The Life of Hamster Owners in College
By Tia Rockland
Picture this. It’s your third week back at college and everything is going well except for one thing: You miss your pet immensely and feel incomplete without it. You try facetiming with your family and requesting to see your beloved animal, but that just makes things worse. Your cravings for the snuggles and unconditional love that your pet provided for you at home reach an all-time high. At that moment, you make an impulsive decision: you are going to buy a pet in college.
Ok, let’s rewind. It’s likely that the scenario described above did not occur for the majority of students reading this article, but for others, it may be familiar. For two particular upperclassmen, Anabel and Ella, this was precisely what was running through their minds as they drove to the local Petco on a sunny Monday morning in search of a new furry friend.
When asked why they chose to buy a pet, Anabel explained that it was on her bucket list. “I was like why not get a hamster?” She described that given the turbulent COVID times it feels necessary to have certain constants in your life that you can always count on to make you smile. For her, that now includes holding her Chinese dwarf hamster named Sumo and watching him sprint endlessly on his wheel. Both Anabel and Ella feel that there are many amazing benefits that accompany pet ownership in college. For example, their favorite activities to do with their hamster range from snuggling him after a stressful prelim to making him the star of their TikToks, hoping his cuteness will get them on your FYP.
Ella admitted that she uses Sumo as a conversation starter and a convenient fun fact. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with girls that own an adorable animal, even smaller than a teacup? “I am so proud to own a hamster,” she told me. When I questioned why they chose a hamster over the multitude of other animal options, the owners had a strong response. “Fish are lame, gerbils and rabbits are too much work, and hamsters are not a huge responsibility,” they said defiantly. Talk about being biased…
The interesting part of this story is that Ella and Anabel don’t actually live together. Therefore, they refer to themselves as “separated” parents, as Sumo lives full-time with Anabel. When I expressed how hard I imagine it is to co-parent the hamster, they shook their heads in disagreement. They described that being co-owners has brought them closer together as friends and is even an excuse to hang out more.
After hearing the girls boast for an hour about how fun it is to own a pet in college, I wondered whether buying one would be good for me as well. Let’s be honest here, I would love to come home to a snuggly, warm friend after taking a miserable Biology prelim. However, once the girls began speaking about the difficulties that follow owning an animal in college, my mind changed rapidly.
As Anabel was describing how loud Sumo is at night while running on his squeaky wheel, her eyes quite literally rolled back into her head. Seems to me like hamster Sumo resembles Sumo Hibachi on weekend nights with the volume off the charts. Luckily for Ella, she does not have to deal with his nocturnal behavior, but she doesn’t get off so easily either. “His cage gets dirty so quickly, with his poop and food everywhere, that we’re forced to clean it every few days,” Ella stated. Owning an animal is time-consuming and especially after a busy day at Cornell, cleaning a filthy cage is no one’s activity of choice. Additionally, to no surprise, owning a pet is expensive. The girls spend their own money to supply their hamster with food and toys, and the expenses add up quickly.
Despite the few annoyances that Sumo brings to their lives, both parents agree that buying him was one of the best decisions they’ve made in their college experiences so far. However, they advise those considering owning a pet in college to think of the long term beforehand. To specify, they currently have no clue where their beloved pet will live when we leave for break, as neither of their parents want a hamster in the house. If any readers happen to be looking for a Chinese dwarf hamster to play with over break, look no further! Sumo is available and ready to be your fun, furry friend. But be sure to buy some earplugs if you plan on keeping his cage in your room as the wheel does not stop squeaking!