Which hamster for a 8 YO

Bumpmakesfour

We have guineas,syrian hamster,roborovski hamster,rabbits and gerbils for our three kidlets.Tbh hamsters are very boring,all they do is sleep and they stink unless you clean them out every other day plus every little one we've had are mini sharks and bite.Bunnies are harder to handle for younger ones.My guys LOVElovelove the gerbils,so interesting to watch but a bit fast but the firm fave is our guineas.They are ADORABLE and they talk to you..soo sweet.:D
DH and I had rats before we had the kids,they were fab too

Bumpmakesfour

Oh and p.s after seeing that gorg pic of that hedgehog I want one!!!:j

ShiningStarX

syrians are the best as dwarfs are small and 99/100 dwarfs bite i have had two syrians just make sure they are male as females bite

jenhug

ShiningStarX wrote: »

syrians are the best as dwarfs are small and 99/100 dwarfs bite i have had two syrians just make sure they are male as females bite

Our female doesn't bite, she is very entertaining and friendly. She has a strong personality. she has also learned to be awake in the morning and evening as that is when DD is around the most (darn school!) She knows exactly when bedtime is and sits up high on the bars nearest the bedroom door waiting for her bedtime snack! She is no fool!

She is handled daily and has loads of toys that we alternate in her cage. She also gets regular exercise in the bath tub (no water in!) and we set her toys up in there. She has a great time and it was a great way for DD to get used to holding her, initially she used to climb in too and cookie (the hamster) would climb over her and got used to being touched and stroked by my daughter. You know if she wants to come out of her cage for a cuddle, as she hangs off the top of the cage, puts her feet on the cage door and bangs it as hard as she can! We have a little padlock on it as she can and has popped it open before now, little moo!

I think its the same with any animal, you will get out what you put in. I made DD get lots of books from the library before we got cookie, and made her wait several months. We actually ended up with cookie as someone else didn't want her any more so although we hadn't actually been out and chosen her, she is our little Princess! Her old owners can't believe how spoiled she is.

PudseyDB

After our two rats died, DS kept asking me if he could have a hamster. I waited several momths in case he went off the idea, but eventually bought Freddie for his 8th birthday. He's a very sweet syrian who has a strange habit of piling ALL his bedding into a HUGE pyramid and sleeping in it!

He wakes up around 6 - 7 pm usually and happily sits in a pocket or let you carry him until he's put down and runs around on the sofa or bed (we put a big towel on the bed first)

He reminds me a lot of the lovely syrian girl I had whilst at uni - I dont think it makes any difference if you choose boy or girl......as long as you get them used to being handled.

I definately dont recommend dwarf hamsters......my Russian was a vicious (though very cute) little thing. I had to wear leather gloves to handle her as she always nipped!

I'd recommend a cage rather than a rotastack and make sure there's a decent sized wheel in there. I changed the one that came with the cage as it was too small and made an awful noise!

As for the smell.......DS cleans Freddie out every weekend and even though he's in the bedroom, he doesnt really smell much.

I have to clean out our indoor rabbits at least every other day otherwise the smell of pee really hits you. I wouldnt recommend a normal sized bunny for a child - one of ours has an evil kick if he gets scared.

My two netherland dwarfs are lovely for young kids though - they never bite and dont mind being handled. I find them similar in many ways to guinea pigs - with the advantage that they're litter trained.

jenhug

Pudsey, Cookie does the same thing with her bedding! She emptied her house one day and built a nest in the middle of the cage, its huge. She now uses her plastic house as a little pantry. Very funny thing she is.

PudseyDB

jenhug wrote: »

Pudsey, Cookie does the same thing with her bedding! She emptied her house one day and built a nest in the middle of the cage, its huge. She now uses her plastic house as a little pantry. Very funny thing she is.

Lol...yes they're definately funny!!