Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Toys - Are They Safe For Your Child?

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.

These interactive hamster pet toys are actually manufactured by a company called Cepia who recommend that both their hamster toys and hamster accessories are only suitable for children of 4 years and older. I'm sure that they would love to not have any age limit on them and in doing so enlarge their market customer base, but laws are laws and regulations are regulations and Cepia makes the necessary warning in order to both comply and perhaps even as an internal agreement.

Parents may or may not realize, but these kids hamster toys scurry around on battery powered revolving wheels. As interactive electronic toys, the outer hamster structure obviously shields the necessary electronics inside. Once again, regulations and Cepia's own internal quality standards ensure that the design is at a standard to ensure maximum safety.

The speed of the wheels themselves can revolve at quite a speed, particularly when a fresh set of batteries are inserted. It is no surprise, therefore, that the tiny fingers of inquisitive under four year olds are perhaps not the best combination. Regardless of the age of your child, some parents have reported their concerns that the wheels have pinched their child's skin and also caught longer hair that got in the way of the moving wheels. These safety issues do, however, seem to be incredibly remote, especially considering the vast number of these Zhu Zhu Pets hamster toys that have been purchased. Parental common sense should really prevail when it comes to any kids toy with moving parts, your child shouldn't be sticking things or bits in them. At the end of the day, the only way we could completely guard our children from any toys with any kind of external parts, would really be to simply make them illegal to produce in the first place. So, common sense and a dose of calculated risk reality should perhaps be any parent's main safety guard.

Another complaint that one parent had, was that when her son dropped his new pet hamster toy in a bucket of water, it started to act funnily and now it doesn't work. I don't think that there is much that needs to be said about this point, except perhaps to make sure that your kids realize that hamsters are land creatures and not designed for swimming.

So, are Zhu Zhu Pets hamster toys safe for your kids? That really is your own personal choice and it really is up to you to make that decision. From the facts and reports it would seem that any safety incidents, especially when within the recommendations of the manufacturer, seem very few and far between, with the overall parent and kid feedback focusing on just how much fun and entertainment value they are.