What would make better pets for my daughter: 2 dwarf hamsters or 2 mice?

My 11-year-old daughter is a real animal lover, and we'd love to get her either 2 dwarf hamsters or 2 mice for Christmas. Could anyone weigh in on which ones would make better pets? Does anyone know their respective life spans? And, finally, we'd like to buy from breeders, not pet stores. Does anyone know any mice and/or dwarf hamster breeders in west Los Angeles? |||I honestly would not get mice if your daughter likes to hold her pets. Mice will not be still and are so small that if they ever got out, it would be near impossible to find them. Dwarf Hamsters are great but not as great as a normal Syrian Hamster. Syrian Hamsters are much more calm, larger, sweeter, nicer, and friendlier than mice or Dwarf Hamsters. Plus if a Syrian Hamster escaped, it would be easy to find. Here are the answers for your questions: Dwarf Hamsters are better pets because they smell better, are bigger, are easier to care for, easier to hold. Mice: 2-3 years maximum. Dwarf Hamsters: 2-4 years maximum. To find a breeder, search Yahoo! Yellow Pages or local listings in an actual phone book, or keep your eyes on the local listings in the newspaper. Thanks for letting me put my words in the first part of this response and I hope the best for you and your daughter! |||i would either get two guinea pigs or 2 rats not hamsters or mice, guniea pigs can be trained like dogs and are cuddly! she would love them. i have 3 and got mine from a stock shop|||if she loves animals either a think hamster there great pets but mice are ok


|||its entirely up to you!!!! i think you'd be safer with hamsters i'm sure she'd love them i dont live in L.A but i know that mice live longer than hamsters but you'd get more clingy to a mouse!!!!!!! HOPE THIS HELPED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)|||it your choice, by the way what kind of animal does she likes the best? do she care? i did a lot of research of hamster a average life span of a hamster is 2 to 3 years. but it depends on what hamster you r buying.the website tells you the the breeds of hamsters n stuff. n i think your daughter could get a roborovski hamster. its very fast and active and its NOT recommend for children but i m getting one and i m 11 so your daughter could get it.^^ |||I can't help you with all of your questions, but I'm sure the rest of the helpful people on this site can fill your need with the others. But the first question, whether to get mice or d.hamsters: I would get her the dwarves because they might be bigger than mice. Mice are very houdini-like and are able to slide under door cracks.





If you can imagine the wide scenario of problems with escape artist mice, then my point has been made.








I'm not sure HOW much bigger the small hamsters are than mice, but if they ARE bigger... then my suggestion is to get the biggest, small hamsters you can.





Good luck!|||Dwarf hamster more often then not are NASTY biters! Degus or chinchillas would be the best option for small pets for an eleven year old, even guinea pigs are FAR better pets than mice or dwarf hamsters. Well, rats might be a bit better than guinea pigs if you get them young and train them.





Mice would be the best of the worst, then a regular hamster and dwarf hamsters are about the worst small animal to own.|||Get two rats, they are sweeter, like to be held more and are more intelligent then hamsters or mice. In fact rats are the most intelligent rodents. Rats become very attached to their owners and will even lick their owners hand. Rats live for about two to three years. I have owned mice, a hamsters and a rat. The rat was the one I become the most attached to then the mice or hamsters I have owned. But if you really want to get mice or dwarf hamsters, then get two mice. Mice may only life for one year, but they make good pets. Mice are also more easy to tame then dwarf hamsters and they don't bite, hamsters sometimes do. Hamsters live longer them mice, they live for about two to three years. Hope my answer helped!