THE "DO NOTS" of hamsters
Do not handle your hamsters roughly.
You should not handle your hamsters roughly as it can ruin the relationship between you and your hamster. Handling hamsters is one of the joys of having hamsters, but until you have had success at taming your hamster, you will not have much luck holding your hamster. Hamsters do sometimes bite, but it is very important to remember that if your hamster bites, it means that your hamster is frightened and is defending itself the best way it knows how. If you are consistently calm and gentle about handling your hamster, and employ a little bribery by offering them their favourite treats from your hand, the hamster might be more trusting towards you and might let you handle it more without being too cautious. It is important not to squeeze or hold your hamster very tightly when holding it as a hamster's body is very fragile. Hence, squeezing it might damage the hamster's internal organs. Adapted from: http://exoticpets.about.com/od/hamsters/qt/taminghamsters.htm Do not bathe your hamster in water. Bathing removes natural and essential oils from the hamster’s coat, which can cause the hamster to catch a chill and die. Bathing should only be done in exceptional circumstances, like if your hamster has paint, varnish or anything toxic on its coat that may harm it if it licks itself or ingests it. The hamster will clean itself if it is dirty and the substance is not toxic. Chinchilla sand will keep the coat clean and grease free. Normally there should be no need to bathe your hamster with water at all during the course of its life. If your hamster does get toxic or harmful substances on its coat, then you must bathe it unless you are able to cut it out of the coat, e.g. if there is gum or something sticky, that can usually be cut out of the coat. adapted from http://animals.pawnation.com/ |
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