New here with alot of questions

s_rhoden · 10-25-2012, 06:16 AM

Hello all new to the forum and I am looking at getting a hamster for my daughter. She has wanted one for about two years and my wife and I both feel that she is responsible enough for one now. She is 10 and she is very good with both our dogs and helps all the time with friends horses, granted they are not hamsters but she shows the responsibilty of caring for animals. Hope to learn alot on here. We are planning on a Teddy Bear hamster for her.

cactus · 10-25-2012, 09:36 AM

Hi, welcome to the forums! I'm sure you'll find everything you need on here, I've learned so much since joining up myself. It's good to see people caring about the life their hamster will have, your daughter does sound quite responsible and just doing your research shows you're doing a better job than a lot of people out there. Syrian's are lovely pets too, I have two boys and they're the most loving creatures I've ever met, they're really friendly and love to have human contact. I hope you, your wife and daughter have a lot of fun with the new arrival when he/she gets there

frecklypeach · 10-25-2012, 10:07 AM

My parents let me have my first hamster when I was 10, and it was the best thing they could have done. They supervised me at first and we talked a lot about what we had to do for him.
They also bought me a good book about proper care, and then let me care for him independently when they felt happy to. I did everything to care for my hammy, and all the ones that came after! Do it!

It was nice when my mum sat with me and helped me play with my hamster too, and helped with cleaning. It was a nice bonding thing.

muddy_dragon · 10-25-2012, 01:57 PM

i'm fairly new here too and it's a very helpful forum, just searching through old posts has been extremely useful.

I had a syrian when i was very small (less than 10) but i had to do all the cleaning out interacting etc (supervised of course!). and I think it was brilliant, people who have pets when little and encouraged and taught how to look after often seem to be much better with pets when older. It's not a rule of course there's many very responsible caring pet owners out there who never had a pet when young. but generally my friends who have had pets when young and taught how to care for them properly are much more responsible with their pets than my friends who have never had pets when they were living with their parents.

and mucking out a horse is an awful lot more effort than cleaning out a hamster :P she sounds like she would be very responsible.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 10-25-2012, 02:46 PM

Welcome to the forum, it sounds like she'll be great with a syrian (teddy bear) hamster

SportsmanKong · 10-28-2012, 02:03 PM

Welcome to the forums! I'm sure she will love the hamster! There is a lot of great information here to be found and to learn, so don't ever hesitate to ask questions. In fact, I'm getting ready to finish a guide that I have compiled from information I have found here, on the net, and from reputable veterinarians that specialize with hamsters. She will love it, I promise!