What’s it like to get a golden hamster for a grade-school aged kid?
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Lyons Cub will be 6 years old! For his birthday, he got a 9-week-old golden hamster (named “Centex”), which has a life expectancy of 2-3 years, and we hope he lives as long and happily as possible. To assure this, we got him a really big cage from our local garden center (1.40 m long and about 1.00 m high and wide, with an extra 30 cm at the bottom encased by plexiglass to make his burrow in the natural wood substrate we use). Hamsty also has a sand bath to clean his fur.
Centex also has two wooden ramps and a wooden house that came with the cage, as well as a big wooden hamster wheel and a wooden house we bought ourselves, and a cool hamster labyrinth he has loved from the very first second he got to explore his new, big cage. At some point, we want to build one ourselves out of cardboard, but for right now, this wooden one is very stable and will do well. We got a ceramic food bowl, a water dish, and a water botte to fasten on the wire of the cage (which he might not used, we were warned by the sales assistant, for he might prefer the water bowl).
We have had many pets before (dogs, cats, fish, geckos, guinea pigs…), but never a hamster, so we watched many hamster videos and read about hamster maintenance before acquiring all the accessories and finally, the animal. I believe it is a good educational experience for a child to take care of an animal responsibly, with the help of his or her parents. But an animal is not a toy and requires the correct care.
In the pet store, Leander had the choice between two short-haired female hamsters (a white one and a black one) and three long-haired male hamsters (a white one, a brown one, and a gray one huddled together). Both he and I had our eye on the little brown one immediately; it was simply the cutest, and my son exclaimed immediately: “That brown one there!” Of course, we also needed a hamster brush, but the clerk said to start with a simple, soft baby brush in the beginning and to give it time, since they don’t like it… Well, we will see. We’ll not bother him with brushing right in the beginning.
The cage must sit in a quiet room with no direct sunlight on it (a bedroom is not very suitable due to the hamster’s activity at night). Ours is in my son’s playroom in the attic. We must make sure that it doesn’t get too hot in summer or too cold in winter, as the hamster likes temperatures between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit (about 20 to 22 degrees Celsius). For activities, we have tunnels, a small animal hammock, and a wooden hamster toy where food can be hidden under lids that the hamster must lift or push to the side.
I must say, we are very satisfied with the big, wooden hamster wheel. It is so quiet when it turns and turns, you only here a very light breeze and the little tapping of the feet at night! As soon as we turned off the light (and only held a flashlight to see him), Centex went into his wheel and began his work-out 😉 He is so tiny that I was worried he wouldn’t be strong enough to get this wheel even to move, but oh wonder, he was at it in no time.
Well, this is only the first day/night with Lyons Cub’s little hamsty. Stay tuned for more stories and videos to come about Centex the golden hamster!
Check our post here for what to feed your golden hamster.