No Hamster Droppings to Clean Up

But before I left, MomSelect (BSM Media) asked if I would be interested in participating in a Pre-BlogHer promotion. While the cat is away, the hamster will play. They sent my daughters a full-on hamster habitat equipped with kitchen, habitrail, wheel, sleeping dome, tunnels and even a garage with a car. The hamster squeaked and made cute sounds and noises while it scampered through its new home. But with this hamster, I won’t be spending time cleaning up because battery operated hamsters don’t leave messes.  The hamster habitat that MomSelect sent was part of the Zhu Zhu Pets collection – so new that it is only available in select Target and WalMart stores.

What I love about this pet is that it’s good for a giggle.  He zips around the habitat including running on the wheel.  I laughed as he headed to the garage and hopped into the car.  The garage doors went flying open and he proceeded to drive out onto the carpet.  Although he was cute in his car, he would have been much more efficient if he was on a solid surface like tile, concrete or even a table as opposed to carpet.

Which leads me to one of the things that I didn’t like about the Zhu Zhu pet setup… Assembly itself is very easy if you’re focused and don’t have two extra sets of miniature hands trying to help.  But it’s large when you start incorporating so many modules onto it.  Granted, the system is workable with only a few of the sections or can be assembled in different ways to accommodate different play areas.  Honestly, unless you have a dedicated area for the kids to play in, this is not an easy “assemble, use, disassemble, store” toy.  If your child has outgrown the train table, pack up the train set and put Zhu Zhu pets on it instead.  That gives you an idea of the size of the unit when multiple modules are attached.

But don’t get me wrong, that isn’t a bad thing it is just an inconvenience if your child typically plays in their bedroom or in the family room.  We’re in the process of putting together a play room in the basement and when we do, the Zhu Zhu pet habitat will find the perfect home.

As I mentioned before, he does make noises.  Each different module is equipped with sensors that initiate an appropriate sound or noise from the hamster.  There are currently four different hamsters on the market and I think each has its own personality.  But since I only have one, the only thing I’m certain of is that the other three LOOK entirely different.  They also run on different frequencies so you would be able to run different ones within the same habitat.My girls played with the hamster until his batteries died. After a few days of them playing with it – front and center of the television, I packed the habitrail up and plan to reassemble it when the play room is done!  If your child wants a pet but you’re not ready for the typical mess, consider this a nice alternative.