My son's 4, too young to have a hamster?

Question

He's been asking me for a hamster for about a year now, I'm considering giving in. Is he too young?

Answer 1

As long as you realise that he will probably get bored in a while and you will do most of the looking after!! They only live for a couple of years anyway, and dont cost that much to look after.
But remeber they are nocturnal, so wont be awake much during the day, and will drive you mad making a noise all night!

Answer 2

I had a ton of hamsters growing up and from their forms of behaviour I would say its not such a good Idea to let a 4 year old handle a hamster unless under min to min adult supervision. If for some reason your 4 year old decides to torment it,... it will bite back unless its a docile fella. But even they can get grumpy once and a while. For example we used to wake ours out of a sound sleep in the day time "because they sleep during the day", and oh boy would that guy be grumpy!...If you got within 2 inches, it would snap at you!

Answer 3

I always think its a good thing for children to be brought up with pets. I teaches them to be responsible for something and how to look after something. I was brought up with a dog so I've never been frightened of them whereas some children are because they know no different. I think you have to realistic though , as the novelty will probably soon wear off and you'll probably be the one cleaning the hamster out partly because he's too young and partly because he won't want to do it after awhile. I still think its a good idea though so go for it

Answer 4

I think that its great for a child to have a pet and I think that your idea is brilliant alsong as you have taken into consideration that your son may grow bored with the hamster and not want to help with cleaning out the hamster cage etc. Another thing to think about is how your child would likely cope when the pet was to die as alot of these animals have a short life span.

Answer 5

Personally. I think a child of 4 is way too young to be given a pet of his own. A family puppy or kitten maybe but not a hamster. They are tiny & fragile & a child of that age is not always that careful.

Answer 6

I think he could be alittle too young really for such a small pet, but it depends on how mature you think he is. Some very young children can be very loving towards their pet and end up harming them accidentally by loving them and handling them too much especially an animal like a hamster. You just need to think if he's mature enough to look after one properly.

Answer 7

My son is 4, and my sister got him a hamster. I thought he was too young for such a small pet, but he's doing ok. I don't let him just get it out by himself, and I always supervise him with it, because the hamster, which is named Shadow, is such a tiny delicate creature, and I don't want him do get hurt! So g for it, and as long as you keep an eye on them, you should be fine!

Answer 8

I don't think four is too young for a hamster. My son is 3, and he has one and loves him.

Answer 9

It depends on how much of a role YOU want to take on by having the hampster. Your son can help, but the majority of the up-keep will be your responsibility. And what if he ends up being scared or allergic? I would take hime to the pet store and let him play with some hampsters before he gets one of his own. This way too, you will have time to talk about what a big responsibility is to have a pet.

Answer 10

Your son isn't to young to have a hamster.My son is 4 and we just recently got him a hamster and he loves it.They haven't got a long life span and are very easy to keep.My advice is to try get a young one so tht you can teach him how to hold it and so tht the hamster can get used to it as well.If they are too big then its not easy to handle them.the noise they make at nite going around in there wheel can drive u mad LOL