Introduction

We’ve all heard of people who use their dogs to do chores like fetching the mail, but what about hamsters? I mean, they’re cute, cuddly little critters that most kids have at least one of sitting around being adorable. So why not put them to work? We decided to put our hamster, Pickles (not his real name), through a series of cleaning tasks and see how he did. He was less than thrilled about it at first, but after some bribery with treats and encouragement from me (and my wife), he started getting into the groove. While I don’t think we’ll be putting him on retainer anytime soon…

Scrubbing the tub

The hamsters were not very good at cleaning the tub. They tried to clean, but they did not use the brush or sponge or toilet brush or toilet.

It was a mess, but we did not get mad at them because we knew that they were trying their best and doing the best they could do given how small and furry they are.

Cleaning the toilet bowl

• Place hamster into the toilet bowl.
• Let hamster run around a bit, preventing him from eating anything or going up the bowl, if that’s even possible.
• Remove hamster from toilet bowl, using tongs or other tool if necessary to keep him out of your face—hamsters bite!
• Use a brush and some cleaners (water with vinegar works well) to clean the bowl as usual, making sure to scrub all surfaces inside and out

Washing dishes

Hamsters are not good dishwashers. Their paws are too small to wash plates and cups, and they can’t open the dishwasher door. We tried to train our hamster how to use a dishwasher, but it didn’t work out very well. He just kept knocking over dishes, putting them in funny places, or leaving them on top of other dishes instead of inside where they belong. In fact, he liked eating off those dirty dishes so much that he would sometimes forget about which ones were clean or dirty!

Scrubbing dirty kitchen floors

• How do you clean the kitchen floor?

A) The vacuum cleaner

B) A mop and bucket

C) Hamsters with a mop, bucket, and scrub brush

Vacuuming the carpets

So, we gave hamsters a chance to clean the carpets. Every time we used this vacuum, it was a disaster.

Hamsters are not very good at vacuuming because they have no arms or hands and so can’t move the vacuum around much. They also have trouble with the cord because hamsters don’t like to be around wires and cords; plus it’s just too long for them to drag around by themselves! And finally, hamsters can’t turn on or off a vacuum cleaner because there’s no button for them to press (which would be very dangerous anyway).

So basically what I’m saying is that it’s better if you do your own vacuuming instead of letting a hamster do it!

Putting away toys

If you’ve ever owned a hamster, you know that they’re not exactly the most tidy of pets. In fact, it’s almost impossible to get them to put away their toys and clean up after themselves. Which is why it makes sense that we’d be interested in seeing if they can do any better at cleaning than their owners.

So we decided to put them on the job! We gave our hamsters some cleaning supplies (a broom and dustpan) and set them loose on one of our “dirty areas” (the kitchen). Here’s how things went down…

Taking out trash

While hamsters are cute and furry, they’re not always the best at taking out the trash.

• Hamsters love eating trash.
• Hamsters are not good at putting their food in a trash can.
• Even worse, when hamsters eat something, it’s really hard to get them to stop chewing on it. You know how you can tell if your dog or cat has been eating something? You’ll see little bits of paper or fabric stuck between their teeth! But hamsters have these sharp little teeth that can chew through almost anything…and then some! So even when your hamster eats a piece of paper and spits it out onto the floor for you to pick up later—the next day when you walk into your room there’ll be another piece of paper with bite marks all over it lying on your floor! And if that’s not bad enough…

Making beds

Once the sheets are on your bed, it’s time to make it. There are a few important steps that need to be followed when making beds:

• Make the bed with hospital corners (yes, you can use this technique) by tucking in one corner of the sheet and then folding over the other side. This will leave a crisp edge on your sheeting that looks professional and neat.
• If you have pillows, fluff them up so they’re nice and fluffy!
• Once everything is in place, give it a good look-over before walking away; toss any loose ends into place so none of your hard work has been wasted!

kids may not be the best cleaners, but hamsters are much worse!

When we think about cleaning, we usually don’t think about kids. We know that they can do some cleaning, like picking up their toys or making their beds. But we also know that they can also be pretty bad at it—and hamsters are much worse than kids!

Hamsters just aren’t very good at anything: they don’t make great pets, they’re not great at cleaning, and they’re even pretty bad at being hamsters (they don’t love doing any of their normal hamster things). But if you need something cleaned up fast and you’ve got a few hours to spare, maybe your little friend could help out?

Conclusion

So, it looks like our hamsters aren’t the best at cleaning. The only thing they’re good for is eating hamster food and playing with their toys. They don’t even do a good job at that!