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Original poster

Hamster is gay, how to explain to children?

105 replies

sophiechitt · 26/10/2020 00:40

Our hamsters are both men, and our kids are asking why they cuddle so much, how do explain this to children 😂😂

OP posts:
KiposWonderbeasts · 26/10/2020 09:51

This isn’t going to end well.

Hamsters are savage little bastards.

ApricotOLeary · 26/10/2020 09:54

Why is males being attracted to males hilarious and something that you don't know how to explain to kids? Feel like I've gone back in time

LaMarschallin · 26/10/2020 10:02

I didn't think it was a troll thread

...and no, I didn't report it (just realised it sounded a bit like I might have).
I replied in good faith as a warning as our "male" hamsters produced babies, which we then had to find good homes for.

Luckily, they didn't get aggressive before the pregnancy and obviously we kept them in separate cages after that.

Why is males being attracted to males hilarious
Exactly my point, Apricot.
I suppose, though, this is MN where numerous people seem to think somebody disagreeing with them is cause for laughing until they cry as well.

PhilSwagielka · 26/10/2020 11:55

@ApricotOLeary

Why is males being attracted to males hilarious and something that you don't know how to explain to kids? Feel like I've gone back in time
I don’t get it either, but then people are weird about same sex couples. I wish my sex life was as exotic as straights seem to think it is!
RevolutionRadio · 26/10/2020 12:17

Are you sure they're both male? We had 2 male dwarf hamsters lived together for months and then one day I woke up and we had 12 more hamsters.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 26/10/2020 12:48

Why is keeping hamsters as pets in this day and age even still a thing? They're terrible pets. Pretty sure it's not the ideal life for them either....

jessstan1 · 26/10/2020 12:55

@ApricotOLeary

Why is males being attracted to males hilarious and something that you don't know how to explain to kids? Feel like I've gone back in time
I think it is more that it concerns hamsters. I mean, do you say, "Our hamsters are gay and in a same sex relationship", as you might about friends, if your children asked? It is just funny and would be the same if it was two female hamsters.

There's also the fact that the children may be very small (they did ask why the hamsters are always cuddling and that sounds 'little'), and haven't yet got round to being very curious about sexual relationships.

I'd just say they are cuddling because they love each other, in the same way that kittens will curl up and sleep together when they are young. Bless. I think it's sweet.

Hmmph · 26/10/2020 12:55

Unlike MNHQ, I find this thread very concerning.

Hamsters EATING each other’s faces? This is disturbing stuff.

I think I have Hammyphobia now!

wizzbangfizz · 26/10/2020 13:08

Jesus Christ @Eckhart Shock

MJMG2015 · 26/10/2020 13:10

@jessstan1.

You don't know hamsters & haven't read the thread clearly!

They shouldn't be sharing a cage & it's dangerous, not cute, to allow them to

LOVED our wee girl, she was like this 🐹 very loving, amusing & cute. I'm glad I hadn't read all the horror stories before we got her, I'm nervous of getting another. Plus they don't live long enough.

The OP is pretty 'off' though. Men hamsters?🤣& not knowing how to explain two hamsters cuddling. Yeah right.

thaegumathteth · 26/10/2020 13:15

You shouldn't have them together but even without that what is there to explain?

PhilSwagielka · 26/10/2020 13:32

Aren’t hams kind of notorious for not getting on?

jennie0412 · 26/10/2020 13:54

@RevolutionRadio

Are you sure they're both male? We had 2 male dwarf hamsters lived together for months and then one day I woke up and we had 12 more hamsters.
Grin
lockeddownandcrazy · 26/10/2020 15:09

Your children will learn that hamsters dont live together and that you havent researched their needs properly when they come down to a bloodbath one morning.

BaronessBomburst · 26/10/2020 15:23

We always had Syrian hamsters when I was a child and one time were talked into buying two brothers, whom we were assured would live together quite happily. They did for months, until one night they didn't.
Fortunately my father was still up watching television and was able to separate them.
Please put them in separate cages OP!

MitziK · 26/10/2020 16:02

Don't believe the tales about gerbils living together in domestic bliss and harmony, either.

DP and his sister came home to find a scene akin to the battle of thermopylae one afternoon.

RevolutionRadio · 26/10/2020 18:30

MitziK I agree, my 2 gerbils put me off them forever, lived together for over a year then it went wrong fast.

GarlicSoup · 26/10/2020 18:36

[quote iguanadonna]@FenellaVelour to be fair, they may well desire to eat humans too. But being sensible of the size difference, they lay off [/quote]
Brilliant Grin

Carrotcakey · 26/10/2020 18:43

DB had an evil hamster from hell as a child. It was blood thirsty for human hands, I dread to think what it would have done to another hamster. It also kept escaping and chewing through things (cost my parents a small fortune in electrical repairs).

A few months in and they relegated the cage to the shed and it escaped and I always imagined a seagull ate him. That didn’t make me sad as a small child which just about sums up how much I hated him!

Audreyseyebrows · 26/10/2020 18:44

@sophiechitt

Our hamsters are both men, and our kids are asking why they cuddle so much, how do explain this to children 😂😂
@sophiechitt I don’t get it? Which bit are you struggling to explain? And what’s so funny? Out of interest would you react in the same way if this were people rather than caged animals?
20mum · 26/10/2020 18:57

Lots of people have told you to separate them (or re-home one, explaining a lonely child couldn't afford a pet). Better that than figure out how to explain to the children why one hamster is cannibalising the face of the other little corpse

Nat6999 · 26/10/2020 19:10

Makes me wonder how ever hamsters mate when they can't live together. It doesn't help when PAH have several in the same cage.

FourPlasticRings · 26/10/2020 19:12

@Nat6999

Makes me wonder how ever hamsters mate when they can't live together. It doesn't help when PAH have several in the same cage.
In the wild they're not caged together in close quarters. Also, the pets at home ones are all juveniles so OK to live together until maturity.
FenellaVelour · 26/10/2020 19:29

@Nat6999

Makes me wonder how ever hamsters mate when they can't live together. It doesn't help when PAH have several in the same cage.
If females are in heat they are receptive to the male. When they’re not in heat, they’ll eat the male’s face off.

I used to breed and show hamsters. It’s not that difficult to spot when the females are in heat - they smell different, and if you rub their back near their tail they “stand”, or assume the position! You still have to be careful and supervise closely though.

itshappened · 26/10/2020 20:32

My hamster lived for nearly ten years... happily on his own. Separate your hamsters now!

Also I had to look up the Richard gere references. No idea how I have lived so long without hearing that story before!