This group has been created for the sole purpose of talking about the positives along with the negatives of keeping hamsters as pets (and for keeping those hamster-but-is-actually-a-guinea-pig-tshirt advertisements at bay).
Most important thing to remember here is: If you can have compassion for animals, you can have compassion for people too.
I did think about writing up a care guide to pin, but ultimately decided against it when there's plenty of good ones already out there that do it better than I could. If you have a good reccomendation for one that helped you, please share it below.
We wouldn't have places like these if people understood everything. We were all new once. This subreddit might very well be someone's first contact to better animal care. While we expect posting is opening up to criticism, it should always be constructive and kind.
We're a subreddit designed to be asked questions about the care of hamsters. Any posts containing images with health concerns should be marked as NSFW to blur them. Some of those questions or responses do get repetitive. Use the flairs or suggest how we can change them.
In an ideal world; everyone would research before getting a pet, people wouldn't get surprised with the responsibility of a pet, everyone would be in a financially stable situation at all times, every country would follow scientific evidence for its animal regulations, people wouldn't be abusing their animals to the point where some need rehoming, and I wouldn't be getting death threats among other semi-regular verbal abuse from banned people that claim are 'just being brutally honest because others need to hear it'. My point is, we don't live in an ideal world. Sometimes that 'dumb question' might need a little more compassion or a kind voice for them to find a solution, get reassurance, or generally just do better.
Hamster care in general has a steep learning curve because they're sold to the general public as cheap child-friendly pocket pets and generally they aren't. Startup costs alone can be around $400-$500 and vet visits going anywhere between $50-$100+ with many vets not even accepting hamsters. It's best to call around in advance to find your closest one.
Be kind in your posts, report when you see those that are unable to have a civil discussion (and I'm begging you, please, stop reporting when you disagree with an opinion). Use the upvote system to support opinions you agree with or don't - as long as it's civil and doesn't go against group rules you can discuss anything. Start a topic if you want to get more insight on something hamster related. We're here to share and learn.
We support going to a vet first. Report if you see anything that discourages vet visits. On the flip side, the amount of times this group has saved a vet visit over the discovery of scent glands being on the hips is higher than I'd like to admit.
The cage minimum here is 450sqin. We know it sucks. It sucks for a reason. It's scientifically proven hamsters thrive best in over 1500sqin of space with as much depth to the bedding as you can possibly fit. Anything less than that size will always suck. Hamsters have massive territories in the wild. We will always promote bigger is better in cage size. (For reference: largest Ikea samla comes to around 600sqin, so does the prevue cage, 50gal/189L sterilite is 800sqin, a 75gal aquarium comes to about 900sqin and the Ikea detolf is at around 1000sqin).
The reason we keep to North American standards as a minimum is for accessibility reasons, this also includes minimums for rescues and breeders. If you want change: Go to your animal welfare for better regulations. Contact companies that make the cages and ask for bigger sizes or for smaller bar spacing in rabbit/guinea-pig cages. Support rescues, or ethical breeders and small chain pet stores that show better animal care. This subreddit will change when they change. You can be that change.
If that lights a fire up your ass, then good. That's the intention. Please go do something about it that could make a difference. There's subreddits out there dedicated to animal activism. Suggest any below you've found that could help.
We're a space for new and experienced owners alike. We're here to learn and support each other in growing and improving our husbandry. Hamster care as a whole has come a long way, and still has a long way to go.
TL;DR we're the same as any other subreddit. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it sucks. Be kind and go pet a hamster.
