[MaryRobinson]

Personally, not a fan. Depends if you mean adopting from a pet store or buying a baby. I have had a couple of adoptions from UK pet shops; one died of a rare cancer which I was told was the result of inbreeding and one had a genetic tooth abnormality from - you guessed it: inbreeding.

I would not buy a new baby hamster from a pet shop because of the ethics of pet shop rodent suppliers. Many pet shops buy their animals from rodent mills and/or breeders who supply both live rodents (for pets) and dead ones(for reptile food!) which is a fundamental conflict of interest. Anything where animals are bred for profit basically should ring alarm bells about their welfare, genetics and the ethics of the supply chain.

I have always adopted except for my current boy (who was a bit of a unique case from a well-respected hobby breeder) and would not buy a new ham from a pet shop.