to ask what the actual purpose of a hamster is?

[ditavonteesed]

I want one, and dh says no, he says I don't need a hamster. AIBU to suggest that nobody needs a hamster.

Don't they eat them in a South American country?

That's guinea pigs.

Russian dwarf hamsters are a lot less bitey then the Syrian ones.

I think the purpose of a hanster is to be the the pet you have (or let your children have) when all other pets are too inconvenient or time consuming. An entry-level pet, if you will.

Hamsters would make an amuse bouche I suppose

My mistake.

Probably not much meat on a hamster.

So that you can film them and become a YouTube sensation

Their primary purposes are to make you feel guilty about keeping an animal in a cage for the 23 hours of the day when nobody is playing with them, and to keep the entire household awake with their nocturnal shenanigans.

By heck, Oysterbabe - those things can run!!!

I believe another use is for a somewhat ... errr ... unusual practice called felching (google it)

Ignore last post - apparently that involves gerbils, not hamsters

Third time lucky! My two Russian dwarfs

There is a website with hamster recipes.

They make an unreasonable amount of noise in the night. They escape a lot and chew things. Then they die. I think they are just there to teach children about death.

Thank you Oyster - Just spent the last 5 mins roaring at that video. We had to watch it 3 times back-to-back at DS1&3's request to be sure we'd got full benefit.

Ours is fabulous, well she is since we got her a glass tank to stop the constant bar biting! She's a friendly, clever wee thing, and has never bitten anyone. Even dp who hates rodents has come to have a begrudging respect for her.

I thought hamsters were adorable.

Then I watched the mother eat her own babies. Just one after the other like little fruit snacks.

The complete lack of blood was also surprising, but mostly it was watching the mother eating her babies that was horrifying.

Anyway, if you only have one they can be lovely.

They are ill tempered, hungry, sawdust stinking idiots

And they die. All the fucking time.

They're cute.

I think that's reason enough .

I hate hamsters, they're boring and they bite. Get gerbils or rats if you must have a small rodent.

Romcom, rodent widdle

And yes they eat spiders. To a hamster, a spider is a delicious juicy protein rich snack.

Take One Home For the Kiddies

On shallow straw, in shadeless glass,
Huddled by empty bowls, they sleep:
No dark, no dam, no earth, no grass -
Mam, get us one of them to keep.

Living toys are something novel,
But it soon wears off somehow.
Fetch the shoebox, fetch the shovel -
Mam, we're playing funerals now.

Philip Larkin

Mind you he was a bit of a joyless cunt

Senpai, I knew about them sometimes eating the babies, your discription was horrific.

hamsters are shit - the end.

I would never harm a hamster, i am an animal lover, i love all animals - except hamsters. Nasty, bitey, nocturnal, boring little fuckers

To escape, ours was like a prisoner in colditz. Escaped once lived in the eaves/ roof spaces while sneaking out to get peas that were laid out to entice it back to its cage/ cell. Nazi guard ( ds aged 9) recaptured hammy with a bucket. Placed back in solitary confinement before making final escape several months later, presumably successful return to Syria ( or eaten by a cat/ fox) Never again!