£10 per day for hamster boarding! Thinking of switching to pet sitter

[onthefencesitter]

My hamster boarder has just raised her rates from £5 per day to £10 a day. This is in north London. She is a good boarder, she provides a savic hamster heaven for free so I don't need to bring my cage and my hamster always seems reasonably happy upon return. Uses dust free cardboard bedding. But for that price, I could get a pet sitter to come in everyday and it would be less faff (she lives only a few tube stops away but I am always running late due to work so I end up using Uber!). Plus if I get additional gerbils/hamster in future, it would cost the same (I think).

The thing is I am not sure about letting someone I don't know well enter my flat when I am away. How do you find a reliable and trustworthy per sitter? Thank you.

I know some of you use cat in a flat and I think some of those people could probably feed hamsters/gerbils too, it's not very difficult. What are your experiences using cat in a flat?

Sorry can't help but smile at the thought of a hamster warranting an extra bedroom in London, how very MN! We have a hamster and the thought of "boarding" him somewhere is quite funny. We give him to one of the dc's classmates to look after while we are away. Hamsters are not very high maintenance, £10 a day is massively taking the mic.

When we go away I just fill a huge tub of hamster food and add two extra bottles of water to her cage and she's quite happy. She loves the peace & quiet! Although leaving a small radio on low might provide reassurance to them depending on what they're like

oh i just saw this. The hamster room is also the wfh office and we also have a bed in there! honestly though i wouldn't really mind putting my desk in our bedroom but my DH doesn't like pets in our bedroom or the living room. and it can't go in the nursery. So i guess a third bedroom is the best option. Where do you keep your hamster?

@onthefencesitter the hamster is kept in dd's room as its her pet. I must admit I wouldn't be keen to have her in the living room or any room where I can see her.

I run my own business doing dog walking / cat sitting / small animal sitting / small animal boarding. I'm in the north and also charge £10 per day for small animal boarding. This includes them being spot cleaned daily, having an hour of free roam time daily and regular health checks (I've got a lot of knowledge when it comes to small animals / rodents in particular and have pointed out health problems in the past, along with pointing out cages that are too small to meet the minimum requirements for the hamster/gerbils). I think £10 a day is reasonable for the care they get, and the knowledge that I have. I'm fully insured to do all of this and DBS checked too. I personally recommend house sitting for small animals just because it's less stressful for them as they can remain in their own home. Most small animals are very easily stressed by a change of environment, even if they don't 'appear' upset. If you use a pet sitter ensure that you see their insurance documents and use one that has a DBS check if possible, to give you extra piece of mind. Local Facebook groups can be good to post in asking for recommendations as then you can see who has used them before and if they were happy with the service. I'm very conscious whenever I'm pet sitting at someone's house as I would personally feel a bit unsure about a 'stranger' coming into my home. I always visit clients before they go away so they can show me where everything is, that way I don't need to be hunting around for anything or going anywhere in the house that I don't need to. I know many people who have cheap cameras in their home on their pets so that they can keep an eye on them. I have cameras on my gerbils (the cameras I use are Little Elf ones from Amazon and are cheap ish and good!). Can help to give you piece of mind that the pet sitter is caring for your animals how you want them to, and that your animals are doing okay.

@Springblossom2022 thanks for this. I just ordered a 150 cm by 60 cm cage for my hamster and hence I might be looking at pet sitters more in the future as the cage would be impossible to move. It also has a shelf underneath where I can put my current cage (100 by 50 cm plastic cage) which could possibly be a home for a new dwarf hamster. And of course with 2 hamsters, pet sitting makes more sense....I guess I could ask local dog walkers/cat sitters who also offer small animal boarding services.

Brilliant to hear, that's a great cage size! A pet sitter sounds more suitable, though you could always take them to a boarding place that already has cages, meaning you just need to take them in their carrier like you did before, though I know it can be extra faff! Good luck finding a pet sitter if that's what you choose, I'm sure most are lovely and will be happy to meet you at least once beforehand at no cost 😊