The Hamster's From Hell

Our youngest daughter has been wanting a hamster for a few years now, and since we got rid of all the animals this past year, I thought it would be the perfect Christmas gift. And since we try to practice a somewhat minimalist lifestyle and the kids always end up with too many gifts, I thought a hamster would be the perfect gift... something she wanted, something small, it would help teach her more responsibility, it is relatively quiet, and it would have no toys to add to the clutter!

I should have questioned the idea when the new cage came 2 weeks before Christmas and it wasn't the right size...  I had to buy a different stand for it to set on, so that was an extra $40, but I thought we'd make do.... it just takes up more space and it don't look near as neat as the last hamster cage I made out of a bookcase a few years back....

Then I went all out buying new water bottles, running wheels, snacks, food, running ball, bedding, treats, chew toys, etc.... it ended up costing way more than I was planning!

Next, we went to the store 45 minutes away to buy the hamster. The hamsters were in quarantine and wouldn't be available till the following day. Let me insert here, I've never bought hamsters from a pet store before. I try to find local breeders, but I couldn't find any this time around.

So, the following day, we once again drive the 45 minutes to pick up the hamster.... they didn't have the color my daughter wanted, so we compromised and got a different one... she was cute. My daughter named her Twixy.

She didn't really seem to eat or drink much, and had diarrhea, I read that sometimes it can take a week for them to get used to their surroundings, so I didn't think too much of it. 

A few days later, we came home from another Christmas get together and the hamster had definitely took a turn for the worse. I wrapped her up in a heating pad and fed her water through a dropper, but it was too late, she died about an hour later that night, from wet tail.

The next morning, I called the pet store and they said to bring her in and exchange her for another one. Ok. So we drove the 45 mins to take her back and get a new, hopefully healthy hamster. Problem was all their hamsters were one again in quarantine and wouldn't be ready until the following day. (I'm not sure why they couldn't have told me that on the phone....)

I drove up the next day, and got another hamster. I get to the car and open the box to look at the little thing, but she bit my finger before I had the chance to pet her. I had blood running down my finger.... that little thing bit hard... it hurt. I take her back into the store, and The staff assures me she was just startled and she'd be super friendly when I got home.

Wrong! She bit my oldest daughter while she was putting her in the cage and drew blood again. Every time we'd try to pet her, she'd try to jump up and bite us. I tried wearing gloves, but she bit me through them too. After trying to befriend her for a few days and keep getting bitten, I truly think this is the hamster from hell! She would stand up and hiss at us anytime we walked by her cage.

So once again I get to drive the 45 minutes to take her back to the pet store. My youngest daughter can't even touch her. What good is a pet if you can't interact with it without getting bitten?

How in the world did I think buying a hamster for a Christmas gift was a good idea?

The people at the pet store pretty much rolled their eyes at the idea that it bit us.... I exchanged her for another one, that let me hold it.... 

The third times is the charm, right?

Well, we get home, she nipped at us once, but I continued holding/petting her every couple hours. She didn't have diarrhea, and man, she sure was cute! She seemed like she was gonna be fine. The following day, she let us hold her and played in her ball, but that evening, she bit my daughter and drew blood. I seriously thought my daughter must have scared her, so I decided to hold her.... but not even a minute later, she took a chunk out of my finger, so I had blood running everywhere too.

Needless to say, I think we are all scarred of hamsters now! We've had them in the past, but them never bit us like this. I'm wondering if they are mistreated at the pet store or how/when they were raised.

So, I sold it, cage and all, and went to Walmart and bought her a Barbie set, to replace her Christmas hamster.

I really just want a bunny, but bunny's take time to potty train, need a larger cage, and I'm not sure hubby wants that, but bunny's are much better in my opinion. I've never had a bunny bite me....

The moral of the story is this.... buying a hamster and all the supplies for a Christmas gift was so not a good idea.... let's not do that ever again!

And, when in doubt, buy a Bunny....