cluckbok Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) Hi ya, My DD has always wanted a hamster and we've always said no. Well it's her birthday and we got her a toy pony and she said "ah this is the next best thing to a hamster"! and she was really pleased with it. But you know when they just pull at your heart strings??! We've always said no before! but now we are really thinking Thinking of getting her one or two, what are your experiences? i.e. is two females best or one etc? I know not to really go the Russian hamster route as hubby had those and they fought to the death! they were nasty. We want a really really friendly one!! We've already got 4 guinea pigs and 3 chickens! my goodness we'd better look for more land!!! Edited August 4, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xScrunchee Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Just my opinion but I have always found gerbils to be friendlier than hamsters. I know sooo many people who have been bitten by hamsters. (Now loads of hamster lovers will come on and say that they don't bite and gerbils are nasty!) Like I said-just my opion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckbok Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Ooh interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We also had 2 hamsters, the first one, Bowser, was not a happy hamster he didn't really like people! Biscuit was absolutely lovely though, never bit anyone and was handled an awful lot as well. We used to put Biscuit in his ball and he would chase the cats many a time when we'd had to rescue one from the corner of the room I have never had gerbils so can't compare, but I think with hamsters it's like chickens - comes down to personality. Easy enough to look after as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieNLucys Mum Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Over the years we have had gerbils rats and hamsters. My son rescued 2 hamsters, sequentially not together They were both lovely but the current hamster we have is the tamest and friendliest by far. My daughter researched on the interenet the exact type of hammy she wanted and contacted a breeder. She then had to wait until the female became pregnant to the right male and then reserve a baby. We eventually got a gorgeous show quality hammy. The breeder knew we wanted a pet and was happy with that. Scribbles is so friendly as she was regularly handled from a young age unlike pet shop hammys. I would highly reccomend joining a forum such as this http://madabouthamsters.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=985&highlight=little+scribbles The people are very friendly and knowledgable and you can see what babies are available. The pic in the link is our hammy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'd say go with syrian hamsters We have 3 russian hamsters at school who are tame, but they are from a local home breeder and have had regular handling. If it were me I'd buy it from a breeder or smaller independent pet shop as the hamsters are more likely to me handled from a younger age and not bred at a giant hamster farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 We have had many hamsters over the years, both boys and girls but never two together as they will fight. We have had mostly friendly ones which does come down to regular handling and the odd one that bit, usually becasue they get scared as they dont see too well. We have had several very clever escape artists as well They are a great first pet but remember they are nocturnal creatures as well so are most active at night. They are a great introduction to keeping animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gem_Seb Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Ive always had syrian hamsters and all have been lovely, only been bitten by one once! As long as you handle them a lot when you first get it, it should be fine! easy to look after and just let them out in a hamster ball for a hour or so each night! They are good easy pets for kids to look after!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teri Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 how old is your daughter? i found hamsters tend to be easily squeazed...not nice...and most of my friends who have had them lost theirs after a few months (either died or actually lost somewhere in the house!) i personally think rats make brilliant pets if your thinking rodents. they are bigger, sturdier and very friendly. they are also more active and will sit on your shoulder while your doing the house work black hooded rats are very pretty. mine (i had six at one point, called bones spock macoy data solo and ohoura...(how do you spell her name anyway) they all got on brilliantly and loved cuddles. bones could open his cage and would jump into my bed!! i must admit i have never owned a hamster and was mean enough to refuse looking after my daughters class hamster i know but they just don't do it for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I was very anti hamsters as always got bitten by them at work. However I am now a convert as we have had 3. 2 boys were lovely and the 3rd girl was a bit of a biter but still very sweet. I think that boys are the best and as with any small furries they need regualar handling so the younger you get them the better. Rats do make great pets too but many people cant do the whole 'tail thing' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieNLucys Mum Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Rats do make great pets too but many people cant do the whole 'tail thing' I agree ratties are great When my kids first had them i loathed their tails, just looking at them made my skin crawl. However by the time we had them a while I was quite happy for them to sit on my shoulder with their tails against my neck just goes to show what you can get used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 We had two hamsters (just got one left right now - but ED is buying a new one soon with her bday money). The first one was Nibbs. We was a bit nippy at the beginning but I think that was due to nerves on both sides as I'd never had a hamster before and obviously neither had my kids. But he is now the most gorgeous little chap. I took him to the V.E.T's last week to have his claws trimmed as they were very long and as I had to hold him whilst the V.E.T clipped I was waiting for him to nip me. But he didn't! Our other one, Scruffy, was a rescue and he was a grey long haired chappy who was the softest thing ever, if not the smelliest - no matter how much we cleaned him. I think hamsters need a lot of handling but also time and patience. We got used to ours by putting them in an (empty) bath so they could run around, no escape, be safe from our cats and they could get used to our smells and we could get used to picking them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chooklady Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 We've got 2 hamsters, one if friendly the other isn't particularly friendly. Try and find somewhere to buy one where they get handled regularly, our second one came from a larger pet store and it obviously was not happy about being handled. Hamsters are solitary creatures by nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckbok Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 We decided to give the hamster route a miss and because we have not got room for more chickens, we decided to get a budgie, a blue boy called "Rudy", named Rudy after the dinosaur in Ice Age 3! At least we will see him all the time unlike a hamster sleeping all day. We brought him home today, he hopped out of the box and into the perch on his swish new cage. He's quite quiet at the moment, getting used to his new surroundings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 I like budgies. We had one when I was much younger. He was blue and called Sparkie! My hubby and I have also had a canary called Sesame (aka Ses-bird). They have beautiful chirups. We used to let her out in the living room (before cats and windows shut) and she'd make nests on the pelmet tops. She was a bit messy but lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mini welly Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 i have a hamster. yesterday Elephant died but now Bruno is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
