Hamsters South Africa

For the love of pocket size pets

THE HAMSTERS SOUTH AFRICA STORY

My passion for hamsters, and researching their care, began in 2002 with my first little one that was actually meant to be my daughter’s.

At that time, there had been precious little research done about what was healthy living for hamsters in captivity and, certainly in SA, there were barely any good safe products available in pet shops and one had to learn to DIY and look at alternative options.

As more research started trickling in from about 2007, I tried to reach out to pet shops with updated information, but much of it was rejected for fear of losing sales from the cheap n nasty items on the shelves!

In 2014, out of sheer frustration, I established Hamsters South Africa first as an educational Facebook group for hamster care in South Africa, then followed by the informative website about 2 years later.

By 2021 we had almost 4000 members, including critter rescue organisations who learned how to adopt out their hamsters into proper conditions. But disaster struck when FB mysteriously shut the group down and we had to start it all over again. You will not stop me!

We continue to improve the lives of many hamsters and their humans, and the website info has grown to encyclopedic proportions for public perusal.

ONLINE SHOP – TINY PET MALL

In line with HSA’s 10^th anniversary, it was time to take the name to the next level and have it’s own shop. HSA is now a registered business and will continue to provide top quality products to the hamster community in South Africa.

The mission is to also support other honest, hard-working, small local businesses as much as possible by stocking their products where I am unable to manufacture myself, and/or to incorporate their ingredients in HSA’s own.

#supportlocalsmallbusiness #proudlysouthafrican

You won’t find any glamorous photography on the online shop, and your package won’t arrive gift-wrapped or with fancy tissue papers inside! Instead the focus is to keep costs down, recycle, and let the products speak for themselves!

PRODUCTS & QUALITY

With the production home base in Cape Town, Hamsters South Africa Online Shop is one of a few small, local businesses that focuses on producing and providing top quality safe products for hamsters throughout the country (and a few for rats).

The HSA collection is made up of a variety of self-made products, specialising in unique paper bedding and healthy, well-researched species-specific dry mixes, as well as enrichment mixes, treats, and chews.

Only the best safest products will make onto the catalogue for your little pocket size angels!

Ingredients are mostly human food-grade to ensure highest quality and are immediately placed in the deep freezer on arrival, and stored there to reduce the risk of contamination or infestation from any unwanted ganonies, and to preserve quality.

Each HSA product is made and packaged with love… and tested on some very grateful animals.

BOGGLE & BRUX RESCUE

As a member of the BB Team, I am the co-ordinator for hamster adoptions and assisting new hamster parents with advice on setting up and being prepared for their new arrivals.

Hence the donations option on the shop for me to pass on your generosity to Boggle & Brux to support much needed funds for the care & veterinary expenses for the hamsters and rats that come through our doors.

Your support is most highly appreciated.

Tana Pressly

Our Blog

All you need to know about taking care of your hamster

Thinking of getting a hamster? New to owning a hamster?

Already have a hamster?

With too many pet shops generally providing outdated & incorrect information, this site will give new & current hamster owners proper researched advice and tips to ensure a happy and healthy life for the little animal.

Before you get overwhelmed with too much information, we suggest that you begin with the two basic pages for consideration BEFORE you get a hamster, or make any adjustments for the one you already have: