Question by i<3pets: My brother and a hamster, your opinion?
My little brother wants a hamster, and if you've read my previous questions, I talk about me paying for it and helping take care of it. I'm am completely 100% willing to do this, and I want to do it. But I'm a little worried he won't care for it, and only want to play with it.
I thought maybe to test what his commitment to an animal would be to have him take care of an imaginary pet. I thought we could set up a box with a cute hammie plush. Every morning (when I've already gone to school) he can feed it. When I get home (he's still at school) I can check it to see it he feed it and remove the "food" so it looks like the pet ate it. He sometimes helps me with my rats, but I think he's a little scared of them and I don't want to turn him of to animals him by making him take care of them.
I also thought about having "Animal School". My brother loves playing school, and we do it to help him study for spelling. I thought maybe we could have class on hamsters. I could study up on them and show him how to gently hold rats (he wouldn't have to hold them if he gets scared. I would show him how I hold them and if he feels comfortable, he can, too). We would also talk about "gental hands", how to handle hamsters, and how its different then handleing other animals. My brother loves to draw, so we could draw a good cage design for a hamster.
Are these good ideas?
What else can I do to help him?
How long should he take care of an imaginary pet?
Please keep in mind that my little brother is seven.
Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by miss joe jonas
well for one how old is he if he is under six i dont recomend it it would be better if it is yours and he can just play with it that is what i did with my mice
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Role playing is good, but can you borrow someones hamster to let him handle it or babysit it for a few days? There’s nothing like the real thing. I had hamsters growing up, older than 7, and I know I didn’t want to clean it EVER. It’s a kid thing and I doubt there are many exceptions to that rule without motivation. Perhaps it could be part of his allowance to have the cage cleaned, and to remind him to check water/food put a checklist up or an alarm to go off daily. It would be good to help him learn responsibility, but don’t expect him to parent it completely.
You have some great ideas for preparing him though. Ask him why he wants it and give him scenarios (what would you do if your hamster…?)
oh my god! that’ss an amazing idea! i wish i thought of that with my siblings when i had my hamster. i think if you do try the hamster plush try for a few weeks because you have to clean the cage weekly u can make him “clean” the cage, or maybe make him clean your rats cage so he can get the gist of the cleaning and caring. the problem with my siblings was they were afraid of hamster bites. they saw what happened to my finger when i got bit, and they just got scared. try to teach your brother why the hamster will bite him, so he can prevent that (if that’s what he’s scared of)
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ask a friend of his or a friend of yours if you can borrow their pet for a month and see if your brother takes to it. The toy idea is fab! see if your brother takes to your friends pet. Although be prepared for tears if you try this idea, he might get emotionally attached to the hamster and miss it when it goes. good luck for the future x and hope this helps : ]
Hi :)
First I’d like to state that you’re one of the most responsible pet owners and older siblings I’ve seen on this site. I’ve only praised a few and you really deserve it. You’ve asked the right questions about everything and because you have your rats, you’re in a great position to help with the second part of your hamster school idea.
I think the plush hamster feeding routine idea is great. You’ll be able to monitor his progress and perhaps if there are days he misses a feeding, you remove the “hamster” to show him there are consequences without scaring him to death. I’d say a minimum of 2 weeks, but at least a month would probably be best. I’d have a progress chart of some kind to remind him how well (or in some cases not well) he’s doing.
I think Animal School is a brilliant idea! I’d love to hear what you come up with and the techniques you’re going to use. I think it would be useful for him to also help you change out/clean your rat cages. He’ll experience the icky firsthand and help him learn that it needs to be done.
I would *really* appreciate if you keep me in the loop on this! I’m about to put hamster info on my website, and with your permission, I’d love to use your experiences with both these ideas there, as well as here – along with crediting you of course.
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Daisy