Hamster as friend?

[Margarita]

So I want to get my baby a friend. I am scared to bond right now as I am a new mom (1 year) and dont really have time to bond them. Eventually I would like to get another rabbit but a number of things are scaring me. So i was thinking of an easy pet for now that can be in her room and protected during the day when im at work.

Does anyone know if a hamster would be a good friend. I would keep him in an enclosed protected area during the day and let him out only when i am there to watch them together.

Thanks

 

[Rhi Rhi]

No, no. no!! Eeek! I remember introducing my hamster to my rabbit when I was like 7. The hamster bit the rabbit on the nose, and in turn the rabbit bit the hamster almost killing him! Would definitely and strongly urge you not to!!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would not recommend letting a rabbit and hamster interact. Both could be aggressive toward each other. I am not sure if parasites or other bacteria would be an issue, but it is for many small animals. While having a hamster in the same room should be ok, I would not allow them to interact.
It can be risky to let rabbit interact with other animals they are not used to. Even 2 rabbits can fight if they are not bonded or don't get along. Rabbits can benefit from having something else in the room, but letting them interact is not a good idea.

 

[lagomorph]

You would have to gradually bond the hamster to the rabbit, just like you would have to bond the rabbit to another rabbit. A rabbit can even be friends with a cat, but they need to be gradually introduced. I don't know whether bonding rabbit to hamster would be, in general, more or less difficult than bonding rabbit to rabbit, but gradual bonding is always best, no matter what species each animal is.

 

[Margarita]

I figuered a hamster because i could put the cage in Margaritas room. This way during the day when im at work she can check out the hamster with out them hurting eachother. I dont have another spare room for a rabbit. I dont keep margarita in a cage she just has her own bedroom and runs around till i get home then she has the whole house.

I am still very torn on the whole getting another rabbit for her. But i dont want her to be lonely so i figuered a hamster might be a good start. Now im unsure about that lol.

 

[Tam O Ham]

I have hamsters and a bunny. And never the twain shall meet. No one cares (well, Max cares because he steals bedding out of George's outside litter box when it's clean to make a nest in the closet with). I keep the hamsters in their cages while George is out and George's cage is off the floor and unscalable (and man, can hamsters scale things) so she's safe when the hamsters are loose. George could care less about the hamster cages scattered around the room. I think she chinned one. Once. And let me rephrase here: George could care less about the girls because she ignores them entirely but she has peed on Max's cage cover before. The two of them have... issues. Otherwise it's an ignore/ignore situation. At the beginning though, when I wasn't as diligent as I've gotten we had an incident where I thought my little boy hamster (that's Max) was in his cage but he'd escaped. I put Georgie back in her cage which was sitting on the floor and while her back was turned and she was distracted with treats, he came out from behind her hutch like a TV of the week knife murderer that had been hiding in the closet waiting for the occupant to come home. Needless to say I grabbed him before George even noticed but - no. Hamsters and rabbits physically together are a bad idea. As mentioned above, one nip could set anything off and the bunny's teeth are a heck of a lot larger than the hamster's. Not to mention even if they get along wonderfully somehow, one rabbit kick while bunny is jumping off or hopping away and hamster could end up broken. I've heard it happen with guinea pigs and hamsters are so much smaller.

I understand what you're saying about the bunny being lonely while you're gone but - rabbits (at least generally) tend to spend a lot of the day sleeping anyway. There are plenty of bunnies that live happy solitary lives, enjoying having a human to pal around with without any other animals. It's easy for us to think 'well, I'd feel this way' but we're not rabbits and they don't think of things the same way we do. Not saying don't eventually get another rabbit if that's what you want and it works for you, and not saying your bunny might not be delighted with a companion if one arrived. Just that you may be feeling bad about something your bunny doesn't even care about or notice.

 

[Margarita]

I understand what you're saying about the bunny being lonely while you're gone but - rabbits (at least generally) tend to spend a lot of the day sleeping anyway. There are plenty of bunnies that live happy solitary lives, enjoying having a human to pal around with without any other animals. It's easy for us to think 'well, I'd feel this way' but we're not rabbits and they don't think of things the same way we do. Not saying don't eventually get another rabbit if that's what you want and it works for you, and not saying your bunny might not be delighted with a companion if one arrived. Just that you may be feeling bad about something your bunny doesn't even care about or notice.

Very Ture. Thank you. When im home she lays with me or on the floor in the living room while i watch tv. I do notice during the day when i am home she sleeps a lot and almost never comes downstairs. Ill spoil her the way she is now and maybe eventually ill get her a friend. She does get bored easy so im constanly making / buying things for her to play with. :happybunny:

 

[kaylicourt]

My hamster and bunny have met on many occasions! I would never leave them unattended or together for long periods of time, but generally they don't really care for one another. Hamster has attempted to climb on my bunny and they have a sniff now and then but then go their separate ways. Maybe i've just got two really laid back pets, so i wouldn't buy a hamster purely for that reason

 

[missyscove]

There is not animal, other than a rabbit, that I would leave my rabbit alone with for any period of time. My rabbits have met my roommates' dogs and they've even sniffed at a ferret through the bars of a playpen, but I wouldn't expect any of these animals to act as a friend for them. Rabbits have been known to be friendly with guinea pigs and then to accidentally kill them by kicking them with their hind legs. I would imagine that if a rabbit and a hamster were able to develop any soft of a bond, they might suffer a similar demise.