is your child begging for a hamster? do hamsters make good pets for kids?

Is your kiddo begging for a pet? Perhaps a dog or cat or even a pony? Or maybe it's a hamster. A hamster is a classic. Whenever you are considering bringing a pet into the family, it's important to do thorough research and understand the type of care the pet requires. A pet is not a thing or a toy. It is a living being that depends on us for survival and requires our unwavering commitment. They can bring so much joy to us and to our children, as long as we know what we're getting into. 

Do hamsters make good pets for kids?

Hamsters are sometimes referred to as "starter pets," implying that they are somehow less important and less of a commitment than cats and dogs and other animals. In fact, when I originally wrote this article as a contributor at Brie Brie Blooms, I referred to hamsters as "starter pets." A colleague of mine, Emmy the Pet Sitter, kindly suggested that we remove the term "starter pet" from our language, and I could see her point. All pets require care and are important. Whether you adore a tarantula, hamster, or pony, they are all "pets." Emmy knows a whole lot about hamsters and, sadly, recently lost her beloved hamster, Winnie. RIP, Winnie, and a special thank you to Emmy for her guidance on this article. 

When considering bringing a hamster into the family, I feel that there are three main areas that need to be considered: cost, care, and reward.

cost

Relatively speaking, hamsters are inexpensive pets to keep. Most of the cost will be upfront in purchasing the hamster's environment and its food. Ongoing costs include bedding and food. Veterinary care is not a big factor unless something goes terribly wrong health-wise. 

Most hamsters are purchased when they are young in pet stores, but hamster rescues do exist (they may charge a fee). I'm always a believer in rescuing rather than buying, if possible. 

The amount you spend can vary, depending on the cage you choose and how many toys you purchase. Cages can be simple one-level structures, or you may opt for a deluxe, multi-level mansion. Always make sure that your hamster has plenty of room to roam and exercise. 

SUPPLY LIST

Even though they are small, hamsters require lots of "gear."

ventilated hamster cage (not an aquarium)

bedding

nesting structure

wheel

ball

toys

water bottle

food

treats

Most pet stores will carry a hamster starter kit which will include most of the above.

care

Hamsters are fairly low maintenance compared to other pets, but it is vital that their needs be met. Care includes the following:

FOOD & WATER: Water should be changed daily, and food levels monitored and replenished as needed.

EXERCISE: Hamsters are active little guys, and require a great deal of exercise. This can be in the form of a hamster wheel inside the cage, and it's also fun to purchase a hamster ball so your pet can explore outside the cage, yet still be safe. 

It is important to take great care of your hamster.

CLEAN ENVIRONMENT: Hamsters lick and chew on just about everything, so it's important to their health to maintain a clean cage. Weekly thorough cage cleanings (with complete bedding change) are recommended. Be sure to use pet safe (we prefer chemical-free) cleaning products. We love PL360 and Melaleuca.

INTERACTION: Though it's best not to house multiple hamsters together, they are quite social with humans and require daily play time and attention in order to be happy and healthy.

 

reward

When choosing a pet, it's important to consider what the pet can add to your life, something that is especially important when considering a pet for a child. What can hamsters add to your child's life?

• they are playful and fun

• once tame, they enjoy being held and played with

• they are great companions and can help with self-esteem 

what are the pros and cons?

As with any pet, having a pet hamster has pros and cons. Some points even overlap both categories.

As with any pet, there are pros and cons to having a hamster.

PROS

• they can be tamed, and become quite loving and social

• they love to play, and they are fun to watch

• they are fairly low maintenance, yet rewarding

• they are relatively inexpensive

• they teach children responsibility

• they don't take up a lot of space

• they are nocturnal: if not bothered by the noise, kids report that they help them feel more secure and less lonely at night

• they have a short life expectancy (2-3 years), so they are not as much of a commitment as some other pets

CONS

• they can take several weeks to tame, and can be skittish until they are comfortable with you

• weekly cage cleanings

• they can bite, especially before tamed or if you interrupt their nap

• they might (it will happen eventually) poo and pee on you when you hold them

• they are difficult to find if they escape, and they must be kept away from dogs and cats and other pets who may injure them

• they are nocturnal: if your child is bothered by wheel-running and gnawing in the middle of the night, it might be a problem

• they have a short life expectancy (2-3 years)

hamsters and kids: the bottom line

Do you think a hamster would make a good pet for your child?

In my opinion, hamsters make excellent pets for school-aged children (six and up). At that age, they can just about care for a hamster by themselves, though, ultimately, parents need to make sure proper care is maintained. A child younger than six may not be able to handle a hamster properly, as they require a gentle touch and a supportive hold. Hamsters make great pets for school-aged children because though they are low maintenance, they are super fun to play with and watch and are quite interactive with people and their environment.

Hamsters are a load of fun. If your child is ready for the commitment and the care as well as the love, go for it! 

Does your child have a hamster as a pet? Please tell us about it!

A special thanks to my friend, Tory, of Victoria O'Leary Photography, for allowing me to use her personal photos of her super cute daughter, Leighton, and Leighton's adorable hamster, Cookie. If you live in the Los Angeles area and are looking for an amazing (arguably the best on the planet) newborn/family photographer, please check out her work.

This article, written by me, originally appeared on Brie Brie Blooms and has been reposted here, with minor changes, with permission.

a pet sitter's schedule

For the first time in I-can't-remember-how-long, it's a Saturday, and I have no pet sitting visits scheduled. This is almost unheard of, except during the rare times I let my clients know I'm taking time off for travel and am unavailable. So with this unexpected day off, what am I doing? I'm panicking every five minutes that I'm forgetting to see an animal. I'm checking and rechecking my calendar. I'm reviewing email, text, and Facebook Messenger correspondence I've had with clients over the past few weeks to make extra sure I really do have the day off. And I do! I really do!

I love what I do, but it sure is nice to have an unscheduled day every once in a while. I slept in to the glorious hour of 6:30 a.m., which feels like a sin. Yes, 6:30 is sleeping WAY in. My husband even congratulated me and gave me a hug and a high-five. What time do I normally wake up? Well, let me tell you about my typical schedule.

A Pet Sitter's Schedule

the morning

As a professional pet sitter, the time I wake up depends on how many visits I'm scheduled to make in the morning. Typically, my alarm is set for 4:30 a.m., which allows me to freshen up, get dressed, and pour myself a cup of Joe (essential) before my first visit. 

How do I decide who to see first?

I prioritize based on the circumstances of all of the pets in my care at a particular time and their humans' wishes regarding their schedule. I don't guarantee a specific time. In the morning, I see pets between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00 a.m., unless some other time is specified and agreed upon. When deciding whom to see when, I consider the type of pets and their bathroom needs, first. Dogs without doggie doors come first, followed by dogs with doggie doors, and then cats and other pets who have means to go potty without being let out. If I have any unusual or exotic pets such as horses or chickens, they are considered, as well. I also think about geography. I try to make my visits in a somewhat organized fashion rather than bounce back-and-forth around town like a ping-pong ball.

the afternoon

My afternoons are typically booked with dogs and other animals that need to be seen three times a day, as well as mid-day potty breaks and dog walks for working families. In the summer, I am busier with vacation visits, but have very few mid-day dog walks, as I do not walk dogs when temps are higher than 100° for the safety of the animal. All pet sitting visits include a daily walk, if desired, so, during the summer, I fit those into the early morning visits, which are the only times the weather permits. In Phoenix, summer highs are 110°+. In the fall, however, when the weather is gorgeous and everyone wants to be me, my mid-day dog walks pick up.

Afternoon visit times aren't typically as critical as morning visit times, but some of the same principles apply. If I'm giving a potty break–say–for a family who works long hours, I take their schedule into consideration and try to visit the pets about mid-way through their time of absence. I typically make afternoon visits between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. 

the evening

I use the same principles for evening visits as I do for morning visits: priority one are dogs who need to relieve themselves. In the evening, however, I typically make those visits last. Why, you ask? Because they have to make it through the night. I try to make the overnight wait as short as possible for these guys because it's typically the longest stretch of time they will be left alone. When deciding whom-to-see-when in the evenings, I take the next day's schedule into consideration. My evening visits are typically made between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. 

in-between visits

As you probably know, I have two kids at home (one away at college), ages eight and six. My husband has a demanding job that requires him to be out of the home a lot and sometimes work atypical hours, plus, sometimes he travels. Thankfully, he's usually home on the weekends, my busiest times. 

During the week, I try to be back from morning visits in time to get the kids ready for school, but if my hubby is traveling, the kids get up early and come with. They are my Junior Pet Sitters, and they know the drill. They aren't always thrilled about it, but they do what it takes and are usually rewarded with an ice cream or extra allowance for a particularly demanding schedule. After morning visits, I get the kids off to school, hit the gym, and then do administrative tasks and work on this blog you are reading right here.

I then make my afternoon visits, and if there's time before picking the human rugrats up from school, I get some more blog work done. After school, we'll grab a snack and do homework, and then the Junior Pet Sitters are off with me again to do evening jobs so that we can be home and reunited with Daddy for dinner as often as his schedule allows. 

what about holidays and my own vacations?

Being a pet sitter is a 365-day-a-year job, and major holidays are some of my busiest times. Winter holidays such as Christmas and New Years are pretty hectic, but we make it work. On Christmas morning, I've been known to start my pet sitting visits around 3:00 a.m. so that I can be home when my kids wake up to see what goodies Santa brought. And, yes, I have to be careful about champagne consumption on NYE. I really don't want a massive hangover when visiting pets on the first morning of the new year. 

My family does not typically travel during holidays and times others usually travel. Everyone wants to get out of the Phoenix heat during the summer, so that means we stay put and watch their pets. And holidays? Forget it. We stay home, and I work. 

So when do I get away? Well, we'll (shudder) typically pull the kids out of school for a week in the fall and/or spring, but not during fall and spring break when I'm busy. Our kids' charter school usually has a slightly different schedule than the public schools in the area, so sometimes we get lucky and can travel during their school breaks.

sick days

What's a sick day? 

I work when I'm sick. On the rare occasion that I simply can't (picture the worst), I have relationships with other pet sitters in the area who are willing to help, or my husband pitches in. Visits are made, no matter what. 

This is how my son, Porter, and I worked together back in the day (he is now eight years old).

keeping it straight

How do I keep all of these appointments straight? I have three calendars. Yup. Three. I make sure they all match, and I check them throughout the day. I schedule everything into iCal, which pops up on my laptop and my phone. I also have an old-fashioned planner in which I write everything down. Believe it or not, that's my go-to calendar. In addition, I schedule all visits through online pet sitting software, so I can view my visits any time there. The system sends me an email in the middle of the night letting me know my visit schedule for the next day. It may seem like overkill, but all of this means I don't miss visits. My reliability is one of the most important things to my business, so I keep things straight.  

living the life

Though my schedule can be demanding, I wouldn't have it any other way. My days are dictated by the needs of my furry, feathered, and scaly friends. I have flexibility that allows me to do things like go to the gym, schedule doctors appointments, or meet a friend for lunch, which I consider a luxury people with traditional work schedules don't have. 

A day off rarely happens unless I schedule it that way. So I'm going to try to stop freaking out that I'm missing a visit today and relax, enjoy my family, and double-check my calendars only a few more times. Just to make sure. 

Do you have an unconventional schedule? How do you manage your day?

healthy dog treats from brothers complete are a hit #sponsored #giveaway

You know me. I'm always seeking out great dog food and treats to add to our rotation and recommend to my clients and readers. I recently discovered Brothers Complete, a premium line of dog food and treats. Living up to their name, they sent us their complete line to try. It is great to have the opportunity to let N.A.S.H.A. try all of the varieties so we could see which ones she loves best. We started with the treats, naturally.

I am being compensated for helping to spread the word about Brothers Complete. Well Minded only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. All opinions are my own. Brothers Complete is not responsible for the content of this article. 

brothers complete line of healthy dog treats

Brothers Complete offers both biscuit treats and dehydrated treats. We tried their Turkey Meal Biscuits, Buffalo Meal Biscuits, Venison Meal Biscuits, Dehydrated Sweet Potato Treats, and Dehydrated Chicken Treats. 

what makes brothers complete treats so great?

• GMO-, grain-, sugar-, hormone-, and antibiotic-free

• potato-free

• no artificial colors or flavors

• no chemical preservatives

• made in small batches sourced and made in the U.S.A., designed, delivered and stored by Brothers Complete

• packaged in 3 ply foil bags to preserve freshness

This family-run business takes pride in their products and values their customers. Their mission? "The intention we bring to all that we do is to create the highest good for all involved, our customers, our family, and every dog that we feed." And to back up their high quality product, they offer a 100% satisfaction, no-hassle guarantee, so if for some strange reason your dog isn't digging what they're dishing out, you're covered. 

our treat trial

Since we had five high-quality treats to choose from, I thought it would be fun to have a blind taste test. Yes, I realize a blind taste test means that you conceal the product packaging, but since I have not yet taught N.A.S.H.A. to read, I decided that putting the treats in front of their respective bags would be of benefit to you and not skew the results significantly. For the record, I don't recommend you feed your dog (especially if she is only eleven pounds) five treats at once, but since N.A.S.H.A. is an integral part of the trial, I thought it fitting to pay her with a little indulgence.

I put out all of the treats while N.A.S.H.A. drooled and wiggled in my husband's arms. He accused me of animal torture.

The complete lineup of Brothers Complete dog treats, ready to be sampled.

Though all of the treats are fantastic, I was curious to see what she would do when presented with so many options. Actually, I had a pretty good idea of which one she would go for first. Check out the video to see what happened:

Yup! The dehydrated chicken won out, followed quickly by the turkey biscuit and buffalo biscuit, respectively. She made her way through all of the treats, but, being a dog of very little size, she could only grab one at a time. I'm sure some of you Great Danes out there could handle all five at once!

After predictably selecting the dehydrated chicken first, N.A.S.H.A. went back to check out the other offerings. Her review: YUM!

I'm happy to have found the Brothers Compete treats as a healthy addition to our lineup. I also like to make sure the treats I leave for my pet sitting clients at the end of each service period are high-quality, so we might just share the wealth. Probably. Maybe. 

brothers complete giveaway

We will share the wealth with you, however, whether you are a client or not. Brothers Complete has offered to send one of our lucky readers a 10 lb. bag of dog food of their choice, plus three bags of biscuits (one of each flavor)! Awesome!

I didn't want to inundate you with too much information all at once, so next time we'll try the Brothers Complete Dog Food and let you know what we think. We'll be giving away a great prize pack then, too, so be sure to check back!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click here to visit the Brothers Complete web site.

Find Brothers Complete on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

facing pet loss: another lesson in saying goodbye

As most of you know, our family has been dealing with quite a bit of pet death lately. Some special clients have left us, and we've been working through that. My Junior Pet Sitters Porter (8) and Campbell (6), are hit especially hard when our animal friends depart. 

We lost another pet this week. This one was ours. Plantie, Porter's beta fish, is no longer with us. 

Facing Pet Loss: Another Lesson in Saying Goodbye

Porter named Plantie, "Plantie," because from day one, he loved to hang out in his aquatic plastic plant. And being a boy of four, the name just made sense. So "Plantie" it was. Though Plantie explored his tank, he would always come back to his plant. Like Porter had "Super" (short for "Super Blankie"),  Plantie had his plant for security. 

A few months ago, I started noticing Plantie not looking so perky, He would rest more often in his plant, and he started to look a bit "askew." I Googled "life expectancy of a beta fish" and learned that the big 0-2 was average. Plantie was four-and-a-half. 

I let Porter know that Plantie had more-than-doubled his life expectancy and that he wasn't looking his best, so to be prepared. Sensitive Porter had a breakdown and obsessively observed his fish when he was home and then obsessively asked me about his fish on the way home from school each day. I felt like it was too much turmoil for him, so I publicly squelched my concerns and told him not to worry...Plantie was just getting old but doing okay. "Old folks move slower," I said. "You know how you see older people with a cane, or they just walk really slow? They are still enjoying life, but just at a slower pace. That's where Plantie is in his life." 

It seemed to soothe him a bit and diminish his obsession, but he'd still check in several times a day.

Over the past several weeks, I've watched Plantie slowly deteriorate. He progressed to the point where he'd basically lay around all day in the corner of his tank, just breathing, but he'd still perk up each morning at feeding time, wiggling around in excitement, migrating with effort up to the tallest leaves of his plant in anticipation. He loved breakfast. As the days went by, it seemed to me as if his lower body was paralyzed and his head was controlling all movement. Yet he still got excited when I'd approach his tank, so we proceeded. 

The other morning, as I approached, I didn't see him wiggling to get to his plant, and I knew. I had to look all over to find him, and discovered Plantie was not living up to his name, but was, instead, laying on the bottom of the tank not breathing. 

I broke the news to Porter, and he was as crushed as expected. He knew in his head that Plantie had lived a fuller-than-full life, but it still stung. The permanent news is a bit like an electric shock. I pulled the fish out with a net so Porter could confirm him deceased and take a good last look and say goodbye. Porter wanted to do the honors, himself, so we all gathered in the bathroom and supported him as he placed Plantie into the toilet and pushed the handle. He asked to keep Plantie's plant.

We let his teachers know since Porter was quite down and distracted. The news must have spread to his friends, as he came home with pictures and notes of sympathy. It really touched my heart that his peers would be so thoughtful and sympathetic. 

Very sweet note.

Angel fish.

R.I.P. Plantie. You were a good fish and lived up to your name each day until your last. We will miss you. 

Plantie a few weeks before he passed.

RELATED

goodbye, sweet goldie: losing my child's pet

when a pet passes away: a pet sitter perspective

could your child be lured by a stranger with a puppy?

My child would never talk to a stranger. Would yours? Most parents would say no. We've all talked to our kids about "stranger danger," or some form of it, right? I tell my children one simple rule: If I am standing close enough for you to touch me, you may speak to anyone you like. If I'm not within arm's reach, you must ask before you speak to anyone you don't know. But what if the temptation was great? What if the stranger had a puppy? 

Have you seen Joey Salads' "social experiment" where he lures children away in about a nanosecond by engaging them with a puppy? It's been circulating in a viral-ish way lately, and he's done some other versions of it, but the puppy version just blows me away.

luring children with a puppy

Salads approaches parents who are watching their children play in a park and asks their permission to talk to their children as a "social experiment." They all tell him that their children won't talk to him.

All of the children talk to him.

What's worse? Within a few seconds, they happily take him by the hand and walk away from their mothers with the promise of seeing more puppies like the one he has. 

After watching the video the first time a few weeks ago, I knew in my gut that my children would have gone with him, too. I'd like to think they wouldn't. But they would. Since I am a pet sitter, my kids can't resist anything animal. And Salads was super nice and cool. Hell, I may have gone with him, myself. 

As scary as it is, I showed my kids (ages eight and six) again and again, as well as the other versions of Salads' social experiments. Though I don't think anything could be as irresistible to them as a puppy, I've talked to them about all types of ways strangers might try to tempt them. And I reinforce the rule: If I'm within reach, would it be okay to talk to this guy? "Yes, mommy." And if I'm across the park sitting on a bench, talking to another mom? (because, really, do we watch our kids every SECOND?) "No...we'd come ask you first."

But these moms were caught off guard. They were utterly shocked. I think this has to be an ongoing conversation, and I think it's important to show our kids videos like this. I would actually like to hire someone to come to my next park playdate and see which kids they could lure. Would mine go?

Would yours?

Is your kid safe? 

This article, written by me, originally appeared on Brie Brie Blooms and is reposted here with minor changes with permission. Footage photo source: youtube.com