Here's a little hint: If you're a blogger and you want to get in on some freebie action, you should really join a product review network.
The folks at
Mom Central recently sent me a hot new toy to keep and review. In fact, they sent me a whole party pack of
Zhu Zhu Hamsters and accessories and asked me to invite some friends over for some playtime fun. In return for hosting a Zhu Zhu pet party and blogging about it, I got to keep a zhu zhu pet and the entire Hamster Habitrail (a $100 value) free:
As you can see, the pieces of the habitrail are sold separately so you can collect just the ones you want. The little hamsters are battery operated and roll around their habitat on wheels and my goodness, are they cute!! They have sensors that sense where they are going, so if they get onto the hamster wheel they make squeaky wheel sounds while they "run". They also make doorbell ringing sounds as they enter other parts of the habitrail and snoozing sounds when they go to sleep. They are soft and cuddly and really adorable.
The habitrail is fairly easy to figure out how to put together if you read the directions carefully, but it's not lock tight. A child leaning on the slide for instance can break the slide apart at the join but it's simple to put back into place. I will say that I was very pleased with the overall make of the habitrail parts, EXCEPT for the car garage. It was not so easy to put the top on the garage and even after successfully doing so it would just pop off at random. It's a piece that I wouldn't recommend buying unless they fix that design flaw. But the car that comes with it is awful cute and the hamsters will "drive" around in it on any hard surface.
In fact, you can place the hamsters down by themselves on any hard surface. If they run into walls they have a sensor on their nose and will course correct or back up. They can go over the carpet too, though very slowly and awfully life like. If you're squeamish about mice, you won't like the jolty movement they make on your carpet. Haha!
So what did my guests think about these adorable little pet alternatives. Let's find out:
Obviously the kids were fans and loved the little hamsters and the moms thought they were pretty cool too! Especially those who were not fond of the idea of having a real pet. Zhu Zhu pets is a no sneezing, wheezing or changing hamster bedding alternative.
Mom Central was also awesome enough to send extra hamsters for each guest to take home.
Each hamster runs around $8.00 at Walmart, so maybe a little more expensive elsewhere. Definitely not an out of price range for a Christmas gift. Very cute, very fun! I think these pets are great!
Zhu Zhu Pets Review
http://www.perfectlyprovident.com/2009/10/zhu-zhu-pets-review.html
