The BRODENTS! Rodent Enthusiast Thread!

[Kenobi.]

Unfortunately, I've found myself in the possession of an injured wild mouse. My house doesn't have a mouse problem, but sometimes a variety of critters are able to enter the house through a crawl space under a portion of our "garden room". However, my cats usually catch and kill them before I'm able to find them. Yesterday however, I hear the squeaking and managed to pry a mouse from my cat's mouth before she could kill it, but it appeared to have still been bitten. Knowing that the bacteria in a cat's mouth can cause a fatal infection to the mouse, I've been giving her antibiotics, but I fear that it's too late. The vet that I take my animals to will not see wild animals, and the wildlife rehab center nearby will not treat mice. So, I'm on my own. Wish me luck, I guess. :c

Good luck!! I hope it makes it. Do you have any pictures?

[Kat]

Unfortunately, I've found myself in the possession of an injured wild mouse. My house doesn't have a mouse problem, but sometimes a variety of critters are able to enter the house through a crawl space under a portion of our "garden room". However, my cats usually catch and kill them before I'm able to find them. Yesterday however, I hear the squeaking and managed to pry a mouse from my cat's mouth before she could kill it, but it appeared to have still been bitten. Knowing that the bacteria in a cat's mouth can cause a fatal infection to the mouse, I've been giving her antibiotics, but I fear that it's too late. The vet that I take my animals to will not see wild animals, and the wildlife rehab center nearby will not treat mice. So, I'm on my own. Wish me luck, I guess. :c

Good luck!! I hope it makes it. Do you have any pictures?

Thank you.

I don't own a camera, unfortunately, but I can try to take a picture of her tomorrow if I can borrow a family member's camera, and if the mouse is still alive. She's a cutie, but not doing very well at the moment.

[Julia]

Any guesses what breed this hamster could be? I will adopt one of her babies, but so far I only know she is a dwarf.

I feel bad for quoting myself. D8

Anyone got an idea, please?(:

[Kenobi.]

Unfortunately, I've found myself in the possession of an injured wild mouse. My house doesn't have a mouse problem, but sometimes a variety of critters are able to enter the house through a crawl space under a portion of our "garden room". However, my cats usually catch and kill them before I'm able to find them. Yesterday however, I hear the squeaking and managed to pry a mouse from my cat's mouth before she could kill it, but it appeared to have still been bitten. Knowing that the bacteria in a cat's mouth can cause a fatal infection to the mouse, I've been giving her antibiotics, but I fear that it's too late. The vet that I take my animals to will not see wild animals, and the wildlife rehab center nearby will not treat mice. So, I'm on my own. Wish me luck, I guess. :c

Good luck!! I hope it makes it. Do you have any pictures?

Thank you.

I don't own a camera, unfortunately, but I can try to take a picture of her tomorrow if I can borrow a family member's camera, and if the mouse is still alive. She's a cutie, but not doing very well at the moment.

oh ok :3 I can't wait to see her if she makes it.

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Toki-Doki update
I just took Toki out of its play pen, and once I managed to catch it, I checked (gross BTW) and I think its a girl! Is it suppose to be a yellow ish color around its toosh? I doesn't look wet (I didn't like, do anything to see) so I don't think its wet tail. I am hoping its natural from, uh doing its business. That was a very awkward post 0-o

EDIT; i made a vid of toki in her play place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwT5Rr-EPTo

[orpheus.]

Thank you all so much for the lovely posts, it means a lot. <3
Momo's still hanging in there but it doesn't look like he has long left, I think he's enjoying being spoiled over the past few days, though - being the greedy little thing he is. I doubt I'll be frequenting this thread very often unless I end up with another hamster (which I don't want at the moment as it'd be too difficult to say goodbye yet again) or other rodents, thankfully the mice are still healthy and fit, and Merry's a lot less timid and lets me hold her - Pippin's finally learnt that he has a wheel, but only ever uses it when the cage is cleaned - and at least I can still enjoy their little wild antics, even if they don't like cuddles like Momo does.

[Hekomi]

Any guesses what breed this hamster could be? I will adopt one of her babies, but so far I only know she is a dwarf.

I feel bad for quoting myself. D8

Anyone got an idea, please?(:

Looks like a hybrid, but more WW perhaps. I think she's a fairly close mix of both though.

Keep in mind these hamsters can display neurological problems, diabetes, and other issues related to the hybridity of the two species.

[ivory.]

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Toki-Doki update
I just took Toki out of its play pen, and once I managed to catch it, I checked (gross BTW) and I think its a girl! Is it suppose to be a yellow ish color around its toosh? I doesn't look wet (I didn't like, do anything to see) so I don't think its wet tail. I am hoping its natural from, uh doing its business. That was a very awkward post 0-o

EDIT; i made a vid of toki in her play place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwT5Rr-EPTo

Hi!
I've been following your posts here and it's so amazing to see you correcting pretty much any mistake you notice. It's such an honest thing to do so props for that :D.

Second, this link seems great to help you sex your ham. What I read was a yellow-stained area is probably a male's scent gland! (: But yeah I'd really recommend you look through the link and possibly others to sex your ham more accurately!
http://www.hamsters-uk.org/content/view/68

I do have one question; are you aware dwarf hamsters are usually require companionship and are housed in pairs?
Also, if you have access to purchasing online, there are TONS of amazing online shops for really great hamster products (websites like viovet), you should check em out if you are having issues finding good products locally - that was my method because there was no way I would find the accurate wheel size locally haha!

If you have any other questions I'd be open too. :D

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I feel like I should post some kind of update on me and Lazy since I am so darn inactive here lol.



We are doing okay I guess :D. Been having a ton of fun together!
Actually, we're coming up on his first birthday. Does anyone have any ideas how I can celebrate? How have you guys celebrated your fur's bithdays in the past? (:

Also, one more question. My mum suggested this mineral stone that he is supposed to chew for extra minerals and stuff - and I thought, yeah cool. But then I recently read salt isn't okay to give them and those salt licks are actually bad for hamsters? What are your opinions? Are the mineral stones good or do you avoid them? Either way, I haven't seen him eat it at all so I'm not too worried haha.

[Lady Masquerade]

Yay on getting rats! They make one of the best companions <3

I've never heard of someone actually picking out all the corn from the food, despite it's health risks. However, if you're concerned about getting some a seed blend, you could always buy Oxbow Rat Food. I'm pretty sure it's one of the better kinds of rat food out there, I recently started giving my girls it.

[Hekomi]

I do have one question; are you aware dwarf hamsters are usually require companionship and are housed in pairs?

Actually, we're coming up on his first birthday. Does anyone have any ideas how I can celebrate? How have you guys celebrated your fur's bithdays in the past? (:

Also, one more question. My mum suggested this mineral stone that he is supposed to chew for extra minerals and stuff - and I thought, yeah cool. But then I recently read salt isn't okay to give them and those salt licks are actually bad for hamsters? What are your opinions? Are the mineral stones good or do you avoid them? Either way, I haven't seen him eat it at all so I'm not too worried haha.

Addressing a few things. #1 only some species of dwarfs are friendly and can cohabitate. Most notably roborovski and campebells tend to do best but this is no guarantee. A pair can go from best friends to literally killing each other in a few minutes. They're fine on their own though, unlike rats. Winter whites and Chinese (though debatable as a dwarf) are really quite poor in pairs, with Chinese being much more similar to Syrians.

Toki-Doki is a robo, so while they do do well in pairs, usually the best way to have a pair is to adopt two litter mates of the same gender. Since Toki-Doki is already alone, s/he will be fine solo.

As for gender, males tend to have fairly noticeable testes. They also have a very prominent scent gland on the middle of their bellies which stain to a yellow colour sometimes. Robos can be pretty hard to sex and tame, but it's totally worth it. I am a bit concerned with the way s/he is walking in the video, but I think it might just be that I'm not used to seeing robos scurry. The back looks a bit hunched, and the gait is weird in the back legs. Mind if I run this video past my friend who breeds robos?

We usually celebrate birthdays with extra sunflowers, pictures, and lots of cuddles. Some make hamster safe cakes, which is cool too.

I wouldn't give a mineral chew. Not that it's bad, but they should get all the vitamins and minerals they need from their regular food. Many vitamins are water soluble, so in excess are excreted through the urine, but others like Vitamin C are not, so an overabundance of minerals is usually quite counter productive. If he's not touching it, I wouldn't worry.

Peachy - for the corn issue, do not remove it, it WILL affect the guaranteed analysis. My question would be, why not feed something like Oxbow, which is high in quality for rats, or even Harlan Tekland? Then you can make your own add in mix for variety on the side. This is something I see a lot of excellent rat breeders do, and I personally do this with my hamsters as well.

Whimzees are safe for rats, so presumably are for rats as well.

[Hekomi]

What foods are available in the UK? Are you getting them from a breeder? If so, why not ask what they already feed?