Hamster or Gerbils?

[MrsBlobby43]

My children are desperate for a pet and I said we'd get hamsters or gerbils. What's best in your opinion. Ideally I'd want them in the same cage but understand hamsters don't like to be together. Can anyone give me a better insight! Thanks.

[SnapeSnapeSeverusSnape]

Agree that gerbils are very clean and don't smell nearly as much as hamsters, rats etc. They're desert animals and really don't wee much at all. We had a huge terrarium for ours, but be warned they will eat pretty much anything you put in there, the number of climbing frames, beds, wheels etc. they chewed their way through was ridiculous, and this was on top of the loo roll inners we put in every day.

[TrickyD]

Rats are very affectionate.

[exLtEveDallas]

We have a lovely hamster who is spoiled rotten and DD adores, but I wouldn’t recommend it for young children. Gerbils are a better house pet (must have 2), rats best (again 2) or guinea pigs (2 or more) if you are willing to give them outside space. Hamsters, whilst lovely, are the worst choice for children.

[Badbadbunny]

Gerbils definitely. We've had them for many years. Sleep at night and generally active on and off throughout the day. Get the biggest cage/tank as possible and as many gerbils as possible. They're very entertaining, easy to handle, and if you can make your room safe (i.e. no gaps in skirting boards etc), you can let them out to run around which is something they absolutely love - we've had some that jump upstairs.

[Bluesheep8]

Sorry but I don't think any animal should be kept in a cage for the amusement of a child. Or for any reason.

[Cookerhood]

Rats, but not just one. We've had rabbits (too big), hamsters (lovely but too nocturnal for small children), gerbils (messy), guinea pigs (great) & rats - the best!! Smelly & must be kept in groups.

[EveryPlanetHasAYorkshire]

@PixellatedPixie

Is there any way you can get guinea pigs instead? I’ve had rats, hamsters and guinea pigs and the piggies are definitely the best suited to small children. They make a whole range of different noises with different meanings and they are amazingly tame!

Guinea pigs make so much mess and live for bloody years.

The OP is probably going to be the one who ends up taking care of the pet either way so I wouldn't recommend guinea pigs unless she's happy to still be feeding them, cleaning up after them and trimming their nails for 5+ years.

[EveryPlanetHasAYorkshire]

Neither. Get a cat instead .

[EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide]

I love mice and rats, had them a lot in the past, but we currently have a hamster, wasn't really looking for a small pet but he was at a rescue and we decided to take him home. He is adorable! We've had him 18 months now, he's so friendly, if he hears us he comes out and rattles his bars until we give him a treat, I love seeing how little hands reach out to grab what you offer him, and watching him stuff his little cheeks, he's just so cute. But he does nip. He likes being handled, he loves attention, but he still nips, I think he's just testing what's food and what's not!
When he's gone though we're definitely getting another rat.

[Wolfff]

I had both as a child and one of my DC had dwarf hamsters. One ate his dead brothers insides - which made me shudder.

Gerbils are more interesting but I wouldn't recommend either. They can pack a nasty bite.

As others have said, guinea pigs are lovely. Gentle not bitey and interact. Only downside is cage cleaning as they wee a LOT and they need a big cage or run or both.

[user127819]

I've had both and gerbils are probably better, but really neither are great as children's pets. Hamsters are quite nervous, get up late and a bit boring. Gerbils are sweet and fun to watch but very fast. Don't expect either to be cuddly or to enjoy being handled by a child.

Whatever you get, don't go by the pet shop's advice. Hamsters need a cage 80x50cm or bigger in size (better 100x50cm for Syrians). Gerbils need a tank about the same size but with plenty of height for deep bedding. Don't get two hamsters to live together. It very, very rarely works out. Gerbils, however, should be in pairs.

Rats are the most interactive of rodents but they do need much more cleaning than either hamsters or gerbils. There's also no guarantee they'll be friendly, especially if you get them from a pet shop, and that's the same for any animal.

[cheeseismydownfall]

When I saw this thread I knew the rat-pushers would out in force

I've owned hamsters, gerbils and rats. Rats are indeed the most interactive and are great fun. But, and it's a really big but, in my experience they require much, much more maintenance than gerbils. They are bigger animals and produce a lot more more urine and poo, and their cage will smell very quickly if you don't keep absolutely on top of it. And they need a huge cage (ours was as tall as I am).

Like PP said, gerbils are desert animals, and a completely different ball game. Ours had a big tank and to be honest it really only needed cleaning once a fortnight. They are super clean. The downside is that they aren't easy to handle and don't bond with you in the way rats do. They are super fun to watch though.

Hamsters are cute but kind of pointless as a pet.

[BettyOBarley]

Hamsters aren't ideal for young kids, we got DD7 a hamster about 6 months ago and she never sees it. She's up at 6am and goes to bed at 7.30pm and it sleeps that entire time. Most boring pet ever. I feel bad for her, and the hamster, as it doesn't get much interaction really. Tried to tame it but its a real biter.

[MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes]

You can google for "hamsters or gerbils" for loads of comparative info. I like gerbils. You do need at least a pair, do not keep gerbils on their own. They need to be same-sex. Gerbils are lively creatures that like being handled and having lots of places to explore and burrow in.

[SummerSazz]

I had gerbils as a child, DD1 had 2 hamsters and DD2 has Guinea pigs. I'd go for a cat (much easier) or guinea pigs if you really want to go for small pets

[bluebluezoo]

The big advantage to gerbils is they are desert animals.

Which means they produce very little urine.

Which means they don’t smell anywhere near as bad as rats and mice. You can also go quite a while without needing to clean the cage- in fact they don’t like their cage cleaning too often as it upsets their territories.

They also tend to toilet in the same area. Set a sandbath up or a coconut and it’s just cleaning that.

Makes them very low maintenance. Always keep
In pairs or small groups as they are very social. Very entertaining wee things, and pretty trainable.

For a cage get an Ikea detolf, and make a lid for it. £60 is far cheaper than any custom cage, much bigger, and glass to they can’t dig or chew their way out.

They’ll recycle all your old boxes, cardboard tubes and shred anything you need...

[Lilimoon]

Rats 100%. We love our two boys.

[Ownerofmultiplechimps]

Rats definitely, can't wait till my dc are old enough for one. Make really fantastic pets, interact really well, sociable & very clean in my experience

[user183684257424]

Gerbils jump. To quite impressive heights for their size. It can make things... interesting.

[Laiste]

Gerbils.

If you get a big tank for them it's great fun watching them build their burrows. If you're lucky they'll build a tunnel against the glass and you can watch them when they think you can't see them. They're happy busy little creatures :)

[MJMG2015]

Just to add to the mix, personally out of all the small 'cage' pets, I think Guinea Pigs make the best pets.

But they all whiff a bit (no matter what you use or how often you clean them out) so really think about where you're going to put a large cage (definitely not anything pets at home would sell to you - they all need more room than those!!)

[Floralnomad]

Rats are by far the best ‘Caged’ pet for children , they love human company , rarely bite and actually want to interact .

[PixellatedPixie]

Is there any way you can get guinea pigs instead? I’ve had rats, hamsters and guinea pigs and the piggies are definitely the best suited to small children. They make a whole range of different noises with different meanings and they are amazingly tame!

[WildfirePonie]

Rats would be the best choice. I have 3 girls and they are the sweetest.

[Gin4thewin]

Kids get bored of hamsters, they dont do enough, or they get bit trying to tame it or waking them up. 1st choice is definitely rats, gerbils as a 2nd. Gerbils HAVE to have a tank, they dig and WILL chew their way out of anything else