Pet ideas for a 4 year old....

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junior_n_sweetpea

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, Illinois, USA
I'm thinking about getting Spencer a pet of hisown. He is 4, but very gentle with animals. I'm thinkingaboutgetting him a hamster. Can anyone give me some info onhamsters? I think it is about the only pet I have never owned, and Idon't know too much about them.
 
I may know very little about rabbits but mychildren have had a number of hamsters over the years. I have fourchildren and all have had at least one hamster. Right now my four yearold daughter has one. He is a teddy bear hamster and a pet of a thing.Marlee takes it out and cuddles him and puts him in his ball to rollaround. In answer to your questionI think they make exellantpets. They just require a weekly cage cleaning and fed whentheirdish is empty. My only complaint would be theirnocturnal nature and the constant noise of his wheel going around atnight. Marlee is able to sleep through the noise.The one wehave nowtook a couple of weeks before we were able to handlehim without getting bitten. He was just very nervous. He got over itthough and now is a great pet. Just a four year olds size.

Good Luck

Carolyn J
 
Matthew is five years old and his hamster is thelove of his life : ) He has one of little Dwarfhamsters. Sadly, she's over 2 years old and they don't livevery long.

Matt loves her to pieces, however, they do bite! He uses atoilet paper roll to remove her from the cage, then she's fine.

He also has a number of rabbits, but not all have been suitable for him to handle.



Pam
 
Another question...can a hamster be kept in anopen toppedglass aquarium? We have a 15 gallon fishtank thatI think would work great and give a hamster lots of room. We wouldn'thave to worry about anything jumping in so that wouldn't be anissue. And it would save us buying a cage.
 
LOL! I don't think a little hamster nip wouldphase Spencer in the least. I have to remind him that we should notpick up snakes from the backyard! He is such an animal/creature lover!We are not allowed to kill spiders or anything when he is around. Iswear he is going to be the next crock hunter LOL!
 
I dont know much about hamsters. i think they arecute. I love all animals. Ok except for snakes. no has to worry aboutme bringing one home. One thing like someone said is that they dontlive much longer than 2 years. So thats something to think of too. CanSpencer deal with his pet dieing that quickly, but then again any petyou can think of could for some reason get ill before itstime. Good luck with whatever pet you decide.

Cristy
 
My only complaint would be their nocturnal natureand the constant noise of his wheel going around at night. I agree withcarolyn j...i had to move mine into the laundry room at night lol wehad 2 long haired hamsters VERY friendly! But yes they do have a shotlife span both of ours passed this yr..so we had to have the "talk" andburried them in the back yard.....lizzards i heard are hard to keepcause they are not in there natual habitat..how bout a lil fish tankone w/ a filter...he can feed em every day that could be hisresponsibilty and VERY low maintance! I have a 75 gallon tank that ihave to clean maybe once every 2- 3 mo. Ohhhhhhhhhor my neighbors friend has a fire belly frog that he keeps in aaquarium they are small and he eats crickets so far he has had luckwith them!
 
Well, we got a hamster for Spence. I wanted toget a rat because they seemed a little sturdier, but DH said NO! Ithought they were cute lol.He named the hamster Pipsqueak,Pippi for short. :DHe is adorable.
 
junior_n_sweetpea wrote:
Well, we got a hamster for Spence. I wanted to get a ratbecause they seemed a little sturdier, but DH said NO! I thought theywere cute lol.He named the hamster Pipsqueak, Pippi forshort. :DHe is adorable.


I think the hamster was a good choice. We went to the petstore today and came home with a beautiful little female mouse (forMatthew). He named her "Ruth". She's very difficultto hold and can jump really high, but Matt is content to watch her playin her cage.

Matt's hamster is getting old, so we'll probably end up replacing herwith another hamster. Diabetes is very common, so I'm rathercautious about getting another one (our other one died of diabetes).

Pam
 
Surprisingly, 15 year old Stephanie is quitetaken with little "Ruth" and already has her very tamed.She's such a cutie :)



Pam
 
i think a rat would be a good idea. ideally amale. ive had a bunch of rats. of all of the smaller rodents(mice,rats,hampsters, gerbils) i know that overall rats bite the least.and from my experiance the males have seemed much more friendlier thenthe females.

as far as the glass aquarium i dont know if its a good idea. they saythat they can get lung problems from not haveing proper ventalation andthat aquariums are not ideal housing. thats what ive heard.
 
I had a ferret when I was in highschool. I lovedthat little thing. She lived for 9 years! The rats reminded me of her(without the price tag!) :) Actually, I did some research and foundthat glass tanks make good homes if the tops are left off as is ours.So it is pretty well ventilated. It is a 20 gallon tankso"Pippi" has lots of room. I also put aspen bedding ininstead of cedar which I've heard is bad for their lungs.Thanks for all the great recomendations everyone.
 
Well, I've had 3 hamsters (1 still alive) and Ithink they make the greatest starter pet. They're so cute!! You can buythem all these neat colorful tubes to run around in, a wheel is a mustso they dont get pudge! lol. They're not hard to take care of, theyclean their cages themselves, all you have to do is pick up the pile ofstuff they've cleaned out lol. And make sure there's no way for them toget out because Rahoon somehow broke free and he fell off the table andbroke both his back legs :(

The downside to a hamster is that they dont live very long, about 2-3years. Unless its one like my Super HamHam who has broke his legs, goneblind and he's about 4 years old. Poor little guy :(

Teddy Bear hamsters are the best ones to get, they're the most timidand soft and cuddly, and they like to run around in those big balls youcan put them in to run around the house hehehe.
 

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