Are you on the right site to ask this, Diane? It isn't really a gardening question, after all. I hope someone can help you, though. Sorry to hear about your cat. :-(

http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-health-advice/syrian-hamsters

Hi Diane ... the above link is advice from the PDSA on feeding, care etc. of Syrian hamsters. There is also a link on the page where you can click for info. on Dwarf hamsters.

I hope this helps.
There are plenty of other hamster links online.

Sad to read about your Persian cat and all the best with your new hamsters.

Presumably you are choosing carefully with the sex of the hamsters ... because you don't wish to breed more hamsters ...

They require constant care in feeding and cage cleaning. They can suffer numerous ailments from dental problems to tumors. Their life span is usually no more than over a year ( don't go by what the books say). They can fight and injure each other......Oh Yes, most importantly, if you should be away from home due to travel or illness, will there be someone around (excluding the local pet store where you purchased them) who is willing to and knows how to take care of hamsters either in your home or theirs while you are away? Easy to care for? My choice would either be a Betta Fish or a succulent pet plant:)

ill give you some good advice .
get pet rats both the same sex as there much friendlier and get to know there owners and like being handled and live longer .

Hamsters are like babies - eat, sleep, poo.
Rats are much more fun.

Great idea NP they do make great pets! Actually my favorite very low maintenance terrestrial pet was the tarantula. I kept the gentler and slower (should one get loose) rose hair and mexican red banded ones. The name of the game was to keep their environmental niches just right so they would successfully shed and continue on.

well they are easy ls but they don't like bei petted as rats do . I keep fish because you just watch them and dogs because of the oppasit reasen . I thought we were talking rodents . spiders are amazing but you don't see them much . reptiles only move when there feeding . I still think a rat is the best small pet to get .

Both my girls have had hamsters and one did live nearly 3 yrs but around 18months 2 years is more normal. They tend to be more nocturnal and as a result they would be rattling their toys [lots of stimulus needed and if you get a wheel make sure it doesn't have open slats that can get a paw trapped] during the night. Regular handling is needed if you hope to pet them. They have a nasty nip and tend to sniff and taste [nip] to see if your hand is food. {I know this to my cost, the nail bed is permanently damaged :o(}

Having said that they never had two in the same cage even litter mates fight.

Sorry about the cat Diane. Gerbils are a good bet too and 2 brothers/sisters are easier to look after and happier to be handled in my opinion.

Any cat is easier to look after than a rodent Diane... try a Siamese this time - ours always live to a ripe old age and, if we are away, only need a neighbour to pop in once a day to feed them. Hamsters need rather more attention.

I worked with a lady who held a funeral service for her children's hamster after it died. She was at the sink washing up a little later on when the ground started to move and up popped Hammie! They go into hibernation when they are cold. Unfortunately the cat next door was on the fence and they had to hold another funeral after that!

I shouldn't laugh cm but that's some a luck lol . rats are the best rodent . a cats another thing as theres worry about what there doing . maybe a dog as a Siberian tiger can be a bit of a hand full mg lol .

lol NP!

Sorry everyone I forgot to report in, been so busy.
When I went to collect the Hamsters the nice young manager in the Pets Dept had sold them all !
He only had one Russian Hamster, and they have to be singles as they fight.
He had two Gerbils, so home they came with me.
Bubble and Squeak are now settled in the fish tank. They cannot get out.
The nice young man sold me some wooden toys that are
chewable. B. & S. were not very pleased.
Did some more research. Discovered they like big cardboard tubes large enough to explore.
Then I realised they like to sit in their breakfast. The little dish for Hamsters was not suitable as it filled up with litter.
So I pushed away the litter from the floor. Then put some food in a soup plate, in they jumped, and loved it.
They are happy now, I had to cut up two cardboard tubes which they instantly claimed for seperate chewing.
This must be what they are used to.

The Field Steward advised me he would look for a 3 pole
plot for me by the car park on the Allotment Field, as I
think can manage that size in the Spring, only cant push
the long handled tools on my Rollator on rough ground.
I am setting up a deep filled tray of Horticultural Grit with Alpines in Ericaceous Compost, in the greenhouse. Seems this is the right one for mountain flowers.
So thats a bit about plans for this partially disabled gardener. GP thinks I will never be able to stand
up straight again. Just a question of adjusting one's
life.

Good luck Diane with the gerbils ... wonderful names .. Bubble and Squeak ..
and all the best with your Alpines and Allotment plans.

We looked after the school gerbil once and finished up keeping it. It lived about 12 months. We found what it really loved was twigs off the apple tree to gnaw. We let it out in the bathroom once for exercise, as we thought that would be somewhere it couldn't escape from or do any damage(it had already gawed some holes in the hall door curtain). However it found a small space in the wooden boxing in of the bath (those were the days!) where the pipe went through and it got under the floorboards, where it ran up and down very noisily for a long time during the night, directly under our bedroom floor. So we discovered that gerbils have a lot of energy, enjoy a lot of exercise and are cannier than we gave them credit for! By morning we were having visions of going after it with a mallet...

Thank you Stera. My fish tank is ideal as they cant get out.
Thank you for the Apple Tree twigs idea.
So much to learn ! So glad I got them !
Diane

Hi Diane, when my daughter was about 7 years old, she had 2 terrapins, which she called flip and flop, something went wrong with them, and we had to take them to the vet, when he asked what they were called, I looked at him with a puzzled look and said,
" terrapins" , well I couldn't tell him their names could I ?, Derek.

lol Derek

Ha ha.

my youngest has 3 gerbils and they love chewing on empty loo roll tubes. last about 10 mins if they are in the nibbling mood. they can be come very tame and easy to handle. They also like the odd small bit of hard cheese and mealworms. well Polar and Hazel do but Pepper isn't keen on live mealworms.

you will really enjoy them Diane but they are good at pretending to be Houdine. We have found them running through gaps in bathroom and found one down stairs in the cutlery draw.

How on earth did it get in there?

One thing I do remember about gerbils from a friend's children having them is that they need regular cleaning or they get very smelly. The tank they kept them in was in the kitchen - not very hygienic I know and at times the smell was a bit ripe.

they dont smell MG at least ours don't as they don't drink much. They get cleaned out every 2-3 weeks and they are in sawdust.
Stera- The escapee must have crawled down through the cavity walls then up the back of the kitchen cupboards. It was missing for 2 days, lots of tears from child!

Yes, well, the family that had the gerbils I remember cleaned them out very, very rarely!

ah that makes sense MG: poor little gerbils.