Where to buy a Hamster, what do they need?

**professor~yaffle**

krlyr wrote: »

What they may not have in immediate 'aw' factor, they certainly make up for in personality! I dare anyone to watch a few baby ratties and not crack up at their attempts to scale the roof of the cage horizontally, pile into a bowl of food (the messier, the more amusing!) or scale your leg like a drainpipe because they want to play hide and seek in your hair!

oh stop! :eek::eek: that's just horrible.

OP stick to hamsters :rotfl:

Person_one

**professor~yaffle** wrote: »

oh stop! :eek::eek: that's just horrible.

OP stick to hamsters :rotfl:

Why is one of those so much less desirable than the other? On appearances alone they aren't all that different, both just small furry rodents...

krlyr

I have to say I much preferred it to the dwarf hamsters I had deciding their mode of transport was to bite your finger and wait for you to sharply withdraw it and prompt a short flight through the air! (cages always positioned in a sensible place to result in a soft landing for said hamster, thanks to experience!)


There's quite a few rodents available, all with pros and cons. I wouldn't say there was one perfect pet without any compromise needing to be made - for example, a hamster may be easy to care for but they can be one of the harder rodents to interact with simply because they sleep a lot. Rats may have the interactivity, but this means they need a bit more time dedicated to them, so perhaps not suitable for a child who may lose enthusiasm after a few months. Mice are smaller so don't need to have quite such a big cage, but tend to smell a bit more. Rabbits are bigger and a bit less fragile, but not generally so cuddly, require a large hutch or indoor cage, and along with neutering and vaccinations, they can be a bit more expensive.
A small animal rescue like the RSPCA should have a variety of animals available and be able to advise to suit your situation/what you want out of a pet.

**professor~yaffle**

It'll be interesting if the OP comes back and tells us what she has decided on

onlyroz

I want to go out and buy a rat now :kisses3::happylove:love::happyhear:grouphug:

krlyr

onlyroz wrote: »

I want to go out and buy a rat now :kisses3::happylove:love::happyhear:grouphug:

Make that two!

Person_one

onlyroz wrote: »

I want to go out and buy a rat now :kisses3::happylove:love::happyhear:grouphug:

I still miss all of mine.

Supernatural

It's a great idea to pop along to a hamster show in your area and see what they have for sale there, much better than a pet shop, you can ask for advice and everyone will be more than happy to help.

http://www.hamsters-uk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=77

Make sure the hamster has a large cage with plenty of floor space, avoid those modular Habitrail Ovo cages and such like, they are too small and a pain to clean. Also it's important to give them a large wheel, 8 inches is minimum size you'd want to look for. Avoid the fluffy wool type bedding, they can swallow it and die an agonising death, plain shredded loo roll is best. Feed a good mix like Harry Hamster along with a varied diet of small portions of fruit and veg.

They're a lot of fun, I currently have 6 Syrians

Counting_Pennies_2

Goodness so much to choose from.

I am not great with little beings, and I think it would be left to DH to deal with any break outs!

He is quite keen to go down the gold fish route first and see how we get on with that as our first pet.

Will see how I feel in the morning, if I break out in a sweat in the night with escaping rodents!

Thank you all for your advice

BritAbroad

Please look at animal shelters and rescues - they often have small animals - one shelter I used to work with regularly usually had a selection of rats, ferrets, hamsters and even a reptile or two!