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So you have a newcomer to the family, a cute little hamster. Like all pets, we want to make our little friend happy. Well, just like humans, or your cat or dog, hamsters like to be stimulated and keep themselves occupied and most of all have fun. It is important to provide them with happy homes (hamster cages).

Always remember that these little guys are extremely sensitive and prone to stress. Hamsters are uncomplicated little guys. They are very easy to please if you know how.

You will guarantee your hamster’s happiness simply by providing some toys – a wheel being the first and best choice – and good bedding and nesting material.

Bedding material is needed for practical purposes too. It soaks up the urine making it easier for you to clean up and also keeps yucky smells at bay (well, mostly anyway). Wood shavings are the most popular type of bedding. Cedar shaving are bad because they contain toxic chemicals. Stay away from pine shavings. Do not use scented materials. Natural wood pulp, stocked at all pet stores, is the best bedding material.

Hamsters love sleeping. Some shredded paper towel will provide your hamster with a nice bed to sleep on – which is safe too.

Sadly, taking your furry friend for a walk to the park isn’t an option. Wouldn’t that be fun though? Hamsters still need as much exercise as anyone else. Therefore having a wheel in their hamster cages is very important for their well being. And you can watch them go round for hours!

To reduce the chance of injury to your hamster chose a solid hamster wheel with entry holes, instead of a wire one which can be a trap for their little feet.

Hamsters really love to forage for food. When feeding them try and sprinkle their food around their cage so they can find it themselves. They love the challenge and this keeps their little brains in good fit shape.

There’s no trick to water bottles - just remmebr to keep them full. Always! All that foraging and wheel running can make them pretty thirsty.

So there you go. You now know how to set-up the perfect hamster cages for your hamsters. There are plenty of options for additional toys. tubes, ramps, balls, etc.

New! We've just starting a message board and discussion forum over on the Toxic Byte Pets Forum. It's a bit lonely over there at the moment, but feel free to join in and participate!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 5:08 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.