How old were you when you got your first pet?  How much did you know about it before it arrived at your door? 

Ryan J. bred his first hamster at the age of nine. He didn’t really know what to do when he welcomed his first baby hamster, but there were four in that litter. He currently has a Roborovski dwarf hamster.“I haven’t bred hamsters on purpose I guess, I have only bred two if you count that because it was kinda an accident,” said Ryan. 

Ryan’s mom was a huge help when his pet population began to grow. She loves baby animals and once tried to breed her bunnies. They researched information and figured out what to do with the baby hamsters. “I kind of just ran downstairs, and I was like Mom my hamster has babies, what happened?” 

He keeps his hamsters in his room in cages, equipped with a water bottle, huts, willow tree wood (for them to chew on at night). As nocturnal mammals, they are notorious for exercising all night long, but this doesn’t bother Ryan. “I usually fall asleep really fast so it’s not that bad, but it can get annoying sometimes. When it does, I’ll put down their wheel for the night, and they are usually fine with that.” 

Ryan buys and makes his own materials out of cardboard and paper towels. He usually fashions huts and has even attempted to make a food bowl.

A typical day with a hamster requires changing their water and then feeding them. Ryan checks on them frequently to assure that they are okay. His favorite part of the day is watching them run on their wheels and roam around their cages. He only wishes he started breeding hamsters a few years later because he didn’t really understand how to care for them at first. Ryan says he considers himself an expert but still has some stuff to learn. Some advice he gives is “Do their research and to have patience throughout  their hamsters lives.”