My OTHER lil Pookiebear!

[Deleted]

Little-ist pookiebear in my home <3  He is SOOO cute!  He is like a ninja, he can scale walls and he is missing both of his thumbs!  He was drying off in this picture.

More pictures to come, just have me a bobo phone

[RedSky]

Very cute little hamster. Can I ask why he is being dried off?

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Haha! Yes, because I gave him a bath (with dawn) I do this very infrequently, because he is so clean... but boy is it cute! If I can ever figure out a way to post the video of him in the sink... you'll love it!!!

[RedSky]

Sorry but please don't post a video. Hamsters should never be put in water. If he is getting dirty frequently then something is wrong. While my dwarf hamster was very poorly and needed to be handfed special mushy food she would get covered, I would use warm water and cotton wool to clean her up. I would squeeze as much water out of the cotton wool as possible so it was only ever so slightly damp and give her a wipe over, this was only because she was so ill she didn't bother cleaning herself up. As soon as she perked back up a bit she would clean herself up (and therefore eat more of the mush in the process).

Hamsters will clean themselves, but if he is looking oily or needs a bit extra then try offering a bowl of chinchilla sand. It might take him a while to get used to it and figure out how to have a bath but it's much better for him. I'd leave it in for him to figure out for a week then only let him have it during play times or for one night weekly in his cage as even this can irritate his skin and dry out his fur too much.

Please don't bath his again. I know you care so much about your pets, you wouldn't be here otherwise and I hope you don't take any offence at this post, I just want the best for him.

I would love to see more pictures of him. I need to get some pictures up of my lot.

[Deleted]

He has never actually gotten "dirty" He just likes to play in a little soil pot I have for him :3 I was only bathing him (I have only done this twice) because I thought bathing was a good thing? I know ferrets have to be bathed VERY infrequently and with dawn (no harmfuls), so I used this same idealology with him.

Why is it exactly that he can't be bathed, other than obviously you say he does it himself. Is it dangerous in some way?


And are you saying that a wild hamster, if he ran into a puddle and started playing he would be hurting himself?

[RedSky]

The problem with hamsters is that they are more suited to warm dry places, unlike rats which can survive in a range of places.
The most common reasons
1) It's stressful for them which can lead to other issues
2) They don't have the sense to not try to breath in water
3) Short of using a hairdryer (which is a problem in itself for burning and stressing them out further) you're not going to get him 100% dry. Then he can catch a chill which can turn into serious problems.
4) It strips their natural oils, which apparently help them stay warm ( Not sure how this works or if it's true but I've read it frequently).

All of this is true for just water, it doesn't include the soap. I think hamsters (syrians and the dwarf species commonly kept) in the wild would avoid water as much as possible. I believe that they get most of their water from eating plants, but will drink if they find a water source. I've never heard of them swimming though, like rats will.

I know you said you only use dawn with your hamster and ferrets, but isn't that a washing up liquid? That would strip their oils, that is what washing up liquid is designed for??? I wouldn't use that on any of my pets. For my ferrets they get to play in the shower or a bowl of warm water, if they are actually dirty and need more than water (I have cleaned Mako multiple times with just water after he was dragged himself over their puppy pads), then it might be worth asking, but I wouldn't have thought dawn would be the answer.

I had a quick search on google and youtube and found this video



The only things I would be careful of are leaving the sand in 24/7 as even too much sandbathing can dry out their skin and fur and if you sieve the sand to clean it that you do it as soon as you can (first thing in the morning if you leave it in overnight) so that you remove any clumps of urine rather than it drying out and going through the sieve. Oh and if you use childrens sand I'd bake it in the oven first to remove any moisture and any bugs that may be present, the sand has to be dry.
She mentions that syrians don't tend to roll around, mine doesn't as much as my dwarf hamsters but does enough to clean herself up. But she has has lots of time to learn, at first they might not do much of anything in there.