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February 25th, 2009 by PetGuru

Hamsters are pretty low maintenance, especially when compared to other pets like dogs, cats, ferrets, or rabbits.  Because of this, hamsters are great for busy and active people.  A hamster will not miss you if you leave it alone all day.  With enough food and water, they can go an entire weekend by themselves. They will not stress if you leave them alone just for the day or for a couple days.  Since your hamster lives in a cage you do not have to worry that they will destroy something while you are gone.  Since a hamster can survive alone for a couple days, they make a wonderful pet for children who tend to forget to feed them now and then.

Even with all that, hamsters still need basic care.  Their cage needs to be clean, and they need to be fed. But, they do not need a lot of outside the cage time.  In fact, they do not have to come out of their cage at all. You just need to make sure that they have a large living area, an exercise wheel, and other places to get some exercise. 

You need to be aware that high climbing is not good for hamsters.  Hamsters are ground dwellers with poor eyesight. This makes it hard to tell how high they are.

Now some guidelines for basic hamster care:

You should clean your hamster’s living quarters at least once for the week. Take out all the bedding and replace it with fresh material.  In between full cage cleaning, you may want to just remove the old bedding from the bathroom area and replace it with fresh material.   Once per month, remove all the bedding material and clean out the entire living area. Disinfect the cage with a weak bleach and water solution. Be certain not to wait until your hamster’s cage begin to smell. This is not good for your hamster’s health. Not to mention, it is unpleasant for other people in the home.

It is hard to overfeed your hamster since they will naturally hoard any leftovers.  When you have finished cleaning their cage, be sure to give them fresh food and water.  Once in a while you want to check to see if you hamster still has food. Running out of food is a sure cause of stress for your hamster.  To prevent spoiling, remove all fresh produce from your hamster’s cage within 24 hours.  If you are going to be away for a couple of days you should not give your hamster any fresh food. You do not want it to spoil while you are gone.

Always make sure that their is plenty of fresh water in the water bottle.  Weekly, clean out the water bottle inside and out.  To clean it out, use dish washing liquid and a bottle brush.  Bacteria can grow inside the water bottle if you do not keep it clean. This can cause disease and other illnesses.  If the water bottle is damaged or it leaks you need to replace it right away. If not, it can lead wet food and bedding which can then result in sickness.

Be sure to visit Pets Care Store for all your hamster supplies.