Is there such a thing as a hypo-allegenic hamster/gerbil?

[JustineMumsnet]

Have very allergic husband and very demanding six year old. Really need a small, cuddly thing that won't make him sneeze. Is there such a thing - anyone any ideas? Thanks

Meant allergenic of course.

Don't know - but my seriously allergic DH can cope with our siamese cat (not much help I know - sorry)

You could always buy a tank to put it in instead of a cage

Gerbils have silky fur unlike hamsters which are fluffy; and if you used eg shredded paper for their bedding and something other than sawdust in the bottom, and as Meanmachine says keep them in a tank, you might get away with it!

(Tank brilliant idea in fact, ours are in a cage and constantly spray litter all over the floor; they are burrowers naturally, with a tank you could put a deep layer in the bottom and it wouldn't go everywhere.)

I will google for you

This is a good place to start - a dooyoo review (!) by someone who got gerbils for an allergic child.

Another good one - says peat and sawdust for burrowing.

I'm feeling v guilty now, our cage has 3 levels but is only about a foot across and they do chew the bars all the time but they are quite old now so I'm not shelling out for a 4' aquarium!

Thanks for that - I'll check out the links.