I had a hamster as a child. It lived just a few days, slept all day every
day, caught a cold and died in my hand. I have a personal bias against them
based upon that.
The chinchillas I saw at a local pet store were awfully cute and so curious
they both came to the cage wall and pressed their noses through when we got
close. They would "mouth" any fingers put through the wires but did not
bite. I think they'd be good for a small child because they're bigger than
gerbils, but like I said my four year old son does fine with the gerbils.
