Channah

He's a fully grown male Syrian, and he has an 8 inch Wodent Wheel. I'm a little worried that it might be too small (just looking at him and then looking at it- the fact that the wheel is enclosed makes it difficult to see him clearly on it, but I'll try to take a look tomorrow night). His cage, a 20 gallon long, is simply not tall enough for a larger wheel. If his wheel is too small, is there a wheel available that's the right size? The lack of 9-10 inch wheels (that I've been able to find) really baffles me- they're exactly the right size, surely someone makes them. He's in my room, so silence is a must. That's another issue with the Wodent Wheel- it started out really silent, and it still isn't keeping me up (much) but it's gotten a lot louder over the months I've had it. I'll try oiling it again, but it's not squeaking... They're really expensive, so I don't want to have to buy another possible too small one if this one breaks completely, and the next size up is too tall for the cage. I can't get a cage topper for less than $80, and even that's on the cheap end. I don't trust my hamster around things he can climb (he gets just high enough to be dangerous, then loses his balance and falls) anyway.

Anyway, that was sort of long and ranty, can anyone help me?

Lately I've been thinking about getting fish. I want to ask my mom with a specific request, and a list of materials and cost, so can you help me out? I'm not completely clueless, but I don't have any experience, so I'd like some advice from people who know what they're doing.

Requirements:

10 gallon tank

No reproduction

No food that doesn't come in bits too small to tell what it is (or at least isn't giant worms)

Can anyone give me a list of what I'd need and some recommendations of kinds of fish? Obviously I'll do a lot more research on the specific kinds before I actually get any fish.

I check my hamster's nails as part of the regular check-ups, and last night I noticed that the tip of one of the nails on his back foot was black. His nails are getting a little long, so it's possible something caught, but I have no idea what. I don't think anything but his wheel is black.

So, what should I do? I read somewhere this is a sign of calcium deficiency- is that true? Should I buy him a supplement?

His nails will need trimming soon anyway (I'm terrified of cutting his toe off, but they're getting really long) so should I just cut that part off? It's only the very tip.

I can't get him to the vet. I promised my mother no vet visits when we bought him. If it's really cheap to get whatever he needs then there's a very, very slight possibility, but assume no vets.

So... what's causing this and what do I do?

He's a Syrian, young (about nine months, maybe ten), and otherwise healthy. I've always been a little concerned about his nails, because they've always seemed too long, but now they're so long that it hurts if he walks across my hand.

I don't want to trim his nails- I'm too afraid of cutting his toe off. I can't take him to a vet to get them trimmed either.

Is there something (preferably that didn't take up too much space, as that would mean having to take out one of his hideouts, which he'd never forgive me for) that I could use which would wear down his nails?

I don't think they're curling yet. Also it's mostly the back feet.

At my little brother's school, one of the grades (not his) has a rat as a class pet. Today he showed her to me, and here's how they're treating her:

1) She's alone. They didn't even try to get her a friend.

2) Her cage seems too small to me. I think it's this one: http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list/habitat-de... except without the accessories. Although it seems like hers is smaller than the dimensions listed.

3) She has nothing to do. There's no wheel, no toys, nothing. Just one ledge, a house, and a water bottle. I don't think there was even a food bowl.

4) She's injured- I don't know how it happened, but my sister noticed about a week ago (I've been meaning to see how she's doing since then) that she was missing a toe and her foot (front paw) is bloody. The wound seems to have healed on its own, but I doubt they took her to the vet to get it looked at.

5) They're using pine bedding. They also put hardly any in (the cage is pretty disgusting, and I think her feces might be a little bloody).

6) Her nose seems to be a little bloody/ crusty, but I'm not sure how abnormal this is. It also seemed overly wet and red, but again, I'm not sure exactly what a healthy rat's nose looks like.

7) She has food (Kaytee Forti-diet blocks), but they also seem to be feeding her sugary chemically (yes, that word doesn't mean what I use it to mean here) store-bought treats on a regular basis.

8) The room she's in is very noisy and active all day, and I doubt they have time to take her out very often. I think that one of the teacher's spends some extra time with her, but there's no way they're providing enough out of cage time to make up for the small cage and no toys or wheel.

I was unable to locate the adult in charge of the rat to complain to them, but I really want to do something to improve this rat's life. I don't want to call animal control, because even if they confiscated her, she'd probably have a miserable life and then be put down (she's really a very friendly and sweet rat who let us pet her through the bars and didn't bite or nibble).

There's no way that I could take her- we already have a hamster and three mice, and one of my parents can't stand even to hear the word rat. The vet care she needs and introducing another rat (which would require another large cage, separate play time, etc.) would also be too expensive and time-consuming.

So, what should I do? (By the way, the kids whose class pet she is are very little and I wouldn't expect them to know better than this- but the teacher doesn't seem to have done any research. The teacher would also be the one responsible for her).

Obviously not like you'd play with a dog, more like you'd play with a rat. Yesterday I tried it with my hamster (Syrian) and he seemed to be responding- when I petted him he groomed himself and then nibbled/ licked my fingers in what seemed to be an attempt to groom me.

He only did this for a few minutes before he got bored and wanted to run, so I put him back in the cage, but were we really playing or did I just imagine it?

Just to make it clear, it is ME she is biting, not her sisters.

I am positive that it's biting not just my mistaking her nails for teeth or something; I saw it happen and I know the difference between the feelings.

I don't think its aggression- this is the friendliest mouse; I've held her a few times and she'll take food from my hand. (Doesn't sound like much, but she's a pet store mouse who we've had for a week.) However, when she sees my hand, she runs up and starts trying to bite the ends of my fingers.

I've tried moving my hand to remind her I'm alive, I always wash my hands first, but she seems obsessed with it. The only thing I can think of is that she wants to eat my nail polish (I don't normally wear it, and I don't think she bit before I put it on). Either way, it needs to stop; she could poison herself if she eats nail polish, and biting isn't okay.

Neither of the other two mice do it, but one of them let me touch her back once, and the other took a seed once and won't let me anywhere near her. They both sniff my finger normally, though, and one will go right up to it and sniff it (just for a second) without trying to bite.

Oh, and its not a hard bite, no blood or anything, but I've never actually let her finish the bite. When I feel teeth, I move my finger away to show her I won't let her do it, but she isn't discouraged. I do feed her food from my hands/ fingers, but when I put a treat on my palm she went right for it instead of going for my fingers.

She's walked into my hand once or twice, and a few times I've sort of shepherded her into my hand. I always put her back down when she asks (she starts head-butting my fingers to find a way out).

How do I let her know (without scaring her) that biting me isn't okay?

We have three females. Mostly they just ignore each other, or play together (they seem to teach each other things and help each other), but today when one of the mice (M) tried to go into the nest, there was a lot of squeaking, and she was turned away. She tried again, and the same thing happened. When she left and bumped into the other mouse (the one who'd turned her away from the nest, we'll call her D), and there was a lot of squeaking. M then hid.

D ran through the tube (toilet paper tube) M was hiding in with no reaction, but when D did it again M ran away from her, with a lot of squeaking. D chased M around the cage a few times, until we got up and opened the cage to break up the fight, at which case they stopped.

The third mouse (A) didn't participate in this at all.

Is this something to worry about, or is it normal?

We got them Sunday and their cage hasn't been cleaned since. They were all together in the pet store. They have in their cage a hideout (tissue box), water bottle, food dish, wheel (it doesn't work but they like to climb it; a new one's coming tomorrow), and the box they came in. (Which is quite gross- it should be thrown out now that there's feces all over it and urine spots, right?) Their cage is a 20 gallon long tank. Before you yell about climbing, they climb their wheel and the box in order to reach the mesh top, which they then climb on upside down. We have plans to put a 10 gallon mesh lid against one wall so they can climb that, and we have a tunnel system thing coming soon.

Not the raisins; just the bran part.

We're away all day so I don't know about fighting (there's no blood or scratches or anything obvious), but one of the mice we got yesterday seems to be sleeping away from her two sisters.

She had a minor dispute over a pumpkin seed yesterday, but it was tiny- one mouse was eating the seed, and she came up and tried to take it. The other mouse pulled back and she left her alone.

I think this morning I saw all three of them in the house together, but tonight we had to search all over before finding her under the cardboard box they came home in. (They like to climb it, so we left it in.)

Yesterday she was the most active, climbing all over the place, and today she's hiding, which also might be a concern. (Or she could just be the most tired from exploring yesterday.)

They're in a 20 long gallon, so there's plenty of room for the three of them.

Is this something to worry about?

We have a size too big wheel for our mice (three of them) and they can't turn it. We just got them this morning, so letting them out for supervised playtime isn't an option. Will they be okay for one night until we get them a smaller one, and is there something we can do for them in the meantime?

I've bought (or I was there when a family member bought) a total of one hamster (Petco) and three mice (Petsmart). Both times the employees were nice, knew what they were doing (the Petsmart person especially; she told us about each mouse, didn't pick them up by their tails when she put them in the box, and made sure not to let us put them in a too-small cage. The Petco person was also good, but didn't know specific animals as well.

My hamster tamed easily and was healthy; the mice were friendly (not tame, but friendly) in the store but are still in new-cage shock right now since we just got them today, and seem perfectly healthy so far.

I've seen so many terrible reviews about both of them- are my pet stores just different?

He's right now on Kaytee Forti-diet pellets with a little bit of a seed mix and a sunflower seed or two as a treat daily, and he's on track (possibly a bit under) with his weight. He's around 9 months old, and is a male Syrian hamster of medium to high activity. (He runs all night, but before 11 or so he'll cuddle too.) I'd like to switch permanently to a part pellet part seed mix diet, and I had a few questions.

1) How much seed mix and how many pellets should I give him daily?

2) What's a good seed mix? I'll check it before I buy it; I just wanted a few brand suggestions.

3) Do you think this is a good idea?

4) If no, how many pellets should I feed him a day?

He's right now on a very irregular diet as I'm unable to figure out just how much he eats in a day- sometimes I see huge piles of uneaten food, and sometimes I just see an empty bowl. He does not overeat; he knows how much he needs, so I try to feed him enough that he'll always have plenty, but I'd like a specified amount to feed him each day.

We have plenty of normal sugar; could we just use that?

This is (obviously) more bragging than question; I'm just so happy that I wanted to post it somewhere. :)

I've had Huey for three or four months, and he's around 8-9 months old now, but I handled his taming badly, and he doesn't come to humans; you have to seek him out.

Today I fed him treats off the palm of hand, like usual, in his cage, and after he'd finished he just walked onto my hand and sat there. He's big enough that he has to really want to stay on if he's going to, and he just sat there as I lifted him out. :)

Anyway, end of brag, and don't get discouraged if your hamster's taking a while to climb onto your hand! It's never too late for them to learn. :)

Right now I have a 20 gallon, but I'm trying to convince my mom to get me a 40 gallon for my birthday. A big thing is how much more it would cost in bedding- right now I clean the cage once a week. (Every Sunday; I once had to leave it until Monday, but I spot cleaned every day that week.) Could I clean the cage once every two weeks (with spot cleaning every 2-3 days or even every day) if I had a 40 gallon? Would it be as healthy for my hamster?

How about if I cleaned half of it every week? I feel that would be less stressful for my hamster, and easier for me. (As in, I clean the left half one week and the right half the other.)

Also, could someone give me the average dimensions for a 40 gallon tank? Let's say I walk into Petco or Petsmart, and look at the average 40 gallon that they have; just a big tank, nothing special. How big would it be? Please include height.

Is this a good lid, what's it like in practice (it seems to be different from the smaller sizes), and does it fit securely? (I would buy clips to hold it closed, but they don't work unless the lid is the right size.)

And if anyone could let me know when the next dollar a gallon sale at Petco is, or when any sale that includes tanks is, that would be greatly appreciated.

Please don't tell me to buy a wire cage; he's lived in a tank his entire life, from the pet store to the tank he's in right now, and in the US it really is just not an affordable option to buy one that's big enough. I love the Hamster Heaven and the rest just as much as all you UK people do, but it's over a $100 just for shipping.

He's a male Syrian hamster, around 9-10 months old. This would be his second transition since I got him in late May. (He was in a 10 gallon for a few weeks when I first got him.)

He's really clever about storing food, and sometimes I won't find the stash so I'll just give him more food (he doesn't overeat). When I do find it, he then has enough food in it for at least a day, usually two or more.

When this happens, I sometimes just don't put fresh food in, since I know that a lot of it is from only a day or two before. I always check to make sure that he has plenty of food and water.

Is this okay? Or do I have to throw out the stash and give him new food?

When I clean my hamster's cage weekly I fill it with Carefresh, and then every day I remove the gross bedding. I then replace the gross corner bedding with Carefresh from elsewhere in the cage (because it absorbs well so when he urinates on it I can get to it before it gets totally gross) and I replace the part that I took the Carefresh from with Aspen shavings. He was curious about the Aspen at first, but now he's used to it. Aspen is cheaper, so it's nice to be able to spot-clean every day without using up a ton of Carefresh, but I don't want to do anything to hurt my hamster. Is this okay?

Oh, and I know I can use just Aspen. I know Aspen shavings are safe. I'm just wondering if this system is good or if something's wrong with it for some reason. Thank you.

http://www.amazon.com/Levels-Critter-Habitat-Hamst...

If you could say how many you'd put in, that would be nice too.

Also, if you think two+ would be better, please say.

General guide for how many animals would be in it:

Syrian hamster- One.

Dwarf hamster- Two at most, probably one.

Mice- At least two, probably three or more.

Gerbils- Two at the most.

If I'd need to replace accessories such as the wheels, or remove the tubes, please say.

Thanks!

Does anyone know where you can buy this in the US? On Amazon just the shipping is over $100, it's insane. I'd like to buy this cage for my Syrian, but it's just too much when you ship it from the UK. :(