Talk to Me About Hamsters.

Personally- I say get fish :) My daughter is 4 and has a little fish tank in her room and even though she can't hold them she loves them- names them- talks to them. She tells me about the personality traits of each one- it's hilious. We have had to deal with the death of one and it was pretty devestating but we soon got another to replace it and she's moved on.

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The teddy bear ones can be good pets. Growing up we had gerbils, a rat, and a couple of guinea pigs over the year. Talk to the place where you may get the hamster and hold a few to see what their temperament is like. Some are really sweet and others are biters. The store can probably help you pick a good one.

We always kept our gerbils in 10 gallon aquaiums, much easier to clean then the plastic cages and the pet can't chew the cage. We had one plastic one and parts of it were poop magnets and next to impossible to clean. With the 10 gallon, it went our once a week and got dumped into the trash, rinsed out and new bedding put in.

We had a ball for them to run around the house, some loved it, some liked it and one or two hated it and just sat there. The cage wheels are nice, they can sometimes get their foot caught though. We also did the chew toys for them that are wood, so they can keep their teeth filed down.

Several of ours did love to play at night and you could hear them running and burrowing. We kept a food dish in the cages and a water bottle with fresh water about every 1-3 days. Make sure to handle them a lot when they are young too and they can nip and bite. Also remember most live 3-5 years probably. Overall I think they are a good pet as long as your little girl can be gentle and easy with them they are a lot of fun.

Our rat was smart, we would let her loose and she came when called. We did avoid the hamsters, since I wanted a siberian one when I was younger and the pet store warned they can be biters. We only had one or two nips from gerbils over the year and one bad bite. The bite though was when we were working on introducing a new gerbil and the two seemed to be getting along fine with a divider in place, but didn't do well when we removed the divider. My dad grabbed my gerbil up, since she was the older one and very sweet. She took a decent chunk out of him, about a week later we found out surprise the new gerbil was pregnant and had had her babies. We figured that might have been the reason the two females did not get along, but we never tried any two together again and my gerbil was just as sweet as ever once they were separated. Sorry I can't tell you too much about hamsters in particular, but I think will all of the small animals personalities can really vary.

Hamsters are easily hurt by children and when they get hurt or scared they nip!! Just a simple drop by a child could break a hamster's leg or back. IMO they are not good pets for kids. Get her a cat. Or a fish for her room. My daughter wants a snail.

As long as you are prepared to change the cage out every week-not something you should have a kid do. They also make a lot of noise at night so you may want to have an alt. place to keep them. Actually, I hate our hamster! And it is the longest living one in history I think :-(

After a lot of consideration, my daughter chose rats instead of hamsters. I know, the "eww" factor. But . . . they really are sweet pets. They are curious, interesting, nicer than hamsters, they are more intelligent, and they don't bite. My daughter had a friend whose pet hamster bit all the time and could not be handled. However, let me just tell you that my daughter is 11 now. We got the rats almost 2 years ago. And having my daughter clean that cage every week is a royal pain. Not to mention, they stink. Her room often stinks, even after cage cleaning, they must mark their territory, or it's the rats themselves that stink. Thank God she has hardwood floors, because their "mess" is often pushed out of the cage. I guess you can tell I'm not thrilled about the rats, but at least they are relatively low maintenance on a day to day basis. Rodents have a relatively short life span, but I'm not sure my daughter would really choose to take that on responsibility on again for 3-5 years. I think age 5 is really young for a pet, unless you are very, very willing to be the caregiver.

I would go with a guinea pig. Much more friendly, rarely bites, not as fragile.

they have cool toys and its cool to watch them in their balls. thats the pro the con is they stink bad. and if you get 2 and happen to get one of each sex they eat thier babies. and they play stuff is expensive to set up a play city

Hamsters are cute but boring. Guinea pigs, mentioned below, are dumber than a rock. Rats are WAY better. The best rodent by far. Intelligent, interesting and fun. 2-3 year lifespan. The perfect pet.

Get 2 of whatever you get, so they can have company. Nothing worse than a lonely caged animal.

Oh, yes, and it WILL be YOUR pet, as mentioned below. Your daughter will lose interest after like, three minutes.

Too rodent like for me! :-)

Hamsters are cute! My daughter picked long-haired hamsters so they wouldn't spook out her daddy, who thought short-haired ones looked too much like rodents.

They are also a lot of work, as any pet is, and guess who does the work.

If you socialize them - get them out every day and play with them gently - they are friendly. (If you leave them alone and don't socialize them, they will naturally be frightened of being handled and may bite in perceived self-defense.)

A male and a female will have lots of babies; if I recall correctly, when babies arrive, the male must live in a separate cage.

They need things to do in their cages (like wheels), and they MUST always have things to chew on because their teeth are growing all the time and will keep them from eating if they grow too long.

They love to play at night, and some of them are amazing escape artists. I could tell stories... but you don't want to read such a long post.

They do not live very long - this was what discouraged my daughter after several hamster pets. She had one who lived perhaps four years - but most of them didn't live longer than one year, and some lived for less time than that. One pair of babies lived one week; they were sick when we got them, but showed no symptoms for a few days. It was quite traumatic. There are hamster diseases with no cure.

You will need to teach your daughter how to handle Hammy gently, and supervise her EVERY time. They're so little that they can be hurt by careless children, and if let loose to play they much be watched EVERY SECOND. They can hide themselves in places you would never think to look.

Their residences need cleaning every few days - that'll be your job. You'll KNOW when to clean house! It will also be your job to make sure your daughter provides Hammy with good food and fresh water. Read the hamster books, but also find a vet who deals with little critters, and ask about feeding. My daughter's hamsters liked vegetables, but the veggies needed to be room temperature - I think. At least they could not be in a frozen state. (This was a long time ago, so I'm not sure any more, so ask your vet.)

Any child's pet is Mama's pet as well, so make sure you want the hamster as much as your daughter does. It'll be like having another very small child in the family. Have you considered a pet who might be a little sturdier...? An older kitten (several months old) can manage a five-year-old better than a hamster can - and might cuddle up to her at night.

We love, love, loved our hamsters! They are so much fun to watch. The starter kits at pet stores usually have everything you need. You will need to change the bedding at least once a week because they can get stinky if you don't.

My only advice is to remember that they are nocturnal. You may want to find a central place for it, because they are noisy at night!

Good luck!

Looks like you've gotten a lot of great advice so far! I had hamsters growing up and loved them! Unfortunately the first one I got was supposed to be a male, but turned out to be a preggo female.

They do eat their babies, but only if someone handles them. The baby then has the smell of the person, not the mama's smell and she thinks they are intruders in her litter (or whatever you call them for a hamster). They also tend to make a big mess with the bedding when they are nesting- they shove the bedding around to make a burrow any time you clean the cage, and sometimes they just decide to rearrange and the bedding ends up out on whatever surface is nearby if you have a metal bar cage like we had as kids. I think now most cages are plastic, so it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

Their cages do stink if not cleaned often (at least full dump of bedding & wash out the bottom once a week) & they need a lot of handling to keep them tame, otherwise they go wild & will bite.

We also had cats, fish, dogs, and birds as pets as kids. With 4 kids within 7 years age span and tons of animals, we learned to handle & care for them young. My son started helping feed our cats when he was 2, and it became his designated chore when he was 4. They are indoor/outdoor so we don't have to worry about a litter box, which is WONDERFUL! And they don't mind being ignored as a dog would.
He really wants a dog, but we told him last year when he asked for one for his bday that we would re-address the issue when he's 7. He'll be 6 in a couple of weeks and we are considering getting him a fish as a starter pet of his own. The cats were our furry babies before we had him, so he's grown up with them and the fish will be his own. Our only concern is keeping the tank high enough where his very curious & tall 10mo bro can't get to it! LOL

Best of luck!

I liked the hamster experience for me but my kids were too young to help they were 3 AND 5. they wanted to hold them and play with them but was too ruff. The 3 yr old used to kick the ball while the hamster was in it, poor thing that was the end of the ball. The odor was what I cannot stand, no matter what they smelled, and therefor the whole room does.

Good luck.

I have horrible memories of mine as well. Maybe try her out with a ZhuZhu Pet first. Not the same but it squeaks, makes other noises, and moves around. If you get a good vibe from the way she handles that maybe move on to going to stores and petting some real ones. Baby steps kind of approach. ???

Our hamsters escaped... a lot. We even got special cages that were "escape proof" and they got out!!! I would actually recommend a cat (if possible for your family)... it's not a caged pet, but all they really need is food and litter. They are very social and lovable, but they are also independent enough that she won't have to play with it every day when the novelty wears off (as will inevitably happen with a 5 year old and pets) They don't need as much attention as a dog would... Also, a cat is something the whole family can love.

Some of the little furry pets are active during the day, some during the night. I think hamsters are NIGHT active and you DON'T want that! Gerbils, I think, are day active. Check with your petstore to make sure you get the daytime active ones. I know that the Petco near my house has short descriptions on them posted above their cages. Realize, though, that you'll probably be taking care of it as much as she is given her age. Have fun :)

Pros: they cute and fun, and low maintenance, as long as you know you'll have to clean the cage/aquarium.
they're cheap.

Cons: they are noisy. they need one of those wheels and run on it every night. ours also used to try to climb up the water bottle, which banged around. your daughter may not want it in her room!
They don't live very long...be prepared to discuss a dead hamster with your daughter.
or, they might live 3+ years! be prepared for that too! be watchful of what you put in the cage. we got ours a little plastic house, and it killed two in a row (in one week from them chewing on it) before we realized what it was...

make sure if you do get one, you have it sniff you all a lot to get used to you right away. otherwise they will bite. they have to get really comfortable and then be handled a lot, or they will get nervous.

we had ours when we were older. i agree that you might want to get her a fish and wait a year or 2 on the hamster.

ps. get only one at a time unless you want lots of hamster babies!