Such drama at our house last night!

[JerseyJanice]

My 6 year-old DS had his first experience with death last night. That is, his betta fish Bluey died.

I was going to change its water and found it floating on top. The corpse was there for a while--probably since the weekend--because it crumbled into bits as I lifted it out. Gross!

DS cried, and in a sympathy-laden moment, I told him we could get a hamster. What the heck was I thinking when I said that? No way do I want to handle any miniature rat.

But then he showed me that we still have a big container of fishfood and said that we should get another fish. Phew!

I hate the fish badly enough. A hamster would be 50 times worse.

 

[Serena]

LOL, whatever you do, do not get 2 hamsters. I don't care what the people at the pet store says. Do not get 2 hamsters. lol

We went from 2 boy hamsters, to 9 hamsters once.

I'd stick with fish too.

 

[Buckalew]

Bless his heart!
I remember when we had goldfish--they all died. We had lots of experience with death whenit came to fish.
Yes, you were some sort of state when you agreed to get a hamster, JJ. I think they are too much rodent for me also!
You are a lucky girl that your DS thought of the fish food so fast!

 

[Lynn CC]

Awwe, I love the name! Bluey...LOL

I agree a fish is way better than a hamster!

 

[JerseyJanice]

He wanted to see the body, but it fell apart before I even got it into the garbage.

When we were kids (I'm one of five), we'd hold big funerals for all of our fallen pets. For a fish, we'd make a coffin out of a matchbox and bury it, using a cross made out of popsicle sticks for a headstone.

I'm sorry I couldn't do that for him, but the body was too messed up (not to mention smelly) to do much with.

 

[MerryPoppins]

We have a row of popsicle crosses in our flower bed, and my DD is 11. Sorry for your son's loss. Poor little guy. Get him his hamster, mom!

 

[JerseyJanice]

can you clean its cage without touching it?

My biggest concern about having a hamster is that I might have to actually touch it.

Like Brenda said, it may be more rodent than I can handle.

 

[Serena]

Janice, Janice. Yes, you have to touch it. You have to keep it tame or it may bite. You will be responsible for it's care and upkeep and things like that. lol

They are cute though.

 

[Kermit]

No, you can't clean a hampster's cage without touching it. Most people pick them up and put them in one of those plastic balls that roll around while they change the cage. You should not get any kind of rodent until your son is able to do everything for it if you don't really want to handle an animal. Actually, I prefer guinea pigs to hampsters. They're bigger, but they never bite and seem to be a lot less anoying.

 

[phins_jazy]

Ewww....Ewww....Ewww......this is not the thread to be reading when your eating GOLDFISH crackers!!!!

 

[snoopy]

Awww, poor boo (both your DS and Bluey)

I'm with you - I could handle a fish, never a hamster.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My niece had a guinea pig when she was younger. It was big! I've had smaller cats. If I have to deal with something that large, I might as well get a cat--at least I have experience in handling them. (My husband HATES cats, though.)

Well, after reading this thread, I think there is no way we're getting a hamster any time soon. But can I ask one more question?

Do hamster bites hurt much? Can they draw blood?

 

[Serena]

um,, yes especially for a child.

 

[nativetxn]

Poor thing I'm glad you are getting another fish and not a hamster, though. I don't think I could tolerate a hamster

 

[Serena]

We had one hamster that really was a pet. We could walk around and it would ride in our pockets. Anyone could hold it and it didn't bite anyone.

Fair warning: some are mean, you have to be really careful when you pick them out.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Not that I'm getting one soon, but I'm curious, Laurie.

How do you choose a good hamster? Do you stick your hand in the cage at the pet shop and pick the one that doesn't bite?

My best friend's son has one, and she hates it. The thing seems to be invincible so far. She keeps putting its cage next to the air conditioner or open windows, hoping it catches a cold and heads to that big hamster cage in the sky.

 

[Pam]

Guinea pigs are nice - we had two, but they are a lot of work!! We've went the fish round, bettas, plus an aquarium. We've also had hermit crabs (which are really smelly! ewww!), a rabbit (Mr. Whiskers - who grew to mammoth proportions and finally died of old age), chameleons (who escaped and let us on a frantic search for a couple of days, but they were ok!), dogs (still have one), and plenty of cats (my personal favorite, and we have 2 of them right now!)

My brother had white mice when we were growing up and my personal favorite pet was Charley, the turtle!!

Pam

 

[Blondie]

I remember we bought two hamsters when I was around 8 years old, and yes, the can multiply every quickly.

They were the smaller versions (I understand now they come quite large!)

Fluffer (male) and Cream Puff (female) were their names (funny how you remember things like that from your childhood!)

Fluffer lived the longest--about 3 years, and he was the sweetest little thing, I can still remember the day he died! I kept trying to put him back into his cage, and he insisted on crawling out to sit on my knee! I guess he wanted to die in my hands.

When we cleaned their cages, we'd put them into the bath tub, the sides are smooth, and they can't crawl out!

If you don't like little rodent like pets, I recommend NOT getting one, because you'll probably never end up liking it, and resent taking care of it!

Stick to fish!

 

[peg2001]

The fish died over the weekend and you just noticed last night? I'm not trying to be harsh but that doesn't sound like a beloved pet to me. Maybe you should leave the bowl empty or try one of those pretty glass fish.

Peggy

 

[CyranoJones]

JMO, but if a fish has been floating for days with no one noticing or you are that squeamish about rodents, perhaps it is better in the long run not to have pets at all. I've seen too many people treat pets as disposable items and it is just cruel.