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folklaur
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 8:04pm | IP Logged
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Any hamster owners?
I have a child who desperately wants a hamster. We have okay'd it with our landlords....but I just don't know what actually having one will be like so before we do so I would love to hear from others that have one.
thanks,
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
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Hate hamsters! They bite, sleep during the day, are up all night and don't really like to be held. The ones we had chewed through plastic and were just plain nasty.
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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MacBeth
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
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We love hamsters! The smaller, Chinese hamsters are very tame and easy to handle.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 8:53pm | IP Logged
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 Oh, dear!
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MacBeth
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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SallyT
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We had one hamster whom we loved. He was a teddy bear, and was fairly good-natured, though he would bite if he was frightened or over-handled. We found the cage hard to keep clean and fresh-smelling, though . . . it's really important to get a cage without hard-to-reach places. And they do that sleep-at-night thing, which makes it kind of hard to sustain interest in them after a while . . .
Our preferred pocket pets are guinea pigs, though it's been a while since we had one. They're diurnal, highly sociable, and easy to keep -- but do need more room than a hamster, and are happier kept in same-sex or male-female neutered pairs. We had a pair in our flat in England for the better part of four years and loved them dearly, though alas they didn't survive to live in America. Now we seem to be stuck with rabbits . . . our current one eats electrical cords, yet survives.
Good luck researching!
Sally
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MacBeth
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
our current one eats electrical cords, yet survives.
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That's because it's a current one...right?
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MacBeth in NY
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Michaela
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| Posted: July 15 2008 at 11:38pm | IP Logged
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Laura, my 8yo son pleaded for over two years for a hamster. After saving his birthday money to purchase the hamster, habitat, food, bedding... You name it, he had saved enough that we didn't have another reason why he shouldn't have one. We thought he was serious after two years of begging.
Well, the novelty of having a hamster quickly wore off. TOO QUICKLY. He couldn't actually PLAY with the hamster. Peanut poops much more than he expected.  We know animals have to go, but what I think turned Nathan off Peanut is the constant pooping in his hands while holding/trying to play. Within the week he offered Peanut to his siblings.
Peanut (a cute white dwarf hamster) now sits in the habitat with barely any attention. At least not what I had envisioned. I am scared of the hamster because one day Teresa got a hold of him. (The habitat is very easy to open) I thought she was getting a little rough and tried to take Peanut away from her. Peanut bit me so hard it left puncture wounds. Ever since, I wont touch it. I'm too nervous when he nibbles my finger. We considered giving him away on freecycle, but worry someone will feed him to their pet snake. 
I've never regretted a pet until we got Peanut. A hamster just isn't a good match for *my* son. I never noticed that child washing his hands so much before. LOL
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Michaela
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Carole N.
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 3:17am | IP Logged
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We purchased a dwarf Russian hamster for ds to use for his Natural History science project. He has been a great pet. Mostly quiet (except sometimes the wheel in his cage squeels and it is usually in the middle of the night).
This type of hamster really needs to be in a pair. And hamsters like attention. My dd read if you play with them, they will be more friendly. Unfortunately, now that the project is over, he does not get to much attention. Hamsters aren't like dogs in that you can play with them or take them for a walk.
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crusermom
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We had hamsters - never again. They got out and chewed through woodwork in my son's bedroom. They bit. They smelled. Nothing positive in our experience. But, it wasn't the end of the world either - you can give it a try - I think they only live for 1000 days. Good luck!
Mary
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Vanna
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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My oldest had two hamsters when he was younger. The first one he got died within a couple of months. The second lived 4 YEARS. That is very unusual for a hamster.
I did not like having a hamster because of the smell. We cleaned his cage once a week and spot cleaned often. It still smelled. Yuck!
We bought the really expensive hamster cages with all the accessories, but they were so hard to clean. We ended up with a Habitrail Safari Cage with a tube that went down into a large clear Rubbermaid tub. We filled the bottom with lots of shavings (don't use cedar it can cause respiratory problems for the animal) and then we'd give him toilet paper rolls and other toys. He would run on his wheel in the Habitrail all night long, then sleep in the Rubbermaid tub all day. I was glad we bought the clear tub or we would never have seen him.
He never bit but he wasn't exactly cuddly either. I just don't think it's a great pet but I know some people love them.
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KackyK
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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We had a rat instead of a hamster. Believe it or not, rats don't bite like hamsters. Plus the rat becomes accustomed to you and looks for you to come and play with it and feed it. I grew up with hamsters, but then when my kids wanted a pet, we went for a hamster and they were ALL (the ones at the pet store) hissing and biting at the girl who was picking them up for us...so that ended that. Then she told us about the rat.
We gave the rat away only because my dc became disinterested and I really had no time to spare for the care of a rat myself!!!
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SallyT
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 11:43pm | IP Logged
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Macbeth wrote:
SallyT wrote:
our current one eats electrical cords, yet survives.
That's because it's a current one...right? |
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Yark yark. Apparently.
We've never (yet) had a rat, but I have heard that they are quite intelligent, friendly and sociable.
I do think that many people underestimate the need which many small animals have for social interaction. Their domestication history is far shorter than, say, that of the dog, and it takes a lot of consistent work to keep them socialized, simply because they're that much closer to a wild state than an animal which has been living with humans for thousands of years. The amount of careful handling and socializing they need is often more than a child is able to provide, which means that the pet will too often be unrewarding in its responses to the child. We think a lot about the need to train dogs and work with them to make them suitable companions, but don't often consider that smaller animals require the same kind of work.
Just thoughts, by the way, not a lecture. We have had a number of pocket-type pets -- guinea pigs, a hamster, and a succession of rabbits -- and this has been the challenge with all of them. Though I have to say that the same rabbit who eats electrical cords truly has rewarded my teenage daughter's careful and intentional attentions. We got him last fall from a lady who had gotten him from somebody who had found him hopping around a middle school, and when he first came to us he made it plain that he had no use for the human race. After my daughter's last rabbit, whom she had raised from birth and who had quite a sweet personality, this one seemed like a serious letdown. But over time, living in her room with her, being talked to, fed, and given free range a lot of the time (which is how he manages to eat the electrical cords), he has really come out of his shell and will hop over to greet anyone who enters the room and let them pet him, which is a major milestone. If my daughter had not made the effort to interact with him consistently, he'd still be sulking in a corner of his cage with his back to us.
All that to say, I guess, that small pets can be a joy, but only if you expect them to be as much work in their own way as a dog would be. Our betta fish is seriously low-maintenance (and also quite personable, for a fish), and our water snails seem to thrive on being ignored, but beyond that, all our little fauna friends have been a lot higher-maintenance than things that little ought to be -- as I always tend to think! And yet we always seem to have them in our house . . .
Sally
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 17 2008 at 11:08am | IP Logged
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All good thoughts - thank you!
I had guinea pigs for a bit growing up, but we had to give them away as I was quite allergic to them (we had one short haired and one mop.) I had a teddybear hamster too, but I don't remember much, except that she was very tame ( we have been quite lucky in the 'tameness' of the pets I had, I think...) and we let her run around in one of those clear balls all the time. I think I was about 7? I just don't remember much about the actual care of her.
My absolute favorite pet was an albino ferret that I got at about 12 or 13. She was the sweetest, tamest, goofiest pet. Oh, I loved her. She never, ever bit (I know lots that do, but she never bit any person.....though she would chew!!! She loved to chew buttons on remotes, and she would take anything shiney and hide it under the couch (car keys, jewelry, etc...) I really adored her, she was so social and such a goof. She always liked to be by people, and ride on your shoulder or in your pocket. She would play with one of our cats and our dogs, but stayed far away from the other cat. I have looked at ferrets in petshops since, but I have never seen one nearly as sweet or tame as she was.
My dh and bil actually raised rats (he calls them 'fancy rats') when they were kids. Whenever our child mentions "hamster" he suggests "rats." I just......don't know about the idea of having a rat. In my house. On purpose.
Thanks for all the advice, experiences, etc. It is really very helpful!!!
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organiclilac
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cactus mouse wrote:
I have looked at ferrets in petshops since, but I have never seen one nearly as sweet or tame as she was.
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It's best to get ferrets from a breeder, but Marshall Farms has eliminated most of them. If you cannot find a breeder, it's best to find out when your petshop will be getting their next order, and get there right away to separate the one you want. Ferrets play very roughly with each other, and a bite that will draw blood on you, they will barely feel. This way, you don't allow them much time to get used to "ferret play" before you teach them to be gentle.
We had 2 (at different times) when I was growing up, and my sister has 2 now. It is a LOT of fun to watch them play and wrestle around, but one of them still has biting issues which may be because he still has another ferret to play with.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: July 18 2008 at 12:30am | IP Logged
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We've had a few hamsters. I saw it as a low-maintenance way of appeasing the desire for a pet my children always seem to have. 
Ours were never hand-tamed well. So the hamster would spend most of its time in the cage. And then I wondered why we even had it. Each one died after a year and a half or two, so it's not a long-term commitment.
By the way, I have a warning. You may get more than you bargained for - literally! Not once, but twice, we brought home a single hamster only to learn that it was pregnant when purchased. Finding babies in the cage a few weeks later was very exciting! We kept the babies until they could be separated from their mom and gave them to friends the first time it happened. I gave them back to the pet store the second time it happened. I refused to keep more than one at a time as a pet.
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LucyP
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My hamsters I had as a child/teen never bit but they did smell! I think as a lonely girl often in my room, and a bit older (I was 12 when I got my first) I just played with them more than most people would, so they were very sociable and cute. But they did stink, no matter what I did!
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Hamsters
