Heya!
I’m back to HC! After a hectic start to the school year, and between drama class, swim team and writing a novel, I was barely on the forum due to not having time, but after thing settled down I sort of forgot about it. But now I’m back
Anways, on to the actual point of this thread...
So, a bit of backstory.
In January 2017, my friend (we’ll call her A, for the sake of privacy) adopted two roborovski brothers, Scooby and Shaggy. Sadly Scooby passed away in Oct 2017 so A just owns Shaggy now. For those of you who’ve been on here since I’ve joined, you might recall I adopted Key Lime and Tangerine last April. Anways, i would talk about hamsters a lot with A, and share my knowledge with her that I’ve learned from the forum. So she knows that I know a lot about them and how to take care of them.
Keep in mind that Shaggy lives in a 20 gal aquarium. 360 sq. inches of floorspace.
So two days ago, I got this text from A:
“Hi! I’m redecorating my room, and I don’t really have a great place to put Shaggy. I was wondering if you’d like to have him, along with his cage and toys.”
She clarified that she was giving him up forever, and with no fee. So, my initial thought was, “ok sure, why not? Free hamster, and I’ll know he’s going to a safe home.”
I discussed it with my parents, who are okay with me taking him in. But they also brought up some excellent points which have really left me stuck on whether or not I should take him in or not.
Point 1: if I take in Shaggy, what lesson is that teaching A? That once she gets bored of her pets, she can just pawn them off to someone else?
Point 2: A’s two guinea pigs that her family owned a few years ago weren’t really “hers,” per say, but more of a family pet. After owning the guinea pigs for awhile, her family got rid of them for the reason that “they were too much work.” So essentially, her getting rid of her hamster is repeating the same pattern. Which relates to point 1, in the way that she’s just allowed to get rid of pets when she wants to.
Point 3: is A’s mother aware of her getting rid of Shaggy? What if I say yes, and she approaches her mother with “Hey, I found someone who wants Shaggy! May I give him up?”
You see, A is a sweet person who doesn’t seem like the type to do things without her parents’ knowledge of it. A’s mother is also a very kind person, and she loves her dogs and animals in general, and in this case I wouldn’t think she would simply allow A to just get rid of Shaggy. But I think when approached with “hey, I found a trustworthy person who wants my hamster,” she might allow it.
Point 4: what’s the real reason why she doesn’t want Shaggy? After all, he’s at least 13 months old, so he’ll probably live for another year, maybe longer. So it’s not a giant commitment at all. And A’s room is at least 180 sq feet, so a fairly decent size with plenty of room to keep a 20 gal hamster cage. “I don’t have a great place to put him” doesn’t seem like a very valid excuse to get rid of an animal.
I’m really tied on this. While I love hamsters, and love helping out my friends, what I’ve been approached with sounds to me like “I’m bored of my pet, can you take him?”
Perhaps if the circumstances were different, like “I no longer have the financial means to support a hamster,” “I’m moving to a place where I can’t keep a hamster,” or “I no longer feel that my hamster is safe because of my three dogs,” I would be much more willing to take in Shaggy.
I feel like I’m making this bigger than it needs to be, but adopting a pet is a big deal for my family, no matter its species. And I’m seriously conflicted on whether I should or shouldnt.
So what’s your opinion on this, HC friends? WWYD?
I’m back :) And faced with a problem...
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