Hamster Bowling Invented by 12-Year-Old

“Hamster bowling”¹ was invented by twelve-year-old Alyssa Reiter from Michigan. (She is getting her patent for this invention on May 7 2013!). She came up with the invention when she was merely nine years old, after being inspired by her pet Syrian hamster knocking over chew sticks in its hamster ball.

How does hamster bowling work?

My first reaction when I heard about hamster bowling was to think it’s some kind of cruel game you play with your hamster. Luckily, the actual game is completely hamster-safe. It appears to involve a hamster ball you can find easily in pet stores or on Amazon and some colorful chew sticks. You put your hamster in the ball and let it knock over the chew sticks (like bowling pins!) at the end of a mini bowling lane.

Where can I buy this?

Alyssa hopes to sell her invention in pet stores, but at the moment it’s not yet available. However, nobody’s stopping you from getting a hamster ball and some chew sticks and making the game yourself.

Our take on hamster bowling

Alyssa’s used a Syrian hamster in her demonstration, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work with a dwarf hamster. In fact, with Roborovski hamsters, hamster bowling might get even more exciting since Robos run really quickly for their size.

While Alyssa seems very enthusiastic about her invention, it doesn’t look very fun from the video. Maybe the video wasn’t too clear but the bowling lane looked kind of short. The idea is pretty creative and interesting though and if she does sell it in pet stores, I would probably get one just to see how it works.

References and further reading:

1. Source: Click On Detriot [↩]