I'll go ahead and pin this since people are confused and I've been responding to others with the same comment. I mentioned Chinese dwarf hamster because they're labeled as such, not under the notion of relating to the Russian dwarf or winter whites but because the name most likely refers to the size as dwarf means "a member of a mythical race of short, stocky". Just so we are clear and for anyone who's reading. They are not related to any other hamster species and are their own species. I have personally always put them with smaller hamsters when referring to their care size because of their size difference compared to the Syrian hamster. So hopefully this is made more clear.

Alternative title: “munchie loses mind over crap pet store guides”

As someone who works at a pet store I won’t name which one I can personally say that all the pamphlets in every pet store are trash and me and my fellow coworkers do not use them to help customers because we know that they are stupid and not useful we use our own knowledge because everyone in my store has owned at least one of the animals that we provide for if not more so we use our own personal knowledge and always make sure to tell people that they are solitary animals and we will refuse to sell you more than one

I’ve had my hamster in 2 critter trails and then found you and am upgrading him to a 110 quart bin from target! Thanks for your information!

I have being doing research for 2 years and finally got a hamster he’s a sirian and he’s in a custom acrylic cage which took a while to get cause I live in Italy the cage is a total of 2350 square inches ❤️🐹

I live in Germany and despite all the high guidelines we have for hamster care I still found a booklet about hamsters in a hardware store where they have a large pet section and it basically had 1970s standards. Like "put platforms im your cage if the floor space is too small", "any substrate will do as long as it is 5cm deep", "sandbaths are a fun addition". They should be taken off the shelves!

I mean.... I remember reading (I think) PetSmart's guide on ferrets back when I was researching them, and I actually called over a store employee and told them that the guide was wrong and that ferrets should NOT have fruits as a 'regular treat' as they're obligate carnivores. I think I just weirded them out more than anything.

guide grades Petco: F Petsmart: C- Munchie:A Victoria:A Me myself:B+

I work at a Pet Smart. Omg! I tried my best to talk to a lady and her husband about the food they were buying for their hamster. "Oh this food I've been feeding my hamster for a long time. It's fine." 🤬 off. Honestly I tried to tell her the ingredients werent good for her pet. She brushed me off. Next I had a younger lady come in and she was buying a hamster ball, fluff and chews....I told her flat out to put that fluff back! I told her the same thing about the ball but she said her hamster likes it.! I wish I could slap people!!!!

It's always bittersweet to watch a Munchie video. I just remember the hamsters I had as a kid, and think about the small cages I put them in and how I probably gave them too many vegetables, and I didn't even know what chews or hides were, and I now know that one of them was Syrian so her life must have been horrible. I just wish I sought out this information when I was younger so they didn't have such bad lives.

Random idea, but maybe you could make your own care brochure-type things and link them so we could read them? Personally, I own rats but I love watching your hamster videos, and you are a huge inspiration to me. Thanks for all of the quality content!

The first vet I took my hamster to gave me some shockingly bad advice. She said oxbow food only, all seeds are bad, she seemed shocked that I had a 600 square inch bin cage because she said that was way more than enough. I had been researching hamsters for a long time on forums and channels like yours, so I tried to question her a little bit and she mocked me for believing the internet more than a vet. Sad truth that exotic vets don’t always have enough training or information on certain species. Definitely a stressful experience.

Petco needs to update what hamsters cannot have for bedding. Had a fighting with my mom over pine shavings due to mom only relying on the care guides from Petco

My hammy died like two weeks ago,he was 2 and a half.And I went to the pet store to buy food for my geckos,and I saw a man at the checkout holding a small hamster cage in his hand😞And that made me really sad,honestly..

When I got my hammies Thumbelina and Chacha the worker at petsmart said it's okay to have both female winter white hamsters together. They'll fight every once and awhile but nothing to bad. That is until the night I got them Chacha got bit by Thumbelina 3 times on her belly and 1 time on her paw. They told me any good information. I got a kaytee 1 level cage for two hamsters. But until I started watching your channel and Victoria Rachael and now I know way more information about hamsters. Now they both have at least 500 sq inches bin cages. So thank you!!!!

Came across your channel by accident as I work for a pet store and want to learn everything I can about the different animals we have so I can better inform potential and new pet parents and ensure a great life for our animals. Your channel is one i recommend to all new hammy parents.

I bought my little Winter White Dwarf Hamster at a small local pet shop here in Norway, and his coat was clearly not clean. He had a greasy coat making his fur stick together. He was in any other way in perfect health. The day after I brought him home in a large cage with a large sand bath his coat got perfect. From one day to another. It sparkles now. He is rolling around, digging and cleaning himself while in the sand bath all the time.

"A lot of people are dummies!" *Mood*

When I took my dwarf furbaby to the vet to get her claws trimmed they gave me some info on hamster care. It was mainly for syrian hamsters and the info was great UNTILL I got to housing! This very much upset me and I wish I read the info before leaving the parking lot! They have it stating that a 10gal tank or 10gal bin cage as being adequate space FOR A SYRIAN! I would have expected a Vet of all people to be more educated on hamster housing than the pet stores out there.

I just got an winter white hamster yesterday her name is ice cube

Pfft, nocturnal? Crepuscular? Nah my hamster is "lazy and never wakes up even when I stay up half the night" Also, I just learned hairless hamsters were a thing.

Who fed a hamster chocolate, caffeine, alcohol?! And thinks its a good idea? that they had to put it on there? Thats sad lol

It’s so sad how ppl use Hampster a as toys it’s not acceptable so if u r going to adopt a Hampster than make sure you have the money Because they need food water toys a big cage and they need to go to the vets sometime 🙁 ps you r a great person thank you for doing what you do you inspire me everytime you post

And I’ve had a dwarf hamster that got to 2 and a half years 😊

My recommendation is to go to an actual book store for a guide to take care of hamsters. Those books are in excess of 100 pages so can cram more info into and those pamphlets tend to suggest you need specific items from the same store you are getting the hamster from.

Munchie:so today where gonna be looking at care guides cc:so today where gonna be looking at hair guides

Also, I recently got my hamster at Petco and the guy asked me a few questions about my enclosure and stuff. When I told him 999 sq in he was just like “oh idk how big that is” uhhhhh then how will you know if people have the proper sized enclosures???? And he tried to tell me not to buy the Higgins sunburst seed diet

After finding you I upgraded both my Syrian hamsters to their own bin cages that are 680 square inches! Thank you for spreading this information! You’re Amazing!

today i was literally gonna make the same video ughhh 😂 i’m still gonna do it

Hey Munchie! I just wanted to tell you that Chinese hamsters are not dwarf hamsters as they are very different! One difference is that Chinese hamsters are solitary, whereas dwarfs ~can~ live in pairs ( even though it's very risky ). I'm loving the video, though, and I love what you are doing! Can't wait to see all of the videos to come in December!

Today's letter made me almost jump out of my skin when it appeared.

Super awesome video! Munchie you bring a wealth of good information ❤️ Thank u 4 all u do 💕

Can you create a video where you try to make a critter trail or tiny tales cage as acceptable as possible? (I know they are both terrible options, but it would be interesting to see what you would do.) Thanks!

Maybe you can make your own correct care pamphlet and show it to petco and petsmart and maybe they will listen

I was so lucky to stop my dwarf hamsters fighting from an early age. I have Chinese dwarf hamsters and the store I got them from said they could easily be housed together and they even helped me choose everything out. I spent so much money on the worst products. Luckily my boys are now in bin cages with 480 sq in of space each, larger wheels, and plenty of bedding. They fell in love with their new areas and hides. Most of that is thanks to you! Thanks Munchie!

5:20 Oh boy, I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time? But my hamster and I go out to the bar every Sunday for drinks and he’s _fiiiiiiiiine!_

I don’t have a hamster but I love your Channel and can’t help but love the hamsters

Let's show munchie how much we love her and please subscribe to her KZfaq channel

at my pets at home the employees will not sell hamsters if cage to small and only sell to 18+. and tell about PROPER care

My Hams free range at playtime, (safely of course) and they love it. However my Robo is a monkey and swear he is on speed, 😁 so I had to make him a playpen, he loves it. 🤩

Surprised I didn’t see you scrunch them up and put them in the bin 😂

Yay I love these videos!

I have a robo hamster and I successfully tamed him ;w;

Could you make little booklets like these (With correct information of course), and sell them for about 5$? Also, your hair looks amazing!!

My hamster is full blown nocturnal, not crepuscular. He wakes up very little until maybe midnight or so and is wide awake in the dark morning hours. It’s funny he acts like a completely different animal late at night.

I love your munchies ❤

I haven't been to Petco. There isn't one near me. But I have been to petsmart. As far as I know (we have had our petsmart for about 8 years and never need to one before that) they haven't updated the care guide pamphlets. Just my experience with ours.

I felt so bad when I went to Petsmart on black Friday and saw they had the combination of a sale on their small animals and a big discounted center display of tiny tales cages right next to the hamsters. I wonder how many people picked up a hamster on a whim for Christmas.

Love you munchie❤️❤️

Petsmart/Petco: “Let's make a How to torture your Hamster Guide!”

My Syrian would hear me in the morning and adjusted to my schedule n it wasn’t drowsy but it did it on it own just cause it heard me up and moving around and would get excited to see me but me and NoBalls had a bond

I think my pet store Exotic Tropicals is pretty good because even though they have those care guides they completely ignore them and would rather inform the future pet owner themselves than giving them a guide or going off of the guide. When I started to get interested in mice the employees told me so much stuff that I needed to know but didn't know and it was very nice. When I worked at Pet Supplies Plus I always told people to shy away from the pet guides unless you want to make fun of them.

i really wish pet stores would give correct care advice its really frustrating here in the uk aspen is hard to get hold of tbh so I mix hemp based bedding with a kiln dried bedding that is dust extracted and kiln dried that also helps for tunnels

hi munchie , i’m looking for adopting a hamster but there are not many adoption places where i live ,i love you munchie 💕

You can tell the quality of the language by replacing the hamster related things with human related things. Imagine if someone described human care by saying “they need a toilet, a fridge, and a bed, with barely enough room to move comfortably between them.” Imagine a room like that as a human’s only habitat!

crepuscular animals are active at dusk and/or dawn (crepusculum in Latin). love ur videos on proper hamster care!

This should be a series :)

This video deserves more likes 👍👍

The other day i went to petsmart and there was this annoying employee that was helping this grown man get all of the stuff for a hamster and she led him straight to the crittertrails and i just wanted to go up to him and be like, “ur hamsters gonna escape from that piece of junk and be super stressed in it and its an overpriced piece of plastic. Also u can make a bin cage for super cheap and actually do ur research for hammies so it will have an enriched life.” Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Also im getting a little salty 😂

I love your videos

sometimes i wanted to work at petsmart just to educate people about hammies and reptiles because their employees dont know anything about neither. i would also be the one telling people not to buy critter cage 😂

So excited for these December videos!

Wasnt there a law passed against animal abuse recently? time to get some officials involved.

If we want to talk about pet guides the best one I’ve seen so far is pet Supplies Plus. But if you don’t live around one they have a website( love your videos munchie❤️)

At least 3 inches of bedding IS good, but I prefer using at least 6 inches (especially for dwarves)

My hamster has a really odd sleep schedule lol. Goes back to her nest around 6-7am and is already awake running on her wheel when I get home from school (at 3:30) and goes back to bed at 4 or 5. Then wakes up again at 10 or 11pm

I have had more Dwarf/Robo's bite than all of the Syrians I've had in my life combined. I always tell myself that Dwarf and Robo's are fun to look at from afar and to not touch. My male Robo Ash, he can take food out of my hand but he refuses to let me touch him at all.

I got my first letter!!! ❤ Yah!!! I can't wait to collect them all!!! 😘 Thank you so much Munchie!!! I love and support everything you do!! So happy you made this video!!! Definitely sharing this video because it needs to be shared. Keep up the great and amazing work you do Munchie!!! 💕🐁😊☺😉 Can't wait for tomorrows video now!!! YOUR #1 FAN ~ Amanda 💝☺😉

I have that same Winnie the Pooh that you have in the background :)

Hey Munchie I have a problem. I’ve had my winter white for about a month now. I put wooden chews in his enclosure before I brought him home and just recently I put a loofa chew in there. He hasn’t touched either chew and I’m concerned. Do you or does anyone have any suggestions/ideas why?

I never use the pamplets because I ain't a BEGINNER!!!😝😝

girl a lot of these problems are problems with capitalism itself not individual "leaders" of petX love your videos

Your awesome girl god bless u

I have three female gerbils and I was at PetSmart buying supplies (they are in a 65 gallon tank with tons of bedding and toys lol) but I picked up one of the gerbil guides for the hell of it and OMG. They said that they are housed alone and need to be in plastic wire cages. I don’t even have a single plastic item in my cage cuz it can be bad for them and my babies are hella chewers. I told the guy at the counter too and he didn’t even know that Gerbils or Chinchillas needed to Atleast be in pairs. It’s insane

I got the Amusement Park Tiny Tales cage as my first ever hamster cage. I thought it was a fantastic cage because it was tall and two-tier, unlike most the small shoebox sized starter kits. Luckily, my hamster was only in it for about a month before I started learning better care online and started my bin-cage journey. It was shocking how misled I felt from the pet store, my horrible cage was one of the biggest available and the associates all acted like it was fine. They just recommended I get a Robo for the small space (Which in my opinion, a Robo is not a good beginner hamster, they are very high-energy and not very friendly which can be off-putting to a beginner). People don't do their research first because they go into pet stores thinking the entry leveled workers are qualified and will genuinely help them. It's disgusting but we have to remember that in reality, pet stores are really held to no legal obligation to sell animals morally, and just care about the marketing. They are not to be trusted for advice.

In Norway the phrase "Syrian hamster" is pretty unknown among most people... Its usually called Golden hamster, or a variety of "breed names" like panda, teddy etc... (Interestingly enough of course Winter Whites and Campbells are seen as the same species most of the time and yet they think there's like 10 kinds of syrian...) So once I was working at a pet shop as a school project I joked they could probably put the sign "Syrian hamster" on a cage and say its a special breed and people might belive it...

Do more gerbil videos. There are barely any other channels that talk about gerbils, and the ones that do aren’t nearly as entertaining as you.😘

💜

I do have one question about the hairless hamster, that being is there an alternative to coconut oil? I can't use any kind of coconut products because I'm allergic.

If I work in a pet store I'll make sure that people do the right care for all the animals

Just curious is the midwest critter nation an appropriate hamster habitat if you use a large concrete mixing tub as a base to be able to have deep substrate? I currently use one set up like that because my rats like to dig in bedding. They are unable to get to under the tub. So, I assume hamsters couldn't get under the tub either. The bar spacing is 1/2 inch though. The base is 24x36 inches and the levels can be removed easily which gives space to add a big wheel.

Hey munchie! So I have a question. I’m a new time gerbil owner, I’ve had my gerbil for a few months, but there is a problem. So he doesn’t run on his wheel at all, he only uses it to make a large nest, and so the only way I can get him to have some exercise is by taking him out of the cage and letting him run on the floor. (Obviously in a secure area) but he hates me taking me out, he’s not scared of hands as he lets me pet him and he’ll jump into my hand but if I move at all he jumps off. Once I do get him on the floor he loves it and he also loves to be held close to you and stand in your shoulder to look around. He’s never bitten anyone so I don’t want to scare him and make him not like me or possibly bite. So do you have any tips for getting him out? I can never get him out anymore and I think he’s gaining weight. I want him to live a happy healthy life but that might be hard if he can never exercise. Any tips would help, I don’t know what to do. Thanks 😊

Actually critter trail cages are like 235 inches of floor space so 2 of them its like 470 inches of floor space

On the PetSmart guide, it listed Chinese under dwarfs however they actually do not have the dwarf gene. I understand why Chinese was listed under drafts because the info is almost the same, but it should still be clear that Chinese is not a dwarf. It you look at 18:18 you can look at the scientific names of the hamsters and the real dwarfs have phodopus as their genus while Chinese has cricetulus.

Maybe you should do some UK based shops flyers or try out some from Canada? Xx

Not sure about how long ago you picked those up, but we adopted from a Petco about 3 weeks ago and the pamphlets haven't changed there.

Are the letters going to be in the christmas videos, or any video

I have a question, when I was younger I had a critter trail small cage. But soon I’m gonna get a Syrian hamster and I got a 40 gallon fish tank. Is that enough?

So yeah, my hamster doesn’t like seed mixes and like lab blocks over treats like yogurt drops or fruit. (I do just leave the bowl with the seed mix until it’s finished to make sure they get the nutrients and fats, but man, all my treats are worthless)

Should I play with my hamster more outiside? So I have a robovroski dwarf hamster and she runs on her wheel so fast! She has so much energy, so should I play with her outside of her cage more

What's your opinion on the ikea detolf😊?

It looks like i found the letter, but also i am unsure if the other letter i see if its intentionally there to mess me up or is it just happened the be a letter there? Hmmm...

Quick question, if paper bedding isn't ideal what is best for someone who can't use the wooden bedding mentioned here? I'm allergic to those so I use paper instead, I change it like once a week is that okay?

I just got a new dwarf hamster and I got her a bin cage, tons of chews, wheel, etc. however, what do I do if I can't find the soiled bedding? It has been about 5 days since I got her and I'll need to spot clean soon, but I don't want to upset her by digging around her burrow. Please help I want my first hammy to like me!

Hi I have a question! Can dawn dish soap work as a soap to wash a hamsters cage? I have guinea pigs, but I don’t want to hurt their noses from the scent.

English: Petsmart, Petco German: . . . *FRESSNAPF*

Would there ever be an emergency situation where you would need to give a hamster a light wiping? For example if they escaped and got something like paint on their fur - would that warrant a very careful damp towel or would they still be able to clean themselves if they have access to a good sand bath?

I have a baby female Syrian and she's constantly begging to come out of her cage, but when I pick her up she wants down and when I put her in her playpen she wants out. I have her in a Detolf and I watched your videos on hamster care and cages for approximately 2 years before getting her, so I know I'm not doing anything wrong. But with this, I have no idea how to satisfy her other than giving her lots of attention while she's in her cage, with the lid off and my hand in there so she can climb onto it when she wants human contact

I may be wrong, but I think that animals that are mostly awake during twilight, dawn, or dusk is called crepuscular. I think. I may be wrong.

a coppel of years ago my hamster had her teeth grow wrong which hunted her, and she needed to be "put to sleep" by my vet. she did have chew toys in her cage, now I have a new hamster but I'm afraid the same will happen. do you have any tips? (now my current hamster also has a couple of chews.)