hi just a few questions dose the sand need to be baked?

are the chews alright and do i just leave them in the tank as with any chew item?

Hi! Doing a full on cage reno/upgrade and I’d love some suggestions for fun things to do? I’ve got a little race track/obstacle course to run on, all sorts of wheels and hide outs, multiple substrates, sand baths, and some climbing stuff. Anyone got any suggestions on what else I should plan room for? I’m running out of ideas but the space this new set up will have is simply overly large haha

So my Syrian hammy bear is very spoiled she has a massive cage lots of chews and a large playpen. I have plastic things set around my ENTIRE room so she has plenty of space when I take her out. She gets taken out for a good hour or so every night when I get home from work. Then around 2-3am she starts trying ways to escape, biting her cage, chewing on stuff she isn’t supposed to and it’s really starting to impact my sleep. She acts like she is being neglected. I know Syrians are like never happy but was wondering if there was something I can do to make her not want to leave.

I'm selfish, im a minor and I got my hamster around 4 months ago. I cannot take or afford to go to a vet since I am a minor and my parents won't take him there. I knew this when I got my baby, im terrible. I had always wanted a hamster and this isn't what I wanted to happen. I never really got to get close to my hamster because he was very stubborn but I still loved him. Everything just escalated so much within 48hours. Thursday morning, he was fine, eating and doing what he normally does. That same day in the afternoon my dad noticed he was strange, he said my hamster looked sad and which he did. Plus my hamster was letting my dad pet him a lot which he rarely let's happen. I didn't think too much of it but I noticed his cheeks full which I thought was just food in his pouches. Friday comes and it's around 1 pm and I noticed he looks a lot more tired, his breathing has become prominent and noticeable, cheeks still swollen and he would just stay in the same spot for awhile. He was not eating or drinking anymore. Then it was night and he became so much more ill. He hadn't moved spots in over 6 hours and was just laying in his sand bath. His breathing was still very noticeable and he would move his body around indicating that he was in some pain. I couldn't do anything, and I watched him suffer. He didn't make any noise but I could see it. It was terrible. I hate to say this but i prayed that he would pass quickly so that he doesn't struggle much longer. He looked like he was in so much pain. I hated seeing it. My parents made me put him back in his cage and so I didn't get to be with him when he passed. I checked around 20 minutes ago (12:28a.m) and he's just flat out, not moving. He passed away in his sand bath were he loved to be in. I can't stop crying. I wish I could've given him a better life, I failed him. I wish he didn't have to suffer a painful death. I'm not ready to wake up later and have to bury him. My parents don't understand how i feel, they invalidate my feelings. I just feel so sad that my poor baby was in pain. He is a living being too. I can't help but feel heartbroken and with regret. Rest in Peace Vinny🤍

Minnie loves food

I won’t doom gloom and I will get to the point, I went to shower and I found him grasping for air with blood coming out of his nose, my first thought was to do cpr, I know I was being stupid but I was freaking out, then I thought maybe he choked on something and as I’m trying to find what to do on google a bunch of blood came out and he stopped breathing, I made sure to pet him and make him know I love him while he was drifting away, I feel horrible, I’m very very sad and I’m disappointed in myself I feel like I let him down and I wasn’t good for the responsibility, I loved Chris very much and I’m a very depressive person so I need a pet but I am so scared I will be irresponsible again and let the new pet down again, I feel very bad what do I do, I don’t even know why he died, I just feel stupid and I wish Chris was still here ):

Hello everyone, as title says, I've noticed a small bump on the corner of Gus Gus's mouth, my one year old hamster and brought her to the vet. The vet prescribed antibiotics for a week and she told me to come back once her dose is over. The thing is that I don't think the medicine will change anything, it has already been 2 days and the bump became larger. My question would be, if a similar incident happened to you, were your hamsters healed with medicines or did they have to undergo a surgery instead? I asked the vet and she told me it might be an option but it will be a very delicate one. Just asking your opinion/experience about it as she's my first hamster

So to start off, he is a syrian hamster and around 8/9 months old..the only thing I have to compare this to is a sebaceous guinea pig cyst. This is my first hamster. I picked him up a week ago. He is a result of an accidental breeding. He came from someone who didn't want him anymore, she didn't even handle him. Though he is tame because the original owners kids' handled him since he was born basically. He's been from being born, to a woman and her kids, to another woman and now me. She claims to have not known about the lump. I didn't notice it in the photos. I get home and realize he has said lump on his lower right hip/ just below his scent gland. And I freaked out at the little dark area that had a break in his smooth coat, but learned it is his scent gland, I didn't know they had those! But now I do. And I've been researching as best as I can. There are no vets that will take hamsters within two hours from me. I am unfortunately on my own here. I'm just trying to get info of other people's experiences to see if what I'm thinking it is, is what it is. The symptoms are interesting. it'll feel squishy, like an empty pouch. and then fills up solid like a bulb under the skin. It's mobile, which means I can basically slide it around under the skin, even under the scent gland itself. Compared to my guinea pig's cyst, it was also mobile. Piggies cyst was drained and the said cyst never really returned. I guess my question, or wondering is...has anyone else experienced this? I can try to get a dog and cat vet to poke him and see what comes out but I don't want to just go around doing that, not yet. He is not in distress, i don't want to put him in any. He sleeps constantly, comes out at night for a nice look around, drink, eats fine, and stores food fine. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the lump was a third storage compartment for his cheeks. Which is also why I'm here asking this.

Either way, he will stay with me and live out his days peacefully, and if he's in any pain, it will be addressed. But with my life, two/three hours away for an exotic vet is a bit...much right now. I didn't know he had this lump, so you can kind of imagine my "oh no" moment. He's so sweet and kind. I just want to do the best I can for him right now. Sorry this is long.

So my dwarf hamster is around a year and a half old, she's gotten skinnier i have noticed but after a year of having her a bump randomly appeared like the one in the photo and we got it removed at the vet, now 2 have appeared, first one we decided to let it stay since she was eating and didn't seem to affect her but the 2nd one looks like it might be harder for her to eat since she's lost weight, on monday we're looking to get them removed again, Any advice or idea on what this is?

So I've been looking around the internet for hamster sand for my little ham to have their sand bass. Thing is I do not know which one is a good, cheap alternative. I was told aquarium sand it was great but I really don't think that would be a good option. But I would like to hear your advice or any other Alternatives that you use? If you guys have a link to Amazon product that would be great! Thank you so much

My buddy is sick and old. I’m trying to help him but, as the vet kept saying to me, we gotta keep his age in mind. He seemed worried too and I am sure he gave him the best treatment he could think of.

My hammy’s name is Gizmo, like the gremlin. I gave him his medicine a few hours ago. He cried so much and I thought he was going to die. He started to behave as my other hamster the day he decided to sleep forever. I’ve been crying all day. Gizmo is still alive, but I cry everytime I hear him cry again. I just want to hold into hope, I know I did nothing wrong with him but I feel so guilty.

Idk, I just wanted/needed to vent. Here’s a picture of him from when he was just a baby.

My daughter got got a new hamster and we think he is bored.

It’s chewing on the wire cage and tries to climb the side.

Her last two were drawfs and they kept each other entertained.

Everything but the wheel is new but had all the same stuff as previous. It sure what to go or get.

He is JAZZED I couldn't resist giving him a couple of extra snacks while we watch Harry Potter in its entirety

I bring my hamster to work with me like twice a week and the mail lady loves her. She wanted to pet her and everything. She was so nice and cool!

Hi guys. This is the first time I have a hamster, a 5-month old Syrian bear actually. Despite the first time, I have made some research and try my best to setup her environment. She has a 80x40x40cm enclosure with about 15cm of paper bedding, she has a big wheel and many outside hours to roam and chew around my room.

I know that hoarding is a normal hamster thing, but the problem is, I’m living in a tropical country with hot and humid weather all the time (the temperatures in my room isnt too hot for her since I never witnessed any heat stroke symptoms). Therefore, my hamster’s hoarded food get moldy quite quickly, just around 2 days because of her saliva and the temperature.

Since she arrived, I fed her around 1 tablespoon a day as recommended but she never finished, even in days. I gave her a variety of stuff, from seeds to dry worms, treats and fresh food. I sprinkle her food around the enclosure, even put some in my room for foresting. All the food get molded and wasted. Recently, I only gave her 1 tea spoon, one day past and there’s still more than half left.

Is this normal for her to eat this little? What should I do?

I was going through Temu looking for “miniature hamster cage for dollhouse” and there were so many tiny cages meant for hamsters. There’s barely any open space in there! I’m no expert on hamsters (I just like the pics on this sub), but even I can tell that’s not an appropriate cage for ANY animal.