How To Keep A Chinese Dwarf Hamster
Keeping a Chinese hamster healthy isn’t too difficult. If you provide your hamster with good food, water, exercise and a large amount of living space then you should be fine! Here are some of the other things you’ll want to consider when keeping a Chinese dwarf hamster.
Hamster toys are very important, you need to keep your hamster active and playful in their new home! Toys are a form of enrichment and they really help hamsters live a long, healthy life. A good hamster wheel should be a priority as hamsters absolutely love to run. Chinese hamsters are also incredibly good climbers (thanks to their long tail) so climbing toys are a must.
Unfortunately, dwarf hamsters are prone to diabetes and feeding an unhealthy diet can lead to problems. Always choose a healthy hamster food mix from a reputable brand and supplement the diet with fresh fruits, veg and healthy treats. You can even feed Chinese hamsters mealworms if you’re not too squeamish!
A food bowl will let your hamster know it has a regular food source but be careful of aggression between hamsters at meal time. Consider purchasing two bowls if keeping multiple hamsters and always ensure you purchase a cage with plenty of running space for however many hamsters you keep.
You’ll need a high quality substrate and bedding material for the bottom of your cage. This will absorb any mess and needs replacing weekly.
How To Clean Your Hamster Cage
Aim to clean your cage once every week with a pet-safe disinfectant spray. This will maintain a clean, bacteria-free environment for your pet and keep your hamster very happy indeed! We have a detailed guide on hamster cleaning but here are the basic steps:
- Place the hamster into a secure exercise ball
- Remove and bin dirty sawdust, bedding and old food
- Remove toys and cage accessories
- Use an animal-safe disinfectant to clean all surfaces
- Scrub, rinse and dry your cage
- Rebuild the cage, putting tubes and toys back together
- Replace the old bedding and substrate
- Place the hamster back into the cage and give the exercise ball a quick clean