if you've been watching my videos for a while now you probably would know that owning a
chinese hamster has never been a possibility for me not because that i don't like the species but
because they just don't exist here....
until now
so I recently made this linnmon enclosure and I had
planned to put a dwarf hamster in it so I've been looking on Kijiji which is usually where i find a
lot of my adoptable hamsters but it hasn't had a lot lately so i've been checking every couple
of days to see if there were any new ads and i came across an ad that said
chinese hamster and
my jaw dropped because i've never physically seen a chinese hamster in my life i've been to
every single pet store in my province and chinese hamsters just they have not existed
i don't know
where they got him from but as soon as i saw the ad i had to jump on it and i had to adopt him
So I would like you all to meet Waddles the chinese hamster or also known as the chinese dwarf hamster
fun fact that is a super big debated thing a lot of people will say that chinese
hamsters aren't dwarf hamsters but actually scientifically chinese hamsters are the only
domesticated species considered to be a "dwarf" the dwarfs we know as "dwarfs" are scientifically
considered to be called "small desert hamsters"
so chinese hamsters technically are dwarfs
if you're wondering how his previous care was it wasn't awful but it also wasn't
the best
he was in a bin cage so it was bigger than a store-bought enclosure which is good
he also was on some paper bedding so that was good
and he had quite a few different like accessories and things
the diet that he was on wasn't the greatest chinese hamsters are prone to diabetes so you
do have to be conscious of what they're eating and be a little bit more careful than other species
and the wheel
they did include the wheel because they did say he really really really loved it
and this was the wheel
this is one of those four-inch
wheels they sell for mice and robos
and i would not use this for either of those animals because it simply is too small
i don't know how he physically got his little long body on this and actually
ran maybe he like could move in it a bit but there would be a lot of
arching of the back
the previous owners did say he was eight months of age and
he does have very very very large testicles that is just a trait that male chinese hamsters have
they're not tumours, it's not his butt
they're balls and they are bigger than his head
the chinese hamster has a very distinct look they look very similar to a wild mouse
they have very long and slender bodies and their face and snout is a lot more pointier
they also do have the longest tail out of the five domesticated species and it is semi-prehensile
so they are able to kind of cling and wrap it around objects obviously not the
same ability as a rat or mouse but chinese hamsters are the best climbers out of the
five domesticated species and even then they are not amazing climbers so you can't be putting
ropes and things you would give rats and mice
you may notice um the enclosure may
look slightly different than when i set it up um i did film that video and then i kind of
didn't like how some of the things were so i quickly moved things around I also switched out
the wheel this one is the same size it's just the acrylic cork and wood NiteAngel wheel and its
width isn't as wide so it kind of frees up a little bit more space in the enclosure and i think
it has a little bit more grip because the inside is lined with cork
now obviously Waddles is used
to a wheel like this so when he was on the NiteAngel wheel he definitely was a little
bit confused it is obviously a little bit harder to push but the size for him is definitely good
and by the end of the night he was fully running on it and i think he was very grateful to not
have his back bending on it
he definitely is still very very shy i'm not sure how often
the previous owners held him or not they did say he might nibble a bit i did let him sniff
me and he seems to be not terrified of humans but not also very interested so it is going to
take some time to fully get him used to humans and offering treats and everything and he is still new
so he is still settling into his enclosure so i haven't started taming or bonding or
anything because it is really important to just let a new animal get used to their surroundings
because it can be super stressful when you're coming into a new place and you've never been
and everything is different and nothing smells like it used to be
i definitely will try to film
my taming and bonding process with him but that won't happen for a while because it can
take a while to bond and tame with a hamster
I hope you guys love Waddles as much as I do
and i'm so excited to show him in future videos. chinese hamsters definitely are on the lower
popularity scale or just less common to find i only know a few accounts who have ever owned or
currently own chinese hamsters so i'm very excited to be able to learn with you guys more about
chinese hamsters and learn more about waddles
so i will see you guys in my next video bye