Pet Hamsters: How To Choose The One For You

By Mimsy Blues

One of the most common questions I'm asked about pet hamsters is: "What species of hamster should I get?" The answer is it depends on your preferences. A hamster typically lives 2-3 years. So you want to make sure you get the "perfect" hamster to love and take care of!

There are five pet hamster species. You shouldn't have a problem finding these species at a pet store. There is the Syrian Hamster and four dwarf hamsters (Chinese, Campbell, Winter White, and Roborovski). Below are factors that will help you decide:

Appearance

• Size - Syrians are the biggest, about 4-5 inches. Chinese Dwarf is about 4-5 inches too but only because the 1 inch tail is included. Campbell and Winter Whites are 3-4 inches. Roborovski is the smallest type of hamster of all 24 hamster species.
• Tails - All four hamsters have a stubby tail barely visible under the fur besides the Chinese Dwarf which has a tail about an inch long.
• Coats - The Syrian hamster has the most variation in coats. Campbell and Winter Whites have some special coats. Winter White in particular will turn all white in the winter when the temperature is low enough. Roborovski and Chinese Hamsters are usually breed in their natural (agouti) coat.
• Shape - All four hamsters have a cute, barrel shape. Chinese hamster may be a bit thinner.

Sociability

• Before tamed - Syrians and Campbells are generally accepting of human touch but will still require training. Winter whites, Roborovski, and Chinese Hamsters may be more aggressive and even bite with strangers.
• After tamed - some say the dwarf hamsters and Chinese dwarf in particular may still be aggressive. But this all depends on how they are tamed and many unaccountable conditions.
• Habitat Mates - Generally speaking, Syrian and Chinese hamsters need to be housed alone. One hamster, one cage. Winter whites and Campbells should generally be kept separately. Roborovski can be kept with other Robos if they were together before weaned. You can try to keep more than one hamster in a cage/habitat. Make sure the cage is large enough because hamsters are territorial. Once the start to fight, you should get a separate cage, since they may fight to the death.
• Female or Male - Generally, there isn't much difference. Pregnant females, however will be very aggressive and sensitive.

Play Time

• Schedule - All five hamsters are nocturnal. Wake up time will be in the evening.
• Energy - Roborovski's are always energetic. They may be fast and every jumpy. the other dwarf hamsters are much slower. And the Syrian hamster is slow enough to easily handle.
• Handling - Some hamsters like to be handled, some not. This really does depend on their personality and if they are tamed. Part of the fun of having hamsters is also watching them play by themselves in their cages.

Other Considerations

• Cost - You want to get a bigger cage for the Syrian hamster. You may also use more bedding for that reason. But generally, the cost is about the same.
• Room - Leave more room for a Syrian hamster.
• Smell and Cleaning - All hamster cages should be cleaned once a week. Their bodies are naturally odorless but their urine can smell.
• Health - All 4 hamsters are prone to long term diseases such as cancer and diabetes, with the exception of the Roborovski which has better longevity.

Please note that each hamster has its own personality. After you've decided you like a certain species, when you visit the pet store, ask the store keeper to let you watch him or her handle the hamster. This may give you a better idea to whether your hamster may be too aggressive, lazy, energetic, etc. for your preferences.

It's always a good idea to do some research when getting a new pet. Hopefully, this article will help you narrow down which hamster fits you best!

Visit HamsterFanciers.com for plenty more information about pet hamsters. See pictures of the different breeds. Learn how to care for hamsters and tricks you can teach them. You can even email the author specific questions, too.

Allergic to Guinea Pigs?

By Igor Heartwork

If you find yourself sneezing, scratching your eyes, scratching your skin and blowing your nose whenever you are handling your pet, congratulations - you could be allergic to guinea pigs. If the first thing that comes into your mind now is "guinea pig hair", you can discard that thing into space, because allergens are transmitted through guinea pig saliva, urine, and secretions from the skin glands. Hair can only transmit those nifty little allergens when in close contact with the animal. Most commonly reported allergic reactions to guinea pigs are manifesting as:

• Rhinitis: Your nose becomes stuffy and runny all the time.
• Conjunctivitis: Infection of the eyes (crudely speaking)
• Asthma: Causes difficulty in breathing.
• Eczema: Itchy and scaly skin rash.

If you suspect that you could indeed be allergic, first thing to do is to visit your physician and allergist, and test yourself specifically for the guinea pig allergies.

If the test comes positive, you will know that you are allergic to guinea pigs. You will need to conduct immunotherapy.

However, if the test comes negative on the guinea pig allergies, you will need to dig deeper in search for the cause of the symptoms. This may include hay, or the bedding materials(aspen, pine). To test this theory, try to omit those materials completely for 1 week, and see what happens. Use fleece, towels, paper and shredded paper for a bedding in this period. Use patience because your cavies will hate your guts for not giving them the beloved hay for a whole one week. You will also have to wash the cage, accessories and the cavies to remove potentially irritating leftovers. If after one week the symptoms diminish, then you are closer to finding your culprit.

In order to alleviate allergy symptoms, do not keep the guinea pig cage in your bedroom. You will have hard time to breathe and sleep normally if your nose gets stuffed because of the allergens. Try to isolate your bedroom from other rooms, ventilate it with fresh air and/or use some air filters and purifiers. When holding your pet, use some towels instead of holding it on your clothes and body. If you are however, holding it on your clothes, these clothes must go. For a wash. Also, wash your hands all the time, and do it thoroughly. Do not let your pet near your head and neck, because those have the thinnest skin and thus are most sensitive. Store the hay and the bedding materials far away from your bedroom, living room and all the other "usual" rooms.

Last advice shall be the same as the first: In order to deal with the guinea pig allergies, you really should visit the person who is trained to tell you what to do in this topic: the allergist.

An Ecological Case For Feeding Squirrels

By William Sells

For people who are interested in preserving what we have around us in Nature, you might want to consider feeding the squirrels around your house! I speak from the observations I've made over my nearly 65 years on this earth. Many of those years were spent out in Nature as a hunter and observer of what has evolved over the decades.

In recent years I have become closely involved in raising and releasing orphaned squirrels. This started back in 2008 when a baby squirrel literally fell into my life from a tree in my backyard. By all visible measurements, the baby was dead. Laying naked in the snow on March 17,2008, it had no signs of life, was blue, cold and stiff and was not breathing. I picked it up out of the snow and took it in the house to show my wife before taking it out to bury. As I held it in my hand, the thought came to me that many seemingly lifeless individuals, who were in similar hypothermia situations, had been brought back to life through warming and resuscitate measures. After warming and stimulating the baby and applying rescue breathing techniques, it came back to life and my wife and I were hooked on squirrels.

I've spent the last four years learning all I could about what it takes to raise healthy squirrels. My wife and I took classes from our State Rehabilitation Organization, and I've read many books from Squirrel experts at the Smithsonian Institute, Ohio State University plus information from hundreds of other people who have successfully raised healthy squirrels

In recent years I've noticed an alarming trend in the balance of nature in my State. I'm seeing and hearing more and more birds of prey starting to hang around within the City limits of our town. As I write this, it is late Fall here in my State. I traveled to a nearby city this evening, which took me through much of the country I used to hunt when I was younger. What struck me as alarming was the lack of Dreys, ( squirrel leaf nests,) in the barren trees of the woodlots I passed. When I was young, every woods was filled with these leaf nests, which indicates a healthy population of squirrels.

Squirrels are near the bottom of the food chain. Raptors, fox and bobcats depend on squirrels and rabbits as a food source. In recent years most of the continental United States has seen an invasion and proliferation of Coyotes which has put a tremendous strain on the balance of the food chain. The lack of squirrels across the countryside could explain why hawks and even eagles are starting to hang-out in the cities.

If this trend continues, there may come a day when squirrels playing in your yard will be a story you tell to your grandchildren as you show them pictures of what they used to look like! If the squirrels go, so will everything up the food chain!

What can be done? One thing we as humans can do is to stop viewing squirrels as pests. Many people complain that squirrels raid their bird feeders. My answer to them is, " Yes, squirrels have to eat also!" Many feed birds, but not so many feed squirrels. The problem with that is that once the squirrels are gone, the song birds will be the next target of animals up the food chain!

Squirrels have a hard life. A pregnant female gives birth in late February through March. If she is not fed well her milk will dry up and she'll be forced to kick babies out of her nest to make her milk supply last. Baby squirrels, like the one I found, are subject to predation in the early Spring by opportunists like hungry Crows who tear leaf nests apart looking for these tiny morsels. Female squirrels also give birth in late Summer, ( their second birthing season.) These babies have a very difficult time in colder climates, because they just do not have enough time to gather enough food for the coming Winter. Many of them die of starvation and exposure over the Winter because their mother is not a good parent and they do not continue to offer food to their children once they are weaned.

Over the past four years, my wife and I have raised and released 17 orphaned squirrels who would have never had a chance at life if we had never nurtured and fed them. Each one has contributed to the population of bushy tails in our neighborhood. Through our website we've been able to advise and educate thousands of people about what it takes to have a healthy squirrel population in their own locations with advice for caring for orphans, what constitutes good squirrel nutrition, treatments for common squirrel diseases and providing free recipes and products for insuring good health for squirrels.

An abundance of healthy squirrels will help provide good health all the way up the food chain, plus it gives individuals an opportunity to participate in a very rewarding and fun pastime!

William Sells is a retired Registered Emergency Room Nurse who has dedicated his retirement years to caring for orphaned squirrels and providing information and products for good squirrel nutrition through his rehabilitation facility and website, http://SquirrelNutrition.com

Alpacas - The Importance of Getting to Know Your Animal

By Patricia A Cobbold

When we bought our first small herd of Alpacas, the owner impressed us by knowing each of the animal's names. We were told that we would quickly learn which one was which. But to us, each one looked the same, although with closer inspection some were taller, some were smaller, and some had identifying marks. It took us a few weeks, but eventually we were able to name each of our Alpacas.

Whether you intend to be an Alpaca Breeder, keep them as pets, or guard animals, getting to know each of your Alpacas is vitally important. They are herd animals and with the herd instinct will mask from the others (and therefore from you), when they don't feel well or when they are in pain. To have a close bond with your Alpacas you need to spend some time with them on a daily basis.

With daily observation you will be able to assess stress levels of each animal, gain insight into the herd's hierarchical structure (who is the leader?) and monitor each animal's general health. You will be able to ascertain who over feeds, who under feeds, who is gentle and who is bullying others. It is important that you understand the behavioural patterns of each animal if you are to be able to determine when they are not feeling on top of the world.

Alpacas communicate through body posturing of ear, tail, head and neck, and they also vocalise. Getting to know some of these communication methods, will help with your understanding of your Alpacas.

The Alert Stance - The Alpaca will stand with a rigid erect body and rotate its ears forward in the direction it is staring. It signals a curiosity about a change occurring in the immediate environment. It could be a person walking in the next field, sight of a cat or dog, the arrival of someone strange to them, or sometimes even a bird that has landed in their grazing area. Very often, each Alpaca will turn and face the same way and adopt the same pose. It may result in whole members of the herd moving forward in unison to investigate or chase off the intruder. Alpacas have very keen eyesight and will often see creatures that are well hidden long before people are aware of an additional presence near a herd. If the Alpaca interprets there is no danger then the whole herd will just walk away. If they perceive it to be a danger, it may result in an Alarm Call, or rapid flight of the whole herd.

The Alarm Call - This is a high-pitched shrill sound that is often first given by the leader of the group, and then the others will follow suit. There is slight difference in sound between a Suri and an Huacaya. Alpacas which are new to your farm are more likely to Alarm Call at the sight of the cat, the dog, the hens, and even a paper bag blowing in the wind. In fact they will Alarm Call whenever they see anything they haven't experienced before. As a responsible owner, it is important that you look for the source of their concern. Remember they have brilliant eyesight, but if you look in the same direction that they are looking, then you may find the reason for their call.

Alpacas communicate in many ways, far too many to be covered in this Article, so another will follow. But becoming familiar with these two behavioural patterns will help you understand some of your Alpacas' behaviour.

Patricia Cobbold is an experienced Alpaca Breeder in Wales. She also works with her alpaca fleeces, both spinning and weaving. She says that looking after alpacas along with her other animals has been a huge learning curve for both her and her husband, but a very pleasurable one. Patricia's website gives useful information about alpacas and her smallholding. http://starchildalpacas.com

Why Hedgehog Adoption Is Becoming Popular

By Clint Sidney

Are you looking for a tiny exotic pet? Well then hedgehog adoption is the ultimate choice for you. Hedgehogs might not be on top of your list when you decide to get a pet but you will never regret getting a hedgehog home. The cute little bundle of joy will definitely brighten your life.

Pet Panorama

Hedgehog adoption is becoming more and more popular with each passing day because of various reasons. First of all, they are cute. They look like a ball of quill with a little face sticking out at one end. They have soft fur on their face which makes them look all the more adorable. It is quite fascinating to watch the hedgehog roll into a ball. Their spines are not meant to attack you. They are only occasionally used when the hedgehog is either scared or nervous.

Hedgehogs are tiny creatures. They happily stay inside their cage. They can be adopted even if you have a small house where large pets are not allowed. A cage of about 3-4 square feet would be adequate for their survival. The hedgehogs are basically quiet creatures.

They make scuffling noises when they play on their wheel or run around but apart from that, they do not cause any such noise. At least they do not bark or squawk and won't be disturbing the neighbors. They are nocturnal animals. Hence most hedgehogs stay inactive during the day.

They make a great pet for people who are allergic to cat and dog dander as they do not spread dander. Hedgehogs prove to be hassle free pets as they have to be taken to the vet for annual checkups but routine vaccinations are not required. Hedgehogs are also different from rodents. They do not chew on things they find around them.

Hedgehogs can be exceptionally rewarding if they are handled with proper care. They fall asleep on the palm of your hand when they start trusting you. The sight of it makes you forget all your worries of the day. People looking for exotic pets have an affinity towards hedgehogs because they are unique and curious.

Hedgehog adoption is considered illegal in many states. Some areas might require a permit for ownership. Therefore make sure you have investigated the legality of adopting a hedgehog before bringing them home. Also remember to buy the hedgehog from licensed breeders. Make sure that you will be able to take proper care of the hedgehog as they have special requirements.

Hedgehog Adoption - A Blessing in Disguise

The hedgehog can be a pretty special pet if you treat it the right way. They might be slow learners but they learn to reciprocate your love eventually. Just like with humans, you have to work on build an amicable relationship with him. Hedgehog adoption is a boon for life.

On the one hand you get to own an exotic pet and on the other hand you save an endangered life. So if you are planning to own a pet, give hedgehog adoption a serious thought. They might bring back the missing happiness in your life.

Clint is a hedgehog enthusiast who enjoys giving information about Hedgehogs. You can learn more about Hedgehog Adoption here.

How To Take Care Of Your Teacup Pig

By Lloyd Pinto

A teacup pig can be adopted as early as 6 weeks after it has been weaned by his mother. It is just a small breed of pig which makes it more attractive to people. Some famous celebrities too have their own teacup pigs. It is easy to maintain and it has a long lifespan which is really ideal for a steady companion. Discussed below are some tips for taking care of this lovely pet.

The Shelter

Like human beings, these little pets also need a place of their own. You can either place it inside or outside your house. A blanket is very important for him. You can put the blanket on his basket. This will provide him comfort, protection, as well as entertainment as some of the teacup pigs usually play in the blanket. You should also provide him with toys so that he would be entertained most of the time. A bored teacup pig may become destructive.

You should also have a small pool for him in your backyard. Especially if the climate is hot, these cute pets need to cool down by soaking in a small pool.

The Food

Food is important for your teacup pig. Most of the time you should give him vegetables like celery, cucumber, and potato. You can give him treats like fruits such as grapes, apples and raisins. Giving them lots of grapes may promote frequent urination though. It is much better to give treats when your tiny pig has done something that needs to be celebrated.

The Love and Care

Your teacup pig needs lots of love and care. You should give him enough of your time. At first, he may not want to be cuddled. But once you have gained his trust, he will love to be touched by you. You can even sit beside him and watch your favorite TV shows together. You need to ensure that he has some sort of regular exercise every day to promote his good health. This will also serve as your bonding moment.

The Health

One of the disadvantages of owning a teacup pig is not all vets know how to deal with it. That's why you have to look for the right vet who knows how to handle your pet's health. These pets also need to be vaccinated to prevent diseases. When your pig is sick, you should consult the vet immediately.

Check out this wonderful website to know more about owning a Teacup Pig

The Pros And Cons OF Owning Teacup Pigs

By Lloyd Pinto

A teacup pig is just a small pig that has the ability to grow up to 12-16 inches tall and can weigh up to 30 to 65 pounds. At birth, it may only weigh 9 ounces which is really small when compared to the traditional pot bellied pigs. Because it is small, lots of people find them very attractive. However, there are both pros and cons of having these cute animals in your house. Discussed below are the various aspects you need to consider.

The Advantages

It has a long lifespan.

If you are really looking for a steady companion, a teacup pig is perfect for you. Its lifespan ranges from 15 to 20 years. However you need to take good care of it to ensure that it will live longer.

It is intelligent.

Despite the general feedback that pigs are dumb, a teacup pig is very smart. Just like other pets such as dogs and cats, it can also be trained to use its litter box and to perform different tricks which can provide entertainment.

It is affectionate by nature.

It is really sweet and affectionate which makes it more appealing to have. It needs your love and care. If you don't have enough time for him then you might as well choose another type of pet.

It is perfect for those who have respiratory problems or allergy.

Unlike dogs and cats, a teacup pig doesn't have hair which can cause allergy and other respiratory problems. It only has fine hair that does not shed.

It does not bark or make loud noise.

Since it does not bark, you won't have problems of causing disturbances to your neighbors.

The Disadvantages

It can be aggressive.

It needs to be trained because it could become aggressive if it is not well disciplined. These animals also tend to open the bottom part of your fridge and pantry just to look for food.

It needs lots of time, love, and care.

If you are a very busy person, a teacup pig may not be the right one for you. You need to frequently play with him, to feed him and to train him. You also need to buy him toys so that he will be entertained.

A teacup pig is a very cute animal to have as a pet and if you have sufficient time to play and cuddle with this cute pet, then this is the right pet for you.

Check out this website if you are interested in owning Teacup Pigs