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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to ask what the actual purpose of a hamster is?

83 replies

ditavonteesed · 04/10/2015 18:04

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

OP posts:

VulcanWoman · 04/10/2015 21:00

That Youtube video is cruel and disturbing.

expatinscotland · 04/10/2015 21:09

Oh, they are lovely! Our Syrian is black with white feet. She's 2 years and 2 months old and has definitely slowed but she is still such a lovely wee critter and we all adore her.

southeastastra · 04/10/2015 21:12

we have a syrian too, he's fun! at night he plays a game in his tube called arse and face. it involves him twisting in his tube and either his arse or face emerging.

BippityBoppity · 04/10/2015 21:13

DD had a hamster that she trained. It rolled over, begged and played dead on command (DD wanted a dog and so invested a lot of time in making hammy as close to a dog as she could).

I didn't particularly want a rodent in the house, but fell in love with this one. She was a nippy buggar when she was tired though - once she'd had enough, she made it clear

ragged · 04/10/2015 21:14

Hamsters are there to make us feel like saints for looking after them. Cats have nothing on hammies when it comes to being Overlords.

ginmakesitallok · 04/10/2015 21:19

Ours has escaped a few times. First time she went down a gap at the back of the sink and managed to get into the boxed in bit at the back of the loo. Came out the way she came in after dp cut a portion out of the boxing. Then she got in behind the washing machine. Last time she got under the cupboard under the sink, down through the hole for the plumbing and we think under the floorboards. She came out after a few hours, very dusty but none the worse after her adventure. She can't get put of her glass tank now...

southeastastra · 04/10/2015 21:21

ours escaped for two weeks! was found under the kitchen units happy and still fat, who knows what he ate!

ToGrapefruit · 04/10/2015 21:22

I get your DH's point- what is the purpose of a pet hamster?

But it's easily matched by the point of- what's the point of anything? Or anyone? Life? etc. All valid existential questions. I think hamsters have as much 'purpose' as anything/ anyone!

Personally I like hamsters but wouldn't want a pet one, as I used to have one and felt guilty that she didn't have much freedom, so I let her run about the house and she ended up eating carpets/ furniture etc. She was amazingly cute though!

I second the notion made by other posters that they need and deserve big, big cages and lots of time out. Not always easy though or convenient. They are very easy to toilet train though, so their cages are much easier to keep clean than you'd think.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 04/10/2015 21:39

But it's easily matched by the point of - what's the point of anything? Or anyone? Life? etc

I think you'll find the answer's 47 ... showing my age now!!

Personally I like the idea of the hamster recipes, though that creates problems of its own; I mean, you can't exactly just go and buy them in Sainsburys, can you??

wonkywheel · 04/10/2015 21:44

42, the answer's 42! Sorry, I'll get my coat!

donajimena · 04/10/2015 21:44

Have you ever been bitten by a hamster? Fuck me I can still feel the pain. 23 years on...

wonkywheel · 04/10/2015 21:46

We do have a hamster too and he's gorgeous, he's in a massive cage (pet shop ones are too small fyi) and has a huge pile of bedding to burrow in. They're for being cute, nothing more - like babies only marginally quieter.

vodkaredbullgirl · 04/10/2015 21:47

To annoy the hell out of you at night lol well a syrian hamster does. My dd has a hamster called Harry Houdini, yes he has escaped a few time out his ball.

Dionysuss · 04/10/2015 21:48

Dd has a winter white. She woke it up. It bit her. Idiot, childless uncle told her jokingly that now it has had the taste of blood it will be like a vampire. She's too scared to handle him.

Sgtmajormummy · 04/10/2015 21:48

They exist for the entertainment value of watching their desperate attempts to escape!
Your eye is caught by the flash of his white tummy as he tries to kick the hatch off his cage while hanging on by his teeth and claws. Or you wonder what that vibrating judder is, and discover he's gnawing at the bars to get out.
And a hamster's manic running on the wheel must be a sign of some imprisonment trauma.
It's cruel to keep an animal locked up, but they are extremely cute to look at and stroke, like miniature teddybears. Ours escaped for a month with its own food supply and we only found it because somebody sat down suddenly on the armchair and it scuttled out of the way!

Puzzledandpissedoff · 04/10/2015 21:54

42, the answer's 42!

Sod it, I can't even get the number right ...

Dionysuss · 04/10/2015 21:54

We used to have a Syrian called Colin. He spent more time AWOL than in his cage. He went through literally every type of cage, but he managed to escape them all.

Several years after he died, we moved house. When we moved the big furniture out we kept finding little houses of bedding and food stores he had built up under bookcases and cabinets. Each time he got out he must had headed straight to his hideout spots. Clever git.

WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 04/10/2015 22:00

They are to teach kids about responsibilities of pets...
And look cute
Mine did power an LED by running his wheel...

My neighbour trained hers to do a few tricks.

Mine escaped a lot. He was fairly cute, once he was used to us.

We used the bottom of a rotastak cage, filled 2/3 deep with sawdust (giant cage for him to run and climb in, not just the little rota). Put a handful of dry seeds in there. Mixed it all up. He foraged. Like they do in the wild. Next morning, all his food was in his dish!

They province amusement too. In a tubed cage, like the old rota, carrots don't fit widthways!

maddening · 04/10/2015 22:06

I prefer gerbils but hamsters are cute :)

boobubsmum · 04/10/2015 22:08

We had one that chewed it's way through 2 cages and then escaped a tank. I am officially over rodents, I want a cat or dog,something decent sized.

Chippednailvarnish · 04/10/2015 22:08

Penfold is a hamster. I'm sure Penfold has a purpose.

ginmakesitallok · 04/10/2015 22:10

Years ago (pre dc) I had a lovely Syrian. Near christmas I arrived home to find her cage door open, she was on her wheel so I just closed cage door. Later when I was cleaning out her cage I found a load of tinsel in her bed and a bauble from the Christmas tree.

mrstweefromtweesville · 04/10/2015 22:12

A hamster delights the eye and warms the heart. A big hairy Syrian is best. And a hamster to keep him company..

A guinea pig makes a better supper. So I've heard.

Patchworkturtle · 04/10/2015 22:14

My hamster was an affectionate little thing actually, and great for teaching my little boy about being gentle with pets, respecting their space etc etc.
Then it died and nobody really seemed to care but me, so I refuse to get another.

PrincessHairyMclary · 04/10/2015 22:15

After our hamster died, we got gerbils instead which are far more interesting, awake more during the day, sleep more during the night and can be trained to run through cardboard mazes etc, need a deep substrate.

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