chinese hamster, gerbils? advice needed

[Veer]

Hi guys,
A few months ago i lost Hammie, yesterday i lost Ukkie. both were russian dwarfhamsters. I am from the Netherlands and the species are banned over here (still some debate going on about it in politics). I am not sure if i want to get a new hamster because i realy liked the russians.

I have very much stuff suitable for dwarfhamsters, so if i get a new pet, it would be something similar in size, but in the Netherlands only chinese hamsters are allowed at the moment, or gerbils.
I would need to get new housing, Ukkie was in a bincage and i would like something nice looking again. maybe an acrylic cage, but i don't prefer a glass style tank.

I am not a evening/night person and go to bed early, i am afraid that a chinese hamster would not be a good match because of this.
i was thinking gerbils, but i worry about keeping multiple animals together.

a chinese hamster i could keep in my bedroom to maybe see him before i go to sleep.
but what about care and houding for both species?
what would be a suitable pet for my situation, and what would they need?

 

[Socks' Mum]

@Daisy has gerbils I think cage space planning should allow for extra space in case they fall out and need to be kept side by side. I am not sure if you can attempt to rebond gerbils after a fall out. But you would see more of them as they are diurnal. They can become quite interactive and some allow petting. Their social interactions can be fascinating to watch as they play together and play chase

 

[Socks' Mum]

They are chewers, so chew proof furniture or safe to chew furniture is necessary

 

[Amy]

Hoi
Do you know the reason why they are banning the Russian dwarfs?
I am sorry to hear of your loss and hope you are okay.
My friend always had gerbils and she was so happy with them, as it suited her better because they were more active during the day/ early evenings.
I hope you find a good solution and I am sure you will find good advise here.

 

[Socks' Mum]

The problem is they are not necessarily long lived, although they can live for five or more years in theory. They can't live alone, so you will often be needing to replace and bond new gerbils. It just depends on which you prefer. There are rats as well, but I think they might be a steep learning curve and are quite needy pets.

 

[Veer]

I used to have a group of rats before, about 6 males. I loved them and how interactive and social they were, but their health problems are hard to deal with, especially with no good exotic vet nearby. I decided to stop with rats because of this, but i do still miss them sometimes.
Hamsters are less maintenance, are not in need of social interaction and don't have much health issues like respiratory problems and tumors .
I loved my Russian dwarf hamsters and am at loss about what to do next.
I also have a dog and some birds, i might just stick to that, but i so enjoyed setting up the hamsters enclosures and their cute little happy faces when it was snack and cuddle time.

 

[Socks' Mum]

What about a Syrian hamster?

 

[Rescued One]

@Daisy has gerbils I think cage space planning should allow for extra space in case they fall out and need to be kept side by side. I am not sure if you can attempt to rebond gerbils after a fall out. But you would see more of them as they are diurnal. They can become quite interactive and some allow petting. Their social interactions can be fascinating to watch as they play together and play chase

Howdy, my bonded ger-boys have never had an issue or falling out, but since I was a new to gerbils I got a separator just in case. The separator I got fits a 12" fish tank. If your bonded gerbils do spat (which can happen as young ones mature), they can often rebond after being separated (at least according to the gerbil forums I have researched on. There are lots of DIY split tank separator videos on youTube. I would worry about putting gerbs in an acrylic or wooden enclosure - they will likely chew right through it. A glass tank is best.

 

[Maz]

I think you'd need quite a bit of space for gerbils but @Daisy would know more. Assume the dwarf hamster ban includes roborovskis as well? Which would be a shame. Both Chinese and Syrian hamsters mainly come out at night, but Syrians can be trained to be out from say 8pm onwards, so it wouldn't necessarily mean late nights. Chinese hamsters are notoriously very shy/timid so would take quite a bit of taming and interaction. On the other hand, they do quite well in barred cages and height isn't an issue so much as they like to climb. I wouldn't rule out a Chinese hamster. They could also be awake and active during the evening from 7pm to 10pm.

I know you said you had a lot of dwarf sized hamster items, - presumably wheels, houses etc. So the idea of buying more larger ones probably doesn't appeal, but Chinese Hamsters also tend to need slightly larger items than dwarf hamsters (although some items might be ok). And Gerbils definitely need bigger items

If you get a female syrian, she would almost certainly be active during the evening before it gets too late Apart from a wheel and a house needing to be larger, you could re-use items like branches and cork logs, and even some smaller bridges.

 

[Veer]

yes, roborovski's are also banned, it is ridicoulous! i think for now i have to get used to beeing without a hamster.
maybe when regulations change over here, a new russian might be an option.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Pygmy African dormice are legal, but they might be less easy to tame than hamsters. I am not sure if running mice can live alone. But if you prefer hamsters then that is understandable

 

[Maz]

Ooh that sounds interesting! Except- just had a quick read about them on another site and apparently they’re not that good as pets - extremely fast and bite (but not aggressively). Have all sorts of dietary requirements as they are tropical animals - including live insects. Apparently the enclosure needs heating as well. It mentions they can be friendly but not really tameable and easy to lose as they are fast - mainly only awake at night and more “watch” pets. It did say they tend to be better in same sex pairs - I’m not sure how authoritative all that is but I think gerbils might be more of a known factor.

How about standard pet mice? Degus or Drupasi?

It’s so hard when you want a hamster - are rescues still allowed to rehome dwarf hamsters? They may have litters they have rescued although tue ban was a while ago now so maybe not.

 

[Maz]

Just checked the list - apparently no degus either.

 

[Daisy]

My Chinese hamster was very nocturnal when he was young and now that he is older he comes out in the day sometimes. He did used to be up in the early morning when he was younger so if you are an early riser a Chinese hamster might still be an option?

When it comes to gerbils, pairs are much more stable than groups and most pairs won't declan but there are no guarantees of course. If you have a big enough tank you can do a permanent split tank in the event of a declan though it's still not ideal. A pair of gerbils tend to do best in a tank at least 100cm wide. I keep mine in stacked Bucatstates. For a permanently split pair, really you couldn't go any smaller than a 120cm split tank with toppers so they have extra surface area but that's still very small.