[dusty321]

Hamsters 162grams in weight is he over weight his year old uses his wheel lot and goes in ball lot don't leave him more than 15mins in ball give plenty of e.g. and apple gets cleaned once week and store cupboard empty and old food too got tubes run around in too his very friendly too... has 2 tsps hamster food day

[Thistles]

Does he have a friend? My pets always had a partner for friendship.. sounds like you take very good care of him. Being thin is not always healthy, for that you would need to do blood work!

[Alty]

Does he have a friend? My pets always had a partner for friendship..sounds like you take very good care of him. Being thin is not always healthy, for that you would need to do blood work!

You're suggesting that she get another hamster? This is a very bad advice.

Most people get syrian hamsters. Syrians are the teddy bears etc. the ones most commonly sold in pet stores.

Syrians cannot live with another hamster. They are solitary animals. If you put another hamster with a syrian they will fight, and usually one of them ends up killing the other.

Never put two syrian hamsters in the same cage. Ever!

It could be that your hamster is gaining weight or getting chubbier due to the season. Hamsters tend to get less active and store more food during the winter months. Sadly we can only guess. You'd have to go to a vet to get an accurate diagnosis.

[Thistles]

Not sure the owner said it was a Syrian... There are hamsters in the same cage at the pets stores and many homes. My house always had two of everything as I said... gerbils, dogs, snakes. Guinea pigs, rabbits . Lizards.. and they did not all come from the nest all the time... yes there are times when you need to safe guard animals who do not blend well with others even fish.. But you can never say not to do anything ever until you have checked with your pet store.. we all know.. nothing new...

[Thistles]

IS the hamster a Syrian? Not sure the owner said thatnot then that is very bad advice that you are giving not knowing the species either? If someone owns a Syrian they know this already therefore you answer is then reduntant to min

[Alty]

Not sure the owner said it was a Syrian... There are hamsters in the same cage at the pets stores and many homes. My house always had two of everything as I said ... gerbils, dogs, snakes. guinea pigs, rabbits . lizards.. and they did not all come from the nest all the time...yes there are times when you need to safe gaurd animals who do not blend well with others even fish.. But you can never say not to do anything ever until you have checked with your pet store ..we all know ..nothing new ...

The hamsters in pets stores are young hamsters. Until they reach sexual maturity they are okay to house together. Afterwards you're just asking for trouble. Yes, many people do have syrians in cages together because they weren't told. Likely the 18 year old working at the pet store that day doesn't have a clue and is eager to make an extra sale. Some syrians can live together without ever having issues, but that's not the norm. Those are the exception.

No, the OP didn't say what type of hamster she has, which is why it's dangerous to suggest housing them together when you have no idea whether they're syrians or russian dwarfs, or any of the other hamster breeds.

The majority of hamsters sold are syrians, that's the most common breed that pet stores carry. So err on the side of caution. Until the OP comes back to tell us the breed of her hamster, it's not wise to suggest getting another.

No need to go to your pet store and ask. Most of the employees there have no idea how to care for the animals they sell. If you want to know than it's far wiser to do research on your own, or ask your vet.

I've done a lot of research on hamsters. The info I provide is not a guess, it's based on facts, on verifiable facts.

[JudyKayTee]

"THISTLES: IS the hamster a Syrian? Not sure the owner said thatnot then that is very bad advice that you are giving not knowing the species either? If someone owns a Syrian they know this already therefore you answer is then reduntant to min"

Just so you know you are criticizing a pet expert on this site, an expert who very well knows what she is talking about. Your "advice" not only didn't answer the question, it was irresponsible, as was your comment to "never do anything" without checking with your pet store. Vets are the people to be consulted, not pet store owners who are selling live animals to anyone who walks in with money in his/her hand.

Not a good idea to start on this site by insulting the very people who are trying to help you and know their stuff.

[Alty]

IS the hamster a Syrian? Not sure the owner said thatnot then that is very bad advice that you are giving not knowing the species either? If someone owns a Syrian they know this already therefore you answer is then reduntant to min

Like I already said, no the breed wasn't posted, which is why it's not good to assume that she can purchase another hamster and house them together.

Also, it's not good to assume that people know that syrians can't be housed together. You didn't, as you clearly stated in your other post;

There are hamsters in the same cage at the pets stores and many homes

Until we know for sure what type of hamster the OP has, it's not a good idea to recommend getting another.

Now that we've covered that I suggest we stick to the actual topic of this post, which is the weight of the hamster, not whether she should get another.

If you wish to discuss syrian hamsters you can start a thread abut the topic, I'd be more than happy to tell you what you'd like to know about this breed. :)

[Thistles]

My last question is what exactly makes someone a pet expert? And the second part, how is your reading comprehension for it was not me who suggested a friend, it was merely a statement, which is true all my animals big or small did better with a partner including hamsters!

Now go pick on someone else.

[Alty]

My last question is what exactly makes someone a pet expert? And the second part, how is your reading comprehension for it was not me who suggested a friend, it was merely a statement, which is true all my animals big or small did better with a partner including hamsters!

Now go pick on someone else.

Thistles, I'm not picking on you. I simply want to stress that the proper information is very important in the pet section. As for what makes a pet expert, it's knowledge about animals, proving that you know what you're talking about. I'm not a pet expert because I have pets. I'm an expert because I know a lot about the care of those pets.

My reading comprehension is just fine. This is your exact post;

Does he have a friend? My pets always had a partner for friendship.. sounds like you take very good care of him. Being thin is not always healthy, for that you would need to do blood work!

I realize that you didn't like being corrected. I can't do anything about that. You'll find that all the animal experts on this forum expect that valid info be posted on the threads in the pets forums. There's a risk when you post invalid info. In this case, putting two syrians together could result in the death of one or both. Can you now understand why I wanted to make it clear to the OP that your post about a friend for her hamster could be deadly depending on the breed of her hamster? You yourself stated that you always have two of everything. No, you didn't say "go buy another hamster", but it was suggested in the way you worded your post. Otherwise why ask if the hamster has a friend and then go on to state that all of your animals do?

Thread closed. If the OP would like it re-opened she can PM me. I don't think there's really anything to add anyway. If the hamster is gaining weight at a remarkable speed then it's time to see the vet. If not, weight gain during the winter is not out of the norm.

Thistles, stick around, we always welcome new people to the site. But, you will have to realize that when you're wrong people won't just sit by and say nothing. We're here to give accurate advice. If the advice isn't accurate we correct it. It's not personal. How can it be? I don't know you.

[ScottGem]

Comments on this post
Thistles does not find this helpful : She has not read the answer correctly

First, may I call your attention to the guidelines for using the comments feature found here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/feedba...ure-24951.html

But you may have actually read this because you are using the feature correctly. You are using it to point out what you felt was incorrect information posted by another member. The problem arises here in that you are wrong in labeling the posts you rated as incorrect. If you think someone posted something incorrect, then you need to prove it. You need to cite either studies or articles or significant expertise to back up your claims and you haven't done so. Also several of your comments are accusing Altenweg of misreading your responses and making false accusations about them. But apparently other people reading your posts have read your posts the same way. Which means you are the one in the wrong here.

Experts here are chosen because they have demonstrated significant knowledge an expertise from previous postings that have earned them the designation.

Any further misuse of the comments feature or personal attacks will be dealt with.