Page:The Golden Hamster Manual.djvu/69



Illus. 56. She will return them to the nest, but they already may have been harmed by falling.

If they lack a guard board to knaw, and some hard items in their food to chew, hamsters' teeth sometimes grow so long that they may no longer eat well. Or, a tooth may be chipped or broken near the point while chewing at the hdw. cl. These conditions are infrequent, occurring only once in a while even in a large hamstery. All that is needed is a slight trimming of the tips of the teeth to make them even. Simply take the animal by the back of the neck to lift it up, and the mouth remains helplessly open for this painless nipping off the tips of teeth until they are even. As a rule, only a small portion of the tips need be removed, and this may readily be done with pliers. While the hamster bite is not severe, until one becomes accustomed to bare-hand procedures, the wearing of gloves during such handling of adult females may be advisable.

Adult hamsters normally drink water in amounts of $1/8$ oz. upward daily. Mothers nursing young use up to