Is a little hamster a good pet to have?

Question

I'm thinking of getting one for my children. What are the pros and cons of having one?

I'd love one but I wouldn't want a bad smell in my house.

I cant decide which to choose as best so i'll leave it to vote...by the way, i got a gold fish instead

Answer 1

they're o.k. relatively easy to care for, throw some seeds in the cage every so often and empty the garbage about once a week. If you get the hamster village and toys, they are entertaining.

Answer 2

I have 3 children, ages 17, 13 and 11. Four years ago was when they first wanted a hampster and we got one. After 4 years this is the conclusion all 4 of us have come up with as the best answer to your question.
Pros: #1 A little rodent in a cage, fun to look at for a while, like a couple of minutes a day for about a month.
Cons: They are not very good to handle as all hampsters bite, some not very often and some more often which you also find these ones to be more wild. All hampsters are wilder in nature like mice!!! They are nocturnal therefore up at night, running on their wheel for hours and is very annoying after a while. You must continually feed them and fill their water bottle, which can seem as an educationally good thing for children to learn, but for a pet you can't even pet; seems like you are their slave... They **** in their cage and you must clean their cage weekly and provide new store boughten bedding. If you go on holidays, you must take them to someone to look after or buy more water bottles as they can drink up to 1 bottle every 2 days. We have had 4 hampsters in the past 4 years, replacing one each time they die; they seem to live for about 1 year or so and then mysteriously die. Only reason we got another one time is because we have the cage, wheel, treats, water bottles, food, hay, etc...We are just waiting for this one to die and then never again!!! Honestly they do not make a good pet at all... OH YES I JUST ABOUT FORGOT Pro: #2 They don't stink at all though...

Answer 3

They can be nice pets but are not very easy to handle - they can bite and be quite scared and wriggly and sometimes are quite boring in that they are usually asleep when children are awake and dont often interact. They best hamsters are the larger ones - they tend to have more character and are easier to handle.
They best thing about a hamster sadly is that it has a short life span - most children lose interest in their first pet quite quickly.
I think fish are a quite good alternative.
I used to keep gerbils - they are more active than hamsters - dont bite much but can be difficult to handle

Answer 4

cons:- hamsters have a tendency to bite if handled the wrong way, also these are nocturnal animals meaning they sleep in the day time and are awake at night, so the children may hardly see the pet, depending on bed time hours. if you do purchase one, please do not place the cage in the children's bedroom specially if it has a wheel as this may keep the children awake when the wheel is in use. also these animals need to be cleaned out at lease every fortnight and please remember that they obviously can smell the longer they are left

pros:- they are very small animals that can be held in the palm of the hand and are cute and fluffy.

Answer 5

I have heard that pet hamsters are permanently terrified as they never get used to being handled by humans. I'm sure that some hamster owners will disagree with this, but it's not like the hamsters can do anything about the situation.

Try a goldfish or two, at least they can't be handled and harrassed. Or if your children are a bit older and responsible, house rabbits are great, they can be house trained, don't need walking and are sociable and affectionate.

Answer 6

They don't do much as they are nocturnal so will be asleep when the kids are about. They need cleaning out constantly because they stink so bad. A goldfish is more entertaining, however I'd encourage individuality in my children and bring home a stick insect or something interesting for them.

Answer 7

personally i do not think that hamsters make a good pet for children, especially young children who may not be able to handle them with the care they need. when you hold a hamster it can raise their heartbeat to almost double the speed. this is due to the stress of being held, they are very timid animals. it may be worth looking into getting something a little larger such as a rabbit which is more robust!

Answer 8

A pet for a child is a pet for the parent. Hamsters, especially boys, have the most horrible smelling urine. There cages are a pain to keep clean. Check out this info that Petsmart offers: http://www.petsmart.com/global/articles/article_detail.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673332921&bmUID=1161597543738

Answer 9

Cons first: 1. you have to be responsible for taking care of the pet if your kids do not like them anymore, so please make sure you actually like the idea of having a hamster before getting one.
2. hamster might get sick = vet bills

Pros: they are lovable!
you will be addicted to them (like me) haha.
just require a cage, bedding, water bottle, wheel, hide-out and food.
It's cheaper than rearing a dog, smaller than a rabbit or guinea pig.
teach your kids to be patient loving and kind towards animals.
teach them to learn to cope with the eventual loss of a pet. =)

go to www.hamsterhideout.com/forum for more info on hamsters!

Answer 10

Well their AWESOME pets and are very smart, mine will climb on her cage if it's open but if she touches the edge she turns the other way. they do bite at first but they have to get used to u. after they get used to u they should be good and not bite anymore. their cages have to be changed once a week and water once a week also. she also needs to be taken out at least once a day. but don't keep her running for too long. hope this helped!! Have a good day.