Mumsnet Talk

I hate the thought of a stinking rodent in the house.

Cons:
- nocturnal, what's the point if they can't play in the day
- smelly
- bitey and scratchy
- money - vet bills, sawdust, food and other stuff they need
- I will end up caring for it by NY day despite DDs claims.

Pros:
- only one I can think of and that is DD has longed for one for years and I have just found a long letter in her bedroom begging for one for xmas and that is all she wants.

- another - a cheap present despite being one of the 'cons' above!

Can't believe I'm even thinking of it, please talk me out of it, say they are dirty and smelly and it will die young and leave DD distraught.

cons
they smell
they are utterly pointless
they bite
you will look after it
they make so much noise on those bloody wheels

pros
quite cute
nice cages
not really much effort to look after

Hamsters are crap, they make loads of noise at night, chuck sawdust out the cage, have squeaky bastard wheels and chew the bars.

They're not really very expensive to keep though, and usually die before any need for vet bills, so there's a plus.

As you hate the thought of stinking rodents in the house then I won't suggest rats , but what about gerbils? Not smelly, you can keep them in a gerbilarium so less cleaning out and they don't make as much noise. Much more interesting animals. Just as bitey though.

at 'die before any need for vet bills'

Make sure you pick a common colour so that you can do a switch if it dies suddenly.

I always kept my hamsters in this type of set up rotastak so no mess.

One of mine stuffed his stupid little face so full of seeds that he got wedged in a toilet roll tube. Stupid furry git. We had to cut him out and then he bit me.

they don't always die before vet bills
we've spent ££££
they died after the vet bill

Get her a guinea pig

they still smell but at least you can cuddle them and they make the sweetest squeaking noises for food.

Gerbils are better, I had lots of prolifically breeding lovely gerbils when I was a teenager. They don't usually bite.

I meant gerbils are better than a hamster, not better than a guinea pig

I have had all 3 and Guinea pigs are the cuddliest, gerbils the most interesting to watch and hamsters the most spiteful, stupid, boring, noisy

Do they always bite and nip then? Can you train them not to? What is the point of them? Truly, I'm not being funny, I don't get it. A dog yes, or even a cat at a stretch but I'm allergic. But a hamster! How often do you have to clean them out?

Thanks for replies. It's been a massive no in this house for a couple of years but this is all there is on her christmas list, crafty little madam.

How could I hide it until xmas day? Can't exactly wrap it and put it under the tree the week before.

Would it die in the garage? Too cold?

hamsters dont live very long. DD had one - just one - it lived for about 18 months.
it was actually very cute and never bit, but was handled alot from being bought.

they do smell though - never get those stupid cages with tubey bits - hers made its bed in the tube and we could never bloody clean it properly.

they are noisy at night.

Oh I'll have a look at gerbils and guinea pigs then, aren't guinea pigs kept outside though like rabbits? All year? Or only summer? Excuse my ignorance.

once a week, I wouldnt keep it in garage, I always had dwarfs and they never bit me, only bastard full size one I had was ppure evil.

Aw but they're so cute and entertaining! And they don't have to be bitey!

We've only had ours a month but she is lovely and tame already, I can't imagine she would ever bite anybody; she comes and sits by her cage door waiting to be scooped out then just sits really still in your hand . And she is really fun to watch - the DC spend ages watching her playing with her toys and rearranging her house.

Yes they're nocturnal, but for our hamster that seems to mean she is asleep in the morning when the DC get up & during the day when they're at school - but she wakes up when they get home in the afternoon (because they're so fecking noisy probably) and she is awake all evening from then on.

I think it must make a difference where you buy one from - if you go to a big Pet store they probably haven't been handled much, but we bought ours from a small local pet shop where they handle all the animals every day to tame them - so when we brought her home they had done all the hard work for us

Can you tell I'm a little bit luved up with my new baby?

And PS she doesn't smell - and I'm lazy and only change her bedding once a week.

Aw they're so cute though! They're as cheap'n'easy as they come for pets. Dd's was also very useful to teach her about, erm, death. To cheer her up after her beloved hamster died I got two guinea pigs. She's never loved them half as much, and they're triple the hassle!

X post re cuteness. It's true, they are! Ours wasn't bitey either.

I am genuinely really surprised how much I've warmed to ours! I am a bit grumpy and anti-pet and only gave in after years of nagging. I wish I'd got one before now though!

ok haven't read every post but we had a hamster and he was lovely - we had a winter white, not smelly, doesn't bite, easy to play with not noisy and we will get another one

for god sake now I am hanster broody, madness, I have 2 dogs and 2 cats and 6 chickens and a goldfish but looking at the cages has ,ade me want a rodent.

another con

You need quite a large cage, a lot of the ones in the petshop will be too small. expect to spend £65 - £100 on a decent sized cage.

your dd will get bored (whatever she says) unless you are prepared to clean it out don't get one.

Our eldest hamster is now 2.8 yrs old, so it can be quite a commitment. Think about who will look after it whilst you are on holiday.

Don't get a Russian Hamster, vicious little things. I had to wear leather gloves to handle mine every time I cleaned out its cage.