The Hammie House

Think of the New York Hamster House as a four-star hamster resort, located in the hottest city in the world! Click here to see the NYHH photo album!

The NYHH hamsters are taken out and handled and played with on a regular basis. In addition, they get to play in the Hamster Playground, which is two feet by four feet with walls tall enough to keep in the most clever hamster. I built the Playground myself and it boasts such features as a hamster house, wheel, burrowing-box, tubes, food, and water.

When New York Hamster House residents are ill, I take them to my vet and make sure that they get better. Dr. Pilny works at the Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine at Lenox Hill Veterinarians and is AMAZING with the animals. If you are looking for a fantastic hamster vet in Manhattan, call 212 879 1320, and let them know the Hamster House told you to call.

• Bedding: Carefresh or Carefresh Ultra. It's good for the environment, traps in moisture and odors, and both hamsters and gerbils seem to really like it.
• Food: The Hamster House uses a mixture of Mazuri and Oxbow Healthy Handfuls. They are both good pellet foods (pellets, unlike typical "seed" foods, don't allow the hamsters to pick out the sweet parts and ignore the healthy ones), with low levels of additives and preservatives and high levels of proteins. There are other good foods, like Supreme Hamster Hazel and Piccolo, too.
• Snacks: In general, the NYHH stays away from the kinds of processed snacks that you would find in a pet store. They tend to have too much sugar and preservatives. Instead, I give my hamsters bits of tofu, spinach, broccoli, cooked plain spaghetti, and hummous, or the occasional blueberry or nut.
• Cages: I don't have a favorite brand of cage, but I will say that the two kinds that make the most sense for me (me, who cleans 20-30 cages per week!) are either glass fish tanks, which are incredibly easy to clean and best for super messy gerbils, or the wire cages with one level (see below) that allow the hamsters to climb (syrian hamsters LOVE to climb) and also give them plenty of floor space to run and explore.

Click here if you'd like to see the MySpace page for Wilhelm and the New York Hamster House... and don't forget to add us as a friend!