Desktop Pets

I recently got a Robo Dwarf Hamster to keep me company during my stints of staying up at night and sleeping during the day. Since hamsters are nocturnal, and small (robo dwarfs are the smallest hamsters kept as pets, she is a little bigger than my thumb) it seemed like a good idea.

I decided on the one I have for one reason, because while all the other hamsters in the cage were huddled together still sleeping in their house, this one was sitting up off next to the wheel cleaning herself since she was the first one awake.

What I didn't do before I got her though, was consider other desktop pets. I just thought "hamster, cool", mentioned something about considering a hamster to my neighbor, and next thing I know they're giving me their old hamster stuff and suggesting pet shops to check out.

So far I think I picked the right pet. She's usually awake when I am, doesn't take much space, barely eats anything (loves sunflower seeds), doesn't require me handling her all the time, is a cinch to cleanup after, doesn't make much when any noise (unlike a bird), and is easily entertained with a giant hamster wheel a log house and a cardboard tube cut into 3 inch pieces. Though lately she's got me baffled with this routine she has where she will run back and forth between her wheel and the corner of the cage where she can hop up and look at me, almost as if she's looking over to see if I'm watching her.

In any event, I think a hamster was a good choice for a desktop pet, but I'm curious about alternatives anyone else might have or be considering.

My wife thinks a better choice for a pet would be a chinchilla, they are also nocturnal. They are really soft and bigger I think. She used to have two of them. Here is a picture of one:

chinchilla's are so amazing, there about 60% hair lol

Chinchillas are also fast and can jump really high. They also take dust baths which are interesting. My wife's chinchillas name was "Bounce" because of that.

My flatmate has a Chinchilla. He too is a fan of them.

That is sooo cute, I wanna hug one.

you could have a kabutomushi beetle, or a stick insect or something. stick insects tend to reproduce real quick though....

chinchillas are brilliantly puffy and soft, but I like your choice of teeny-weeny hamster. I've just been looking at some pics and they look adorable. also my vet told us once (well actually he told a couple who was there before us, they'd brought in a chinchilla) that chinchillas can be such timid and nervous creatures that they can die simply from the stress of going to the vet. So a perfectly healthy chinchilla can die from the shock and horror of being taken to a vet's office. Not that they all do, of course - but isn't that bizarre? How does such a delicate creature manage to retain a sustainable population??

not to sound like an idiot but here I go.

is your "desktop pet" real or a pet on you computer screen?

It's a real live hamster.

I've been reading up on electronics lately, I'm thinking about rigging something up to her wheel that will power an automatic feeding device.

the only draw back is that if she feeds herself, I will have no reason to stick my hand in there with sunflower seeds in it to get her to climb into my hand. Which will make it harder to catch her when I need to change her bedding.

you could use an old computer tower as the cage and make the hampster wheel power a few LEDs (like it's powereing the entire computer)

omg that would awesome.

here at work during the visualfx on snakes on a plane we had huge tanks that the studio put in here for reference with hugggggeee constrictors and rather dangerous snakes in them. There long gone now but I was considering having a corn snake for my desk. apparently there the easiest breed to take care of and are relatively friendly.. it was just an idea though... probly wont happen

that would be awesome. A snake made out of corn.... yummy! lol

Wow, what an awesome idea. I've actually never thought about having a little desktop pet to keep me company late in the evening but it sounds like a pretty good idea.

A friend of mine used to have 2 chinchillas and they were pretty cool. One of them seemed to get sick pretty easily though for some reason.

The little hampster is pretty cute however.

....

I'd buy that if it wasn't $45.