Hamster and children

cassiew · 09-10-2010, 06:43 PM

I am very protective of my Hamster and my boyfriends 2 kids want to play with him but i remember when we used to have mice and they just waved them around like a toy and picked them up by the belly and holding too tight. Bogey my hamster bit the kids today and he hasnt bit me yet. hope he never does. but i am worried that he may turn nasty if the kids upset him which will ruin mine and bogeys bond. what do i do ? if im honest i dont want the kids touching bogey but i feel mean. i think he loves me too because he always wants to be out of his cage when he sees me and gets giddy. he walks on my hand when i open cage door but he doesnt do that for anyone else.

Fallinghamster · 09-10-2010, 09:44 PM

Just tell them how to appropriatly hold the hamster. They have sharp teeth. Be careful. Just tell them nicely not to, I'm sure it won't interefere with his relationship with you, my hammie can tell if it's me. It's better not to have them around kids who dont have the experience

Amethyst_ice · 09-10-2010, 11:51 PM

my bfs niece gets very excited by our hamsters/ It is good for children to learn to interact with hammies however i would suggest gainign the full trust of your ham first.
Out of our 4 hams we only have one ham we let "the kids" play with because we know his temprement.

Bear is the biggest and can cope being poked the odd time or slightly heavy petting whereas pumpkin is fast and likely to get nippy.

We hold him and let the child gently stroke..we get their finger and use it to stroke the ham so they get used to the pressue and way to stroke however small kids wil egtt excited and tend to flap their hands in excitement in which case you need to quiclkly remove the hammy else they may bite.

xxx

cassiew · 09-11-2010, 02:11 AM

thank you for your replys hunni'z. i have told them how to hold animals properly many times and my boyfriend too but they still don't do it properly. it is so frustrating because its like they don't listen and my boyfriend gets very annoyed with them. i have just woke up 10 minutes ago and i found the kids trying to get him out but they was scaring him as they was rushing. mean as it sounds i'm not letting them handle him ever again.

mangoandmimi · 09-11-2010, 02:12 AM

um well tbh its the same with my cousins - ones 6 ones 9 :S when the younger wants to hold any of mine i just go like *umm yeah okay but sit on the floor so that you cant drop him* but his hands are so small he cant cup mango properly in them!! hehe so then i just like give himtreats that he can feed mango bleess him

but teaching them properly how to hold bogey is a very good idea - it'll get bogey to trust other people more and make the kids really happy lol

just teach them slowly and yeah goodluck Xx

mangoandmimi · 09-11-2010, 02:13 AM

ohh gosh after reading that post be4 mine okay your like doing the right thing

i dont mean to sound horrid or anything but toughen up a bit - i mean tell kids off which they probably get every day or really scaring a hamster - bearing in mind the size of their tiny heart...?
goodluck xxx

cassiew · 09-11-2010, 02:26 AM

oh believe me they get told off lol

cassiew · 09-11-2010, 02:27 AM

im very protected of my hammy.

mangoandmimi · 09-11-2010, 02:33 AM

hehe lol same

x

Katty_Sheldon · 09-11-2010, 05:04 AM

If the kids dont get it right how to hold him or stroke him, id give up trying to teach them. Dont feel guilty. You would not let them play with your PC or your stereo or your money - and you would not feel guilty. Just because "kids play with animals" doesnt mean you have to let them!
I heard some horror stories here about kids and hamsters and i would not let them play with my hamster...