With a small, cute appearance and active personality, hamsters are chosen by many people as pets, especially when they have no experience in taking care of large pets. However, the process of taking care of a hamster is not easy. Just in simple things like bathing and feeding them, you have to pay attention to a lot of things. So, if you do not have much experience, follow the following article to explore more about hamster feeding and bathing to take care of your mouse properly!
Start to know about hamster feeding and bathing?
Unlike other big pet, raising a hamster takes more time and efforts of the owner to understand well about their character, habits, hobby, etc. Because of their small and sensitive characteristic, you should pay more attention in nurturing them.
1. How to bathe the hamster correctly?
Unlike how to care for dwarf dogs or other pets, you should not bathe your hamster. Accordingly, water can strip away the natural oils secreted on their bodies – similar to the moisturizing lubricant on the surface of our skin, thereby putting hamsters at risk.
In addition, because they can’t swim, small mice can drown or get Wet Tail – a panic syndrome that greatly affects their lifespan, even causing them to die.
There are 2 basic steps to getting started with your hamster feeding and bathing, which you should refer to before you start doing it!
Step 1 – Find other ways to “clean” your hamster
As mentioned above, veterinarians will not recommend bathing your hamster. However, you can totally find other ways to keep them clean!
- Use a soft-bristled brush to brush the fur of long-haired mice.
When taking care of a long-haired hamster, you do not need to bathe as often to remove the loose hair and dirt trapped in it. With just an unused soft-bristled brush and always gentle brushing, you can keep them clean.
- Use scissors to cut Dirty hair that cannot be removed with a regular comb.
With the hair stuck to candy, tangled into a bun, etc., you can use scissors to cut them off. Gently hold the mouse with your hand and use the scissors to cut the dirty hair.
- Use sand to bathe
At pet stores, you can find a wide variety of specialized sands…bath mice. You just need to buy sand, put them in a small bowl – just enough for the shape of the hamster, the mouse will roll in the sand and through it, “bathe” itself.
- Clean with damp cloth
Using a soft towel, dip it in pet shampoo diluted in water and gently wipe in the direction of hair growth. However, you should not use a towel that is too damp or use regular shampoo for mice.
Step 2 – How to bathe a hamster?
If you must bathe your hamster, you should refer to the following steps:
- Put warm water in the “bath” of the mouse
Choose a bowl that’s not too deep, pour warm water into the bowl – just enough for the neck and head of the mouse to float comfortably above the water (about 3cm to 5cm). Bath water used when caring for hamsters is best ordinary clean water, or diluted with specialized shampoo (if needed).
- Clean with brush or soft towel
Slowly pick up the hamster by hand and place it in the warm water. Then, gently apply water to the whole body of the mouse, using a brush or towel to wipe it in the direction of hair growth.
Note: some rats may panic and react extreme by biting or scratching. So be careful when bathing them. If your hamster shows any signs of abnormality, immediately stop bathing and call your veterinarian for advice.
- Wash off soap
Similar to when taking care of small pets, you should not let any chemicals remain on the hamster’s coat or skin. So, if you used shampoo in the shower, change the water and wipe again until the body is completely free of foam.
- Dry the hamster’s hair
Use a soft dry towel and keep the room temperature very warm during this entire process. Use a dry towel to gently remove the mouse from the water, wipe it in the direction of hair growth. You can keep your hamster warm with this towel if they show interest. However, if they look “unhappy”, leave the hamster alone on the towel.
2. How to feed a hamster?
Step 1 – Choose food for your hamster
To properly care for your pet, you first need to choose a food that’s right for them. Many people think that hamsters love sunflower seeds and just feeding them each of these seeds is enough. However, in reality, you need to add more than that.
At pet stores, we will find a wide variety of mixed nutritional rat food. If you are inexperienced, you should let the staff know what breed of hamster you are keeping and ask them to help you choose!
Step 2 – Feed the hamster
Similar to other small pets, the hamster’s body is quite small. Therefore, they only need a lot less food than other animals. Refer to the following steps to feed hamsters so that they do not overeat:
- Feed the mouse every day in the morning or at night
Veterinarians recommend that we feed the hamster once a day in the morning or evening. Although they can eat all day, it is best to only feed them in a fixed time frame.
- Use a small ceramic food bowl In the process of taking care of a hamster.
Many people have the habit of using a large plastic bowl for the hamster to eat easily. However, veterinarians recommend that you only use small ceramic bowls to eliminate the risk of scratching the plastic bowl, allowing bacteria to grow and endangering your hamster’s intestinal tract.
- Feed the hamster the right amount of food
Because your mouse has a habit of hiding food to slowly “sipping”, give them 1 tablespoon of food every day! Eating too much is not good for them.
- Hand feeding
If you’ve recently adopted a hamster, build a bond with it by hand-feeding the hamster.
- Control the weight of the hamster
An obese mouse is quite difficult to detect because they have a fairly large skin area. So you can take them to the vet for regular weighing, or if they’re moving too slowly, chances are your hamster is overweight!
Feeding and bathing properly is the first thing that we need to take care of in the process of caring for a hamster. If you do not have much experience, please follow the above article carefully or to “befriend” your mouse.
Another choice for your is reading books about hamster caring. You will have more knowledge to raise your pet confidently.
