When my family went to live in England for two years I had a pet hamster. A hamster is a little rodent with no tail, little round ears and soft, soft fur. They are very cute.

Hammy was a golden banded shorthair, which makes him about as hamsterish as you can be. The little cartoon animation at the top of the page even looks like him!

Hammy had his own little house stuffed with soft shredded paper bedding to sleep in, which was kept in a small plastic cage with a lid - so he couldn't escape - and had a hamster wheel to run on. I would take him outside to run in the long grass, but he preferred to climb all over me instead!

I was told never to feed Hammy lettuce or cabbage, to keep an eye on his health (hamsters get seriously sick very fast) and not to carry him around in my pocket as I was bound to forget he was there and squish him. Also I was not to bath him or let him sleep in bed with me. Sigh. He probably survived his time with me because of those warnings!

I only had the one hamster, although my brother was to have got a Gerbil, but the little beast bit him savagely so we stayed with just the one fluffy critter.

Hamsters do well living on their own and will often end up fighting and hurting themselves if kept in the same cage with others. I was told that if we had gone and gotten another hamster it would have to be one roughly the same size and age as Hammy so they couldn't bully each other!