Another official pointed out all hamsters now sold in Vietnam were imported illegally.

The department Tuesday issued an ordinance saying that all imports of hamsters into Vietnam must be approved by the Department of Animal Husbandry.

The ruling also said imported hamsters would have to spend a period of time in quarantine to prevent possible epidemics.

Breeding hamsters is the latest craze among young people in Vietnam, especially during the lunar 2008 “year of the rat”.

But in spite of the popularity of the pet, the Animal Health Department has not received any applications from importers to test hamsters for diseases.

Nguyen Thanh Son, vice director of the Animal Husbandry Department, confirmed hamsters traded now in Vietnam were all illegally imported because they were all unlicensed.

Hamster shop owners said they sourced most of their animals from China, Thailand and Taiwan and sold them for between VND80,000 to VND800,000 (US$5 to $50) each.

Tran Thanh Duong, from the department of preventive medicince under the ministry of health, said science was yet to confirm whether hamsters could spread diseases to humans.

Even so, Duong urged hamster owners to treat their pets cautiously to avoid getting bitten.

Hamsters should also be kept in cages, he said.

Son, meanwhile, said Vietnamese authorities were consulting with China, the Republic of Korea and Russia to set safe and standard techniques for breeding hamsters.

Hamsters are easy to keep because they eat almost anything, from vegetables, roots, corn and nuts to insects such as locusts and grasshoppers.

The rodents can produce offspring at one to three months old and each hamster pregnancy can produce three or four babies.

Hamsters have long been popular as pets in the Netherlands, France, the US and Thailand.

Their popularity is new in Vietnam, although hamsters have previously been imported by the Hanoi Pasteur Institute for scientific research.

The new craze of hamster-keeping has spawned many internet forums, offline meetings and even hamster clubs.

Young Vietnamese have created many websites about hamsters, with advice on feeding and general care of the rodents.

Reported by Bui Tran – Quang Duan