Rabbits And Other Small Furries

One of the first considerations when thinking about a small mammal as a pet is how long a commitment you are happy to make. Rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets, on average, live for about 7 to 8 years, mice and hamsters for around 2 years, rats for around 3 years.

As a general rule with small furries, it is best to get them while they are young and handle them frequently to avoid them biting later on. If you do this, they are usually quite fun pets to have.

To find out more, please click on the headings below.

If you do not find all the information that you need, please click onto the Lifelearn link which will take you through to a 'pet information' site that we recommend.

Hamsters

Hamsters

Unlike rabbits and guinea pigs, hamsters are best kept on their own. Whilst they love to be handled by their owners, they are not so keen on the company of other hamsters - they are likely to fight. They will need a hamster cage (which you will buy from the pet shop along with the hamster) ideally with running wheels, ladders and plenty of places to hide.

Hamsters vary in size from the large Syrian hamster to the tiny Russian and Chinese hamsters. The larger ones tend to be easier to handle.

Hamsters are nocturnal which is not ideal for children as during the day they tend to be curled up asleep and at night they could keep children awake if kept in bedrooms.

They do need to be kept fairly warm - if kept in a cold house they may go into hibernation.

However, they are reasonably cheap to keep and feed. They eat hamster food from the pet shop and sleep on special bedding, again available from the pet shop.