Kids want a hamster

[alcoholnightmare]

Hi, my kids would like a hamster - they are 6,5&5, so I’m fully expecting to look after said hamster which wouldn’t be a problem, except I don’t know how.
Had hamsters and other pets as a kid, but my Mum did it all and I don’t remember what to do. I know to clean cage weekly, feed and water daily, hamster ball for excercise, nocturnal (not a problem), cuddles etc, not overwhelming hamster with noise etc.
what else though? Do they need vaccines? Pet insurance etc?
I’ve only ever owned a dog and cat as an adult so no idea where to start with a hamster

I know its already been said but hamsters are not good pets for kids.
They dont generally want to be touched and they are nocturnal. They very much have a fuck off vibe going on. I had hamsters as a teen and out of about 4, only one was a snuggle bug. The others tolerated me at best. 😁

Rats, otoh, make brilliant pets! Intelligent, interactive, love snuggling, easy to train.
They need to be kept in pairs at least and they thrive on love and attention.

Guinea pigs scare so easily and are very delicate. They are really loving but lots can go wrong.

Mice are really lovely but are incontinent and smell.

Gerbils are feisty buggers. Very much luck of the draw whether you get a friendly one or an asshat. Also need to be kept in pairs.

Have had hamsters, rats, ferrets and rabbits. Agree rats are by far the best - still a fair amount of work to be looked after properly but a good effort/reward ratio. Ferrets are lovely but harder.

This thread reminded me of my childhood hamster (Hammy), it's eye fell out and it traumatized me.

I'd go with a different animal!

I had a hamster used to bite me all of the time, it also had epilepsy not sure if that's common though!

I agree with everyone who recommended a cat.

If not, then guinea pigs. The cage will take up more room than a hamster cage and guinea pigs can’t live alone, but they can be really friendly. Ours used to be let out of the cage for a run around, and they’d squeak and come over when they saw us. They also liked sitting on our laps when we watched TV. They are quite fragile though, and you need to be really careful about not dropping them.

Oh god! Well, I’m absolutely petrified of rats (my Mums fault) so looks like two cats from a rescue it is!
tnanks everyone

I would recommend a hamster! We’ve had ours since May and I love the little guy! He wakes up around 7pm so my kids (8 and 11) do get 1.5 hours to play with him, he loves being handled and hasn’t bitten us (so far) I appreciate all hamsters are not this friendly though! However we did do lots of taming work with him prior to actually picking him up. There’s a couple of good YouTubers I made my kids watch before we got him. I recommend the Bucastate 3.0 enclosure, quite pricey but we got a very good deal on Temu. Lots of enrichment, chew toys and the right size wheel. Check out Etsy for hamster sprays, really good prices and keeps our hamster busy and happy. Hamster balls are cruel, they can hurt their backs and get their feet trapped so definitely wouldn’t get one of them. Hamster enclosures do not need to be completely cleaned and fresh bedding every week, this can stress your hamster out. Spot clean daily for poo. You’ll find that your hamster will pick out a place to pee after a while so should be easier to clean. Mine uses his sand bath to pee so very easy to change to keep fresh. He is quite noisy during the night so that’s worth keeping in mind when deciding what room your hamster will live in. Ours is in my DD’s room and she’s used to it now falls to sleep and stays asleep no bother.

I love ours and am so happy we got him.

@dontforgetmeawwww…. This is lovely! Can I see a photo please of hammie and his castle?
Noise at night not a problem as would be in dining room downstairs.
I think I’m going to try to convince the boys that they want cats/kittens now… but would still love to see pics please!

Going against the grain

ive always had dwarf hamsters since a teenager, less so in the last few years. Had guinea pigs for a few years and they were awful pets, need alot more maintenance and looking after than you would think and it will definitely be you looking after them

my DD who is 10 now has dwarf hamsters and she is brilliant with them and the couple we have had have been so lovely and tame we have them out and handle them no issues and they are so much fun to watch when they are active

My experience: DOG of course is tops - will love you whatever you do, but quite demanding of your attention, time and money (vet bills astronomical).

Next CAT - can also be quite loving, though depends on the individual. Much less demanding, easier to care for, but still - vet bills. Big plus (compared to DOG) is that they don't mind being left at home alone (though do greet you nicely on return, so I'm not really sure about that).

Next GERBILS - can't love you, but fun to watch and don't mind being touched a little but scared of much handling. Not aggressive. Don't smell much (but do a little unless you have room for a massive enclosure). Short life-span, not long enough for massive vet expenditure.

Finally HAMSTER - not rewarding at all.

My children were allowed their own pets, once they turned 11. I had in my mind that a child of 11 or older would be able to care for their own pets.

We had gerbils, hamsters, Russian hamsters, a guinea pig and fish over the years. I didn’t once feed or clean out a pet, so something worked!

If the want pets, they have to look after them in my opinion.

As others have said, no ball!

Hamsters really don’t make great pets. They’re really boring as they sleep all day and they require a lot of cleaning.

We have gerbils. They are cute, easy to look after and friendly. They are noisy at night though. Average lifespan is something to think about - iirc, 2 years for hamsters, 4 for gerbils, 20+ for chinchillas. Don't get a chinchilla!

lots of people recommending guinea pigs - I love mine but they are a lot of work - I read somewhere that they can poop up to 100 times a day . They really do make a lot of mess!

I begged and begged (and begged!) my parents for a hamster, instead they got cats.
Best choice ever :)

Cats now also out as I’m reminded that they tend to bring in half dead rats, mice and birds. All of which I absolutely do not want to deal with.
sorry kids….. no pets for you!

This is true. The only way round it is an indoor cat. However, moggies (ie the vast majority of cats) don’t generally take kindly to being indoor cats and will demand to go out/be miserable unless you let them/ escape. The only way to guarantee a cat which will be happy as an indoor one is to get a pedigree which doesn’t have the same desire to go out - you’re looking at a ragdoll, basically. They’re lovely big fluffy things, not the most blessed with brains but really sweet and good with children. Possibly worth considering?

Or your other options if you’d prefer not to get a pedigree are cat-proofing your garden so cats can go in it but not get out to hunt (cat-proof fencing they can’t get over, basically) or you can buy sophisticated cat flaps which stop them bringing prey in. Or you don’t have a cat flap at all and you control when the cat goes in/out so you just don’t let them in if they have a present for you - this one is trickier though if you’re out of the house in the day and have to decide either that the cat is in all day or out, whatever the weather.

We trained our cat not to bring his kills inside. Every time he brought one in when he first started doing it, we just picked him up (with kill still in his mouth!) and plopped him outside. He soon stopped bringing them in!

I think that keeping a cat indoors is cruel. They're natural hunters and they are happiest when they can roam around.

With that in mind, I wouldn't get a cat if I lived on or near a busy road. We're semi-rural and my cat has the bestest life - he spends summers almost entirely living outdoors and a lot of time crouching in the long grass pretending he's a tiger. That and sleeping in the greenhouse 😍

If you want a small caged animal, then gerbils are better than hamsters as they're not nocturnal and whilst they don't want to be handled, they can be "played with", i.e. let them run on your lap or be interactive with toys/food etc.

But for very young children, guinea pigs are far better as they are happy to be handled, to sit on your lap and be stroked, etc.

I have been staff to 4 cats, all rescues, and only 1 has been a competent and enthusiastic hunter. Of the other 3, 2 are "meh, food lives in a bowl doesn't it?" and the other took a academic interest in hunting only (she'd help out if the other one brought something in but otherwise cba).

TL;DR - get a rescue, feed generously and they won't necessarily hunt at all.

You can also narrow down the odds of outdoor cats not hunting if you choose a certain type of moggy. Male tabby or ginger cats are not inclined to hunt in my experience. Females of any colour tend to be more enthusiastic and tortoiseshells are very dedicated to the cause (they are also absolutely amazing personalities and the absolute best cats to own in my opinion, but you do have to accept that finding mouse livers under your table is the price you pay for the privilege of living with a tortie). My tortie girl died a few months ago and God, the house is quiet without her. The rodent population is definitely safer without her around but she was an amazing cat.

My fat tabby boys, on the other hand, wouldn’t kill a mouse if it came and sat on their paws. I know there is no definite science which links coat colour or sex to predatory behaviour but I do think there’s something in it!

My tortie sits and looks quizzically at the gerbils in their cage and the thought bubble seems to say "my DNA is telling me something. Not sure what...oh well, let's see if the salmon Dreamies magically refilled..."

There's a great FB page about all ginger/orange cats only having one brain cell between them. Cue lots of pics from owners where their ginger cat is in some kind of predicament and "has never had the cell" or "the one time when they had the cell".. Lots of ginger cats seem to be called Kevin, too 😃

We had two my kids were 5 and 8, yes I did all the care but it was lovely we took time to settle them in before handling and neither were nippers. The first one bit once and the second never did. We really enjoyed them and were sad when they died.

My orange tabby can’t even escape our garden. It’s not remotely cat proofed and all the other (non orange) neighbourhood cats manage to pass through, he’s just that stupid/lazy. So no presents for us as all he does is sleep on the patio furniture.
I think there is something in it!