Hey there, Pooh Bear here! No, not the lovable bear stuffed with fluff. I’m a little Winter White dwarf hamster and do I have a tale to tell! My story starts in a pet store where I waited for my family to come to get me, and it ends with more family than I could ever imagine!
One or Two?
I lived in a pet store with my siblings. We were all pretty young and small and very, very cute. It wasn’t long before a college student came along looking for a hamster to take home to her dorm. We hit it off right away! Caring for my social wellbeing, my new human also decided to get my brother, so we wouldn’t be lonely. And so it was me, my buddy Tigger, and our new human.
The three of us had a great time together! Our human did lots of research on hamsters and provided us with all the essentials: food, water, treats, exercise wheel, and plenty of socialization. We met plenty of hamsters who get a bad reputation from biting out of fear. But our human made sure to handle us from a young age to get us used to people. Humans are HUGE compared to us, so you can understand why we might need to adjust!
Surprise!
During one of our daily handling sessions, our human noticed that I was getting very plump…and not in the I’ve-had-too-many-sunflower-seeds kind of way. I was feeling some changes, too! In a couple of days, our human got up for class and noticed a few small, pink things in the corner of our house. I had SEVEN babies! Surprise! I’m a lady- and a mom!
Our human was warned time and time again by her family and friends- “Don’t get two hamsters! Maybe they’re not both boys! They’ll breed and you’ll have more than you know what to do with!” The pet store assured her that Tigger and I were both boys, but she did her homework anyway. She looked up pictures and read how to tell a boy and girl hamster apart. Determined to prove that she did, in fact, have two boy hamsters, she did an embarrassing number of sex checks and comparisons between me and Tigger. Yep, there was no doubt about it in her mind! Tigger and I were just a couple of guys enjoying our new bachelor pad. Unfortunately, even after all the research and sex checks, distinguishing male from female hamsters is near impossible- especially for smaller hamsters like us Winter White dwarfs!
Our human quickly got on the phone with the pet store and asked how long she had to get more cages to separate me and Tigger. Assured that she had at least a week before I could have more babies, our human started focusing on how to keep me, Tigger, and our babies happy. But contrary to what the misinformed pet store employees told our human, she had no time to spare. She learned the hard way that we dwarf hamsters can- and do- breed immediately after giving birth. Three weeks after I gave birth to my seven babies, I had ANOTHER seven babies! And so two hamsters became sixteen.
Not All it’s Cracked up to Be
While fourteen teenie, tiny hamster babies may seem like an adorable dream to some animal lovers, this was not always the best of times! It is very important to keep hamsters as stress-free as possible when there are babies around, or else they might start fighting and even eat each other. Pregnant hamsters become very hormonal and feel more vulnerable. Because of this, they are more prone to nipping and territorial tendencies. I can tell you firsthand that a pregnant hamster or hamster mother of newborns needs space and a consistent environment to ensure the safety and survival of her young. This means that our house had to remain as untouched as possible- no deep cleaning and minimal handling from our human. Not only was this becoming a stinky situation, but also, Tigger did NOT like to share his house with the kids and spats were starting. So, our human learned that she had to find our kids good homes and fast.
How the Story Ends
Fortunately, lots of college students were happy to take a cute little hamster off our human’s hands and all of our babies found good homes. Tiger, our son Piglet, and I stayed with our human..but in separate cages, of course! So learn from a very tired mama hamster’s tail… if you are thinking about getting a hamster. Only. Get. One.
While we hamsters can be social creatures, we don’t *need* a companion hamster to keep us happy. In fact, some hamsters will fight to the death when they live together! So it’s safest to just get one and make sure you give him or her plenty of social outlets like handling, toys, and exercise ball time.
If you are dead set on getting more than one hamster, keep them in separate housing. You can try supervised playdates between hamsters in a playpen, but do so with caution. An unsupervised playdate can lead to fights or breeding.
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