Bobi!!

[dwarfhamstermom]

Hey!

This is Bobi, a female hybrid dwarf hamster. We believe she was born on April or May 2024, since we find an advertisement of her in a website: a family got by mistake a male and a female hamster from a shop and… they had too much hamsters to give away.

She lives in Barcelona in a Pawhut, she eats the Rodipet hybrid seed mix and she loves worms, sunflower seeds, boiled egg, nuts, broccoli, cucumber… And once she ate a moth. She also loves the sprays, specially: flax, millet…

She loves running in her wheel and digging in (and throwing out) her substrates.

She's curious and she often likes to come to our hands.
My partner and I are still learning about giving her the best care as possible

 

[Hank]

Beautiful Bobi. Can't wait to hear more about the little girl

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

I would like to use this space to ask a question I’ve had recently, the last time we went to the vet for her (she had a stye in an eye and they removed it with anestesia). I asked if they recommend to cut her nails and the vet said they’ve never cut hamsters nails, they said “it’s not necessary” because hamsters nails are not as bunnies nails for example. I feel Bobi’s are quite long and we don’t feel comfortable cutting it by themselves… Would you insist to our vet?

Thanks!!

 

[ilguy]

Very glad to see another dwarfie, she's beautiful! What a lovely coat

For the nails, they're not wrong. Most hamsters will wear them down enough running around, I haven't had to cut my little guy's nails yet. If they're curving in sharply at the tips, then I would go for it.

 

[Socks' Mum]

She's lovely, so beautiful

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Very glad to see another dwarfie, she's beautiful! What a lovely coat

For the nails, they're not wrong. Most hamsters will wear them down enough running around, I haven't had to cut my little guy's nails yet. If they're curving in sharply at the tips, then I would go for it.

Thank you so much

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

She's lovely, so beautiful

And she’s such a lovely girl, she licks our fingers (I hope it’s a sign of love like dogs do hahaha)

 

[Maz]

Aw that's amazing she licks you! I've never had a lick from a hamster before - it sounds like it's mainly dwarf hamsters that do that. How long are her nails exactly - do you have a photo? It's good to have something like a terracotta plate or granite tile under a water bottle or food bowl as that roughens their nails every time they go for a drink by walking across it. They can get quite long sometimes, but it depends if they're within the realms of normal or not. If you can manage to get a photo, and they do need clipping there are various ways of doing it but it can take a lot of time and patience and maybe only doing one or two nails each time. The main thing is to only take the very very tip off so you don't cut the quick of the nail as that can be very painful and bleed a lot.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Aw that's amazing she licks you! I've never had a lick from a hamster before - it sounds like it's mainly dwarf hamsters that do that. How long are her nails exactly - do you have a photo? It's good to have something like a terracotta plate or granite tile under a water bottle or food bowl as that roughens their nails every time they go for a drink by walking across it. They can get quite long sometimes, but it depends if they're within the realms of normal or not. If you can manage to get a photo, and they do need clipping there are various ways of doing it but it can take a lot of time and patience and maybe only doing one or two nails each time. The main thing is to only take the very very tip off so you don't cut the quick of the nail as that can be very painful and bleed a lot.

Yes!! It’s not the first time because as I child I had some dwarfs who also licked me

Our hammy is so speedy and she would never stay still and it’s so hard to even look at her nails with our eyes so it’d be harder to take a picture I’ve got a friend who is studying for being a vet and we will ask her to take a look. We try to keep an eye on her nails and if they became too long we would take her to the exotic vet.

Do you have a link from Rodipet or a hamster supply web that sends to Spain to buy this terracota or granite stuff to add to the enclosure? Rodipet would be great since we will need to buy more food in some months.

 

[Maz]

That's great you can get rodipet stuff as that's where I got my rough granite tile from. It's this one

Rodipet® +GRANiT Cooling and Pedicure Stone

Granite slab for rodents and rabbits to aid cooling and nail care Place this exclusive granite tablet on a level in your cage or on the roof of a Rodipet ® as shown ...

www.rodipet.co.uk

They also sell multiroom houses with granite on the roof so then you wouldn't need the tile. But the houses need supporting on stilts so they don't sink in the bedding. They do sell 6" stilts but it depends how deep your bedding is. I use the happy henry stilts on rodipet houses (that's a uk company) which come in all different lengths. Or you could just glue wood dowels to the sides and front of the house instead and have them the length you want (I've done that before too).

Hamster House & Drinking Stand for Hamster & Gerbil

In our online shop you will find the perfect hamster house with several chambers, cooling granite roof and practical drinking trough.

www.rodipet.co.uk

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

That's great you can get rodipet stuff as that's where I got my rough granite tile from. It's this one

Rodipet® +GRANiT Cooling and Pedicure Stone

Granite slab for rodents and rabbits to aid cooling and nail care Place this exclusive granite tablet on a level in your cage or on the roof of a Rodipet ® as shown ...

www.rodipet.co.uk

They also sell multiroom houses with granite on the roof so then you wouldn't need the tile. But the houses need supporting on stilts so they don't sink in the bedding. They do sell 6" stilts but it depends how deep your bedding is. I use the happy henry stilts on rodipet houses (that's a uk company) which come in all different lengths. Or you could just glue wood dowels to the sides and front of the house instead and have them the length you want (I've done that before too).

Hamster House & Drinking Stand for Hamster & Gerbil

In our online shop you will find the perfect hamster house with several chambers, cooling granite roof and practical drinking trough.

www.rodipet.co.uk

We have already the Niteangel multi chamber house so I’ll measure it and if it fits I will just put the granite on the top, thanks!

 

[Maz]

The granite should fit on top fine.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Is it possible to clean? Bobi usually urinates everywhere

 

[Maz]

Yes they are very easy to clean - it's just stone/granite. I tend to either wipe it with a damp cloth, or if it needs a good clean I use a sponge and fairy liquid under it in the sink and rinse it under a tap. You can do that on both sides. They also soak up water drops so good to have under a bottle or bowl

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Yes they are very easy to clean - it's just stone/granite. I tend to either wipe it with a damp cloth, or if it needs a good clean I use a sponge and fairy liquid under it in the sink and rinse it under a tap. You can do that on both sides. They also soak up water drops so good to have under a bottle or bowl

Thanks! We will buy it in our next order to Rodipet when we’re out of food

 

[ilguy]

I bet she will love it! I recommend keeping it out all year round. I was thinking of putting my Ham's tile away during the winter, but he still uses it a good deal.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

Hey! I wanted to share the first picture I was able to take of her having her pouches full, she looks very funny to me

By the way, I think she changed the place where she used to have her hoard, and I think it’s because we were touching that area to make sure there wasn’t urine in the same place she got her food. Maybe she got upset. We think we know the new place, should we touch it? We don’t want to bother her

 

[ilguy]

She probably did move it, and it could be due to your "intrusion". Hamsters also like to build multiple hoards and nests, moving regularly is a normal behavior. In the wild it makes them harder to track.

It's best to leave their hoards and burrows alone as long as possible to minimize stress (a bit counter-intuitive compared to most pets). They navigate by smell mostly, and scent mark things. When you do have a noticably bad odor from one of the tunnels, then it is time to finally clean. Many hams do pee on their food and sleep spots. If they have a regular bathroom spot above ground that should be cleaned daily during your spot clean.

Also since she's a female, know that she will go into heat regularly and give off a unique smell. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but you will know when it happens! No need to disturb the burrows when she does that.

 

[dwarfhamstermom]

She probably did move it, and it could be due to your "intrusion". Hamsters also like to build multiple hoards and nests, moving regularly is a normal behavior. In the wild it makes them harder to track.

It's best to leave their hoards and burrows alone as long as possible to minimize stress (a bit counter-intuitive compared to most pets). They navigate by smell mostly, and scent mark things. When you do have a noticably bad odor from one of the tunnels, then it is time to finally clean. Many hams do pee on their food and sleep spots.

Also since she's a female, know that she will go into heat regularly and give off a unique smell. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but you will know when it happens! No need to disturb the burrows when she does that.

Oh, how can we tell if she’s in heat?
So then we should try to avoid cleaning? Actually the only thing that stinks is her wheel. We try to clean it every 10 days so we don’t “bother” her but it’s a bit disgusting in our opinion. When we find her hoard it didn’t smell, but we did touch it, so I’m sorry for her!

She does pee in her bed and we clean it once per month or every two months, is it fine if we don’t clean it if we don’t find a very bad smell?

 

[ilguy]

Oh, how can we tell if she’s in heat?
So then we should try to avoid cleaning? Actually the only thing that stinks is her wheel. We try to clean it every 10 days so we don’t “bother” her but it’s a bit disgusting in our opinion. When we find her hoard it didn’t smell, but we did touch it, so I’m sorry for her!

She does pee in her bed and we clean it once per month or every two months, is it fine if we don’t clean it if we don’t find a very bad smell?

The wheel probably is her pee spot then, you can clean that more frequently! I would say every 3 - 4 days or so.

It's absolutely fine to leave her bed alone longer if you don't find a bad smell! If it's coming close to three months, I would give it a check for soiled bedding & suspect food.

Some people have said the smell female hamsters give off is like rubber cement. It's very noticable and unique, you will be able to tell the difference since you're probably familiar with her pee thanks to the wheel.