Training Your Pet Hamster [Paperback]

Gerry Bucsis (Author), Barbara Somerville (Author)

Book Description

Series: Training Your Pet Series | Publication Date: November 17, 2002

Once owners teach their hamster to welcome their touch, training can go on to include many games with widely available cage toys, as well as litter training, rolling on a rubber ball, and even leash-walking. Tiitles in this series will be much appreciated by owners who don't know how to get started training caged pets, but want to learn. Correct training begins with having the right kind of housing and equipment, then getting all members of the family acquainted with the newly arrived animal. Training Your Pet books feature full-color photos on nearly every page, tips for hassle-free travel with a pet, advice on managing behavior problems, and a selection of games that owners can teach their pets to play.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (November 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764120131
• ISBN-13: 978-0764120138
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Home & Garden > Animal Care & Pets > Rabbits
  • #58 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Home & Garden > Animal Care & Pets > General
  • #89 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Mice, Hamsters & Guinea Pigs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Standard, November 9, 2003

By 

C. Reyer (St Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Training Your Pet Hamster (Paperback)

This is a pretty standard hamster care book. The writing style often gets a bit insipid, but the information is gotten out.

For beginners, they'll get basic information.

The title is misleading as hamster training isn't the focus of the book. There is a little on the idea of clicker training and conditioned response, but this part is very thin.

In fact the book goes more in depth on the author's personal preferences for cages. They laud Crittertrail and SAM set-ups glossing over the cons of using these types (like these are easy for a Hamster to escape from), while presenting very minor disadvantages as major ones in other set-ups like 10 gallon aquariums (like cleaning it)or wire cages (can't use tubes). I'm afraid that having to take a bit of effort to hose a cage down, or providing alternative tunnelling toys are nothing compared to ESCAPING!

They do not mention how much cage room a hamster actually needs. If they had this would discount their favorite cages.

Still, that would only make this a 4-star book and I gave it 3.

This is because when going over the information for choosing a hamster, they don't have their priorities straight. When talking about going to a breeder they list that breeders have breeds and coat colors not available at pet shops as the first reason. Then almost as an afterthought tag on a sentence that the hamsters would be hand tamed and used to humans.

As someone who appreciates an animal for themselves this kind of attitude is extremely elitist and snobby. As if an animal's worth is only in its looks and the joy in having it is to show off that rare color or breed.

In addition, much of what is said is taken off verbatim from various Internet sites. Based on the copyright dates of the book and update information on the websites I know it's not the other way around.

Despite this, this would be a pretty basic book to get if you are thinking of owning a hamster. However, I would recommend the Hamtaro Hamster Care Guide instead.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for pet owners. Pass if you're a breeder., June 29, 2003

By 

GVlog "GV" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Training Your Pet Hamster (Paperback)

This is a good comprehensive guide for the beginning hamster owner. It has no information on breeding and its writing will be beyond the abilities of small children (the ASPCA guides published in conjuction with DK books are better for children). The book focuses on your interaction with your hamster albeit it does also provide all the usual information in selecting and housing the little fellows. I gave it four stars since it's not an all-encompassing tome on hamsters and it's a little weak in the area of dwarf hamsters. As a pet-owners guidebook for Syrian hamsters, it's pretty much all that you'll need. The chapters are: 1.Pre-Pet Preparations, 2. Hamster-Hunting Homework, 3. Teach you hamster to welcome your touch, 4. Knock, knock, who's there? 5. Can hamsters be trained not to gnaw? 6. Potty training, 7. Make the cage a hamster heaven, 8. Out to the playground for recess? 9. Practice sessions in the play place, 10. Leash walking, 11. Roll-around balls, 12. Fun time, 13. The traveling hamster, 14. Handy hints, 15. Making the grade.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide !, January 23, 2010

By 

Betty Eppley (PUT IN BAY, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Training Your Pet Hamster (Paperback)

This book is great,in it is easy steps for taking care of your new pet. I've already taken advantage of the Run, run, run away section. It helped find my little "escape artist" without a lot of drama!!