Hamster/Pets at Home

MarzBar85MarzBar85 Posts: 15,004
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Getting a hamster at the weekend - I'm getting the cage either today or tomorrow and setting that up, so the little bugger doesn't go through too much!

I've seen one from Pets at Home that I like - are they OK to buy pets from? There's no independent pet shops near me (well there's one that stocks supplies but no animals) The other place I can get it from is a garden centre - a responsible retailer (i.e. you can't buy fish until you've given them a sample of your tank water)

I've got a cage, sawdust, bedding, food bowl, water bottle, food, a few toys, wheel, hamster ball - though I'm thinking that letting him have the run of an empty bathtub with a few toys in would be better for him than the ball! Anything I've forgotten?
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    MarzBar85 wrote: »
    Getting a hamster at the weekend - I'm getting the cage either today or tomorrow and setting that up, so the little bugger doesn't go through too much!

    I've seen one from Pets at Home that I like - are they OK to buy pets from? There's no independent pet shops near me (well there's one that stocks supplies but no animals) The other place I can get it from is a garden centre - a responsible retailer (i.e. you can't buy fish until you've given them a sample of your tank water)

    I've got a cage, sawdust, bedding, food bowl, water bottle, food, a few toys, wheel, hamster ball - though I'm thinking that letting him have the run of an empty bathtub with a few toys in would be better for him than the ball! Anything I've forgotten?

    I would go to the one that you know for sure is a responsible breeder.

    I don't agree with Pets at home selling pets in store, it promotes impulse buys and it does make you wonder where they get all their rabbits/hamsters (and whatever other animals they sell) from.
    As they have stores all over the country and probably get weekly deliveries to most stores of batches of animals. So i do sit and wonder about where they all come from and how the animals are treated during their breeding lifetime.

    For example, rodent farms.
  • MuzeMuze Posts: 2,225
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    P@H don't have the best reputation tbh, some of their animals are known to come from less than reputable sources.

    You could have a Google for local breeders or join some hamster forums :)
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Only people I know who have bought animals from pets at home have regretted their purchases as they are sickly and don't live very long.
  • Rupert RigsbyRupert Rigsby Posts: 279
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    molliepops wrote: »
    Only people I know who have bought animals from pets at home have regretted their purchases as they are sickly and don't live very long.

    What rubbish, I've bought the majority of my hamsters from my local Pets at Home and they have lived long and healthy lives,

    Maybe they problem is the people you know don't know how to look after their pets?
  • StressMonkeyStressMonkey Posts: 13,347
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    Which type of hamster? Some are strictly solitary, some like company. Not sure which are which. Probably just as well I don't have a hamster:o Pretty sure Siberians need to be on their own.

    As for sourcing a hamster - There are hobby breeders which would probably be your best bet. Give a quick google for your area.

    For the more sociable hamsters, there are 'oops' litters. Quite often from pairs sold as 'same sex' from Pets at Home:D
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    What rubbish, I've bought the majority of my hamsters from my local Pets at Home and they have lived long and healthy lives,

    Maybe they problem is the people you know don't know how to look after their pets?

    Have you visited every Pets at home ? They vary greatly the local one to us is dirty and the animals not kept well. RSPCA has been involved on several occasions.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    I just love it when people try to justify buying their farmed animals from animal farms/rat mills/puppy farms (what ever you want to call them)...not

    I do not know how people can even begin to justify that, they are funding the facilitating the continuation of pet production lines, which are cruel and inhumane.

    ...But I suppose they don't want to feel bad about themselves, as that is why they justify it and give examples of healthy pets.
    What about the animals they are bred from? they are not healthy they are fed rubbish, get no vet care and are diseased and overbred.

    However, I suppose that is ok, because they gave a small percentage of healthy animals, hence the justifiers, it is a complete joke and I have that view of anyone trying to justify their purchase aswell.

    Example of a rodent farm and other information of buying pets from pet shops

    http://www.brecklagh.com/petshops.html
  • shirlt9shirlt9 Posts: 5,085
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    Just a word of warning wherever you decide to get your hamster from..either buy a small hamster carrier or take your cage with you..they usually pop the hamster in a cardboard box and they eat their out of them almost by the time you have got them to the car!!!..you have been wanred.

    Have you had a look on preloved for hamsters in your area..only asking because often if people have had a litter at home they will have handled them pretty well..

    We have a Siberian hamster who came from someone whose hamster had a litter shortly after arriving at their house..he was well handled from 2 weeks old and has been a dream..only nibbled my eldest son once and that was because he had just been handling our chinchillas and grabbed for him..Flash sits on my little 4 year olds knee for hours is really freindly.
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
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    molliepops wrote: »
    Only people I know who have bought animals from pets at home have regretted their purchases as they are sickly and don't live very long.

    I would disagree with that, we have had many anmals from there over the years and they all ( apart from one adopted rabbit) are living and have lived long lives, our remaining Guinea is 7, our hamsters all lived til at least 4 years old.
    I never impulse buy from there, yes they are all beautiful and who woudlnt want to take them all home, but I think that most responsible adults would plan ahead before buying a pet.
  • Tt88Tt88 Posts: 6,827
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    The pets at home near us is pretty good. When you buy an animal they ask you lots of questions to make sure youre ok to look after them but that still doesnt mean to say that the animals are well cared for.

    I think it would be better if you had to register interest in an animal for about a month before you can collect one to stop impulse buys. By that i mean you have to wait at least four weeks to get one not that they will reserve a particular animal for four weeks for you.

    The longest living small animal i ever had was a gerbil from b&q!
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Where do their animals come from ? we frown rightly on dog farms shouldn't we care just as much for hamsters and bunnies ?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    molliepops wrote: »
    Where do their animals come from ? we frown rightly on dog farms shouldn't we care just as much for hamsters and bunnies ?

    A rodent farm called Essex breeders, that's where pets at home get theirs from, bad bad.

    I put a link up explaining rodent farms before
  • AbrielAbriel Posts: 8,525
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    We had a bad experience with P@H, I didn't like the idea of a solitary pet, they advised us that 2 Chinese hamsters could live together, couple of weeks later the kids woke me streaming - one had killed the other, very nasty. The hamsters that is, not the kids

    surviving one lived a long time to be fair
  • AbrielAbriel Posts: 8,525
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    edit to above - should be "screaming" - for some reason I can't edit posts today?
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Swinetown wrote: »
    A rodent farm called Essex breeders, that's where pets at home get theirs from, bad bad.

    I put a link up explaining rodent farms before

    Perhaps we need it posted again. Some people seem to have no idea. I certainly wasn't sure I just felt so many animals they can't be doing it a good way.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    molliepops wrote: »
    Perhaps we need it posted again. Some people seem to have no idea. I certainly wasn't sure I just felt so many animals they can't be doing it a good way.

    I haven't got a link for 'Essex breeders' as they have hardly likely to show their breeding practices, however this is a link showing and explaining what happens in a rodent farm.

    http://www.brecklagh.com/petshops.html

    I have links for undercover practices and videos at a puppy farm aswell, but i don't think that is relevant here. I will put it up when a thread on puppy farms comes up, it is really upsetting though, you may have seen it, i posted it earlier this year on a thread.

    BTW the hardly likely isn't aimed at you, i just mean that to the rodent farm breeders, their disgusting practices
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 978
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    I'm a rat person, not hamsters but would agree with the posts advising you not to buy pets from P@H.

    The breeding farms are horrible. You may get lucky on genetics, or you may not. Good breeders will try to breed from heathy animals. There's also a big difference in temperament when an animal has been handled from birth and trusts humans.

    My first 2 rats were from P@H. They weren't lucky. Both boys got pituitary tumours at 14 months.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    I do hope that Op goes to the reputable breeder that he/she knows as for every hamster or any animal Pets at home sell they can then buy many more from the breeding centre they use, hence facilitating the cruelty of those animals in the breeding centres.

    Even if it means waiting a while, it has to be worth it, besides the anticipation can be fun, plus you can prepare for a pet in that time.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,978
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    Pavster wrote: »
    I'm a rat person, not hamsters but would agree with the posts advising you not to buy pets from P@H.

    The breeding farms are horrible. You may get lucky on genetics, or you may not. Good breeders will try to breed from heathy animals. There's also a big difference in temperament when an animal has been handled from birth and trusts humans.

    My first 2 rats were from P@H. They weren't lucky. Both boys got pituitary tumours at 14 months.

    Things like that make me sad, hence my passion on this subject
  • haphashhaphash Posts: 21,448
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    We've had 3 hamsters in the last few years. The first lived 6 months, the second bought from the same shop lived 6 weeks. It was clearly unwell when we bought it but we hoped it would perk up, sadly it never did. When the second hamster died we bought a third hamster from another shop and this one lived approx 2 months. None of them were from Pets at Home but pet shops nearby. My daughter who cared for them devotedly and loved them all dearly was devasted when they died.

    The worse thing about this is that you blame yourself despite the fact that the first hamster cost me a fortune in vets bills (a course antibiotics). I knew taking the second one to the vets was not going to save him.

    I really should have complained regarding the second hamster but didn't. We have now decided not to have another hamster. My husband says he will not continually dig graves for them.
  • MarzBar85MarzBar85 Posts: 15,004
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    Mixed reviews then. Yes I visited the store the other day, just to get an idea of costings (upfront and future, just to make sure I can afford it/it is feasible) I'm going for a syrian - I've read that other hamsters can live together, but then read reviews where they end up fighting to death, so rather than risk buying a lonely hamster, I'll get a solitary one!

    I've wanted one for years, my parents always said when I moved out. Landlady has Ok'd it. Brother says to get a rat - which I was against, but then I saw the rats at the shop and thought Aww how cute! But I'm sticking to Syrian, I've done my research - know what I need to do to take care of them!

    I wanted the little fella this weekend, but will have a quick google for hobby breeders - if I can get a winter white hamster, I'd wait!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 978
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    Listen to your brother. Rats ftw. :-)
  • MarzBar85MarzBar85 Posts: 15,004
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    Pavster wrote: »
    Listen to your brother. Rats ftw. :-)

    Haha! I don't think I've got the space for a rat's cage. And I don't know that much about taking care of them.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 978
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    You know they need a decent sized cage. That's a good start.
  • Millie MuppetMillie Muppet Posts: 6,853
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    The Syrians I've bought from Pets at Home have been absolutely fine, but perhaps I've been lucky. I did go 'hamster shopping' one day and asked the assistant to take a baby Syrian out of its cage so I could have a look. The little mite was, I think, in hibernation; he was almost literally comatose. That worried me a bit. Both of the hammies I've bought from our local independent shop have died very young- well, one is currently on his last legs, so I'm going through a bit of a tough time at the mo. :cry: Nothing to do with their genetics- they both suffered from escape-related injuries- but I'm just saying that it's not as black and white as 'P@H is bad, independent breeders are good.'

    Bottom line- they are not pedigree dogs that live for fifteen-odd years, they are simply tiny, fragile little rodents with a life expectancy of 3 if you are very lucky. Being totally blunt about it, I don't think it merits a massive decision process- if you've seen one you like in P@H, go for it. :)
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