Dwarf Hamster

By Lolly Brown

At roughly 50% the size of conventional hamster breeds, Dwarf Hamsters can make excellent pets for people who need a low-maintenance companion with a big personality. These tiny creatures may be too fast and too agile, however, to be kept by younger children without adult supervision.

It’s important to understand a Dwarf Hamster’s husbandry needs well in advance of any adoption. All varieties are best suited for life in an aquarium as a habitat. Dwarf breeds have a lifespan of approximately three years and will thrive on a diet of commercially available pellets mixed with fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds.

Entertaining and personable, Dwarf Hamsters do require patient and progressive socialization to become truly tame. Breeds like the Robovorski, however, are often best handled inside their enclosure only because they are not only active, but skilled little escape artists.

This simple and accessible text presents all the basic information necessary to establish a Dwarf Hamster habitat, manage your pet’s dietary needs, and monitor his health for potential illnesses. Although not difficult to keep as pets, Dwarf Hamsters – indeed all hamsters – are often “impulse” adoptions.

Your best course of action is to acquire all the necessary supplies for your pet, assemble his habitat, understand his needs, and then bring your hamster home. By following straightforward directions for socialization and training, your Dwarf Hamster should settle in quickly and happily!

Dwarf Hamster care, health, buying, breeding, and much more all covered!

• Language: English
• Publisher: NRB Publishing
• Release date: Mar 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781941070482

Lolly Brown

A life-long animal lover, Lolly Brown is equally comfortable writing about exotic creatures like the Mexican axolotl or dispensing practical advice to dog owners about kennel cough.As a child, Brown first learned about fish and aquaria when her father brought home a 10-gallon aquarium as a surprise for his daughter. Within months, the father-daughter team graduated to a 120-gallon tank and were immersed in the intricacies of tank population management."We had that go-big-or-go-home mentality common to the hobby," Brown said. "Now I look back and think about what we did to Mama's living room! She was very patient with us."Brown's fascination with animals continued in college, where she took numerous field biology and wildlife classes that allowed her to view the behavior of many species in their native habitats.She calls this period of her life the "rodent years," since her only apartment roommates were two hamsters, Hemingway and Leo (Tolstoy). "I also adopted a Guinea pig purely because I couldn't stand the conditions in the pet store," she said. "Trust me, I was in no way prepared to care for Molly and I had to learn fast!""The only other time I went into a pet adoption blind," Brown added, "I came home with two green anole lizards. Then I found out I was going to have to feed them live crickets.While volunteering at her local zoo, Brown first encountered capybaras, a South American mammal that looks like an over-sized Guinea pig. The experience sparked her interest in exotic pets, a subject she continues to pursue with avid interest.A freelance writer by trade, Brown's animal books are written for her own pleasure and the edification of her readers. She is a strong supporter of animal rescue and welfare organizations, and works with programs educating young children about the proper care of pets.Brown maintains something of a menagerie of her own, making room in her home for a 180-gallon saltwater fish tank, a 20-year old Scarlet Macaw, a Golden Retriever, and several highly tolerant cats. (She advises that good cages make good multi-species homes.)"If I become interested in a particular animal and have no direct experience with the creature, I get some before I start to write," Brown says. "All animals have a unique perspective on the world and their place in it. They all have particular needs -- physical and emotional -- and they all have unique personalities. These are things I want to understand before I try to communicate them to my readers."

Book preview

Dwarf Hamster

How To Care For Your Pet Dwarf Hamster

Types, Breeding, Diet, Habitat, Housing, Health, Where To Buy, Raising, and more.

By Lolly Brown

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyrights and Trademarks

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transformed in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the author.

This publication is Copyright ©2015 NRB Publishing, an imprint of Pack & Post Plus, LLC. Nevada. All products, graphics, publications, software and services mentioned and recommended in this publication are protected by trademarks. In such instance, all trademarks & copyright belong to the respective owners. For information consult www.NRBpublishing.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer and Legal Notice

This product is not legal, medical, or accounting advice and should not be interpreted in that manner. You need to do your own due-diligence to determine if the content of this product is right for you. While every attempt has been made to verify the information shared in this publication, neither the author, neither publisher, nor the affiliates assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights to any specific person(s) or organization(s) are purely unintentional.

We have no control over the nature, content and availability of the web sites listed in this book. The inclusion of any web site links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. We take no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the websites being temporarily unavailable or being removed from the internet.

The accuracy and completeness of information provided herein and opinions stated herein are not guaranteed or warranted to produce any particular results, and the advice and strategies, contained herein may not be suitable for every individual. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable for any loss incurred as a consequence of the use and application, directly or indirectly, of any information presented in this work. This publication is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered.

Neither the author nor the publisher assume any responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor do they represent or warrant that the ideas, information, actions, plans, suggestions contained in this book is in all cases accurate. It is the reader’s responsibility to find advice before putting anything written in this book into practice. The information in this book is not intended to serve as legal, medical, or accounting advice.

Foreword

When I was a graduate student, I found myself incredibly lonely for a pet. I knew it wasn’t fair to bring a dog or a cat into my life, so one evening, completely on impulse, I bought a Russian Dwarf Hamster. I named him, with typical academic creativity, Leo Tolstoy.

I know now that even though he was a lovely shade of gray with striking black dorsal stripes and a white underbelly, Leo was actually a Winter White.

That night, armed with all the things the pet store guy said I needed (no doubt a list bulked up by the fact that he worked on commission), Leo and I set up housekeeping together.

My knowledge about rodents of any kind was zero, but Leo was, from the beginning, a tolerant, good-natured, and downright comical little fellow.

He was far too lightning-quick for me to risk taking him out of the cage, but he loved to stand up on his hind legs while I scratched the bridge of his nose.

We played all sorts of little games with his chew toys, and I marveled at his capacity to jump on his running wheel and go for what must have been miles.

He’d keep galloping along until his little sides were heaving from the exertion before he’d plop down and look at me as if to say, Did you see?

Leo was my companion for the three years it took me to complete my master’s degree, including writing my thesis. His aquarium was right beside the table where I worked, so I would read him passages of my boring prose while he ran in his wheel. I doubt he was interested in my topic, but he was nice enough to pretend.

Even though he was an impulse buy, Leo turned out to be a superb pet. Good student that I was, I quickly got up to speed and really learned how to care for him, outfitting his cage with the correct accoutrement and offering him not only pellet foods, but also treats of vegetables and fruit.

When I went home for long holidays, or for the summer, Leo came with me and occupied the top of the hutch in a quiet corner of my mother’s kitchen.

He and my father developed quite a friendship. Daddy suffered from life-long insomnia and derived real pleasure from talking to Leo late at night and watching his marathon running sessions.

At the advanced age of three years, I found Leo peacefully asleep in his cage one morning and it was only then I discovered what I can