Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Toys - Will They Injure Your Children?

With any new toy that comes onto the market these days, safety is an obvious concern. In the US, we are lucky in this regard, as the numerous toy safety laws and regulations at least provide parents with some toy safety standards, which is unfortunately not the case yet in so many other countries. However, if you are thinking about buying a Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters (pronounced as Zoo Zoo Pets hamsters or Zu Zu Pets hamsters) toy or any of the numerous hamster accessories that are available out there, then it is always worth highlighting both manufacturer official safety guidelines as well as those parent safety concerns that have already been voiced. This article provides a quick overview of some of the more important and frequent concerns and recommendations, so that you can make an informed decision as to whether Zhu Zhu Pets hamster toys are safe for your children before you buy.

Cepia are the manufacturer of Zhu Zhu Pets, including the hamsters which are currently sweeping the nation. Cepia is a responsible toy company from what can be seen, with its own self implemented internal safety standards imposed as well as adhering to the legal and regulatory standards. Cepia advises that their hamster toys are only suitable for children of four years and older. After all they do have smaller moving parts.

The hamster toy itself is an electronic interactive toy inside wrapped up in a soft and cute hamster exterior. The casing adheres to standards that make the internal parts protected and away from the child in line with official and company internal standards.

The hamster scurries around on wheels that tend to rotate fast, particularly when a new battery set has been inserted. So parental common sense will tell you that they are not the best place for the tiny fingers of under four year olds to be poked into or other objects to be inserted into. There have been isolated comments from a parent that the rotating wheels pinched her daughter's finger's skin and her long hair got caught up in them. Could this happen, I'm sure it could. Is it widely reported as a common issue with these toy hamsters from Zhu Zhu, considering the absolutely huge numbers that has been sold for kids or all ages...no it doesn't seem to be. So I think the common sense approach would be to recognize the fact that this toy does have moving wheels and act responsibly. After all any toy with moving wheels are in the same boat, it would be a shame to ban them all with the disproportionate risks that they have for children above the manufacturer's recommended age.

Obviously these hamsters are electronic, battery based toy pets and not real hamsters, so again common sense would tell any parent that water would not be the best combination. One parent did voice her dissatisfaction that when her son submerge his toy hamster in water, that is stated to malfunction. I should imagine it would and am sure it would not be covered by any form of warranty. Let's also hope that the little boy doesn't get given a real hamster as a replacement!

Every parent is different and it would be shrugging your responsibility to allow others to determine what is safe and not safe for your children to play with. On the whole, from the huge number of Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters sold, there are few comments to suggest that they have specific safety issues or are sub standard in any way.