Hamsters and whatsitpigs are both roamers too……… basically can't keep any animal without a large garden.

You let your hamsters 'roam in a large garden' coffeeking ?

How many hamsters have you got through ? 😕

So were resorting to pictures now Samuri!

Mods, can you mark this thread 'Dangerously Cute'?

Err, ahem, I'm a real man, honest.

Tom, did you know you have a ninja bunny in your garage? He looks like real bad news…

Meet Chase, lionhead lop. Thick as a brick.

She was about 2 months old when we adopted her and at about a year old isn't as fluffy as tom's two.

She's on her own while we're out during the week, so we'd like to get her a friend, only we need a bigger flat and hutch for that. If anyone is in, she has the run of the lounge & hall. She doesn't like hard floors so keeps out of the kitchen and we keep the bedroom door closed else she like to hide under the bed 😆

She comes in the spare room if I'm on the computer (like now) and loves to smell my muddy biking gear and muddy bike!

We made her a sand-box (supermarket vegetable tray, 2 ft x 1 ft, low cardboard box), which she loves to roll around, scratch in and lie in.

She's really very clean and easy to look after. After toilet training, which took a week or two for urine and a bit longer for dry poo, she does all her toilet business in her hutch/cage and litter tray.

You'll get wary of leaving things on the floor – if it's in her way, blocking a tunnel or just plain tasty, she'll chew on it. Holes in 2 pairs of jeans so far! We use scrap clothes to block off corners we don't want her to hide in or crawl into, like the back of the sofa. Her behaviour did improve after neutering. she did make lots of tiny spots of pee scattered around, but that stopped too.

This is her cage/hutch – not huge but will fit in a small car for transport and she can move around well when she's not running free. We found a fantastic trick – use old bath mats for floor/bedding. She loves it and there's no mess or woodshavings to get scattered around. It stays clean, she's not tempted to pee in it and you can hoover it clean then wash in the machine.

p.s. When she's not playing for food or hopping around, her favourite passtime is sleeping 😆

feel free to look through the few decent photos I've got!

Fudge and coco. They like carrots.

This thread reminds me of my childhood house rabbit, Thumper. She was originally going to be named Terminator, Predator or Commando (my brother was going through his Arnie action phase). She was also a he, but we only found that out when she hit about 7 years old.

She had a big run outside where she stayed during the day (and some summer evenings, but came in the house and was given free reign in the evenings. She loved toilet rolls and the theme tune to The Bill, and hated Phil Collins. We half trained her to fetch, she'd run off and retrieve thrown things, but didn't like giving them back, preferring to run around your feet in circles.

I miss that bun-bun. 🙁

Jon, the bathmat idea is genius. The only thing putting me off was the straw/chips and where to store it (old tenements don't have many cupboards) – a few cheap bath mats on rotation is an excellent idea.

Thanks for all the advice!

Honest dont do it… furry and cuddly they may be, but a right royal pain in the arse too, they smell, animals do…

The family pets messing up my new rose garden.

The other family pets just before yet another outsize dump.

And dont get me on Hamsters, ours was like ferking houdini, lived in the walls of the house for a week once, I had to remove a blanking panel off the wall to rescue it, only for it to garrot itself in the stupid running ball thing with its own bedding… Why didnt it just sleep in the little house I bought it I will never know..

You love them all really, Tinsy.

We have 2 Guinea pigs (2 females), much better than rabbits for indoor as they don't have such smelly urine. We just pop the cage on the floor when we are at home and they can come and go as they please. In my experience Guinea pigs tend to be friendlier than rabbits and in 3 years haven't had to deal with any bum nuggets being left out, once they are happy with their cage they tend to go to the same spot each time. Whatever you do I would suggest at least a pair, preferably same sex siblings, as Guinea pigs and Rabbits are social animals and can get grumpy if kept on their own.

The only down side to them is the noise they make when the fridge door gets opened which they associate with food!