Hamster Life Span: Top Ways to Make Your Pet Hamster Live Longer

Hamster life span varies depending on breed, health and quality of care. Average life expectancy is two to three years, although some can live longer up to six years. Some breeds, which are more susceptible to illness, tend to live shorter lives. While big hamsters like teddies can live up to five years, Russians can only reach up to two years while Roborovski dwarves sometimes only live up to a year. 

It’s a known fact that hamsters reach maturity in a very short time. For example, while humans reach puberty at the age of 13 to 15, hamsters do at eight weeks. Gestation period for them is only three weeks compared to nine months in humans. It would be safe to assume that a one-year-old hamster equal to a 35-year-old human being. 

Good news is that you can prolong your pet hamster’s life by giving high quality care and attention. 

Choose a healthy hamster   
Right from the start, make sure that you choose a healthy hamster. See to it that he comes from a clean environment surrounded with other healthy hamsters. Check the condition of his coat and energy level.

Pick the right size for the cage

Your pet hamster’s cage should be big enough to fit in an exercise wheel, small bed, some toys and of course, food and water. Ideal size is 20 to 25 square inches for a single hamster. 

Feed a well balanced diet

Like with other pets, your hamster also needs highly nutritious food to stay in good shape. Feed clean and nutritious foods like fresh vegetables, fruits, and pellets. Don’t forget to provide fresh and clean water every day as well. 

Promote regular exercise

Hamsters are very active creatures that require regular exercise. Lack of exercise can make your pet fat and weak. Install a small exercise wheel inside his cage to keep him active throughout the day. 

Know about hamster’s territorial requirements

Apart from being active, hamsters are also territorial creatures. If they don’t get along well with each other, they tend to fight and this can cause fatalities. The best thing to do is to keep one hamster per cage. However, if you own robo dwarf hamsters, which are known to get along well, you can have two to three per cage. 

Although a hamster life span is quite short, you can ensure that your pet lives a fulfilled and happy life by following the tips mentioned above.

What Makes a Great Hamster Bedding for Your Pet?

Have you ever wondered why your pet hamsters seem to get restless and unruly? Maybe they aren’t getting enough rest or sleep. It’s time for you to inspect what type of hamster bedding you are using to identify the culprit of your pets’ lack of relaxation. 

For your information, hamsters love a quiet little area in their cage that they can turn into their beds. They also enjoy moving materials and stuffing it into a corner to make their own resting havens. As a responsible pet owner, you should take time to do some research about your pets and the ideal housing that you must provide them. 

Hamsters should be housed with specific types of bedding, which have been recommended by veterinarians and pet experts. The substrate is the material that is used to cover the cages of hamsters and this is where your furry friend will be burrowing and living on its entire life. Because the substrate needs to provide a natural coziness for your hamsters, you must learn to identify which materials will make good substrates for your little buddies.

Some of the types that you should avoid using as hamster bedding are the pine or cedar-based shavings and clumping cat litter. Since hamsters eat a small portion of their own feces as a natural part of their digestive process, cat litter won’t do because it might get lodged in their digestive system and lead to death due to intestinal obstruction. 

On the other hand, pine and cedar shavings have aromatic oils that can cause breathing difficulties or irritation of the hamster’s respiratory system. Newspaper, shredded paper and fluffy beddings are also not recommended because these contain ink fumes that can cause suffocation as well. 

Many pet owners recommend using aspen wood shavings and reclaimed cellulose fiber that does not contain ink and other harmful additives for hamster bedding. You can also add some Care Fresh or Critter Care to make the bed soft and cozy. After putting all the necessary materials inside the cage, you can put the hamsters into it and have fun watching your pets move the supplies to create their own beds.

Things You Should Know For a Responsible Hamster Breeding

At the time when sexually maturity is normally reached, female hamsters will quickly come into “season” or “heat” which is called Estrous. Hamsters enter estrous every nearly four days. You may observe that your female hamster will get firm,spearing her tail up and additionally spreading her legs as soon as you stroke her back. Estrous typically can last from 10 to 12 hours.

During hamster breeding, the female really should be placed in a male’s cage. If mating fails to occur in 5 to 10 minutes or there is always aggression, take the female right out of the cage. You may continue on this for four days every night during the hamster’s Estrous.

Check into your hamster on a regular basis, after about 10-15 days you will observe that she has become much fatter. You might notice the gravid mother acting much more exhausted, not running about the exercise wheel just as much. Pregnant hamster might show more hostility through their pregnancy.

Female hamsters will require extra food through the pregnancy. High protein foods such as tofu, boiled egg, and wheat germ need to be added to the dietary plan. Try your very best not to disturb the mother hamster a couple of days before her anticipated birthing date in order to find a quiet place on her behalf to stay in those times.

The female will quickly seem restless before having a baby. You will notice this period in hamster breeding when the female displays signs of severe nest building. Usually females give birth throughout the evening or night or morning hours. Each pup comes into the world at 10-15 minutes intervals. During these intervals the feminine will either clean her nest or perhaps sleep. Usually, the activity will take up to two hours.

Permit the mother to breastfeed the babies until they can be about three weeks old. Try not to be able to disturb the nest during this period as she should turn on the babies and eat them.

Attempts to transform the bedding stuff would increase the possibilities of cannibalism so you ought to just let this cage be.

The nest shouldn't be disturbed or cleaned at this point of hamster breeding. And the babies ought not to be touched. In the case they're touched, the mother will in all probability reject them.

The First Week: First born pups are light red and hairless plus their eyes are closed shut. You are going to hear squeaking sounds as they quite simply nurse and speak to their mother. A few days their skin will build up a dark undertone depending on baby’s color. Through six to 10 days the pup’s hearing cannels have opened up, the body offers short fur (fuzz) more than it. The pups are beginning to wonder from the nest and are beginning too much on decent food. 

The Second and Third Week: The color of each baby is starting to show through and also the eyes are beginning to open or tend to be open. The pups are actually starting to wonder farther in the nest. Besides eating solid foods they're now also beginning to drink their very first sips of water and may now take small treats for example small apple pieces.

Sixteen to twenty-one days: A hamster teeth will be fully developed and they are generally now eating extra solid food resulting in their growth amount to heighten. They now will be tiny hamsters at about want you to one half inch long. Fresh water might now be provided for those pups consistently.

A Month Old: The hamsters have reached sexual maturity and really should be separated into separate male as well as female cages. At this age, they can be perfect for hamster breeding already. Syrians ought to be separated into various cages. If it’s the dwarf breed, the females might be placed in an organization and same using the males in individual sex cages.

Time for a new home: The perfect times to market your hamsters are between thirty-five days to 3 months old. They are actually fully weaned as well as independent.