My son is 12 and would like a hamster.

1 Are they expensive to keep? Food/bedding etc?

2 Is it hardwork to look after them?

3 Do they leave a smell?

4 I have been looking at cages. Which ones are the best buy?

5 Vet bills, are they expensive.

Hamsters are easy pets, not expensive to keep in comparison with dogs or cats. There's little outlay once you have bought the cage, just food and bedding.

I would recommend paying some extra money for a 'silent' wheel as hamsters can drive you crazy if they are running on a squeaky wheel at night.

They don't smell much as long as you clean the cage once a week.

Get as big a cage as possible so hammy has more room. It's best to ask in the pet shop which would be suitable.

Hamsters should be kept away from drafts and in a room with an even temperature. This is most important as they can easily catch colds and die.

They make lovely pets but you need to handle them a lot so that they become used to you.

Many thanks for thst reply.

I would like to add

Hamsters tend to use one corner of a cage for toileting.

I would use paper bedding for a hamster. Avoid cotton wool. My brothers first hamster possible died from it. but he was already old so hard to tell.

Hamsters are escape artists. Ensure the cage is secure at all times.

They also like to chew chew chew. So they'll need wooden toys, you can also use toilet roll cardboard as a cheap substitution.

They are also nocturnal. I wouldn't recommend having their cage in your bedroom unless you can cope with the squeaky wheel .

In worst case scenario health wise keep an eye out for lumps. Some hamsters are prone to tumours.

There are different types of hamsters. Syrian types are loners and you should only keep one at a time. However it's possible to keep a pair of Dwarf hamsters. But best is to have same gender pair from the same litter.

Syrian hamsters are also a little easier to handle and more willing to be handled then their dwarf cousins.

Many thanks.

And they only have a life span of about 2-3 years on average.

Syrian hamsters are very tolerant of kids, live longer and are solitary in the wild, so they don't need so much attention, but they are nocturnal, so they sleep all day and are most active between about 11pm and 3am. Dwarf hamsters are most active at dawn and dusk, so make more useful pets. Dwarf hamsters are social animals, so they need a lot of attention and will bond with their owner. It's very cruel to keep any hamster in a cage and not give it stimulation as they are inquisitive, bright little animals which love to explore. Don't take a Chinese dwarf hamster as they are too timid to make good pets for children. Russian dwarf hamsters are a far better choice.

I'd say hamsters need a large cage with bars to climb and different levels to explore, shredded paper over the floor and soft tissue or fabric which they can incorporate into a nest. You needn't clean out the whole cage but just the area where the hamster is peeing - what I do is take some of the soiled material and put it into a jar sitting on its side over the area where the hamster pees. The hamster will then start to pee in the jar and you need simply remove it and wash it out daily, plus refresh the water and give fresh food, etc. They love a variety of fresh food - scraps of greens, sweet peppers, little pieces of fruit.. only give tiny amounts they'll eat at the time otherwise they'll store it and it'll go mouldy.

Every week or two you can remove some of the dried droppings from around the cage (I use tweezers) , and take a little portion of the bed away and supply fresh bedding which the hamster will incorporate into the old bedding. Never disturb the hamsters bed too much, as it stresses them out. They're very clean little creatures, and will keep their cage spotless if you support them in the ways I described.

Give them plenty of opportunity to play and explore by putting toys into their cages - ladders, egg boxes with bits cut out for them to go in and out of.. tubes.. It's amazing what you can make with cardboard, scissors and sticky tape for the hamsters to enjoy. it's fun to experiment with ways to encourage them to play and if you encourage your son to do this, it will become an absorbing activity for him and help him to bond with the hamster in a way which is healthy for the hamster.

Although as an adult hamster owner I hand-tame my hamsters and hamster-proofed my home to enable the hamsters to play and explore freely, I'd caution that they are tiny and so any freedom must be carefully supervised by an adult 100% of the time, because there are so many potential hazards for such a tiny, active little creature. You shouldn't allow a hamster out of the cage unless it is hand-tamed, because it'll be very challenging to catch. Mine were all hand-tamed, but I usually just keep the cage on the floor with a ladder leading inside and the hamsters go in themselves when they're ready. A hand-tame hamster will happily climb onto your flat palm if you hold it out to them.. or they'll allow you to lift them gently using a thumb and fingers around their middle to return them to their cage. It's just a matter of patience, gentle handling, respecting their space and needs, and building their trust over time.

A word to add to your dictionary which I learnt recently is "crepuscular" to describe this behaviour.

As opposed to nocturnal or diurnal!

1 Are they expensive to keep? Food/bedding etc? >>> Nope Not at all, very cheap.

2 Is it hardwork to look after them? >>> No, they can live on their own.

3 Do they leave a smell? >>> Yes, if you don't clean their cage.

4 I have been looking at cages. Which ones are the best buy? >>> Can't recommend any, but there should be some good ones at your local store.

5 Vet bills, are they expensive. >>> No, they are cheaper to maintain than dogs and cats.

Don't let Richard Gere near it.

Hi-I had four Hamsters as pets when I was young. They are lovely pets, need their cages cleaning regularly and look hilarious when they fill their cheeks with food to the point where you think they are going to burst! However they only live for two to three years which is upsetting and they are nocturnal so may not wake up until tea-time or early evening. We used to let mine run around in the living room with the doors locked and one night one of them climbed up the curtains like lightning before we realised where he was. The rooms were so high that by the time my dad got a stepladder and reached up to the top of the curtains the hamster fell off and knocked itself out when it fell. We rushed to an emergency vet where he checked it out and thankfully he was fine. I have never felt so guilty about anything but it all ended well and we never took our eyes off him again! Good luck if you choose a new Hamster-they are very entertaining!

Edit:
I didn't have them all at once-I had one after another!