Hamsters for children!

[Ijustwanttoanswer1question]

As someone working with animals I’ve seen constant mistreatment, especially from young children and it’s heart breaking.

If you’d like to buy a pet for you child you have to be committed. although hamster are the least time consuming pet and don’t live for very long please don’t buy them for young children, hamsters are small, fast and sensitive, children can be aggressive when trying to catch them. Wait until they’re older when they haven’t got such heavy hands. Hamster are nocturnal which means your child won’t see it for very long, waking them up in the day time will make them grumpy.

Basically the reasons not to get a hamster for children outweighs the reason to get one and I urge anyone who wants one to wait until your children are more understanding.
Other pets are more suited. Like rabbits and guinea pigs, which yes take up a lot more room and effort but the are much better.
Rats have also been known to be great pets but many people have phobias and they also need to be tamed and handled constantly to keep them from becoming aggressive.
Please buy hamster for older children, the younger children cause stress to small creatures.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Other pets are more suited. Like rabbits and guinea pigs

Except they aren't. Rabbits are not promoted as a childs pet and though guineas are docile and a good size, if a child is a rough grabber then the poor guinea will be injured dropped or scared.

My NDN used to keep hamsters (quite a few , I think she had some 'donated' to her too) and was a childminder . The mindees were allowed to handle them with respect and they didn't bite .

My DD was 9yo when we got her first pair of guinea-pigs ( I kept them as a child myself) we now have Guinea-pig 6/7/8 larding upstairs
She's now nearly 16 and does half the work, I do the other half. (Well I do more than half , I buy the food/hay but we do share the work, even though I own one , she has two)

I don't disagree with pets for children but I do wish people thought long and hard about what they're taking on.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

And I'd wager the biggest mistreatment is neglect when the novelty wears off and the parents don't give a damn.

We have a rule in our house : animals are fed first .
And even when DD and I had flu (proper flu) the piggies were looked after (by DH)

[Twooter]

I agree with lots of what you say, but not the bit about rabbits. I think rabbits make awful pets for small children.

[BlackInk]

We have a hamster and rabbits... and two children. My 6 year old daughter adores them especially, spends loads of time with them and would never ever hurt them. They enrich her life hugely.
The hamster is a very friendly little fellow - he gets up when they sit down to eat their breakfast every morning and can't wait to get out for some fuss. He also wakes in the late afternoon and always gets up begging for treats when I'm getting ready for bed. He's a fantastic pet.
With proper guidance from parents these animals make great pets. Our rabbits have lived to a ripe old age - I reckon they're happy with us too :)

[Crazybunnylady123]

I agree rabbits are more for adults! They are a massive commitment, can cost a lot of money to vaccinate, neuter and feed correctly.
They can live into there teens and need interaction every day.
I have a lot of experience with small animals, realistically children shouldn’t have pets it’s the responsibility of the parent to make sure the animal is cared for properly.

[TimeIhadaNameChange]

The main problem with rabbits is that their hind legs are too strong for their backs, so if they're not held firmly enough and they kick out trying to escape they can break their own spines. So definitely not for children.

[QueenOfCatan]

I agreed with you until both the rabbits part and the part about taming rats. Not true at all. Get them from a good breeder and they should be tame from the start.

This is not something I'm happy to admit but ours didn't get as much love for the first few months of my daughters life as they should have gotten, they were still as loving when we could give them attention as they always had been (or happy to eat malt paste and sulk at us as is D'Argo's personality )

Though needless to say: pets should never be bought for children, a pet is ultimately the parents responsibility and should be wanted by the parent as well.