FAQS

Between 1 - 12 months

Usually 6 months

There are usually Adoption Events held every other month (sometimes more during summer months, sometimes less in winter months)

Upon competition of our 5 Step Adoption Process, you will be added to our Ready-To-Adopt List (visit our Current Waitlist Page to see) 

In other words, the length of this timeline depends on the amount of time it takes each adopter to complete the process, and how many others are waiting front of you.

The other remaining factor are how many pairings are successful at the hamstery during that time period, along with how many pups are born. Keep in mind, we need to keep behind pups for breeding for the future, so not all pups born are available for adoption.

*If someone is unable to adopt after being invited to an adoption event, the entire Ready-To-Adopt Waitlist will be emailed asking if anyone is available to take this open slot, whoever responds first will be given that slot. So it is possible to adopter sooner if you are further down the list. This takes place almost every event. 

*If you are interested in adopting a retiring mama hamster, you also can skip to the front of the waitlist, please let us know you are interested, and we will see if we have any retiring mama hamsters ready for adoption!

Rock Hill, South Carolina (USA)

Happy Hamstery does not ship hamsters.

We do not currently work with pet transport services, but are happy to discuss your ideas if you have them. You can pick up your hamster during a pre-arranged weekend adoption event. Maybe make a vacation out of it!

We strongly do not recommend this.

Flight can be immensely stressful for hamsters, and we would prefer to avoid this.

We had to fly our hamsters from the U.K. because we had no other option, but would not recommend doing this if there is an alternative. Please reach out to adopt@happyhamstery.com if you have an questions about this!

Not only is it extremely complicated, requiring licenses, vet visits, and special carriers, but it can be very expensive.

At an Adoption Event in Rock Hill, SC. 

We also travel to other states throughout the year and will happily bring your hamster with us! We cannot promise these travels will always take place but we try our best to make them happen!

We aren't able to drive out of our way to meet you, but we are more than happy to pull off on a exit during our vacation and meet you in restaurant parking lot to have a mini-travel adoption event!

Visit our Adoption Process page to read about our travels and states we visit almost every year.

Yes and No!

A lot of adopters have a preference as to which gender they would prefer because of having a certain hamster in the past, but the differences are SO small that both a male and a female hamster are an amazing choice!

I have not found that one lives longer than the other, nor have I found that one is more friendly or tame. Just like most pets and humans. it all comes down to personality differences, which are not dependent on gender.

Females go into heat every 4 days but this occurs in the evening and only last around 12 hrs, as a breeder it can be difficult to spot a dwarf hamsters in heat so you will likely not notice. They clean themselves quite frequently with their back leg when they are in the heat and sometimes have a sweeter smell than normal. (I have not found females to be moody or change their temperament, unless they become pregnant or are nursing pups)

Males scent gland on their stomachs are more prominent than the females, and sometimes when they are older, they may need help cleaning it with a warm wash cloth if it appears to get clogged and they are unable to reach it. Males can have a different scent than the females due to this more prominent scent gland, but it is not a bad scent, and many humans cannot smell the difference, unlike hamster's noses.

Females can develop something called cage aggression, where they become extremely territorial over their cage, but as soon as hold them outside of their cage, they are totally normal and friendly. (This is rare, but it is extremely easy to deal with, you just simply remove them from the cage with anything but your hand, and then they will be fine, when you hold them.)

No, and here's why:

Hamster’s in the wild have actually been observed to live solitary lives and when housed together in captivity, one eventually kills the others...

It's incredibly fascinating how the Winter White Hamsters have an instinctual internal clock. At exactly 28 days the mother will bite at her pups to get them to leave her "home" (in the wild this is how they would get them to leave the mother's burrow and go find their own burrow).

It is the same with the siblings, between the 6-8 week mark, one the hamsters will begin to fight the others and they will begin to hide from one another, no longer snuggling or sleeping together. There are often squabbles and fights. If left together, it is possible they will not kill each other right away, but most cases end with one of the hamster becoming territorially to the point that they will begin to fight the other hamster in hopes to get the hamster to leave. Because they are in captivity, the hamster being attacked cannot escape leading to death of both or one of the hamsters. Because the are awake during the evening, this would occur during the night hours and would not be stopped by human intervention.

Yes!

You will need to apply for the Waitlist twice (once per hamster)!

You only need to sign-up for the Online Course once which will go toward the cost of your first hamster but your second hamster would be full price. :)

Adopting a hamster is a 1-2.5 year commitment that should not be taken lightly.

We do understand there are circumstances that are unavoidable. Please contact adopt@happyhamstery.com to share your situation with us.