Evil tiny dwarf hamsters....

[tyger9791]

ok why do pet stores sell these mini evil devil spawn? every year i get a bunch of these lil hamsters dumped at the shelter because pet stores sex them wrong and the lil devils produce more lil devils and parents don't know what to do with the lil devils. and these buggers BITE! amazing to me how something so small can produce such a painful bite and draw blood to boot! parents get them for their kids because they are cute and tiny and think what a great lil first pet for Timmy! oh how wrong they are....Timmy gets bit, they have a litter of the devils that they do not want and they bring them to us. is it wrong for me to want to call the pet store and give them an earful?

and then the parents ask me what would be a better pet...i suggest a rat. they think i'm crazy. rats may not be as cute as the mini evil devil spawn hamsters (though i think rats are pretty darn adorable), but at least they like to be handled, are pretty darn smart, and rarely bite (if socialized).

[BuBBa]

I wouldn't give them an earful, just go and explain to them what they're doing wrong. And how can anyone think anything is more cute than a rat? 

[ShadowDancer60]

Personally, I've found my dwarfs are very friendly...Of course, it may have a lot to do with the fact that I handle them every day, like my rats. According to the info I found on them, they need to be handled at least once every few days, or they will revert to their wild state. (Not been domesticated very long, I guess)

[eveliens]

My russian dwarf hamster was ridiculously friendly... and had been handled from birth. And was handled frequently and gently during her time with me. She knew and liked me, and I never had trouble. But not all my hammies have been that sweet.

Dwarf hamsters are territorial by nature and if you're not part of their "family" forget it. They make terrible pets for children because they're small and tend to bite. But people think they're sooooooo cute. They're the "traditional" first pet, just like a goldfish in a bowl.

As an employee of a petstore I can coax and reason but I can't stop people from buying them. Actually, usually I try to get someone bitten before they walk out of the store. But all of our animals are sexed and there's no "spawns."

[CheesyRatte]

My russian dwarf hamster was ridiculously friendly... and had been handled from birth. And was handled frequently and gently during her time with me. She knew and liked me, and I never had trouble. But not all my hammies have been that sweet.

Dwarf hamsters are territorial by nature and if you're not part of their "family" forget it. They make terrible pets for children because they're small and tend to bite. But people think they're sooooooo cute. They're the "traditional" first pet, just like a goldfish in a bowl.

As an employee of a petstore I can coax and reason but I can't stop people from buying them. Actually, usually I try to get someone bitten before they walk out of the store. But all of our animals are sexed and there's no "spawns."

  That's nice of you. 

I don't know why but people think hamsters are so cute. They are cute, but all the ones I've ever had bite! My first pet was a syrian hamster who was so mean. Then she got out of her cage and tore up the carpet trying to dig under the closet door. Then once in the closet, she dug up about another square foot in the corner! We never saw her again, but I bet my mom would have killed it if she saw it.

[eveliens]

My russian dwarf hamster was ridiculously friendly... and had been handled from birth. And was handled frequently and gently during her time with me. She knew and liked me, and I never had trouble. But not all my hammies have been that sweet.

Dwarf hamsters are territorial by nature and if you're not part of their "family" forget it. They make terrible pets for children because they're small and tend to bite. But people think they're sooooooo cute. They're the "traditional" first pet, just like a goldfish in a bowl.

As an employee of a petstore I can coax and reason but I can't stop people from buying them. Actually, usually I try to get someone bitten before they walk out of the store. But all of our animals are sexed and there's no "spawns."

  That's nice of you. 

Isn't it though?

This is what usually happens if they take it home and it bites them: the hamster is stuffed in a box and shuffled around, it's then shoved in a cage and messed with for the first two or three days, then it's stuffed in a box and shuffled around while coming back to the store, then it's in isolation because it's returned. By the time the poor hamster can go to a new home it's been through a world of stress, is aggressive, and is older, not to mention it can't go back in with it's "family" because they will kill it. It's friendlier to the hamster to let it talk-- er bite for itself 

Aside from that, I've been bitten by more syrian hamsters than I ever have by dwarfs. And gerbils are worse.

[Summer_Rat]

Wow. You guys have no problem bashing hamsters but if someone says something about rats its a big deal. Wow, mature guys.

I currently have three dwarfs hamster. A lone female (her sister passed away) named Trixie who will sit with me for hours and cuddle and sleep in my hands. My other two dwarfs, a pair of brothers named Yve and Noël love to play, never bite and groom my hand when ever they get the chance. They are just as great as rats. My Syrian's are the friendliest little ones imaginable. They love to cuddle once in a while and love to sit on my lap and play and run back and forth.

I have had five other dwarfs hamster. Four of them were sweet hearts right from the start. The other one, Dusk, was just as you guys described him. A mean, cute biting machine. He lived in a 10 gallon for almost a year with me. Then for my birthday I got a 20 gallon long tank. I moved him in it. An HOUR later he wanted out to play. I reached my hand in and from that moment on he loved to be held and never bit me. Dwarf hamsters are territorial in small spaces. That is one reason why hamsters need larger amounts of space then say mice or gerbils. They aren't mean and viscous by nature they are territorial in small spaces.

In five years I have had a total of 19 hamsters and when kept in decent conditions they are truly amazing little creatures.


Trixie waking up from a nap.

[ShadowDancer60]

Excuse me, but where in my post did I bash a hamster?

[Summer_Rat]

Sorry I did not mean everybody in the topic but there were a few and I am sick of it.

[eveliens]

Wow. You guys have no problem bashing hamsters but if someone says something about rats its a big deal. Wow, mature guys.

I'm not going to get into this and this will be my last post in this thread but I have two things to say.

1) If I didn't like hamsters, I wouldn't have any as pets and I wouldn't care who they were sold to at work.

2) Hamsters do not make good pets for children. Period. There are several aspects about hamsters, especially dwarfs, that are not a good match with little hands. I hate seeing hamsters returned injured or dead because of "accidents." In fact, I don't think small animals make good pets for children at all. They are too fragile and easily abused.

I'm sorry that it bothers you that other people have different experiences, but not all hamsters (or RATS for that matter) are sweet little darlings. I know you jump into hamster threads a lot, and if you read the other posts, you would see that not everyone hates them. It is not the hamster's fault it is wired the way it is, but it is the people's fault for expecting it to act differently. And as with any other domestic animal, you have huge problems with breeding, misconceptions, mills, snake food, etc. Again, not the hamster's fault. I believe tyger9791 is more frustrated with the parents and the petstores rather than the hamsters.

[Summer_Rat]

I jump into hamster threads a lot because a lot of the care for them spread around by some not all people are really off on every forum I go on. I don't know why i tend to go for the hamster boards. I just have spent to much time and effort researchign and getting to know how to care for hamsters and how great they are that I hate to hear others not enjoying them simply because they don't understand them. I would never hear a topic like this about rats even though the same thing happens with them litter after litter.

I guess I jumped on this one rudely today because it just so happened that on the *counts* four rat forums that I am signed up on (although I only go on two regularly) all had topics or posts that were bashing hamsters in some way, shape or form today. When I finally began surfing this forum I realized that I hadn't checked the pocket pets section lately and I was just plain peeved off that there was yet another topic about it and I lost it. Sorry if I upset you guys I guess I had a bad moment.

[Mousie452]

I had one like 13 years ago. I also had tons of gerbils growing up. My mom's gerbils at first, then I got into them. While my dwarf hamster was friendly, most of the gerbils were not. I bet the problem with the dwarfs that are given up is plain and simple--"Timmy didn't show any interest in taking care of it after the first week".

[momerath42]

I have to say, all the dwarf hammies I've encountered were in fact evil, though I've never owned one personally. 

I came by my first Syrian hamster by accident/default (already living in the apt I moved into) and just loved him.  He has since passed but I have another Syrian who was a class pet at school.  He was wonderful with the kids and is very tame.

I have had gerbils too, and they were sort of spastic and didn't enjoy being handled.

[BlueBalloon]

I must say my dwarf hammie is a joy I know some of them can be mean but I really don't think you can call them all "Devil Spawn". Thats like calling all rats "dirty" or all cats "snooty" its just not true.

[fluffy pluffy]

I had a dwarf hamster last year,she was the sweetest little thing ever. At night,if I put my hand in her cage,she would reach up,and climb up my hand,onto my shoulder,and curl up there. She's the only on I've ever had,but definitely not evil..