Oh I am quite the rat expert, having kept several in my time - they are social beasties and really need to be kept in pairs. I am very fond of rats and rodents in general, but I also know that hamsters (I also had 2, but not at the same time) are generally destined to be a disappointment. Pets at Home is an evil place, imo, as they do not care about the animals they sell at all. Grrrr.
Rats need bloody enormous cages, plenty of running about time outside the cage and you cannot keep rats and terriers in the same house unless you have very good security measures. Plus, it's actually really unfair on a dog bred purely to exterminate critters to expect him to live in harmony with any small squeaky things. Trust me, in a previous life, I tried. I ended up with a three-zone house: rat zone, enraged terrier zone and baby zone. Not to mention the hassle I got from midwives and health visitors. Ho hum. Yes, everybody survived, but it was a bit stressful. One of the rats eventually succumbed to a heart attack - but then that could have been down to an excess of peanut butter and digestive biscuits (he was a particularly greedy little so and so).
Moving on: a hamster could possibly live very high up on top of a cupboard in dd's room. Negotiations are in progress. (damn and blast, but I have to be seen to be reasonable on this).
Have done no wrapping and have done no Christmas cards at all and am currently feeling no need to do any. I got up at 6am to be in Tesco by 7am and it was already busy. And the day has not necessarily got much better since.
Happy w/e, crepeys - and try to keep dodging the germs. (Hope you are feeling better v. v. soon, MI)