To let my hamster be a house hamster?

[DifficultSituation19]

I rescued a hamster about 4 months ago who had had a pretty shit life up until then (she was about 8 months old when I got her).

She had never really been handled, but is now super tame and friendly. Her (very large) cage is on the floor of the living room, and since she’s become tamer I’ve been just opening the door of the cage and letting her free roam around the living room every evening, usually for 3-4 hours, sometimes longer. When she’s tired she gets back in her cage and puts herself back to bed.

Last night I was —three sheets to the wind— tired, and fell asleep while she was having her run around. This morning, when I went downstairs, she wasn’t in her house. No sign of her all day, but this evening she woke up and has been running around as normal, popping back into her cage every now and again for food and drinks or a quick run on her wheel.

I closed her cage door at about 10.30, and her little face broke my heart! She just sat at the door of her cage looking very sad indeed. She’s now out running around again. So I’m thinking, people have house rabbits, how about a house hamster? I’d keep her confined to the living room and she’d have the option of being in her cage if she wanted to be there (and I’d obviously put all her food in there).

Is this a bonkers idea? She has a sand bath, soil, deep substrate, and more toys and treats than you can shake a stick at in her cage, but she’d far rather not be in there. We don’t have any other pets that could munch her, and the dc are well trained at keeping the doors closed.

If my Dad cleaned the hamster/guinea pig cages (different animals at different times) he used to put the animal in the bath! (This was after he once put the guinea pig on the table and it fell off)

I’ve not Rtft but I think you probably know by now it’s not a great idea, although I have to say I adore the fact that you love the hamster so much that this idea occurred to you at all! Animal lovers are the best :) Hamster is super cute too Xx

NestOfSwipers, I insist on a pic of the perfectly spherical one!

I haven't rtft either but when I was 13 we had a hamster with an open cage policy so he was allowed to roam the house as he pleased. He did break some stuff (chewed the stereo cables, the bottom of a door and 1 leather sofa) but we all loved him so it wasn't a huge deal. 😂My dad used to pick him up in the mornings and they would have breakfast together before he left for work, and he used to sit on the sofa next to my mum when she watched films. We were all utterly devastated when he passed of old age eventually, but thinking about this free roaming hamster still makes me smile.

I reckon you could hamster proof an area where yours could run around in?

Aww, thank you for your lovely compliments. ❤️ He's got some hair loss on his rump which isn't clear on that photo but we've treated him for mites and it's taken a while but it's growing back. I'm not sure if I can get a photo of the Fast One. I'll have a go. Might be a grey blur. She's so fast!!

I can't cope with all this cuteness!
They are all so lovely!

Peanut knows how to work the camera. I don't know why & this is a compliment btw, in the last photo of Peanut she was giving off Kim Kardashian vibes (I like Kim)
I think Peanut really should be an insta star like Grumpy Cat (rip) was.
Her page could be called Smiley Peanut.

@DifficultSituation19 no we don't groom him at all. We bought a soft toothbrush for him but he seems to be able to deal with his fur. He's so kissable! 😂

@DifficultSituation19 totally selfish of me but I've had a shit day - any additional peanut pictures would be much appreciated - the cuteness scale is off the charts!!

@NestOfSwipers I love kissing Peanut too! She’s the softest hamster I’ve ever had...every other one has had bog standard soft hamster fur, but Peanut has super soft luxury fur.

@ThatCurlyGirl sorry to hear you’ve had a shit day. Her ladyship isn’t awake yet so I can’t get any new material tonight yet, but here’s an old one for you :)

My fave photo is still the first one (daily mail sad face perfection).
I really want another hammy now especially like the long haired one which reminded me of one I had growing up

@DifficultSituation19 Aaw you saw my post! My dear GOD peanut is ridiculously cute, that's cheered me right up. It's the fact that in each one she looks like she's just realised she's having her picture taken with that half startled face us hoomins do. Only she's way cuter than a hoomin, obviously.

here’s an old one for you

Those little feet!

This is such a lovely thread 💜

What a cutie, enjoying this thread.

Our hamster died last year, we were all heartbroken, me most of all as he used to come out when I called his name and he loved being picked up and stroked. DDs keep asking for another.

My DDs got great school reports, perhaps that will be their reward, to choose a new hamster. Can they be bought as pairs or are we better just buying one?

When I was a child I had a hamster who disappeared after being let out to have a wander round my bedroom, we were moving house the following week so there were alot of half packed boxes and what not.

After searching high and low for days on end he was nowhere to be found and my mother gently suggested he had found his way out of the house somehow. I was absolutely devastated.

Guess who we discovered in one of the boxes when we were unpacking at the new house

They really are little Houdini's!

Peanut is adorable and this thread has made my heart happy. You sound like such a lovely person and I'm so glad she's got a loving forever home after her shit start

What a little sweetie!

My mum once heard rustling in the kitchen bin. It was next door's hamster.

@merlotqueen if you’re getting a Syrian, definitely only one as they’re solitary animals (and you’d definitely end up with at least one dead hamster pretty quick as they would definitely fight).

Russian dwarves and Robos can sometimes be kept as pairs, but only if they’re siblings of the same sex from the same litter, and even then they often decide they don’t get along. Best to stick to one IMO.

@TheSilveryPussycat lucky she did hear it and it didn’t go out with the bins!

Well Peanut has been slightly elusive tonight (mostly hanging out in her second home aka behind the bookshelves, where she now has quite an impressive nest, which also contains a small wooden toy soldier which I think she found under the sofa). I did manage to pap her once though

I can’t get over the photos where she’s sat on her haunches with her little white gloves on show

She is the cutest hamster I've ever seen

@sueelleker that’s how I’ve tamed all the hamsters I’ve had, get in the empty bath and sit in there with them for a while every night letting them come and sniff me on their terms, until eventually they realise I’m not a scary monster after all.

My mum had a hamster that climbed up the chimney. It came back covered in soot!

Don’t get two - they breed like crazy and even though the pet shop thinks they were both the same sex...In my experience if they fight then they’re the same sex but if they don’t they’re shagging.

Omg that's the cutest hamster ever. 😍

@JaimeBronde teenage dd1 is totally onboard with turning Peanut into an insta sensation. She’s going to set it up and edit the photos (I don’t really do insta).