Way OT about moving and hamsters

#1

ok so if we have these hamsters (2). We’re moving to CA for IL. Since i’m not working my kids and I are going to move out there first and get things settled and my DH will come allong later. Well DH isn’t very good at taking care of the hamsters and will probably…no he will definately forget about them. I wanted to take them with us (for the kids) but found out the airline that we are taking won’t allow us to take them (small airline no pet cargo hold and ONLY small dogs cats and birds allowed). Is there a way i can get the hampsters to CA or will i just have to find them a new home. Thanks

#2

Can ya smuggle them in your knitting bag? :mrgreen:

#3

Find some one driving there?

You’re probably looking at getting them to a new home.

#4

Hamsters!!! No no Can’t you see it’s just a ball of furry novelty yarn…Eye’s :oo:?!?
OR
I put the knitting bag through the screen thingy and then the security person sees two hamster skeletons in the bag…:roflhard:

I know :pout:. Well hopefully i can find one soon. I don’t mind buying new ones once we get to CA for my kids i just wasn’t sure what i was going to do with these here with us now.

#5

Well, ya have to admit it would be amusing. :rofl:

#6

How long would your husband have to care for them if you tried that approach? Hamsters aren’t that much care at all. You could move them to somewhere where he’d have to see them everyday and then maybe tweak his memory to care for them, like in front of the coffee pot or something.
Is he driving out to CA or putting everything in a moving van and flying out himself? Or I guess the simplest approach would be to give them away to someone but that seems a little sad for the kids just because dad won’t take care of them. I’d take them if I lived nearby.

#7

You will probably have to give them away, and I wish I was still in Illinois or I’d take them! I love me some little critters.

Good luck

#8

You could mail them to yourself. People do it all the time as Live Bait for reptiles and stuff. It could be costly tho as youd want it overnighted to be sure they would be ok.

Poor hammies…

#9

We moved a two year old hampster with a very large side tumor from California to eastern Canada. Granted we were driving. I was so sure she wouldn’t last the trip, but the thing surprised us all and lived another 2 months.

While this doesn’t necessarily help you, since you’re flying…this might. On the first night of our journey, I stopped in Las Vegas to pick DH up at the airport (he flew from Canada, met us and continued the drive with us). We had Furball in a very small hampster carrier (we used the school bus shaped one, bought from the local Petsmart). We carried her through the airport with no troubles, up to security. We couldn’t go through since we weren’t the ones flying but…

Are there any other airlines that allow small animals? If so, then the security people really won’t bat an eyelash when you take them through. As long as they are well contained. Then, should you get through security with fuzz balls intact, simply put themin your carryon for the flight.

If this is a little too risky to attempt, then you may want to try mailing them as previously suggested, or finding other homes for them. While it does sound a wee bit callous, hampsters are not expensive pets, and you can always get more once you get to where you’re going.

#10
  1. Do you have any other friends or relatives who could be begged or bribed into carring for the hamsters and then bringing them out on a different airline later or sending them with your dh? I know what you mean about people who DEFINITELY will forget to care for pets… I wouldn’t let my mom care for any of mine if she was the last person on earth. I think I would euthanise first to save them the suffering of starvation and illness. Anyway, how old are your kids? Are they young enough that you could give the hamsters to a good home without them knowing and then secretly buy new ones that look the same once you arrive, and they wouldn’t realize it?
    Mailing them is an option as mentioned, but be ABSOLUTELY sure that you have next day shipping, and ship in decent weather… I haven’t read much about shipping mammals, so I would HIGHLY recommend researching before you do this. You don’t want your kids to rip into the box they arrive in to find that they have died of exposure, starvation, suffocation, dehydration, impact, or anything else on the way.
#11

I was thinking about mailing them but it’s the snowing out here and i don’t know how cold the trip will really be for them even if i do overnight them. I don’t have any friends or family here they’re all in california it’s just my DH who’s here. My kids are 4 and 5 and i’ve talked to them about it on their level and they’re not too heart broken about not having them around. I’ve acutally been calling some of the local smaller pet stores to find out if they could take them and most of them do but of course there’s not room and i just have to keep calling back to check for space. My other options is to give them away but i want them to go to people who actually want them as pets and not snake food. Suprisingly i’m actually more attached to these fur balls than i thought.