Sarah Yee, Author at Dwarf Hamster Blog

The 7 Most Ambitious DIY Hamster Projects

March 28, 2014 By Sarah Yee 2 Comments

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Here are some entry-level ideas, best done at the end of summer, when you have a supply of ice-cream sticks generously donated by yourself or your family! Of course, they can be bought en masse at any craft store, but that’s not nearly as delicious. What you can build is only really limited by your imagination, so go nuts!

7. DIY Popsicle Stick Toys for Hamsters

Credit: Tiny Furballs

6. DIY Hamster Platform

It almost looks like a wrestling ring for rodents, but this is a platform fit for a hamster king or queen. All it needs is some spare popsicle sticks from #7, and you could make a little Iron Throne.

http://dwarfhamsterblog.com/diy-hamster-platform/

5. Diy Hamster Bath

This is for the hamster of discerning tastes, who values luxury and privacy while bathing. Throw a couple of rocks and a tiny rake in it for a multitasking Zen garden!

http://dwarfhamsterblog.com/diy-hamster-bath-house/
(Props to the Dwarf Hamster Blog for making the list twice!)

4. Home-made Hamster Elevator

From here on out is utter madness. Let’s ease into it by watching a hamster learning to use a home-made elevator.

3. IKEA Expedit Cage

You’re looking at a spacious bit of converted IKEA furniture from a site called IKEA Hackers. It resembles a fish tank but is actually the final form of a shelving unit. The remaining shelves are to be used for filing, and honestly, I’m a little disappointed that there isn’t a hamster-sized work cubicle, as this all sits in someone’s study!

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2009/12/expedit-hamster-home.html

2. iMac Hamster Home

At one point, it was widely known that the internet is run by a series of tubes. Self-confessed Apple fan boy, nicknamed Sunder, has taken this to its logical extreme and put his hamster inside an iMac monitor, with food accessed by a series of tubes. This group of pictures really says it all, but Sunder also provides a detailed guide to doing this DIY project yourself!

Credit: Awesome Hamster Home

1. Human Hamster Wheel

Uncontestably and completely the most ambitious DIY hamster project. A human hamster wheel. That can cross bodies of water. Let that sink in. A human hamster wheel.

The builder/inventor/apparent madman, Chris Todd, stated that this monstrosity took 11 months to construct and almost resulted in divorce. No word yet on what could have caused the marriage strain, though I suspect it was too much wheeling and dealing on Todd’s part.

Credit: Daily Mail

James has two rodent pets, George the hamster and Mildred the rabbit. He enjoys seeing them play together and when he’s not busy tending them he works as electrical instructor at Ableskills.co.uk .

Hamster Food Comparison Table

March 2, 2014 By Sarah Yee 17 Comments

This page compares different commercial hamster food. If you are looking for fresh food to give your pet hamster, please use this food list instead.

Here are some hamster food that are sold in pet stores. The protein, fat, and fiber content are listed when available. Keep in mind that manufacturers may change the ingredients of the food (and thus the nutritional composition) from time to time. We’ll be adding detailed reviews of each food later and will link to them from this chart. New food will also be added from time to time.

Hamster Food Pellets

Food Name	Packaging	Photo of Pellets	Nutrition Information
Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Hamster & Gerbil			Protein: 15% Fat: 4.5% Fiber: 10 ~ 15%
Supreme Science Selective Hamster			Protein: 19% Fat: 5% Fiber: 5%
Versele-Laga Hamster Complete			Protein: 19.5% Fat: 5% Fiber: 5.5%
Vitakraft Emotion Professional Prebiotic Hamster			Protein: 18% Fat: Not available Fiber: Not available

Hamster Food Mixes

Food Name	Packaging	Photo of Food Mix	Nutrition Information
Supreme Harry Hamster Complete Muesli			Protein: 19% Fat: 6% Fiber: 8%
Versele-Laga Mini Hamster Nature			Protein: 14% Fat: 7.5% Fiber: 5.5%
Vitakraft Menu Vital Hamster			Protein: 14% Fat: N/A Fiber: N/A
Vitakraft Emotion Functional Sensitive Hamster			N/A

Hamster Kickstarter: Pop-up Playland

March 2, 2014 By Sarah Yee 2 Comments

There aren’t many toys around that let you play with your pet hamster outside of the cage. The most common accessory is a hamster ball, but that limits your interaction with the hammy while it’s outside. The Pop-up Playland combines a pop-up book and a playground to create a safe play area for your pet:

This video by Shawn and Olivia Kessler, co-inventors of the Pop-up Playland, explains how it works:

The creators of the Pop-up Playland are now raising funds to manufacture this product. If you would like to find out more or to support them, please visit the Pop-up Playland’s kickstarter page.

Super Pet Run About Hamster Ball Review

December 6, 2013 By Sarah Yee Leave a Comment

This post is contributed by Nature Girl from Critter Corner. She also has a really cute blog on sleeping hamsters at http://www.sleepinghamsterzzz.blogspot.com/

Review of SuperPet RunABout Hamster Ball

My dwarf hamster Mickey enjoys running in his hamster ball. Hamsters sometimes get very frightened if they are put in a round sphere, but he doesn’t mind it, occasionally stopping and looking around instead of digging at the sides to try to get out, which is mistaken by hamster owners as the hamster running around in glee. I purchased the hamster ball a few months ago, and was interested because it is a glow in the dark version. I am sure children get a kick out of this part, but I don’t really think the average hamster owner lets her/his hamster run around in the dark, which is what this requires. Anyway, this is what the ball looks like.
The ball is a dwarf hamster size, but it looks like it comes in larger sizes too.

The cap that goes on the ball is softer plastic and therefore easier to break, and when I accidentally dropped the cap on the floor it confirmed this.

Otherwise, the ball is pretty good in shape and the crack did not pose any danger to the times when I put Mickey in the ball – meaning, it did not get loose or open up once.

There are good-sized slits in the hamster ball, but the hamster claws and legs did not get stuck in here once. My other hamster ball had to be disposed of because of this problem – the holes were big enough for his legs to become trapped and he could not enjoy the hamster ball time.

My hamster had a very easy time rolling around, and the ball has great lightweight plastic that makes for easy rolling. As for the glowing part, I was a little disappointed. In dim light, it did not glow.

I think the whole reason people buy this particular hamster ball instead of the plain kind is because of the whole “Glow in the dark” thing, but you really must leave it under bright light all day to “charge” it, then make sure it is completely pitch black in order to see the glow effect. Even then, it barely shows up.

Plus, it could be frightening to an animal inside a glowing ball because he could not see the outside part and he could be a bit upset and scared. So while this is isn’t really a hit with the glowing thing, the hamster ball is still very good quality and nice for hamsters.

How to Train Your Hamster to Do Stuff

November 21, 2013 By Sarah Yee 8 Comments

Hamster Training with Blueberry the Roborovski

The video below shows Blueberry the Roborovski hamster learning how to go up his new toy. We put sunflower seeds on the steps to make him climb on it one by one.

At first, there were sunflower seeds on the lower steps (orange and green) they were removed after he learned how to go up them.

The first few steps were easy but he had a bit of difficulty with the last two as you can see in the video below ^_^

The training was done over two days although we had already put the toy in his cage for a while for him to get used to.

Previously, we trained our winter white hamsters to go up the rainbow steps as well and they learned it much faster — almost immediately without falling off as much as Blueberry did. If you haven’t, watch this video of Oatmeal the winter white dwarf hamster going up the platform (this was her first day with the toy!).

Oatmeal the winter white using the steps to escape her bin cage

I’m not sure if the species of the dwarf hamster had anything to do with how fast they learnt how to climb the steps but our other robo dwarf hamster, Ichigo, had difficulty with it as well.

All the colorful wooden toys you see in the video are available at Hamster.sg. However, shipping is only available within Singapore at the moment.

Hamster Stuff in Japan

November 9, 2013 By Sarah Yee 2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Tokyo, Japan for holiday. Naturally, I went searching for unique hamster stuff to bring back home!

Before I went, I wanted to find out what I could get but I couldn’t find a guide for it so I thought I’d make mini one now for anyone who will be going to Tokyo and want to get some stuff for your hammy.

This is far from complete and only represents what I was able to find. If you know where to get more hamster stuff in Japan, please feel free to chime in in the comment section.

Photo of my haul:

Places with hamster stuff

Tokyu hands

Web site: http://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/en Tokyu hands a multi-storey department store. We went to the ones at Shinjuku and Shibuya and they had a pet section with some hamster stuff as well as cute dog treats. I also bought hamster stickers from their stationery section! Tokyu hands should be the most accessible because it’s in a lot of places and it’s really hard to miss. It sells almost everything so there are lots of other stuff as well if you don’t want to go to a place just to get hamster products.

Kojima Pets

Web site: http://pets-kojima.com We went to two Kojima pet stores in Kameido. They have a hamster section with some ‘Made in Japan’ food and accessories. There were live hamsters and other animals in store!

Gacchapon machines at Akihabara

This isn’t really a place but you can find lots of Gacchapon machines around Akihabara and there are a few that vend hamster keychains/phone straps

Bookoff (various locations)

Web site: http://www.bookoff.co.jp/en/ Bookoff sells tons of secondhand books and comics at unbelievable prices (starting 100 yen). The books are mainly in Japanese so this might not be for you if you’re not interested in the language. I was able to get quite a number of Japanese books and comics on hamsters at just $1 each.