Buying Hamsters: A True Story

A week ago I purchased two dwarf Chinese hamsters from the local pet super mart. What sold me was the PetSmart salesman saying they were easy to handle, never bite, never run on a wheel and never try to get away. According to the 'pet smart' salesman since they were same sex littermates currently living in one enclosure they could be kept together. We got a cage and headed home.

At home we took them out of the box and the larger of the two sat motionless in my hand for five minutes. When he finally moved it was to bite into the palm of my hand until his teeth touched. It's very hard not to shake off whatever is biting you with the quickest most violent movement possible. In the battle of action versus reaction I'm happy to say I thought then acted and didn't launch the hamster into the wall at breakneck velocity. He'd been brought into the store only a day before, he was jostled for an hour on the way to my house and now I threw open his dark box and ripped him out into the blinding light. I can see how he might be a little upset so I took the biting with a squirt of antibacterial soap and peroxide.

I went online looking for articles about hamsters hoping they would say this aggressive first night was a fluke. Unfortunately there are a lot of might-be-informed people publishing their advice online. For every article supporting the 'pet smart' salesman there was another opposing it and two more agreeing with one or another aspect but not the rest. The one thing they all agreed on was leaving a new pet alone for one to two days to acclimate to its new environment.

As I closed the laptop I heard a strange noise. Investigation revealed both hamsters running on the exercise wheel that came with the cage. (Note: there's no such thing as a "silent" wheel no matter what the package or 'pet smart' guy says.) Two selling points down one to go. Two hours later I investigated another noise. They were scaling the wire walls, running over them in circles and trying to squeeze between the bars and escape. I instantly regretted choosing the ventilated cage over the glass aquarium. Strike three! The 'pet smart' salesman's smarts went down in flames.

I convinced myself time for them to settle in and learn the expected Pavlovian responses was needed. I expected them to learn to be handled and receive food as a reward. Having another hamster I knew this would take time and reinforcement. I settled into a routine of petting them for a minute followed by a reward.

The bigger one nipped sometimes and they continued to run on the wheel and make escape attempts. I was annoyed that everything I was told was a lie. But what could I expect from a salesman who wanted to make a sale? Would you buy something that looked like a rat if they told you it was going to bite you, run a noisy marathon to nowhere every night, and spend it's down time plotting an escape?

Today I went in to pet and reward them on schedule. The larger one had his back to me. I spoke softly and stroked him through the bars. He spun his head around revealing bloody fangs, cheeks and front feet holding a piece of meat from his cage mate's eviscerated carcass, which he was standing on. I called pet super mart and the same 'pet smart' salesman answered. After re-educating him about Chinese dwarf hamsters I informed him I would be returning both hamsters, now inhabiting (at least momentarily) the same body. I hope he'll consider this next time someone asks about this species.

The moral here: just because they call the employees claim to be 'pet smart' it doesn't mean they know everything or that the information is correct. The training they get is in how to sell you and they are really good at that.

Don't believe everything you read. Every animal and situation is specific to itself. You may be able to get a general idea from on-line pieces but you should seek a reputable and verified source of information possibly a local vet even if the animal is not one that will require vet visits.

Get only one of whatever it is! A pair/friend is a human notion. In their native environments most animals avoid contact except for breeding. Most do equally well in their limited captive spaces without companions even though we humans think they are lonely.