How would I convince my parents to let me get a hamster?

Question

I'm thirteen years old and I've been looking to get a pet aside from a dog since I could walk. A couple years ago I ended up with a betta who I still have and of course I love him, he just wasn't the type of pet I was looking for. I've been bugging my mom to get either a rabbit or a guinea pig since I was about ten and finally I'm on the hamster track. I've done so much research that I could talk for hours about everything I learned and my parents are fully aware of this. My betta, Cooper, is doing pretty good and when it comes to him my mom is a major pushover, but my dad's as stubborn as a brick.

It's your typical 'put the fish in a bowl' scenario and 'if you get a hamster that twenty-gallon tank in the garage will be good enough.' Cooper is not in a bowl, so don't worry about that and is living happily in a heated and filtered five gallon. My mom has made up all of these excuses as to why I can't get a hamster since last summer after she kept promising me one. Her latest promise is once my new room (which is giant!) is finished I can get a hamster, but we don't have space downstairs to house one and I'll be living in the attic basically where there's plenty of space for a large enough hamster cage. The only problem with this is is that I only have a twenty-gallon tank in the garage, I'm not putting a hamster in a Krittertail, my mom thinks that bin cages defeat the purpose of being able to see your hamster, and an Ikea Detolf is 'too big' to house a hamster.

I have about four hundred dollars sitting around from birthdays, Christmas, and various other holidays so I'm clearly financially prepared to take on a hamster. I'm not sure how to show my parents that I'd be a responsible pet owner, since my dad seems to take care of Cooper most of the time, or so he says. I desperately need a little creature that I can actually call my own pet and can hold and such but isn't treated by my parents like an ornament. I may even gain some respect from my dad if I show that I can actually take care of an animal on my own accord.

I really love animals and the fact that I've only ever had the same two, old dogs for my entire life and a fish really hurts, especially since I know that I can take phenomenal care of a hamster as well as juggle school and everything else that I'm needed for. I guess the question is, how do I convince my parents to let me purchase an Ikea Detolf and convince them that I can own a hamster?

Answer

You have an old dog you say.
Does it live inside so its arthritic body doesnt suffer in the weather?  Do you have a pet heating pad for it to sleep on?  I have a very senior cat and that heating pad is on 24/7 from October thru March.

Do you make sure your dogs nails are clipped the dog brushed at least once a week and the dog takes a joint supplement so its not in pain?

Do you have foot stools so the dog can have help getting on the bed or sofa?

Do you have a large enough and soft enough dog bed so it doesnt sleep on hard drafty floors?

Has a vet examined its teeth to make sure none are loose or rotten or abscessed making it have infection or pain or trouble eating?

How often do you walk the dog for exercise and enrichment or just put it in a wagon with a blanket and take it for a oull for enrichment and fresh air?

You said nothing about the care you give that "old dog."

That dog deserves to not be forgotten.

Answer

i adore animals as well and basically i was able to raise different kinds of animals (ducks,cats,dogs,rabbits.......) but the hardest part for me each time was convincing my parents to allow me to keep them ,basically their answers were always either "we don't have enough space at the house "or "u're not responsible enough to take care of an animal because of my busy studying schedule  " so i was always trying to find a way to show them that i'm able enough to take care of the new animal . my father was never a problem he get used to me and my craziness and the funny part is that he was going with it ,basically most of the animals i have are from the streets specially cats  whenever i found one in a bad condition my heart just aches and i only want to bring him home with me and my father was never able to say no , he liked the fact that i have a good heart towards animals  but my mother was the problem because she's the one who was in charge of my animals whenever i'm not around and she has work herself (a teacher) and she had a lot of other things to take care of ,so if i wanted to get an animal i had to have my mother's acceptance.........so here's what u need to do to convince ure parents first and the most important thing is ure Grades ,u're 13 so basically ure parent's most concern about u is ure grades so try to use this weapon on ure side this is what i always did every time i wanted to bring an animal and my mother refused it, i would make a trade with her (*if i get the best score in that subject/grades , u will allow me to bring the cat to the house*) this always works for my mother in most of the times because she just wanted me to do my best in my studies ,Second u need to try to show that u're taking really good care of the dog u already have and always keep reminding them that taking care of a dog is different from a hamster,and u will be able to take care of the hamster before and after going to school so make sure that u promise them that u will make sure to always clean his cage and take care of him on ure own and that u won't need their help and that having a hamster will mean a lot to u ( his cuteness and fluffiness is irresistible ) and keep nagging in the right times about having the Ikea Detolf  ,u can recommended them to buy it for u as ure birthday  gift or anything ..........          
                                                                                                                                           i hope this was helpful for u and about my animals now i  have 14 cats,2 rabbits and 10 birds (Blue and Green Budgerigar)unfortunately my 2 dogs(lucky and cheese) died when i was 15 in a robbery attempt and after that i didn't want to have any dog because it was one of the worst incident in my life.                                                                         and now i'm thinking of getting a hamster but i'm waiting for the right time that's basically why ure question caught my eyes .

How would I convince my parents to let me get a hamster?

Responses (2)