Horrible Harness

[carefresh]

I just read this from a webpage that told you about their hamsters, and their inventions that they have created for them ~

Last time I promised to say something about my effort to design a hamster harness. This began back in 1994 when we first got Paul. What appeared at first to be an easy project quickly began to look impossible. Hamsters, it seems, are shaped like sausages. You simply cannot restrain a sausage using only a collar; a sausage has no neck.



But a hamster has something sausages do not have: legs. Most of my harness designs have involved straps looping around the front legs. Unfortunately, in their normal walking gait, hamsters move their front legs from the all-the-way-forward position to the all-the-way-back position. Anything that hampers leg movement makes them nearly unable to walk. They never complain, though; not once the harness is on.



Getting the harness on is a different matter. To a hamster, having elastic bands placed around him is cause for a fight to the death. But once those bands are in place, he will trot away unconcernedly, despite the fact that his legs are sticking straight out sideways, making him look like a furry four-legged crab.



So: loops around the front legs are not practical. My most recent design involves a band around the "neck", which can easily slide forward, but not backward, because of the front legs. There is another band around the middle, which can easily slide backward, but not forward, again because of the front legs. Hooking these two bands together produces a harness that will not come off (at least in theory) and involves no loops around the legs.



As with earlier designs, putting on the harness is a fight-to-the-death struggle, followed by a firmly harnessed rodent happily ambling away. Until he reaches the end of the leash.

the poor hamster ! having to wear rubber bands (elastic bands, same thing) around his body, and what the heck, who cares if the hamster can't walk properly ????!

[Coco1]

Some people just feel like they have to have some form of complete control over a small, innocent life that can't fend for itself in the hands of this type of person.

This person needs to get a dog!

[SnuggleHam]

People are absolutely crazy! Bathing hamsters, forcing them to wear a harness... They like to treat them as if they are a child or some kind of miniature doll or toy. They do these things becasuse "they" want to, not becasue there is a need for it. They do it because "they" feel it would be cute or might be fun.



I see no reason to harness a hamster whatsoever. I'm assuming this is for a Syrian because I don't know how on earth you could harness a dwarf hamster. Syrian hamsters can run but they aren't nearly as fast as a dwarf, and if given owner supervision, and placed in an area that they are unable to escape from, there is absolutely no need to put them on a leash.



Carefresh would you mind PMing me the link you got this from? Also thank you for not posting the link publically, I don't want to try and exploit them as a bad owner.

[carefresh]

Actually there's a slight problem with that. I kept the link in the "history" part of my internet browser. But my dad cleared out my "history" last night, so now I don't know what the link is . I'm really sorry though.

[SnuggleHam]

Oh well thats ok, I just wanted to see the site for myself is all

[carefresh]

Sorry

[Coco1]

The sad thing is that I've SEEN hamster harnesses for sale in pet shops! So people can take them walks around different places. Urrgh.

[babyboos]

Sounds absolutely barbaric - I don't even want to try and imagine what the poor darling fluffball looks like in this awful contraption

[carefresh]

Originally Posted by Coco1

The sad thing is that I've SEEN hamster harnesses for sale in pet shops! So people can take them walks around different places. Urrgh.

These peoples harness sounds even worse because they used elastic bands ! OUCH !

[hammydude]

Just my opinion, BUT IF ANYONE WANTS TO WALK AN ANIMAL IN A HARNESS/LEASH, GET A DOG!!!!!!!!!



OK, I'll quit yelling now.