Anyone Know about hamsters?

[KLAIT]

When I was little I remember having 2 hamsters and how we used to play with them and build them lego houses to run around in...thinking about getting 2 for my son as he is such a huge animal lover and in their classroom they have several pairs of animals like lizards, Guinea Pigs, rats, etc. and of course he wants a guinea pig.

Well, I really dont have the room for something big enough for 2 guinea pigs, was thinking hamsters are the way to go.

Does anyone know if it is OK to put 2 female or 2 males together...don't want the babies. Our local pet store told me to never put 2 of the same sex together that they will fight to the death....and that they will take any babies they have back...well, that made me question that advice.

We were recently in PetSmart and they have a note that says that they only sell the same sex small animals and they are all in the same cage...

Anyone know for sure?

Also, can anyone tell me if all hamsters bite? I heard that dwarfs do not...but, I much prefer the bigger ones.

Thanks!

 

[RitaZ.]

We have one, a female. We bought her at Pet Supermarket. You can have two females together, but not two males (one will kill the other, territorial thing I guess). Ours did bite our older DS, but he kind of startled her. She is actually pretty gentle and lets us pet her. Her name is Patches.

Good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, I know about hamsters. Ours had an adventure last night. DD says she woke up this morning and Sugar was on the stairs. Scared her to death.

It is true that they are solitary creatures. Now there are other breed of hamsters that can be put together. Contact a good pet store as I cannot remember...russian hamsters, I think?

As far as Petsmart selling only one sex, around here each Petsmart will sell one sex only. Prevents little hamsters everywhere. Another of their stores will carry the other sex.

 

[Danauk]

I had a hamster called Charlie a few years ago and he was a sweet little thing who loved being held. However hamsters like to sleep during the day and come out at night so I had to wait for Charlie to wake up on an evening before I could get him out. I teach 7 year olds at school and we had 2 male pet rats called Tom and Jerry who also loved being held. They would sit on peoples shoulders as they walked around the room. They liked being awake during the day and even ate snacks at snack time like the kids did!! They lived together for a long time, we only moved them into 2 cages as the cage got too small for 2 of them when they were full size. I know people give rats a bad name but I think they make great pets for kids.

 

[RitaZ.]

There is another pet store in our town that sells both males and females. The displays were disgusting in my opinion. There was one cage with about 4 males and one female and they kept "going" after her. Other cages had females with babies, they just didn't look well kept. I mean, there were hamsters everywhere. In fact, there were some hamsters that they were giving away free and another deal where you got a free hamster with the purchase of a cage. Anyway, their displays were gross.

 

[winniedapooh]

I too have a rat name Wendall, Big Guy died after 4 long happy years. He loves my kids and will sit with them and eat snacks. DH has even gotten over his tail phobia and gives him treats and snacks all the time! I have never had 2 together so I cannot say whether or not you should. I do know that I have only had males because they tend to be more laid back but that is just my opinion.

 

[Melora]

Even two female hamsters will fight with each other.. the exception is if they are females from the same litter brought up together. I managed a pet store in my early 20s and also raised hamsters for awhile.

I currently have a Russina Dwarf hamster on my desk in a 10 gallon aquarium and really really enjoy her. We tried to put her with another hammie but they fought. My daughter wanted baby hamsters and brought over a friends male but because she wasnt "in the mood" she almost killed him. Now she is happily enjoying her old age by herself.

A rat is a WONDEFUL pet. Very gentle and personable.

 

[two4ruff]

I'm in favor of the guinea pigs.
We have had both and they have a longer life span, aren't as fragile, easy for a child to handle safely, and they are vegetable garbage disposals

They really don't need a huge cage, especially if they are let out to play.

(Sorry, I'm still haunted by hamster flashbacks - ours always escaped, bit, and peed in the tubes of the cage that were impossible to keep clean)

 

[Twigs]

My local pet store recommended that we get gerbils. He said they were friendlier for kids to play with. We had two males and they were fine together, I had read that females get along better, but we didn't have a problem. You should get them from the same litter, as they get along better this way. Our pet store keeps gerbils from the same litter in the same tank, so you know they will be compatible.

 

[mommystieg]

We just recently purchased two hamsters - the person at the pet store told us that we could put two males together but two females would become territorial and possibly kill each other. I really prefer guinea pigs but couldn't really afford two(one for each kid)-they just seem more sociable.
Hey all you hamster experts, can the hamsters be socialized to where my girls can actually handle and play with them? One of ours is pretty easy to hold but the other takes a flying leap everytime I pick him up.

 

[Barb D]

Go for the guinea pigs!

We currently have 2 "piggies" and a rat. We've had gerbils in the past. By far my favorite is the guinea pigs. They are very sociable and cuddly. They're big enough to really cuddle, and not skittery like a gerbil or hamster. Yes, they do take up more space, and they are more expensive. But IMHO they make better pets.

The rat is OK, but not as cuddly as the piggies. And he smells a whole lot worse than they do.

I will never get small rodents like gerbils or hamsters again. The gerbils chewed their way out of the plastic habitrail more times than I can count. I finally ended up putting them in a glass aquarium with a mesh lid. (That's what the rat is in now...I'm not taking chances on a rat loose in the house.) The small rodents were fun for the kids to play with for a while, but they were not cuddly at all.

Here's a link to the type of guinea pig enclosure we have. The enclosure itself is very inexpensive, but I have to say that the bedding for an enclosure that big gets pricey.

http://www.cavycages.com/cubes.htm


Edit: Forgot to mention that we keep the piggie cage in DD's room, where the matress for the bottom bunk of her bunk beds would go. (We took off the extra matress and put the piggie cage on the wood platform.) She sleeps on the top bunk. This way it doesn't use up floor space in her room.

 

[Bojangles]

Hamsters aren't very social I wouldn't put 2 of any sex together. We've had some nice ones and some mean ones that bit and didn't like to be held. They don't live all that long either (at least they don't at my house) so try to find one that looks like it might be a baby. The people at Petsmart have no idea how old the larger, mature ones are. We've had better luck with the long hair female hamsters.

 

[geffric]

We had 2 female gerbils Chocolate and Brownie they were from the same litter and wonderful and very loving.. The kids had great fun playing with them..

 

[WDWHound]

Just so you have no doubt on the subject, if you put a male and female hamster in the same cage, in a short period of time you will almost certainly have more hamsters. I learned this as a young boy when I put my male hamster in my sister's female hamster's cage to play. They played a game I had never seen before. Soon we had 10 hamsters.

 

[Miss Kelly]

I have 2 Hamsters together. They are both Female. They get along just fine. They are currently sitting across from me sleeping sitting up. I love it when they do that. It looks so funny and you can really see how fat they are getting.

 

[Miss Kelly]

Just so you have no doubt on the subject, if you put a male and female hamster in the same cage, you will almost certainly soon have more hamsters. I learned this as a yong boy when I put my male hamster in my sister's female hamsters cage to play. They played a game I had never seen before. Soon we had 10 hamsters.

So True! When I first got my hamsters, I had 3 together in one cage. The pet store told me I had 3 Females so I didn't bother to look at them. I noticed they started acting funny and soon enough I had 2 pregnant mommies. Needless to say, the horny daddy went bye-bye. Unfortunately(or Fortunately), the babies didn't live. Each mommie had 10 each. Lesson Learned!

 

[dcentity2000]

If you put a male and a female together, pretty soon you shall have more than just two hamsters. I mean this.

Plus, if the mummy gets stressed, she tends to eat her poor babies. Not good.



Rich::

 

[MerryPoppins]

I have had most of the pets listed here.

Hamsters are cute, but I think they tend to be harder to socialize. They also sleep during the day and play all night.

Gerbils are friendlier and more fun to watch. They just seem a bit more social.

G. pigs are sweet. They can be very friendly if you spend a lot of time with them. They don't always get along well together. Our female bit the male and to keep him from getting a complex we had to put him in another cage.

I had mice as a child and I loved them. I had Mickey and Minnie (and yes they had babies!) They were very social. Mine loved to be held or sit on my shoulder. They got along well together.

If you want more unusual pets, we had anoles (one lived for 3 1/2 years and the crickets it ate probably cost us a fortune ) and hermit crabs (I didn't like the way they smelled, even when we kept the cage clean and they are also more active at night)

Yes, I admit it! I should run a zoo. LOL!

 

[Serena]

The pet store told us we had two males. Wellllll, one month later we had 9 hamsters.

 

[msdznyduck]

My oldest DS had hamsters when he was about 10 or so. The pet store also told us they were 2 same sex (I forget which..), but pretty soon, we had lots. We separated the adults, but as the siblings got a little older (and they don't have to be very old)...we had MORE babies. We finally just took the lot of them to the pet store and gave them away.
---I agree about the female being stressed,and eating her babies,-(but not completely.........yuck)--not something you want to see in the cage in the morning, since they are nocturnal and she did her damage during the night.
Elaine