Select your hamster only from a reputable pet shop pet shop. The dealer will be familiar with his sources of supply, so he sells only healthy animals. The employees will be well informed, and the livestock will be of good quality.
A few minutes of observation will probably convice you that owning a hamster would be fun. Be prepared to pay a reasonable price for it, though, because a hamster that costs to little is not really a bargain. Stay away from inferior specimens or laboratory test survivors. Instead, buy hamsters which are sold for breeding stock. Prebreeders will be about the size of the palm of your hand, breeders slightly longer, weighing about three or four ounces. The price of the breeding stock will vary with its quality, but an ethical operatorwill give you a fair deal.
The hamster should weigh an ounce and a half or more. Its general shape and appearance are very important. The color should be a rich, uniform, golden tan. Even young hamsters should have a chunky build and a short neck. The head should be well-rounded, not tapered and rat-like. The ears should be large and set well apart. Dark, prominent eyes should be bold and bright, expressing inquisitiveness and curiosity. Other signs of good health are soft, silky fur with a bit of sheen, a plump body, and a general feeling of solidity. No protrusion should be felt, and no long white guard hairs should be seen along the hamster's sides. The nose should be slightly damp, but not wet, and the hamster should be eating well.
The animal should be alert and responsive to stimuli, but not jittery or nervous when you approach. In fact, it should be calm and tame enough for you to pick it up. If close inspection reveals lumps, bumps, discoloration, loose hair, wet bottom or tail, stuffed or running nose, watery eyes, blood anywhere on the body or a nasty disposition, then do not buy that hamster. An animal with pimples on its ears, noses, feet, or belly also needs to be passed over. The pimples may be the beginning of mange and mean endless work for you. No cure is guaranteed and it is slightly contagious. Accept only a perfectly healthy pet. Occasionally hamsters with nicked ears are sold as breeders. This hole may be a breeder's mark for identifying members of a certain herd, or it may be the result of a bite from a cagemate. It is not a disease, and can be safely ignored unless you plan to exhibit your pet competitively.
Hamsters are available in shorthaired and longhaired varieties. (The latter tends to cost a bit more). They are also bred in a variety of colors. The more common are the albino, which is white with pink eyes; the pied, harlequin or panda, which are all spotted brown or beige on white with dark eyes; and a cream, beige or fawn variety with brown or ruby eyes.
Pink-eyed hamsters are likely to have poorer vision than dark-eyed types. In fact, some pinked-eyed hamsters are blind or nearly blind. Of all hamsters, remember that the most hardy is the common golden variety.
The best time to purchase a hamster is shortly after it has been weaned from his mother-around five weeks old. If you buy one under 30 days old, its body will be too immature for it to cope with new surroundings. The baby is to young to move, too young to play with and too young to have good control of its responses and locomotion. Young hamsters have even poorer vision than adults, so it is very difficult for them to see things and to judge distance. A baby might scurry right over the edge of a table and onto the floor. This could be hazardous, because unlike cats and mice, hamsters do not naturally flip about in the air and land lightly in their feet.
A mature hamster, says a year old, has already lived a good part of its life. Since the average lifespan is only 1000 days, from the standpoint of cost an older hamster is a poor investment.
Hamsters replace their fur about every three mounths. In a young speciman, the inside ear is covered with white hairs. As the animal ages, there is a tendency for less hair to appear on the ears, until all the hair gradually disappears. Do not select a hamster with naked, shiny ears indicating it is past its prime.
Since both males and females make good pets,your hamster can be of either sex. A pair could supply hundreds of good pets. But do not buy a pair unless you know in advance what to do with the offspring. Pets shops can probably obtian their necessary supply of stock from commercial breeders. And never choose your hamster from a cage containing both sexes or you may unexpectedly find unwanted family from a much too young female.
Males do seem to be a bit friendlier and more even-tempered than females. Females tend to be slightly larger and heavier, but the male longhair seems to have the slightly longer coat.
When the young are about eight days old and still hairless, two rows of dark spots can be seen on a female's belly-the teats. From the time the fur appears until the young are 18 days old, sexing is particularly difficult. As the animals mature, it becomes easier.
Adult males have one or two black dots over each hip under the fur. These spots are about as large as a hamster's eye and about two or three times the thickness of the skin. They are dimorphic pigment spots, similar to beauty marks in humans. Other large lumps, boils, abscesses and pimples are another matter.
The female hamster has three external orifices, all lying close together in a straight line. The most anterior is the small, raised urinary papilla. A slight groove leads from this to the vagina to the rear of it. Most posterior is the anus. In fully mature animals, the vagina and anus are surrounded by darker pigment.
The male hamster has two external openings, the penis and the anus. The penis is raised and prominent, located in front of the anus. By weaning time, the distance between the two is clearly seen, with a seam or line running between them. Usually the males show a swelling that comes to a tapered fullness near the tail. Females are blunt. However, the shape of the rear is not always a true guide, for a male non-breeder is often as blunt as a female. An experienced operator can easily sex a hamster by resting its body in a supine position in the palm of his hand.
A respectable breeder or dealer will not sell a hamster of inferoir quqlity because he has a reputation to protect. However, you may like to take your new pet to a vet before bringing it home. Make an arrangement with the seller for a refund or exchange if the vet declares your hamster is unfit.
