Travelling with a hamster?

tompin

tompin

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Hi everyone! I've recently adopted a dwarf(not sure exactly what kind yet) hamster and I love her so much. But unfortunately, I have to leave her behind while travelling for 4 nights. I wish I could just stay with her but I won't be able to. She lives in a 770 sq in cage i've built for her with more than 10 inches of bedding now but I'm so confused and conflicted about what I should do with her while I travel. Should I a)leave her as is and just find someone to check on her once or twice at most(it'll be Christmas so all of my friends are leaving the city since we only study here, so it'll be extremely hard to find someone willing to do more) or should I b) put her into a critter trail for a short amount of time and leave her at my boyfriend's family's house where they'll be able to check on her whenever and give her attention as well? I know critter trails are not suitable for hamsters but maybe that'd be better than leaving her alone? I study abroad so I don't have my family here to help me. What should I do?
 
Hello tompin and welcome to the forum. Your hamster is so cute. If the cage is too big to take to your boyfriends family's house I would just use a smaller cage. Perhaps a bin cage? That would be much better then a critter trail.
 
Hello and welcome! It's such a worry when we go away isn't it. I was going to say that ideally, it would be best for her, to leave her in her lovely cage in her familiar environment in your home, and have someone go in once a day to put food and water out. That is all that is needed - just someone to go in once a day around the same time to put out food and water (and check the house is ok). But then you said it was over Christmas! And yes it can be difficult to find someone who would do that over the Christmas period possibly. If you can find someone, that is the best option if it's only for four days. If it was two days you can just leave them with extra food and water but anything longer than that, someone does need to go in. It's not just to put the food and water out, but also so the hamster senses someone is there once a day and doesn't feel scared or abandoned. It's reassuring for them.

Is your boyfriend's house near yours? As in would it be far to take her for a few days? Does she know your boyfriend/familiar with him? If so then that might be an option - to take her to your boyfriend's house for a few days. As Rainbow says, you'd need something bigger than a crittertrail though.

You'd need a pet carrier for the travel period (it's not safe to leave them in a cage while travelling as they could get thrown against the side and everything spills or falls over etc with jolts). So it would be transporting her there in a pet carrier you can secure in a car for example, and taking a holiday cage with you. Plus taking bedding, familiar toys etc, from her main cage, to put in the holiday cage (that helps them settle a bit if they have their familiar smelling things from their main cage).

I actually bought a smaller cage just for holiday type purposes. It's small enough to transport easily but not too small for a hamster - it's about 70cm by 45cm and quite low so the base sits inside the barred top and it makes a small package for transporting somewhere.

Are you in the Uk? The Ferplast Duna Multy would make a good temporary holiday home. Or a bin cage as Rainbow suggested (the ikea samla 78cm bin would be ok). However a cage like the duna multy would be easier to transport with you as the top sits in the base.

I would find out about petsitters though. I have a petsitter who comes to the house. She doesn't charge too much and does this all the time so as it's a job a pet sitter might not mind doing it over Christmas!
 
This is the duna multy

www.portonaquapet.co.uk

Ferplast Duna Multy Cage - Porton Garden Aquatic & Pets

Duna Multy is a sturdy plastic cage for hamsters and mice, with a transparent roof and a wire mesh grid, designed to ensure proper air flow inside.
www.portonaquapet.co.uk www.portonaquapet.co.uk

There's a similar cage the same size in the US as well - it's the Fop Tamburino - Abbaseed sell it for $60. It comes with a huge wood house thing intended for rabbits and a hay rack so you'd probably want to take those out. The house might be ok left in actually!


Tamburino.jpg
 
For a pet carrier (guinea pig sized ones are best) I put lots of substrate in it, a little house (cardboard house is ok) scatter some food and put a piece of cucumber in there (instead of water for a short journey). I usually have the pet carrier on my knee in the car as a passenger, with a blanket over the top so I can hold it steady, but if you're driving you could wedge it in on the floor somewhere so it's stable - maybe in the back.
 
Your dwarf hammy is gorgeous by the way! Such a lovely colour.
 
Hi tompin,
would you be able to relax while away, should you decide to leave your hamster by herself or would you be worrying about her?
 
RainbowBrite said:
Hello tompin and welcome to the forum. Your hamster is so cute. If the cage is too big to take to your boyfriends family's house I would just use a smaller cage. Perhaps a bin cage? That would be much better then a critter trail.
Click to expand...
Hello! Thank you, she is adorable. The cage is quite heavy unfortunately but the bin idea sounds really nice! Thank you
 
Maz said:
Hello and welcome! It's such a worry when we go away isn't it. I was going to say that ideally, it would be best for her, to leave her in her lovely cage in her familiar environment in your home, and have someone go in once a day to put food and water out. That is all that is needed - just someone to go in once a day around the same time to put out food and water (and check the house is ok). But then you said it was over Christmas! And yes it can be difficult to find someone who would do that over the Christmas period possibly. If you can find someone, that is the best option if it's only for four days. If it was two days you can just leave them with extra food and water but anything longer than that, someone does need to go in. It's not just to put the food and water out, but also so the hamster senses someone is there once a day and doesn't feel scared or abandoned. It's reassuring for them.

Is your boyfriend's house near yours? As in would it be far to take her for a few days? Does she know your boyfriend/familiar with him? If so then that might be an option - to take her to your boyfriend's house for a few days. As Rainbow says, you'd need something bigger than a crittertrail though.

You'd need a pet carrier for the travel period (it's not safe to leave them in a cage while travelling as they could get thrown against the side and everything spills or falls over etc with jolts). So it would be transporting her there in a pet carrier you can secure in a car for example, and taking a holiday cage with you. Plus taking bedding, familiar toys etc, from her main cage, to put in the holiday cage (that helps them settle a bit if they have their familiar smelling things from their main cage).

I actually bought a smaller cage just for holiday type purposes. It's small enough to transport easily but not too small for a hamster - it's about 70cm by 45cm and quite low so the base sits inside the barred top and it makes a small package for transporting somewhere.

Are you in the Uk? The Ferplast Duna Multy would make a good temporary holiday home. Or a bin cage as Rainbow suggested (the ikea samla 78cm bin would be ok). However a cage like the duna multy would be easier to transport with you as the top sits in the base.

I would find out about petsitters though. I have a petsitter who comes to the house. She doesn't charge too much and does this all the time so as it's a job a pet sitter might not mind doing it over Christmas!
Click to expand...
Thank you so so so much for giving so much info. I am in Italy and my boyfriend is in another city unfortunately so it'd be almost impossible to carry the cage. As of now, I haven't been able to find any pet sitters for hamsters here but I'm gonna keep looking. The bin cage idea sounds good too but I really am not sure. I'm going to try my best to find someone who'll check up on her daily or every other day at least. But if i can't, I think I'll definitely look into the cages you've suggested or get a bin one. Thank you so so much, you've helped a lot
 
Beryl said:
Hi tompin,
would you be able to relax while away, should you decide to leave your hamster by herself or would you be worrying about her?
Click to expand...
I left her with my roommate for two nights this weekend and even now I'm super stressed and can't wait to get home to see her. I'm an overthinker in general so I've been going crazy but I just bought a pet cam so I think that'll help a lot. But I'd still be worried so I really don't think I can leave her completely alone
 
I would not be able to leave my hamster alone either so I can understand how you feel. I would say the best thing is to take her to your boyfriends family. That way you know she will not be alone.

We have a diary section on here where you can post all about your hamster. It would be lovely to know her name and find out all about her. :)
 
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Ok. If you can't find someone available, maybe your bf could buy the bin cage or cage so it's already there ready then you just need to travel with the hamster and a bag of bedding etc. It is a worry isn't it? It changes our lives slightly having a hamster :) .

It's one thing or the other really - either avoid the travel stress for her if someone can come in once a day (and lets face it they're asleep all day so as long as someone comes in once a day they know someone is around to feed them). Or it's have her in a better environment but have a certain amount of travel stress - which you can minimise as much as possible.

I hope you find someone around. I find there are plenty of dog sitters. The lady I use is a dog sitter but for me she comes to the house and feeds the hamsters :). I know she's reliable from feedback from other people. And she also talks to them when she comes (because I asked her to lol!)

I think - once you have a plan and something organised, you won't worry and can just go and enjoy your four days away over Christmas knowing you've got everything sorted. The hamster won't know it's Christmas and it's only four days.
 
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