We finally got cute little fluffy cage animals for our children. Our oldest got a Syrian hamster also known as a golden hamster. He is very fluffy large, and they live alone. Our 5 and 3 year old each got a Winter White hamster. Small and social and they live together. While all three are hamsters, the Syrian would not get along with the Whites.
Each night the kids take the cages out and play with the hamsters, make sure the cages are changed a bit to make them interesting, and expand their diet. They play for about an hour before bed time. Hamsters are nocturnal so this time line works best for us all. I worried our 3 year old would not be able to handle such a small pet but it has gone very very well. Sometimes I underestimate what my children can handle.
Not to worry, all our hamsters are Boys! No baby hamsters here because I would not be able to handle that! 😛
