Hamsters? Advice & recommendations please. UPDATE with pics

dandelionclock30

Good luck with your hamster, I'm sure your child will love it.

shirlgirl2004

We had this cage and TBH it is the smallest size cage I'd go for. Also I'd advise a solid rat wheel which I assume you already have. We had a Syrian hamster and he was so friendly and got used to DD seeing to him at about 4pm so would wake at that time. He would take food gently from your hand and never nipped. The relatively short life span put us off having another.

jenhug

We had an adorable syrian female named Cookie. She was the sweetest darling and is still very much missed. She was a bit of an escape artist but she used to come out from her hidey hole when called.

We had regular cuddle times with her and she responded well to that. First thing in the morning and when I was tucking my daughter into bed were perfect Cookie cuddle moments, as well as regular exercise in a dry bath, with lots of obstacles in for her to explore, loo roll tubes, see saws, climbing frame. (She was a very spoiled little girl)!

She had a ball but we preferred to let her run around free range.

narabanekeater

any solid style wheel. The one with open spokes are very easy to trap little paws in

Skintski

I loved having hamsters as a kid, so much so that since I moved out I have not been without one. Our current little boy is called Bandit and he's gorgeous.

I always have males now as I find them less temperamental than the females, they just seem to be a bit more laid back. They also smell less as others have said.

Don't get a round cage as hamsters tend to run to corners if they get nervous at all and this helps them feel safe, I was never a fan of the rotastaks at all. Get them out as often as possible and give them a little freedom in a safe room. I tend to use my landing and they seem to love climbing the stairs.

When choosing one, get one as young as you can, they usually release them for sale when they hit a certain weight but generally anywhere between 6-8 weeks old. Make sure they handle the animal easily and if possible make sure you handle it as well. I always insist on giving the little guy a cuddle to see how they react to being picked up and handled. The last thing you want is to bring home the Victor Meldrew of the hammy world.

They are huge amounts of fun. I totally recommend them as pets.

Toomuchdebt

I'd recommend the Alaska cage -it's a perfect size for a Syrian.The imac fantasy is a good cage but only for smaller Syrians or dwarf hamsters,and the cambridge isn't really big enough.The zoozone posted in a previous post is also very good.I have found Russian dwarf hamsters, though smaller are very friendly and rarely bite.Syrians should also be OK as long as you take the time to handle them and tame them.I have had both boys and girls and the boys are definitely more laid back.The wheel should be 12 inches for an adult Syrian hamster-the best ones IMO are silent spinners and wooden Karlie wheels-they really are quiet.If your hamster ends up being small it may be happy with an 8 inch wheel(one of mine is quite small and can't manage the 12 inch wheel).Flying saucers are also great.HTH
PS I currently have 3 Syrians,3 Russians, a Roborovski and other rodents Have you considered gerbils or mice?

Toomuchdebt

Sorry just seen you've ruled out mice and gerbils as they're too small and quick-actually I have both and once tame they are fine to handle, even by young children.Gerbils have the advantage of not smelling I only had gerbils growing up and my sister and I used to make mazes for them and huge cardboard play areas and loved playing with them.

lucyAM

I've kept hamsters for the past 15 years, and they are by far my most favourite small animal.

Syrian hamsters are definitely the best as a starter. I would recommend a male hamster, as I've found that females can be a bit grumpy as they age - and smelly as has been commented previously.

Not so much now, but when I was younger I used to set-up little obstacle courses up for them (tunnel, see-saw, little jump), and they loved it and I loved to watch them explore it.
They're definitely not a boring pet if you put in the time - yes, they are nocturnal but I found that mine would gradually begin to wake earlier and earlier in the day when s/he knew there were people about.

Cage wise I would go for the biggest one you have room for, they may be small but they do like to roam and climb.

When buying the hamster avoid a certain large chain pet shop - they are notorious for having poorly hamsters. I've experienced it twice before.

Although the typical lifespan is only 2 years, with good care they can live for double that - I currently have one about to hit 5 years old :eek: and he shows no sign of slowing down.

Whatever pet you decide to purchase I hope your daughter loves him/her and has lots of fun with her new pet. xx

redd1800

I have kept a range of rodents, rats included for years. Loved rats, planning another girly group when I have the time.

One cage option is to alter a suitable small guinea pig cage. There are versions with solid plastic sides and a wire door at the top. Attaching a finer wire mesh - £6 ish from homebase with wire ties makes it escape proof. Its an idiot proof alteration, no tools required. I have this set up for my syrian.

This option can be a lot cheaper then some of the larger hamster cages. This type of cage is supereasy to clean, the extra large door makes handling hamster easy. Also, because its a low cage with lots of floor space, its very good for your hamster as it ages, and becomes less able to use levels in taller cages.

Best of luck with new pet.

Cekaelta

Hamsters are great pets if you put time in and give them appropriate cages, playtime etc. We have a dwarf ham girl at the moment (a rescue) and she wakes up the second we put food in her bowl so we can get her up during the day (well ok early evening) if needed/wanted. She isn't a fan of being picked up so we hold a cardboard tube in front of her and she climbs straight in-once in our hands she is totally friendly (we can also stroke her in her cage, its just being picked up that makes her panic) and has never bitten. Only aggression she has ever shown is if you wake her by disturbing her nest and that is true for other syrian hams we've had. And for cages, another vote for get the biggest you can-hamsters are big roamers, very active explorers and they really need decent space-it is very hard to find a pet shop hamster cage that is actually good enough (same for dwarfs, they are small but that doesn't mean they need less space)-modifying an indoor guinea pig cage is a good suggestion or there is lots of advice on hamster forums about making cages easily from storage boxes, something we are considering to upgrade our current cage. There is a hamster forum called hamster central or something like that we have found useful at times, might be worth a look.