Hamster Life Span and Health
A typical hamster lifespan is usually between 1 1/2 to
3.5 years. So what's the best way to keep your pet healthy during the
time that you have him (or her)? Here are some tips and suggestions.
First, if you have not yet chosen your pet, then make sure you start out in the right direction by choosing a healthy hamster at the beginning. Look for a pet that is lively and curious, and that comes from a clean environment and is surrounded by other healthy hamsters. This increases the probability of a longer life for your pet.
Next, make sure you provide your pet hamster with plenty of fresh, clean water and fresh nutritious food. Provide a water bottle that hangs from the side of the cage. Dishes or bowls of water can be easily tipped over and make the bottom of the cage wet, which is not a healthy environment for your hamster. Also make sure that you pick up all of the uneaten food on a daily basis, and change the bedding often so that your hamster has a nice clean home to live in.
In the wild, hamsters eat a lot of different kinds of foods like grains, seeds, berries, fruit, vegetables and even insects and worms (which are a good source of protein). So they need a diet that replicates that kind of variety in order to get the right balance of healthy fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
But there are some foods that should absolutely be avoided, like chocolate, raw potatoes and anything with sugar in it. You have to be especially careful about the sugar. Diabetes is starting to show up in some of the dwarf hamster breeds, and it could be from the manufactured hamster "treats" (like yogurt drops) that are sold in pet stores. So if you buy hamster food or treats from pet stores, read the labels and make sure they do not contain sugar.
Last, pet hamsters need to have a way to exercise on a daily basis. In the wild, their natural routine is to hunt for food every night covering a large territory. And they also are very active digging tunnels to live in and store their food in. But in captivity, they live in small cages that don't allow for that kind of activity.
So the best way to provide exercise for them is to furnish their cages with tubes that they can crawl around in and toys that they can climb on. Even something as simple as cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls can provide your pet hamsters with lots of enjoyable activity.
