hamsterMy sister's kids have had hamsters for years and they have learned a lot about them. My niece is a regular encyclopedia of information on hamsters and gerbils, too. They were even allowed to breed hamsters for a while, too, but once they got over the joys of motherhood, they gave it up. It was a lot of work for them. Some interesting things they learned while having all their hamsters was that the reason hamsters need so much cardboard to chew is because their teeth are continually growing, and the cardboard keeps their teeth at healthy sizes.

Another big learning curve they had was with the hamsters' health. They finally figured out that giving the hamsters used toilet paper rolls was a real no no. Apparently the little bits of bacteria on the toilet paper rolls was quite toxic for the critters. They used to be pretty relaxed about the cardboard they gave their pets, but after they figured that out, they began to be quite careful about the cleanliness of what they gave their hamsters to chew on. It helped the mortality rate quite a bit.