Which hamster for a 8 YO

Lotus-eater

As title, my 8 year old is desperate for a hamster, but there seems to be alot of confusing advice re which type to get.

I've been told dwarf, not dwarf, Syrian, not Syrian........... Aghhh!

Simple, down to earth help required please.

And if you know of a good book about keeping hamsters for a very well read 8 year old, that would also be great.

krlyr

Hamsters are a popular child's pet and I've never understood why! They sleep all day, they bite, they don't interact a whole lot with humans. Not that I don't like them, but I appreciated the hamster I owed in my late teens much more than the hamsters we had when I was younger, because you enjoy a different aspect (most young kids want to hold and cuddle a pet)

If you do go for a hamster then Syrians have the bonus of being larger in size and thus a bit less fragile/easier to hold. Can be nippy initially but don't take too long to handtame - though this is more a job for mum/dad, as it only takes a couple of nips for the child to get fed up and become too wary to handle the hamster in the future. Syrians are best off on their own which has a bonus of only needing the one.
There are various dwarf breeds. Dwarf hamsters generally do well in pairs or groups but can fall out and usually once they fall out they're difficult to get back together again, so you need to be prepared for the possibility of needing two cages.
Russian (Campbells) dwarves have the worst reputation for biting!
Chinese dwarves are apparently less likely to bite, but the downside is that the males have some very obvious "male qualities" which can lead to embarrassing questions from the kids :rotfl:
Roborovski dwarves are also generally a bit less nippy than the Russian dwarves but smaller, and generally more skittish - more "look at" pets than handling.

Also bear in mind that many of the commercial hamster cages are far too small. PAH sell a cage called the Cambridge, I think it is, which is the smallest you should go for with a Syrian. Dwarf hamsters may need something with narrower bars, or a tank-style cage (the plastic ones are easier to move around/clean than glass tanks) but again, go for larger than the smaller cages petshops sell.

Other pets you could consider
Gerbils - better off in pairs/trios - fun to watch, dig tunnels which can be entertaining, not cuddly but generally don't bite
Mice - smaller so don't take up quite so much space. Females can live in pairs/groups, males can sometimes live in pairs but often fall out so better on their own. They do, however, have a distinct smell
Rats - not everyone's cup of tea but they actually make fab pets for children. Very handtame if socialised properly (petshop pets are generally very skittish - approach a reputable breeder or a decent small animal rescue), can be quite cuddly (males moreso than females), can even be clicker trained like dogs! Downsides is that they need a fair amount of space, and being such social animals they need company. Also can be a bit more prone to health issues so cost more in vet bills.
Guinea pigs - need a large hutch (3' isn't adequate), sociable so need at least a pair, but much better as 'lap pets' and very vocal which is often a hit with kids (mine learnt to "wheek" at the rustle of a carrierbag or the sound of the fridge opening as they knew it meant food was due!). Do live for a while though
Rabbits - again, large hutch needed, better in pairs, need vaccinations (myxamatosis and VHD) and live for a long time. But their size makes them less fragile and more interactive.

It might, perhaps, be a good idea to find your local small animal rescue and visit to see what pet(s) they recommend and what other species your son takes a fancy to As mentioned, petshop pets are often much less tame - having worked in petshops, I've seen how they work (many operate in the same way) - they buy in the animals from a "rodent farm", i.e. stacks and stacks of cages to mass-breed the animals. No discriminating with health, temperament, or anything, just bred to sell on for a profit. They arrive at the petshop and spend days, weeks, months in their cages with minimal interaction (I did try to interact with the animals as much as I could, but at the end of the day the staff are there to man the shop, not to cuddle the animals) and then sold on. They miss the vital socialisation needed as babies, then miss it as youngsters, and then get more wary by sitting under glaring lights all day having people come along tapping on the glass of the cages. Approaching a breeder or a rescue is a much safer bet IMO, because children often make a quick judgement - a pet that bites them a few times in the first week will often be treated with suspicion/disliked for quite a while.

I would also consider whether this will be your son's pet, or your pet that your son reaps the benefits from - will he realistically clean the cage out at least twice a week, feed and water them daily and give them attention for the next 2, 3, plus years? You may well find that the novelty soon wears off and you're the animal's main caretaker, so be prepared for that and make sure you're happy to take on the responsibility.

UKTigerlily

I'd second rats. Hamsters just sleep, are pretty boring & can give a painful bite! Rats are very intelligent & can even be clicker training but must live in pairs or better still trios & have large cages (mine was 5ft 4 tall)

KateBob

Rats - I had them as a child

They are intelligent, don't bite usually (don't feed them meat) and very loving.

Lotus-eater

Definitely, not not not a rat

So a syrian hamster may be best then? It's for my DD and she wants to be able to take it out and cuddle it every day, I'm not having a pet that needs to be outside and we haven't got room for a guinea pig.

She knows she's got to look after it, I've told her if she doesn't look after it, it will die, as I'm not going to do it, she is very well motivated and has been told what she has to do.

LisaB85

Don't get a hamster. Get a pair of Rats!

They are clever, affectionate, funny, clean and cuddly. Hamsters often bite and sleep all day.



Rat kittens, I helped a rescue by taking a pregnant female who was in a pet shop, the pet shop couldn't shift them so they dumped them. These were the babies...

Nimeth

I think krlyr summed it up pretty well. I too would advise a different pet, probably a rat. Why does your DD want a hamster btw? Is it a spur of the moment want, or maybe she wants something furry to cuddle? Or is this something she's wanted for a long time?

I don't think (and this is my personal opinion) that rabbits make good pets for children. Some rabbits simply hate being picked up (I know mine does!) and are often highly strung. It makes me so sad to hear about bunnies having to given to a rescue centre because a child simply got bored with it. Not saying your son would do this lotus, but it is something to consider.

If she's got her heart set on a hamster, I find this website to be quite good: http://www.hamsterific.com/hamstercare.cfm

claire16c

I used to have a hamster when I was 8. We actually had 5, but one after another - not at the same time!

We got them for the same reasons - something to cuddle - but lives inside the house, not too big etc etc.

They were a good pet, easy to take care of, I had to clean the cage out once a week though which i HATED. But my Dad never gave in on that one.

Anyway I had the 'normal' size hamster - sorry not sure what type that is lol. But my friend had the dwarf ones, and I would definitly not get those, they were soooo tiny they ran incredibly fast, bit and pooed on you.

The hamsters we had, you definitely needed to pet every day when you first got them, to get them used to you - and you will need to help with that, like Klryl said. As I think if they had bit me as a child early on I would not have wanted to play with them. But after that I honestly dont remember ever getting bitten, the only time I do remember was it once bit my friend - after I told her NOT to put her finer in the cage because she was eating food and it would smell of it. Anyway its not that bad a bite.

another friend had gerbils but they were so fast you couldnt really pet them, and my Mum hated anything that looked like a rat, so hamsters it was.

krlyr

Kate/Bob wrote: »

Rats - I had them as a child

They are intelligent, don't bite usually (don't feed them meat) and very loving.

No problem feeding rats meat (mine love getting the leftovers of a chicken wing), they're clever enough to realise you're not dinner - the issue tends to come from feeding them through the bars, though this applies to any small furry. They don't have the best sight, so fingers that smell like food can fall victim to the odd spontaneous nip too.

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Definitely, not not not a rat

So a syrian hamster may be best then? It's for my DD and she wants to be able to take it out and cuddle it every day, I'm not having a pet that needs to be outside and we haven't got room for a guinea pig.

Go to a rescue and meet some rats, you may find yourself surprised! I worked in a petshop and in a similar situation, a mum came in for pets for her two daughters (sorry for saying son! I was sure I'd read the word he/him in your post, whoops) and we talked her into at least looking at the rats. She was smitten even more than the daughters! They have fab characters, very dog-like.

If it really is going to be hamsters then I would say yup, for a hamster to handle, Syrian will probably fit the bill better. Again, would like to stress the importance of finding a hamster that has either been bred and socialised from young by a good breeder, or a decent rescue - rescues often have baby hamsters in where they've been surrendered pregnant animals, and they will have done the necessary handling to get the hamsters as tame as possible.
My Syrian lived in a "Critter" cage - aimed at rats and chinchillas. With small furries, I would say look at cages aimed for the species the next size up, because cages are often inadequate for the species intended. Obviously be wary of bar spacing, a hamster will easily squeeze out of an indoor rabbit cage with 1" gaps for example, but 1cm bar spacing or the 3/4" squares should be fine.

Oh, another point - avoid woodshavings. Commonly used/sold but too dusty and the phenols in softwood is believed to stimulate the liver and contribute to health issues. A paperbased bedding is much better, e.g. Carefresh. Alternatively, a 100% paper cat litter (not anything clumping/containing clay or perfumed) can work well.

Lotus-eater

Nah not a rat, no matter how much you all tell me to. To me and DD a rat is something killed often in our garden, not something we have indoors. And she often sees them dead in a trap.

In fact she came to me the other day and said, do you know some people have rats as pets...... I said yes and I don't understand it, she said she didn't either. Maybe my hatred of rats has rubbed off a little, but it could be alot worse

I would like to find a good breeder or a rescue place with babies, but the only rescue place near here I contacted, never got back to me.

Any ideas where to start with finding a breeder?

And can you use shredded paper as bedding?

UKTigerlily

For taking the pet out each day definitely not a hamster, for one thing they're nocturnal & will be awake when your child sleeps. If not a rat how about a guineapig or rabbit (in pairs of course)