Curious

[kyrilliondaemon]

I believe there are a very small number kept as pets but its an absurdly small number and really not advised. They're right vicious little terrors when they want to be. I'd also not be surprised if they're on the list of species where there're loads of regulations about keeping them (unlike things as fun as the caracal, serval and fishing cat which're considerably more dangerous... and less fun/dangerous things like the meerkats e.t.c too - none of those need a load of paperwork before you can keep them)

[Angelhamster]

From the videos I have seen and on thread here a couple of days ago they seem happy to stand their ground against much bigger animals - they seem to go in for shock tactics when cornered. I dont recall the name of the youtube vid but there is some footage of one having a go at a couple of youths somewhere in eastern europe (judging by the accents). One lads hand was bleeding. They did tease it for a while before getting it to grab onto a shoe and placing it in long grass to make its escape.
There is another vid of a guy who says he has one as a pet. But i suspect even if legal this could be problematic !

[kyrilliondaemon]

Oh I'd regard it as a really, really bad idea lol
I'd actually prefer to get one of the cats I mentioned - at least you expect those to maul you really badly if you mess up

[radiocricket]

There's been a few imported into the UK. I've spoken to one breeder who was there when his friend opened up one of the imports- and watched as the hamster chased his friend around the room! They really are quite aggressive and attempts to breed it out of them haven't been too successful, thus, they're not readily found in the pet trade. I also believe they are on an endangered species list.

Interestingly enough, enough of them have been bred, primarily by zoos, that color mutations do exist in them- I think Black, Albino and Cream/Yellow.

-Janice