Rabbits N'Rodents

Are you Rabbit obessed?

10 Ways you know that you are officially obsessed with rabbits

1./ Finding hay in your hair or stuck to your clothes or carpet is no longer a bother to you, more of a daily ritual.

2./ Your hands always smell of cucumber, celery, nasturtiums or other typical strong smelling bunny food which you feed because you know they love it.

3./ You no longer hesitate to pick up little bunny poops from the floor that have strayed from the litter tray, in fact, you now call them affectionate names like 'poopsies' or 'raisins' rather than poo and even inspect the poopsies daily to ensure they are all a regular size and shape, if they aren't, more fibre (and fretting)!

4./ You find yourself having many discussions about rabbits to your friends, it is one topic you always want to talk about, and can't understand why people get bored of your endless bunny chat.

5./ You chat more about rabbits than your work colleagues talk about their own kids

6./ You spend most of your time when doing the weekly shopping at the vegetable section, trying to remember what veggies are safe, and what would be a nice change for them.

7./ If you forget your favourite food whilst shopping, you will do without, but if you realise there is not enough fresh vegetables for the rabbits, you rush down to the shops.

8./ You will happily put off getting those new jeans you wanted or those shoes that would go so well with your blue top, if its the only way you can afford to get the bunnies their vaccinations, their favourite big bale of hay or some new toys you saw on that bunny online shop.

9./ Overall, you probably spend more money on your rabbits than you do yourself

10./ You have been nodding and agreeing to everything said on this article!

Hamster/Gerbil Toys and boredom busters

Today there are many, many toys out there designed for hamsters, gerbils and other small rodents, however sometimes these toys are not practical and more for their looks, so what are some safe household items you can let your rodents play with?

Hide N' Seek

Providing food in a bowl keeps the cage looking clean, however it is no fun for an animal which naturally spends most of its time foraging for its food to have it in a bowl. Instead, scatter the food, put some in the bowl and sprinkle the rest of the food around the cage, so as the animals have to search for their food, and I am sure you will find they ignore the food in the bowl in favor of foraging! You can also hide nuts or other non-perishable foods.

Cardboard Tubes

Well the most obvious being toilet or kitchen roll tubes, but you can also use those much longer rolls from wrapping paper when the rodents are out playing, or you can stuff a toilet roll using a lot of plain unscented toilet paper at one end, hiding some yummy treats in the middle, like a milk-bone, a walnut and some millet seed or other food off the safe food list and finally stuff the other end with more toilet paper. Then just watch your pet shredding the toilet paper, and chewing the cardboard and then munching on the treats.

Nuts

Nuts in their shell offer a great boredom buster, as your pet will spend ages trying to get at the nut inside, which will help keep teeth clean and short. Be careful to use a safe type of nut, like a walnut. You will have to slightly crack the shell so as the animal can crack the rest of it open, and will smell the prize inside.

Digging Pit

A deep ceramic bowl filled with chinchilla sand (NOT dust, sand from the beach or play sand) will offer many hours of fun, in particular with dwarf hamsters.

Cardboard Boxes

Small boxes used for food packaging work well, like the long boxes crackers come in or the tall etc. Cut a hole in side, hide some hamster/gerbil mix inside with some deep bedding, watch them dig, forage, hide, climb and chew! You can add cardboard loo roll tubes to create a tunnel for smaller animals like gerbils and dwarf hamsters.

Apple tree branches

If you have access to an orchard fruit tree branches can provide hours of chewing, climbing and exploring. be sure to only use branches from apple, gooseberry or pear trees though, and do not use if the trees are sprayed with pesticide or diseased. Any branches with bird poo etc should never be used.

Dangers

Never, ever use any of the materials listed below to create toys:

String
Sandpaper
Paints
Ink
Fabrics
Pine/cedar/peach wood
Rope
Glue
Cello-tape

Hamster Quiz

Test Your Knowledge!

Think you know everything there is to know about hamsters? Take the test, and see how many you get right, answers and scores are at the bottom of the test....but no cheating!

1.)Teddybears, Pandas, dalamations and blackbears are all names given to what type of hamster?

a)Syrian b)Chinese c)Roborovski d)Dwarf

2.)Phodopus Sungorus Sungorus is the scientific name for which breed of hamster?

a)Syrian b)Chinese c)Winter White d)Campbells e)Roborovski

3.)Which of these is not a colour of syrian hamster?

a)Rust b)Cinnamon c)Opal d)Mink

4.)True or False? Syrians are the only hamster that can get wet tail?

5.)Which is smaller?

a)Campbells Russian Dwarf b)Winter White Russian Dwarf

6.)Which of these beddings are toxic and should never be used?

a)Cedar and Pine b)Carefresh and aspen

7.)Syrians are the biggest hamster kept as a pet, but what size are they on average?

a)4-5inches b)6-8inches c)8-10inches

8.)What are Chinese and Russian Dwarves more prone to?

a)Caries b)Diabetes c)Heart Disease

9.)What is the average litter size for a Syrian?

a)4-5 b)6-8 c)8-12

10.)Which of these foods is not safe for hamsters?

a)Pak Choi b)Thyme c)Tomato d)Celery leaves

11.)The small lumps on the hips of syrians are referred to as what?

a)Tumors b)Scent Glands c)Fatty Deposits

12.)Chewing the bars of the cage can be a sign of what?

a)Boredom b)Mental illness

13.)Too much calcium in the diet can cause....?

a)Heart disease b)Caries c)Bladder stones d)Eczema

14.)A baby hamster is referred to as what?

a)Kit b)Pup c)Cub

15.)Hamster comes from the German word meaning......?

a)Rodent b)Hoarder c)Cute

16.)True or False? Albino is a colour mutation in Syrians

17.)Increased thirst and urination can be a sign of which of the following?

a)Diabetes b)Cushings Disease c)Kidney/Liver Failure d)Bladder infections e)Wet tail f)Old Age g)a,b,e h)a,c,d,e i)a,b,c,d

18.)Hamsters can make a range of noises to show if they are injured, scared, happy etc

a)True b)False

19.)What is the minimum you should exercise your hamster(s)?

a)Once a week b)Twice a week c)Every other day d)Daily for several hours e)Daily for half an hour f)5-10 mins daily g)Whenever you feel like it

20.) What is the correct way to pick up a hamster?

a)By the scruff b)Scooping up with both hands c)Around the waist

21.)What colour should a healthy hamster's teeth be?

a)White b)Yellow

Answers

1-a 2-c 3-c 4-True 5-b 6-a 7-b 8-b 9-b 10-c 11-b 12-a 13-c 14-b 15-b 16-False

17-i 18-True 19-e 20-b 21-b

Scores

1-3 Oh dear, better luck next time, keep on researching and see if you can improve your score!

4-7 Hmmm....a lot more research is needed I'm afraid, better get reading!

7-10 Not a bad attempt, but further research would be a good idea

11-13 Getting there, but again, some more reading, particulary on the areas you lack knowledge on would be a wise idea

14-17 Now thats not a bad score at all, but of course, you can never know too much!

18-21-You are a hamster Genius, but of course this is only a taster test, so don't stop learning!

Rabbit Quiz

Test Your Bunny Knowledge

Think you know everything there is to know about rabbits? Find out in this quiz, and once you've finished, take a look at the answers posted at the bottom.

1.)The correct term for a male rabbit is: