could anybody tell what sort of hamsters are best for kids,ones that are least likely to bite?

Question

my two kids want one each 2 males or 2 females what ever,i just remember my brother had a couple of russian hamsters that would always bite,really dont want to get them if they all bite.

hi,this is for graig it was either 2 male or 2 female not both ,also i asume you dont live in ayrshire as ive been looking for a breeder in my area.

my son is 9 and my daughter is 5.

Answer 1

Get a rat, they are great fun. they can be trained and are clean. I have had several rats over the years, and now have an Agouti Hooded male called Spike. He is a right character, hes just figured out how to open his cage, then he sits on top of it squeeking at everyone to give him attention. He gets on well with the cats and has never bitten anyone. Hamsters are prone to biting, where rats will quite happily groom you when you have them out. And they have much more brains than hamsters!!

Answer 2

We have had a few hamsters. The males seem to be more gentle than the females in my experience. The larger the hamster the easier it is to handle and less likely to get hurt by children so it would be less likely to bite. But.... if it does they have very large teeth. The smaller hamsters are harder to handle but have very small teeth and would hurt less. All in all I would prefer the larger ones, and males for my kids if I was to get anymore. Hope that helps some.

Answer 3

Hi

As some of the answer have already said all Hamster's will bite, if not handeld carefuly and GENTLY.

As to having 2 of each sex it should be ok if they are brother's or sister's. However make sure they ARE brothers or sisters. If your children are very young (eg under 7) always supervise them.

hamsters are not boring, yes they do bedding they like to play.

If you have any more questions please post back.

Ps I breed hamsters.

Hi Lynn S

I live in South Wales, so it would be hard for me to get hamsters to you, but I will look into it.

Have you tried looking in something like Ad Trader? If not are there any pet shops nearby? Failing that, I would go a city if possible. Same sex hamsters should be ok, they DO NOT always fight if say 2 brothes are gaged together. Before you get any hamsters, try to get a book about them. Try ebay or library.

Craig.

Answer 4

I have a Syrian hamster and he has not bitten at all and he is quite timid. They live alone though, so that would mean two separate cages. He is quite shy and jumps a lot when I go to pick him up but very tolerant of me (I am 25yrs old by the way! Always wanted a hamster because never had one as a kid) He has calmed down a lot since we brought him home and has oodles of character! They are the sweetest hamster around! x

Answer 5

The best hamsters for children to handle are golden hamsters, but they're solitary little things and you can't put them in a cage together, regardless of sex. They'll be ripping chunks of fur out of each other in no time! They're very docile living alone and the kids will be able to handle them easily. The little dwarf Russian hamsters aren't so good for kids because they're really nippy little sods, both in terms of teeth and speed! Whatever you get, give them a day to settle, then start handling them straightaway - there's a window of opportunity for getting them used to handling, and if you miss it, they will never become really tame. I made this mistake once. They live about 2 and a half to three years, so prepare the kids that they're not forever!

Answer 6

hamsters do NOT make good pets for children since they are highly likely to bite, they sleep during the day when the children are awake and want to watch them, and are awake at night when the children are asleep. They'll keep them awake at night running in their wheel if kept in their bedrooms.
Get them a couple of young male rats instead. They can live together in a large cage. rarely bite, and are much more intelligent than hamsters.

Answer 7

Let me add a vote for guinea pigs. Because they are bigger, they are much less likely to bite. Kids, no matter how kind they try to be can be too rough for little bitty hamsters, and when the hamster feels endangered they will bite. We had guinea pigs when the kids were small and my daughter has them for my grandkids and they don't bite, their cage does not stink and they are cute and friendly. Have fun

Answer 8

I would also suggest a rat like somebody else has. We have 2 male rats who have never bit. My 2 year old & 6 year olds handle them with no problems. Males are bigger than females so get females if you wanted something smaller. They are very clean animals, minimal cleaning & feeding. Mine love to curl up behind my hair on my neck and go to sleep. You wouldnt know they were there, except for 2 tails curling around my ears. I would never get a hamster once having a rat. Also gerbils are very friendly, but quite boring......

Answer 9

Personally, I would choose a guinea pig over a hamster. At one time we had 15 of them. They make wonderful parents. You don't know when they are expecting. I found that out one January 1st with "new eyes" staring at me. She tended to the dying one frequently.
You must keep their nails trimmed though.
Guinea pigs are easier to handle, have unique personalities. My current one is totally different than my others.
They like carrots/lettuce/hay/must have their pellets/and other green vegetables. I tried green beans on mine and he wanted nothing to do with them. Newborns eat what adults eat.
Guinea pigs enjoy being handled, don't bite (although mine has tried to nibble my top) for whatever reason. Not too often though.

I had a hamster and it got out of its cage, survived 2 days running around in the house with 2 cats before we found it.

Had a pet rat. Fascinating to watch as parents. I missed the birth by a few seconds.

Also had a chinchilla.

Best of luck in your decision.

Answer 10

Chinese hamsters are billed as a non-biting type, I would advise against getting them as they are very nervous and are so fast that it's nearly impossible to handle them. I think they don't bite as you can hardly get them in your hands!!

I've have russian hamsters and I loved them, if you handle each of them for 10/15mins each day when they are babies then they get used to it and enjoy running through your hands.

I once had a hamster who would 'playbite' my hands when he's had enough. He would put his mouth around my finger and look up at me, he never ever bit me though!