The Zhu Zhu hamsters are Mr. Squiggles, Chunk, Patches, Pipsqueak and Num Nums. In addition to the hamsters themselves there is a wide range of toys and accessories available which can be used in a variety of different ways and which allows the children to use their imagination.

The Zhu Zhu pets are aimed at children in the age range of 4 to 10 years old and appeal to both boys and girls. They are not suitable for very small children due to the fact that they contain both moving parts and batteries.

Cepia, the manufacturers, were founded in 2004 and are based in St. Louis. Since the Zhu Zhu Pets launched in August of 2009, six million units have been shipped. An additional six million unit sales are forecast between now and Christmas 2009. At the moment, the hamsters and their accessories are spending less than three minutes, on average, sitting on the shelf before being bought. It seems reasonable to conclude that demand is extremely high. 

Prices are rising, both for the hamsters and the accompanying accessories, and you can already find them on eBay at prices higher than retail. Prices will probably increase the closer we get to Christmas.

Cepia are predicting sales of between $ 300 and $ 400 million over the next twelve months. This will be from not only the Zhu Zhu hamsters – they intend to expand their range to include hedgehogs, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. Presumably any small, cute and furry woodland animal which children would find appealing could make it onto their list in future.

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The five different Zhu Zhu hamsters – Mr. Squiggles, Chunk, Pipsqueak, Num Nums and Patches – all have their own separate personalities and individual character traits. There are two modes of play – “nurturing” and “loving”. Four are available individually, but Patches can only be found as an integral part of the “Hamster Starter Set”.

In nurturing mode the hamsters respond to petting by emitting cute little noises. Each one of the hamsters has its own personal signature sound. There are a total of over forty different sounds spread across the five hamsters.

In exploring mode the hamsters will run around – either free ranging on the floor or within their specially designed hamster habitats. The habitats can be built and rebuilt by the children in a number of different combinations and incorporate toys, tubes, tracks and even a car.

There are a wide variety of different accessories available. Take your pick from a hamster skateboard, hamster wheel and tunnel (of course), hamster garage, adventure ball, surfboard, sleep dome, hamster carrier and blanket etc. It’s a long list of toys.

Children seem to love these little furballs. They are cute, they interact and designing and building the hamster habitats in a variety of different forms will stimulate their imagination and make sure that they don’t become bored.

One of the marketing slogans for Zhu Zhu hamsters is “pets without the mess” – and that’s a definite bonus for many parents. There’s no need to feed them, no need to keep their water bowl topped up and no need to clean out their cage. Two AAA batteries from time to time is all the maintenance that’s needed.

Because they are motorized and contain small parts, the Zhu Zhu Pets are not ideal for very small children. The target age group is from four to ten years of age.

These toys are going to be the next big thing (for a while at least). The manufacturer has launched them at the perfect moment, just enough time to generate a bit of a buzz prior to Christmas but not long enough for them to become unfashionable before the Festive gift season. If you can think of a child who might enjoy receiving one of these at Christmas then you would be best to get your order in well in advance.

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