Buying a panda bear hamster

Question
Dear Heather,

I live in a 2bdroom apartment with my 5year old daughter. I absolutely love and adore animals! I have a parakeet right now, his name is Paco and i've had him a year but he was not planned at all.(Very)Long story short i took him from my aunts house because when i went over her house late one night (my daughter 4 at the time)his bird cage was on a hook outside(like some kind of cheap decoration) and it had just stopped raining! I was furious! poor baby was in the cage alone with no blanket over the cage for warmth. I went inside asked why he wasn't inside (and not exactly in those words) and my cousin had the nerve to say "he's not mine, so i don't care" with that being said i walked right back outside with my daughter unhooked his cage took off my sweater put it over his cage and walked home with him. And he's been in my pocession ever since. My daughter and i share the same love for animals, and despite her age she is very careful in the way she handles paco and any other animal she's introduced to. I literally knew nothing about him. Not how old he was, male or female, what he ate, his moods or nothing. But he took to us so quickly :) I had him eating out of my hand within acouple days, and after doing some research i got him what he needed, and right now he couldn't be any more spoiled! he's the man of the house and loves to just walk around. I don't think of him as just a pet, or even a pet at all. He's more of a son to me :) Me and my daughter love him very much, and not once have we regreted taking him in. He can be a grouch sometimes but given his past he's a very loving bird. My daughter has proven herself to be very responsible with him. And has been begging me to buy her a puppy or kitty. Unfortunetly because we do live in a apartment, i can't. So we talked about it and decided a hamster would best fit our lifestyle. Now, i had never heard of panda bear hamsters. But our hearts melted when we saw 3week old panda hamsters at a petstore. The cutest thing ive ever seen! We are very excited about owning one, thats probly why i'm on the computer at 3am researching them :)
So i was wondering if you can PLEASE help me out and give me some tips or do's and dont's on handling and caring for one. I have read some of the posts here, and they were very informative. But i just felt the need to ask you personally :) I also read that from you're experience with them, the males tend to be more mellow? if thats correct, any information/instructions that you have for me for a male panda hamster would be very much  appriciated. The noise he'll be making at night, with the squeeking and scratching or any other noise they make will not be an issue for me or my daughter :) and i understand that we will have to respect his space and sleep.
Also since the babies are only 3weeks old, is it ok if i purchase him alone at this time? or should i wait for him to get alittle older? I wouldn't want the poor thing to miss his mommy and die. Or anything like that. But i really do want to get one as young as possible so he can get use to me and my daughter.


Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, and i apologize if it was long.

P.s
I am very happy i decided to research them, because the info the lady was giving me at the store just didn't sit well with me. I expressed my concerns about the babies being so young and feeling lonely once i purchased one. And she said very blankly well if you feel like that then just buy two. Thank god i followed my instinct and came across this page! Because alot of the info she gave me on them and their needs did not in any way match what i have read here.

Thanks again!

Answer
It's always good to do your research before buying a pet so I applaud your efforts.

Panda bear is just another name for a Syrian hamster that happens to have black and white coloring. Same for black bear, honey bear, fancy, and teddy bear hamsters. They are all just trade names for Syrian hamsters. 3-4 weeks is the proper separating age so 3 weeks isn't too early to bring one home. These animals live solitary for the rest of their lives so they do not feel home sick or miss their siblings, so don't even worry about that. Be aware that in my experience, the younger they are the more jumpy they tend to be. As they age they will calm down considerably. Don't hesitate to handle every hamster available and see which one just clicks with you, just sits in your hand and doesn't mind being handled. It makes the job of taming them much easier. Males will have large protruding testicles that look like a hairless buttocks. It makes them really easy to pick out.

As for what to buy and what to feed, all those type of questions, I believe I answered an in depth on this a few questions before, you should be able to find it in my previous answers.