Zhu Zhu & Rockin Mama Giveaway

Go Hamster Go! (Plus a Giveaway)

September 2, 2009 by Caryn

The HAMSTER!  That’s what my son starts yelling when he sees the little brown and white hamsters scurrying about their funhouse.  My son has a fair amount of toys and I sometimes look at what he has and think to myself, why didn’t they have that when I was a child?

Thanks to Mom Select, we had a fabulous opportunity to take a sneak peak at the brand new Zhu Zhu Pets!  If your child has always wanted his or her own little pet hamster, but you’re wary of live rodents in your house, this is a perfect compromise!  I, for one, and squeamish about little furry animals (caged or not) and I don’t like messes.  Boy or girl, I’m pretty sure they’ll be zany for Zhu Zhu Pets.  I’ve talked to a lot of my friends about them and their first question is, what are they?  So, here is a little more information from the site:

Zhu Zhu Pets are fun, interactive hamsters that talk, move and even navigate their way around their own habitat.  There are dozens of add-on sets so your child can create a custom world for their new friend.

The first night we opened and set these up, my son would. not. go. to. bed.  We had to pry the little hamster from his hands once he fell asleep so it didn’t wake him up.  We received 2 hamsters, a habitrail (hamster house), and some add-on pieces.  There are a lot of great things about this new toy.  First off, it’s very easy to set up.  The pieces to the habitrail just snap together. My only complaint (which I’ve actually discussed with several other moms) is that the Hamster Garage is a little difficult to keep together.  My son will push the car through the garage and it will have to be rebuilt.  The other small issue is that the hamster doesn’t always make it out of the wheel.  Since the toy is brand new, I have given my feedback directly to the company and they are working on fixing those two small issues.  If your child decides he or she needs the entire habitrail, be sure to have a large enough table to fit it on.  The city can get quite big!

The hamsters come with batteries (thankfully) so all you do is push the button on the top of their heads and they’re off and scurrying.  The hamsters have two modes, Loving (where they squeak and chatter), and Explore where they “scoot, scamper, bump, and boogie” on the floor and in their habitrail.  They honestly make me giggle.  I like the fact that the hamsters work on most surfaces and not just in their habitrail.  One of the things my son likes is when he puts the hamster in his bed.  As soon as his nose hits the back of the bed, he goes to sleep (with the appropriate snoring noise).  Best of all, my son gets all the fun out of having a “pet” hamster and I get to keep my house free of rodents and their messes.  Hopefully he won’t discover the real thing!

Check out this video to see them in action.

Each add-on piece is sold separately so I actually recommend purchasing the set to save a little money.  Currently you can find Zhu Zhu Pets at Toys R Us, Walmart, and Amazon.