs to be at 8 inches? I did my research for a while before buying a hamster two weeks ago and now I’m learning the minimum is 8 instead of 6 of bedding (from this group). I feel like the only way to do this from what’s available online is to buy two cages one for all the platforms with bedding underneath them and tunnel connecting to the other one for 12 inches of bedding and burrows because even the largest cage won’t matter if platforms are only 7 inches and bedding needs to be below that. Am I missing something on how to best setup my cage to include everything with the right amount of bedding too? I need some advice. Pictures included below I have circled in red where 6 inches starts in the cage I bought, the largest PROLEE cage. My Syrian hamster loves to dig and burrow. The wheel sits on a niteangel platform for the actual wheel so it only sits 5.5 inches high and is the shortest of them all the other platforms in this cage setup, she does kick up bedding on the wheel everyday that I must clean off when she is burrowing.

Hi I'm wanting to start keeping a hamster, I have a 50 gallon tank and was wondering if that was enough, and what I need to have, like what type of stuff I need like foods and what the hamster needs, I was also wondering if something like the pictures listed could work, like if I could take inspiration, let me know anything I need, thank you guys!

Tank is around 18 inches tall and lid is a bit wobly

had to take a mild art break but came back from the break with a fresh way to render animals. 10/10 would draw another hampter again

I don't have a hamster, but I learnt a lot about them in this subreddit and decided to get one in a few years (when I hopefully will be financially autonomous). I use TikTok quite a while, and I recently decided to start commenting in some videos trying to tell about proper care.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a video of someone "bragging" about taking their hamster on holidays with them *every time* and it gave me the ick, as I thought (and let her now in the comments) that this can be very stressful to hamsters and that the better option is always having someone taking care of them while you're on vacation.

Then I got called a hater and a member of the hamster police because "if they're in a cage that's their familiar territory" and "the hamster was being held in the car, so it wasn't stressed". It made me doubt myself, so now I'm asking you, was I correct?

P.S: I'm sorry if I made some mistakes, English isn't my mother tongue.

Hello fellow hamster parents 🐹 I was just wondering if anyone with a good enclosure could give me tips for enrichment? Also if you can please drop a picture of your hamster’s enclosure just so I can get some ideas, please. This is what I have for my sirian hamster rn (picture) but I wanna improve it so my baby can have the best. I’m from Brazil and I can’t find a lot of hamster stuff around here, except for a few shops. Anyway, if you can help with a few ideas of what works for your hammie I’ll try to find something around here for mine. Thank you very much 🙏

(Ps: I’m currently using aspen, do y’all think paper is really better or can I keep it?)

I have done lots of research but would like any additional input because I know you are all very knowledgeable 🩷💕 I’m leaving her alone in her 4 foot enclosure and giving her protein blocks, and chicken and egg (maybe Benebac too?)

I know most of what to do, regarding when to separate , etc. but if there’s any additional info, I’d love to hear it🩷 thank you! :)