Hamster - delight or disaster?

[BabymassagewithLouie]

Hello,

My nearly 7 year old is asking for a hamster for his birthday. Personally I'm happy to stick to Robo-fish as pets but he keeps insisting he'd 'respect' it and that he could show all his friends. And it certainly beats the iPad.

But will he go off it really quickly? Are they fun for young kids or boring and a pain to clear out? And how noisy are they really - could it be kept in his bedroom or would it keep him awake all night?

Thoughts and opinions much appreciated!

Louie

[sunbob]

I briefly had a hamster as a child. It was too noisy at night and had to be moved out of my bedroom. I tried to make a run for its playtime in the evenings but my choice of the paddling pool was soon chewed through. Unfortunately I decided to feed it some of my Easter egg and it died soon after (not sure if directly linked).

[Otta]

We've been looking in to pets for our girls, and hamster was pretty quickly removed from the list. Noisy at night, bite, and die pretty quickly.

We're heading down the guinea pig route.

[BabymassagewithLouie]

Oh dear, not boding well then. I had a guinea pig as a child and it wasn't fun. Very nervous, scratchy, didn't enjoy being cuddled but pooed a lot... Back to the drawing board maybe - unless anyone has any positive hamster experiences to share?!

[BeccaL]

What Otta said - niece & nephew had a hamster, tired of it v quickly as slept a lot during the day, parents did a lot of the cleaning out. Needless to say it wasn't replaced when it died...

[hpsaucey]

Following this with interest. My two boys - 9 and 6 would love, love, love a pet. We have a relativley small-sized 2 bed flat with a balcony. Was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a pet which won't be too noisy at night given that it will either be in a bedroom or our living room. Obvously we want it to be a happy pet living with us!

Had considered hmster but looking like not good idea...

HP

[stacker285]

I had hamsters as a young child, and whilst I got very upset when they died, I always wanted another one. I learnt loads and life, death and responsibility. We had two 'females' to start with and it wasn't until we found 12 babies we realised that wasn't true. It wasn't pleasant tbh as the mum started eating them as she was too young and couldn't cope with so many babies so my sister and I hand reared 5 of them successfully.

It depends on the child I think, but they suited me very well. I even had some at uni.

They can be very entertaining and it is well worth getting them a hamster ball or large cage with assault course. yes I got bitten occasionally but I usually deserved it and it really didn't matter.

[Lmcg46]

Does anyone know if an allergy to cats is likely to mean an allergy to other furry creatures? Our kids are really pestering us for a pet but one has had some allergy to cats in the past. It would be a useful reason to use to put them off!

Half of me would love a pet but the other half is being very practical!

[civilservant]

I don't know about hamsters' needs but guinea pigs are social animals and needs the company of other guinea pig(s) to be happy. They are lovely creatures - but get a pair as a single one is probably going to be lonely and probably irritable.

[Saffron]

BabymassagewithLouie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Oh dear, not boding well then. I had a guinea pig

> as a child and it wasn't fun. Very nervous,

> scratchy, didn't enjoy being cuddled but pooed a

> lot... Back to the drawing board maybe - unless

> anyone has any positive hamster experiences to

> share?!

That's not typical of guinea pigs in general.

Typically guinea pigs are very gentle and tame, not nervous at all, particularly if handled regularly from an early age. Gpigs should really be kept in pairs, not alone (might have somewhat explained nervous disposition). And you can clip their claws with pet nail trimmers.

Hamsters (in general) never get as tame as Gpigs, and are most definitely prone to biting.

On the plus (?) side, hamsters should be kept as singletons and only live a couple of years...

[Saffron]

Lmcg46 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Does anyone know if an allergy to cats is likely

> to mean an allergy to other furry creatures? Our

> kids are really pestering us for a pet but one has

> had some allergy to cats in the past. It would be

> a useful reason to use to put them off!

>

> Half of me would love a pet but the other half is

> being very practical!

Unless your children suffer from multiple allergies (tendency to atopy in general), the cat allergy is v specific to the protein in cat dander which comes from their saliva. xx

[ladywotlunches]

My 8 year old had the same request. After general consultation with friends we decided that they are stinky, noisy and he would get bored quickly.

But he was insistent that he wouldn't. So as a compromise, I got a Zhu Zhu hamster. Now they were everywhere a couple of years ago, not so much now, but good old ebay came up trumps.

Hamster arrived - kids (both) loved it. Its quite cute and runs around making noises - some 'realistic', some like car horns!! They had great fun.

For about a week :)

[Chuckd]

I always thought hamsters were horrible and smelly but we got one for my 9'yr old last oct and it has been such a success. It is still the best ever present (according to 9 yr old). Still totally absorbing. Not smelly - you just need to make sure you clear its wee patch away every day. They wee in the same place. Great for teaching about responsibility. Don't keep in a bedroom - they are noisy. We keep ours in our living room round a corner and found a great cage (habitrail loft) that is cool and minimal. She doesn't bite and is great to handle. Make sure you read up in advance. Also we were going to get guinea pigs (I had them as a child) but they should be kept outside (so a big no no because of foxes)! And you need to get someone to come and feed gps when you go away whereas a hamster is easy to take around to a friend (and not much hassle for them)! Also syrian hamsters like living alone. And last of all 2 years lifetime is good as most children will probably be bored by then!

[Growlybear]

My daughter had a hamster when she was little, and it was a lovely pet. She ended up being really tame and very sociable. I had hamsters myself as a child, and had forgotten how they bite the bars of their cages, and the rumbling of their exercise wheels, but my daughter soon got used to this, and it never kept her awake. The hamster used a little plastic toilet, and so long as this was cleaned very regularly, there was never a problem with a smell. I thought it was a perfect first pet.

[Otta]

What Saffron said RE *GPs. You need two or more together.

*Even then you'll struggle to get an appointment. Arf.