Hamsters as pets

For most of the people hamsters are pleasant pets that are easy to hold, and cuddle. They are low maintenance pets that can easily keep themselves busy by running on a wheel, and not getting obese.

Hamsters are not only easy to keep, but they are furry and therefore people love to cuddle them. It is also one of the huge reasons for keeping hamsters as pets. For children, hamsters are excellent pets in the beginning as they cannot keep high-maintenance pets.

However, hamsters are not okay for very young children, as they are very delicate and fragile and they can be potentially dangerous to hamsters. Though hamsters do not come with a care manual that does not mean you can keep them carelessly. 

Hamsters also require a proper shelter, diet and sleep for proper and effective growth. Remember to always give food to the hamsters in a dish or else they would be chewing on their beddings.

You have to clean the cage weekly, and also you have to change the bedding of the hamster once in a month. Hamsters always eat a lot so you have to limit the food intake yourself .It is always advisable to keep some kind of exercise equipment in the cage like a running wheel to keep them active and fit.

When we see hamsters on the internet, they are very appealing, and we immediately have a great urge to have them as pets. But wait a minute, sit right there and think, is this the right decision for you? On a quick impulse, you can’t make the right decisions. I know they are cute, round and furry, they are stunning, but not every animal is meant for you. So study a bit about hamsters as pets before making any decisions. 

Before making a final decision about any pet, particularly hamsters, I suggest you first look for local breeders rather than to go out and shop for hamsters. Why am I saying, don’t buy? Because these hamsters are often abused or misused at shops to look pretty and attractive but are not healthy, it is not okay to spend a lot of bucks on them. 

10 things you should know about keeping hamsters as pet

Hamsters are adorable and agile creatures. Anyone can want hamsters as pets but before buying one read the following suggestions and the necessary things you should know about hamsters as animals and then you should learn about hamsters as your pets. 

Nocturnal nature hamsters:

As hamsters are rodents and like all other rodents, their activity will be most evident at night. So think before when you are going to buy a pet hamster. If you have a light sleeper like me and can get easily distracted by minimal sounds, and they are enough to break your sleep, think about it. A screeching wheel at midnight will not be your priority. If you are a night worker and looking for a friend in the day, then hamsters as pets are not the right option for you. On the other hand, if you like to stay up late at night, you can surely go for a hamster. 

Hamsters and kids:

As hamsters are smart, small-sized, and furry, often parents think about them that their children will get a companion and a toy to play. But they are nocturnal, and ultimately they will be frustrated, so they have to look at the above point if they are thinking like this. 

Understand this point that when your children sleep, your hamster will wake up. And also, they are sensitive and furious during the day. And if the hamsters have forcefully been disturbed from their sleep during the day. 

Small children are not able enough to handle the hamsters gently. They can scare them, or they may hold them too tightly while holding( squeezing). Ultimately the hamsters will get scared, and they can bite. 

Hamsters Hygiene:

Hamsters as pets can carry several dangerous diseases. One of them is salmonella; this disease may last for a more extended period, but it can cause severe shots of intestinal pain in the adults. 

The condition can worsen if a pregnant woman extracted this disease from the hamster and can transfer it to her young one. Salmonella can even prove fatal for someone whose immune system is already weakened by other conditions. 

Not only this, hamsters as pets are also carriers of several viruses, and the most common among them is Lymphocytic choriomeningitis. This virus can cause symptoms similar to the influenza virus, and persons with weak immune systems can be severely affected. 

Where will you keep a hamster as a pet?

The most common species of hamsters as pets is the Syrian hamster. It’s a large species, so it will require a lot of space to live healthily. If you keep two hamsters in the same area, they can fight severely, and as a result, their fight will cause severe injuries to each other. Female hamsters, if they get pregnant, become very sensitive, and they can even eat up their babies if they feel confused and threatened. On the other hand, dwarf hamsters as pets may live together peacefully because they are small and hence do not require much space. 

Necessary stash needed for hamsters:

Hamsters may not seem expensive pets, but keeping their care and maintaining them may cost you some bucks, so make sure you can afford them. The necessary tools you need for hamsters include:

1. A habitat in which the hamster can live for that purpose can take an aquarium or a cage.
2. To provide a soft bed, you need bedding for the coop or aquarium.
3. Food tray
4. Exercise wheel because otherwise, they can get obese.
5. Water tray
6. Toys to play
7. Treats

Hamsters Time management :

Hamsters are quite engaging, and they don’t need you to perform their activities. If you keep the bedding soft and provide them with necessary toys, tools, and the wheel, they will play on their own for most of the time. You can build a tunnel for them in their cage because they love to burrow and climb. But that’s not enough if you want them to get used to humans, then you have to interact with them. Remember that don’t leave their cage messy and dirty, their cage requires cleaning after every week. 

Hamsters For how long?

If you are okay with all the necessary steps and things that are mentioned in the above sections, it is the final step to understand and to think about. The average life period for hamsters as pets is not longer than 2 or 3 years. So, if you are not into long-term relationships and get easily frustrated, then hamsters as pets would be a go-go for you. But if you are parents and have children, I would suggest not having a hamster as a pet because kids are innocent creatures, and it will be a hard time for them to go through the death of someone, which is very similar to a family. 

Hamsters are illegal in:

Hawaii is a “not to go place” for hamsters because they are not allowed there. So if you are an inhabitant of Hawaii country, then don’t even think of keeping hamsters as pets. They are banned because the climate of Hawaii is very similar and adequate for hamsters. So authorities have concerns about the escaped hamsters; they can build wild colonies that will harm and affect the crops and damage them. 

10 reasons why hamster make the best pets

The following are the top reasons why hamsters make the best pets. However, there are pros and cons to every pet. To have a good relationship with your pet, you must focus on all those points and make the best of them. 

1. Hamsters are one of the most popular pets. They are solitary, cute, and furry and make excellent companions.
2. The foremost benefit of having hamsters as pets is that they are straightforward to handle due to their small size.
3. Also, modern technology has enabled us to gather all the equipment that makes the hamsters’ handling very easy, like their toys, bedding, aquariums, etc.
4. Hamsters as pets are very useful because they don’t need much cleaning. They are very grooming, and they love to clean themselves.
5. The young hamsters can be easily trained to use only one portion of their cage for litter. So the cleaning becomes way more comfortable as you will have to clean only one place.
6. They are very inexpensive and make faithful companions.
7. They do not need any social interaction from you at all. They can survive on their own very quickly.
8. Their litter is easily cleanable. They do not leave many piles of poop that are stinky and are challenging to handle.
9. They usually don’t notice much what is happening in their surroundings and do not like to interfere.so like any other cats and dogs that can attack the strangers, but in the case of hamsters, you won’t have to worry about much.
10. Other pets like cats and dogs need a lot of attention, and you have to take them on several walks in a week. Hamsters do not need that. They are happy running on their wheels.

If you are someone who feels lonely at night or struggles with sleeping during the night, you can have hamsters as pets. They will be the best night companions as they are nocturnal.

if you are an aesthetic lover and love to play with different shapes and colors, then the hamsters’ cages will provide you with a lot of options.

At times when you are stressed, caressing your hamster will relax your tired mind. Above all, they are adorable and furry, making the best pets, especially for the children.

Also, people who are allergic to animal smells would not have to worry about it because they are not stinky and do not have any foul smell.

Besides being cute and furry, one more thing that adds to their aesthetics is their “cheek pouches,” which are adorable to watch in slow motion. Fill their food tray and just see how beautifully they fill their cheeks as much as they can so that they can store the food for the time when they are not eating. 

Hamsters as pets being aggressive towards each other is also a form of benefit. They will leave peacefully at their young ages; however, as they start to grow, the world and ears can begin between them.  It is better to keep them apart, plus the benefit is that you will prevent unnecessary and unwanted breeding.

Are hamsters good pets?

Yes, hamsters are excellent pets. They are territorial, cute, small, easy to handle, and soft. For school-aged children, they are the best companions. They don’t require any care and attention at all. You just have to provide them with an aquarium with soft bedding, food, and toys. Like other pets, for example, cats and dogs, they are hard to maintain, and they are costly as well.

On the other hand hamsters as pets won’t cost you much. Their cheek pouches and the abilities to build tunnels are so fascinating to watch. Make sure if you are getting it for your child, then make sure he/she is above eight years, have understood all the essential stuff about hamsters, and he or she should be firmly committed to keeping hamsters as pets. 

Which type of hamster is the friendliest?

Syrian hamsters are the most popular species of hamsters when it comes to keeping them as pets. They can be easily trained and tamed. They get used to you very quickly and therefore are very easy to handle. But how far can this friendliness go? It does not only depend on the species but also the gender and their personalities as well. 

Syrian hamsters have the largest in size among all hamsters, and so they are comfortable to hold. They are quite big and do not move much like other hamsters. One more thing that makes them friendly is that they rely on you very much. As they are not very friendly to other hamsters, they will focus on developing more bonds and knots with you while you play and spend time with it. 

Why are hamsters bad pets?

As you know, every pet has both pros and cons. So hamsters also have both. Various aspects make them good pets, but they are some negative points as well.

Hamsters have a deficient vision when it comes to eyesight. They detect things by their other senses like smell, feel, and hear. Why is it wrong? Because if they don’t see you well they will feel more threatened and the chance to get bitten is more. 

The pain caused by a hamster bite can become dangerous if not taken proper care. The bad thing is when this kind of incident happens with a child.

Another lousy factor of keeping hamsters as pets is their nocturnal behavior. They will be active throughout the night and will be sleeping when you are awake. That means you have to keep up late at night to spend some time with your pet. 

How do you keep a hamster as a pet?

Hamsters are suitable as pets to many people. Before getting a hamster for yourself, read this:

• Never get a hamster for a child under eight because it may seem like a small cute pet for him, but it requires gentle handling and care, which can’t be done by a child.
• Always feed them in their tray. Never put the food directly on their bedding because they can unintentionally ingest some litter, which can result in harmful diseases.
• Feed your hamster a balanced diet, including fruits and veggies. However, the fresh part of the diet should not make more than 20% of the food because that is not their actual diet.
• Once in a month, it is necessary to take your hamster to a well-renowned pet so that it can remain safe, and also you will remain secure.
• Place a wheel inside their aquarium or cage. It keeps them busy in the night. Also, exercise is essential for hamsters; otherwise, they will become obese.
• Always make the bedding of organic natural materials. Don’t use the machine-made stuff because it can damage the hamsters in many ways.

Should I get a pet hamster?

If you have read so far, you have known the pros and cons of keeping a hamster as your pet. If you are a night owl and are committed to taking care of your hamster, then you can surely go for a hamster.