My son got one. We've had to have the hamster in our room because the cat knocks his cage over when he's left alone. For some reason the cat don't mess about in our room.

Every night the hamster comes out at half past nine. He sits on a log waiting to come out. I put my hand in with my palm flat and he climbs on waiting for me to lift him out. Then I'll just sit with him for 30 minutes or so. He's cute to observe.

He'll run around on the bed climbing up the blanket mountains. Once he finds a route he sticks to it. You can put him back at any random point on the bed and he'll go the same route. If I move the blankets around he doesn't, and instead tries to find a different route.

The cat has a sniff when he's out. He doesn't act aggressive. He did once and I hissed at him; he's never done it since.

They're cute, funny and a good distraction.