Sniff & Mitch (Hamsters)

 I've had a total of two hamsters so far, and let me tell you, I am NOT going down the rodent-pet road again. And by "rodent-pet," I mean rodents as pets in general: mice, rats, guinea pigs, gerbils, and hamsters. Not that I didn't enjoy my hamsters (well, my first hamster anyway). They're fun pets to kids to play with and own. Of course, I'm saying that because I was not the one who cleaned their cages. Okay, that's not totally true. While I really didn't do any of the cage cleaning for my first hamster, I did help with the cage-cleaning of my second hamster. And let me tell you, cleaning a hamster cage is absolutely disgusting. Don't let anyone tell you that hamsters pick one spot in their cage to go to the bathroom in, because it's NOT true! I can tell you from experience that hamsters will go anywhere and everywhere in their cage, and if you don't clean the cage at least once a week or so, it really stinks, literally and figuratively.

That said, I actually really enjoyed my first hamster, which I named Sniff. He was sweet and friendly, and I loved putting him in his little, roll-around hamster ball and playing with him outside his cage. Of course, like I mentioned before, I was pretty much only responsible for feeding and playing with Sniff. My mom did the cage-cleaning part. 

Several years later, when I was in my early teens, I decided to give hamster ownership another try, and we got a little black bear hamster that I named Mitch. Remember when I said I had fun with and enjoyed Sniff, my first hamster? Well, Mitch was a whole other story. In addition to now being old enough to take on the responsibility of helping with cleaning the cage (which was gross!), Mitch was nothing like Sniff. Unlike Sniff, who was friendly and didn't mind being handled, Mitch was not a tame hamster at all. He hated being handled or touched, and every time I tried to pick him up or touch him, he either bit me or peed on me. Plus, he was a notorious escape artist, so we really had to make sure we securely shut the door on his cage. Anyway, it was my experience with owning Mitch that turned me away from hamster ownership.




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