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Original poster

Hamsters are illegal?!

87 replies

NinaNobody · 15/02/2025 23:09

In Australia?
Just read this and am wondering why?
It does say because of the ecosystems but how could pet hamsters affect that?

I mean hamsters are quite common pets here but they don't spill out into the wild? I've never seen a wild hamster?

Is there a more specific reason?

OP posts:
WhenICalledYouLastNightFromTesco · 16/02/2025 00:14

NinaNobody · 15/02/2025 23:16

Sorry I just thought it was a weird/interesting thing and other people might think so too :(

It was on Bondi vets

Don't be sorry, you've educated me too. I didn't know hamsters were classed as dangerous in some countries either. If it was a choice of a great white, black widow or even a kangaroo, I'd rather have a hamster in my vicinity tyvm.

NZDreaming · 16/02/2025 00:24

@NinaNobody it is interesting. Ferrets are banned in California.

purdypuma · 16/02/2025 00:32

Franjipanl8r · 16/02/2025 00:06

It’s because they’d survive and breed and become invasive in Australia. Our hamster wouldn’t last a night in our garden in the UK, it’s too cold.

They actually can survive in the UK wild. Many years ago i remember reading that there's a small wild population of hamsters originating from numerous pets that have escaped over the years in the UK. They're actually quite hardy little creatures & give birth in about 3 weeks from conception. They build up food stores & go into hibernation if it gets too cold.
The most common pet hamster in the UK is the Syrian (golden) but they are related to the larger common European hamster (close to guinea pig size) which is not widely domesticated & is known to wreak havoc on farmers crops so are regarded as a pest.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Other pets & animals
Jesusisking23 · 16/02/2025 00:35

Eldermilleniallyogii · 15/02/2025 23:11

Why wouldn't you just Google it rather than ask on here? It's not opinions you're looking for, it's the factual reason, so not sure why you need someone else to tell you...

Maybe because the OP is you know… trying to start a conversation?

BestZebbie · 16/02/2025 00:37

purdypuma · 16/02/2025 00:32

They actually can survive in the UK wild. Many years ago i remember reading that there's a small wild population of hamsters originating from numerous pets that have escaped over the years in the UK. They're actually quite hardy little creatures & give birth in about 3 weeks from conception. They build up food stores & go into hibernation if it gets too cold.
The most common pet hamster in the UK is the Syrian (golden) but they are related to the larger common European hamster (close to guinea pig size) which is not widely domesticated & is known to wreak havoc on farmers crops so are regarded as a pest.

Show quote history

This - and also hamsters aren't actually vegan (the larger European ones will even catch and eat mice), so they not only decimate cereal crops by hoarding but they will clear out an ecosystem of bugs and small prey too.
Their desire to collect and store food also gives them a disproportionate impact on how many resources they withdraw from their habitat - even if sometimes they do accidentally end up replanting the food crops.

powershowerforanhour · 16/02/2025 00:38

DH used to work in Norfolk and knew several people who had been employed to cull coypu - the programme to eradicate them from the Norfolk Broads was successful I believe.

Feral camels and donkeys are culled by rifle in Australia and I think also brumbies (feral horses) . Wild pigs aren't native to Australia or America and are culled in huge numbers.

New Zealand culls stoats, brushtail possums and other invasive species with 1080 poison.

WhenICalledYouLastNightFromTesco · 16/02/2025 00:40

powershowerforanhour · 16/02/2025 00:38

DH used to work in Norfolk and knew several people who had been employed to cull coypu - the programme to eradicate them from the Norfolk Broads was successful I believe.

Feral camels and donkeys are culled by rifle in Australia and I think also brumbies (feral horses) . Wild pigs aren't native to Australia or America and are culled in huge numbers.

New Zealand culls stoats, brushtail possums and other invasive species with 1080 poison.

God I hate humans

WooleyMunky · 16/02/2025 01:00

JassyRadlett · 15/02/2025 23:45

I'm Australian (but living in the UK for many years).

Preventing more non-native species from establishing themselves in the wild and harming our native wildlife is a massive deal in Australia, because we've seen the economic and ecological devastation they can cause - others have mentioned rabbits (I grew up in a state where pet rabbits are illegal), foxes, wild dogs, cats and pigs, blackberries, lantana, prickly pear, even flipping buffalo... it's estimated that invasive species have cost the agricultural economy over $390bn in the last 60 years.

And you can't trust people not to be stupid about these things. 20 years ago I had to work on a case where a dentist had red eared slider turtles/terrapins and had been giving baby ones as pets to his young patients. Some of the idiots released them into waterways when they didn't want them any more, and the risk to local species was absolutely huge. The eradication efforts cost a bomb too.

If only the native population could have been more pro-active at Sydney Cove...

Original poster
NinaNobody · 16/02/2025 01:36

I thought the camel thing was a joke!

Mind blown!

OP posts:
spikefaithbuffy · 16/02/2025 01:48

I remember reading it on Reddit - a woman was visiting the U.K. and asked where she could go and find a hamster to see as she had never seen one as they were illegal

She ended up going to a pet store and seeing the different types and got to hold them

SD1978 · 16/02/2025 01:58

Yes they are- because there is enough already introduced to the environment that should be here. I reckon (in some areas) hamsters would do pretty well

Scorchio84 · 16/02/2025 02:11

oakleaffy · 15/02/2025 23:35

Plus Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Released when they go too large and are now decimating ecosystems.

Grey Squirrels in UK - destroyed our beautiful native Reds by bringing in Squirrel Pox.

There are gamekeepers who shoot and remove Greys to protect Native Reds, as they should.

Edited

& here too. Grey Squirrels not pythons 😆but yeah it ust goes to show... I'm all for reintroducing native wolves here because Deer are eating EVERYTHING, even in The Phoenix Park around the corner... we have Eagles back for the first time in decades

sashh · 16/02/2025 02:27

NinaNobody · 15/02/2025 23:23

The vet on Bondi said they do have pet rats and guinea pigs :)

I think he was doing some work in Asia at a clinic and was meeting a hamster for the first time. Which seems quite crazy to me, that a vet would have never seen a hamster!

Show quote history

Not really.

I'm fairly sure British vets don't encounter quokkas or bandicoots.

RamsestheDamned · 16/02/2025 02:59

Yeah but remember ferrets cannot be kept as pets in several states. I’m in the UK and can't see why they're not allowed. When you take on ferrets, it's your responsibly to nip train them. Do that well, keep their hutch double locked up and enjoy the little buggers. Fully trained you're more likely to have a problem with them running off with your socks and hiding them.

inkblink · 16/02/2025 03:00

It surprised me too, when we moved here
Also - there are no squirrels here, and people don't know what stinging nettles are

PerfectRice · 16/02/2025 03:04

Eldermilleniallyogii · 15/02/2025 23:11

Why wouldn't you just Google it rather than ask on here? It's not opinions you're looking for, it's the factual reason, so not sure why you need someone else to tell you...

Why comment with such an unpleasant tone? What's the point?
Do you police all MN threads to check when an OP 'could have just googled' rather than start a chat thread?

Devolut · 16/02/2025 03:06

oakleaffy · 15/02/2025 23:38

Probably can't survive in rainy UK.

We have Indian Parakeets that have completely changed the sound of West London.
They are everywhere, having driven the native species out - oak trees in Richmond park are now rammed with ring necked parakeets rather than woodpeckers and owls. 🦉 🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜

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This just reminded me I was on the C2C train into London last summer when I saw loads of bright green birds probably near Grays/Ockendon, DD thought I was crazy, I guess these are what I saw.

PerfectRice · 16/02/2025 03:08

NinaNobody · 16/02/2025 01:36

I thought the camel thing was a joke!

Mind blown!

I didn't really believe it either until we saw a load of camels roaming about in the Outback when we went to Australia!

eightIsNewNine · 16/02/2025 03:08

RamsestheDamned · 16/02/2025 02:59

Yeah but remember ferrets cannot be kept as pets in several states. I’m in the UK and can't see why they're not allowed. When you take on ferrets, it's your responsibly to nip train them. Do that well, keep their hutch double locked up and enjoy the little buggers. Fully trained you're more likely to have a problem with them running off with your socks and hiding them.

I suppose viruses.
If the area has higher rates of rabies or another ugly animal illness in it's wild life population, keeping pets which are genetically similar to the local wild life increases risks of spreading the illnesses both geographically (through travelling with pets) and to other species (humans, other pets).

It's numbers game.

Neodymium · 16/02/2025 04:01

NinaNobody · 15/02/2025 23:15

I did Google it but I thought there might be something specific like they are a danger to a certain animal or something. I thought someone in Australia might have some insight

I'm autistic and was just interested and when I find something interesting I like to talk it through with people and I don't really have anyone to ask in real life

Edited

Australian.

yes they are illegal. In Australia our ecosystem is already being devastated by introduced species. Rabbits, camels, cane toads, foxes, cats. Hamsters would inevitably escape and breed and then compete with our native animals like bilbies kangaroo mice, ect. There is more feral cats in Australia now than people. And we have the largest wild camel population in the world.

we are allowed Guinea pigs which are very similar though.

in qld, where I live, rabbits are not allowed at pets. There is a $30000 fine if you are caught with a pet rabbit here. Our biosecurity laws are the toughest in the world in terms of bringing in animals and plant matter.

sashh · 16/02/2025 05:25

I can see the logic of importing camels as pack animals before mechanised transport, it is the letting them go feral that causes problems.

And it is much easier to see a camel than a hamster.

TulipCat · 16/02/2025 05:44

Eldermilleniallyogii · 15/02/2025 23:11

Why wouldn't you just Google it rather than ask on here? It's not opinions you're looking for, it's the factual reason, so not sure why you need someone else to tell you...

Why wouldn't you just scroll on by if you're not interested in having a CHAT in the CHAT section, rather than posting a pointless bitchy comment?

OP thanks for starting this chat, I had no idea hamsters are illegal in Australia.

Neodymium · 16/02/2025 07:05

TulipCat · 16/02/2025 05:44

Why wouldn't you just scroll on by if you're not interested in having a CHAT in the CHAT section, rather than posting a pointless bitchy comment?

OP thanks for starting this chat, I had no idea hamsters are illegal in Australia.

Show quote history

when I was a kid reading sweet valley books I always wanted a pet hamster. Only found out later that they were illegal and that’s why the pet stores don’t have any!

Needajobforspouse · 16/02/2025 07:49

If you want to go down a literal rabbit hole, google the rabbit problem in Australia and how it lead them to build the worlds largest fence!

Squidtentacles · 16/02/2025 07:55

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 15/02/2025 23:29

My DDs ancient hamster died this week 😢 he was a great little pet, very sweet natured and entertaining.

I'm not sure rats are really the same...

No, not the same. Hamsters can be bitey, not want handling (not all of course), whereas rats are usually more friendly, interactive, love to be handled.