Teddy Bear Hamsters - Perfect First Pets

I fell in love with these fury little pets about 5 years ago. My 7-year old nephew was petitioning his parents for his first pet. I volunteered to help him do his research and pick out the the best one. Fairly quickly we arrived at the same conclusion: a hamster. But not just any hamster would do, it had to be one of the teddy bear hamsters.

Hamsters in general make good first pets because they are small and fairly easy to keep. They don't require too much attention (unlike a dog) and they are fine being left alone for short periods of time. And of course they are curious and fun to watch as they go about their daily activities.

While there are several varieties of hamsters, the teddy bear really is the "super model" of the hamster world. They are a long-haired variety of the Syrian hamster. And while most hamsters have a velvety short hair, the teddy bear hamsters have a long fluffy fur with a cottony feel. It is this fluffy fur that gives makes them look very similar to a toy teddy bear, hence the name. This sweet appearance coupled with their good nature, being easy to handle and tame, made them even more appealing. Of course there was a lot more to learn about how to train and care for our teddy bear hamsters.

One of the books that my nephew used to learn about his new pet was Training Your Pet Hamster - it is written for a young reader and easy for a young pet owner to understand. And for the older reader, like myself, I found Hamsters A to Z to be quite useful.