I remember when I was a young child, I really wanted a hamster as a pet. Unfortunately, my mother and I did not really see eye to eye at that time and I vowed that whenever I got older, I would certainly allow my children to have these animals in the home, regardless of how old I got.

As I got older, however, my opinion about having hamsters in the home began to change. A lot.

That is, of course, until I saw the new Zhu Zhu toy hamsters this year.

If you have not yet seen this particular toy, you'll be amazed at how lifelike they are. When they're running through their trails, it's really hard to tell whether they're toys or real hamster pets. They are small hamsters, life-size, and they actually behave in many ways just like real hamsters.

Zhu Zhu toy hamsters can produce over 40 different squeaks and chatters. Owning one is almost as much fun as having a real live hamster in the house. Your Zhu Zhu toy hamster will run in a hamster ball, and scamper through habitat trails, just like the real ones do.

Without the mess.

It's common knowledge that owning a pet is a great way to teach your children about responsibility. Zhu Zhu toy hamsters make for a great 'practice' pet, before you actually agree to get the real thing.

They come in several different colors, each having its own particular name so they are fun to collect and most children enjoy having more than one. I'm betting once you get Mr.Squiggles, you won't be able to rest until you've added Num Nums, Chunk and Pipsqeek to the pack.

If you or someone in the house suffers with asthma or allergies, and you're not able to live with traditional pets, Zhu Zhu toy hamsters are a perfect solution. No worries about pet dander with these cool toys for kids.

The hardest part of having Zhu Zhu toy hamster pets, however, is finding them in the first place.

Once ToysRUs includes a toy in their list of top toys for Christmas, they start flying off store shelves at an alarming rate. This is one of those toys.

As it gets closer and closer to Christmas, people will wait overnight, in the cold, for the new shipment of these Zhu Zhu toy hamster pets to arrive. They don't want to see the disappointed face of a child on Christmas morning.

Fortunately, there are many places you can order yours on the Internet and you don't have to stand out in the cold to get it.