Monday, September 13, 2021

Happy Raturday! (Hamster Edition)

 
Cuddles. There was a pet store in the mall that was closing and she was the last hamster they had and so I bought her and brought her home. But I didn't know she was pregnant, yeah, she had 5 babies. That was actually fun. 

This week I told you I would show you pictures of some of the hamsters we had. I actually didn't plan on having more than one hamster but things happen...

Buster was the first hamster we had. We got buster when one of my daughters friends mother came and asked if I would take him since she didn't want to care for him anymore. So I said yes. He was a really big hamster. Big enough that a ferret harness and leash fit around him and I would put it on him and take him for a walk. I got some looks. 

Smokey was a hamster that we only had for a couple of weeks because he passed away soon after we got him. Hamsters have short life spans and sometimes they pass away out of the blue for no apparent reason. 

The babies, Cuddles babies. Remember Cuddles from the first picture? These are her babies. She had 5 babies and I kept them all. They were Chinese Dwarf hamsters, about half as big as teddy bear hamsters and really fast.

My daughter was trying to hold all of them and they kept escaping. lol They just ran all over really fast.

We ended up with so many hamsters that Ken built shelves to hold some of the hamster cages. That bottom one isn't a cage, it's a large tupperware container with a bunch of hamsters toys so I had somewhere to put the hamsters when I cleaned their cages. 

When one of the hamsters would pass away we would drive up to Mount Charleston and bury them up in the mountains somewhere. 

*Chance* Roborovski Hamster. These kinds of hamsters are the smallest and the fastest and they will run! I had to give Chance a little piece of pumpkin pie just to get him to stop so I could get a picture of him. 

 Onyx loved to come out and get a snack. Hamsters aren't as friendly as rats but he was especially friendly.

Honey and Spirit the Gerbils. I also had 2 gerbils. That was an experience because they like to hop all over you. I would take them out on the couch with me and they would climb all over me and just hop really fast all over the couch. They were hilarious. 

Cinnamon we got when another of my daughters friends didn't want to keep her any longer. When the mothers in my neighborhood found out I would take in unwanted hamsters, they brought me several. lol 
Ken found out that if he sniffed really loudly with his face down by some of them they would sniff or squeak back at him. It was so funny.

Baby was a Chinese Dwarf hamsters and fast as heck. Hamsters usually only live for 2-3 years but this little guy lived for 4 1/2 years. 

Bambi was one of those hamsters that would would sniff back at Ken. She would run over to his face and rub herself on his jaw and squeak at him. He thought it was so funny and he started doing it to all the hamsters to see if they would respond.

Bubbles just wanted to sit on top of the couch and be left alone. She was the most laid back hamster ever. She just wanted to sit up there alone and look around.

A bunny that Ken found in the parking lot. Ken was talking with a friend in our parking lot and this bunny just came up to him. He picked it up and brought it home. We were going to keep it but my daughter who is holding him in this picture was really allergic to him. So we found him a good home with people who had other rabbits.

Cuddles. Some Chinese Dwarf hamsters will live together unlike Teddy Bear hamsters who will fight to the death if you house them together. But once she had the babies and they were weaned she wanted nothing to do with them and she would fight them so she got her own cage. She also became a biter and we had to wear thick gloves when we handled her. I have no idea why but I still took her out and let her play on the couch. When she got older she couldn't bite very hard and I didn't have to wear the gloves but she would still try to bite me if I got too close to her. 

Sniffy was from another of my daughters friends in the neighborhood and Ken would sniff at him and he would run over and rub himself all over Ken while sniffing really loudly back at Ken. We never did figure out why some of them would respond like that to him but Sniffy would run over to Ken and rub himself all over him. It was so cute. He was such a friendly little hamster. 

So those were the hamsters that we had before we had rats. I hope you enjoyed seeing their pictures.

48 comments:

  1. That's a lot of hamsters.
    Really odd someone would just dump a rabbit like that. I guess like any other pet, they decided they didn't want him anymore. People are terrible sometimes.

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    1. I loved all the hamsters, they were so much fun. I have no idea where the rabbit came from but he was so friendly and we found him a good home.

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  2. I did enjoy seeing their photos and hearing about them. I had no idea that they were less friendly than rats.
    Alex is right about people. Too often.

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    1. Rats are much friendlier and more social. Hamsters just run, run run. lol

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  3. OMG you were THAT lady that harnesses the hamster hordes LOL

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    1. Yes! I was the crazy hamster lady. ;)

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  4. Awww, fun to see the old photos of Ken and your daughter with all those pets.

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    1. We had a lot of fun with all those pets.

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  5. Hamsters are so adorable! I had one when I was a kid. :)

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    1. I waited until I was an adult to have them. No time like the present to fulfill what you missed out on as a kid. lol

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  6. The only hamster we ever adopted got really sick right away. I called the pet store and they said, sure bring the hamster in and we will "exchange" it. I felt that was a death sentence for the poor hamster so I got an eyedropper and some pepto bismol and gave it to the hamster several times a day and it worked. She lived another three years with us.

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    1. Sometimes they do get sick. I;m glad you were able to nurse him back to health.

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  7. Hi, Mary!

    I am astonished by the sheer number of hamsters and gerbils you owned over the years, and the fact that you remember all their names, characteristics and quirks. I admire you for being willing to give a home to hamsters that friends and neighbors no longer wanted. I also admire you for giving the little critters a proper burial when they died. You have a good heart, Mary. In the late 1960s, my girlfriend and I went to a pet shop and bought her a hamster. A couple of years later, when she became Mrs. Shady #1, the hamster came with her to our first apartment. It lived a total of four years or more before it was ailing to the extent that we needed to take it to a vet and have it put to sleep. We both took the loss hard because "Bashful Blinket" (named after the Dr. Seuss character) had been a member of the family. I'm sure you can relate.

    Thank you for showing us all the cute little hamsters you owned and cared for over a span of 20+ years. Have a wonderful week, dear friend Mary!

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    1. Thank you for telling me about your hamster. Sounds like you really cared about the hamster. They are cute little animals.

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  8. Fun to meet all your hamsters, the gerbils, and the rabbit. I had a few dwarf hamsters for a while. One was a real biter, but the others were cuddlers. Love seeing how you and your family took in all those adoptees. :)

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    1. They sure do have their own little personalities. It was fun having them.

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  9. I just love seeing the old photos of these especially of your daughter. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed the pictures.

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  10. I loved this post. We always had hamsters/rats as pets when we were kids, along with a cat named Toby. You didn't want to accidentally leave your door open!

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    1. Hamsters are a lot of fun. I miss having them but Falcor is a full time job. I have yet to have a cat. Maybe one day.

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  11. Love the hamster stories and photos. They sound like they all were a bunch of characters with fun personalities.

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  12. Hamsters are just so dang cute. Thanks for sharing these fun pics. :)

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  13. They were all so very cute and were so lucky to have you looking out for them.

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  14. Darling little things.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  15. Aww that's cute about the hamsters. :)

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  16. Aww hamsters and gerbils and bunnies! I love rodents and small pets. Sounds like some of your hamsters had a lot of personality and were quite cute. I've never heard of walking a hamster on a leash, that's adorable lol.

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    1. Thank you. lol I'm sure some of the people around here never seen it before either.

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  17. So cute! 😍 I never took photos of my hamsters or gerbils. I do have photos of my son's spiny-backed mice. They were the size of gerbils and man oh man they loved to bite. Ha ha. They lived a long time, too about five years. When the last one passed away my son wanted two more (two females could be kept together), but I said no way. 😅

    Thanks for sharing your pics. ❤

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  18. You're such a good pet mama. So glad you were able to care for so many of the unwanted hamsters and gerbils over the years.

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    1. Thank you, I am too. They were so much fun to have.

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  19. I love hamsters. My boys had a couple of these adorable critters when they were little.

    But it was always so heartbreaking when they crossed the rainbow bridge. Wish their life spans were longer.

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    1. I do too. They are such sweet little animals.

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  20. "Big enough that a ferret harness and leash fit around him and I would put it on him and take him for a walk. I got some looks."
    Haha, I'm sure you did 😉.

    This was a fun and cute post! I especially enjoyed the part where Ken was having sniff wars with the hamsters LOL.

    I had a couple of hamsters when I was a kid - the first ran away, so we took another one, who died after the usual couple of years (me and my grandpa dug a grave for her like you did in the pic!). I remember that one of them (I think the first one?) climbed into my lap once using a long skirt that I was wearing - I didn't notice until my mum burst out laughing. I was seated at the kitchen table and studying, totally oblivious. After launch/dinner, we used to put the hamsters on the table and they would eat the crumbs - or more like, store them in their cheeks. So funny.

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    1. Aww I love your hamster memories. Hamsters are great for picking up the crumbs.

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  21. I love the pic of the hamster on a lead! I kept several hamsters as a kid. I buried one I thought was dead because I didn't realise it might be hibernating.

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    1. Oh gosh. None of mine ever hibernated. Maybe because we played with them all the time.

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  22. Makes me want to get a hamster. I would have to build a fortress to protect them. My cats are quite vicious. It is hard to convince well fed cats they don't really need to kill everything. I had a bird that lived on the side of my house. It has moved.

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    1. hamsters are great but I wouldn't trust the cats with one in the house.

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  23. I Loved your Hamster Post. The Hamster Brothers that Princess T had lasted about 2.5 Years for Midnight, who had a Head Tumor develop... and 3 Years for his Brother Hammy. She got tired of them so they ended up being basically mine and I hadn't had a Hamster since Childhood so I must say I enjoyed and got quite attached to the little Guys. They were Litter Mates, both Males, and of coarse had to be separated when they became Adults since they would fight and harm one another otherwise. The Pet Shop we got them from would not Sell Female Hamsters, so no threat of having a Preggy one. They each do have their distinctive Personalities, our Boys were the Teddy Bear Breed. No more Rodents for me tho', I went thru the Rodent Phase with the Granddaughter I'm Raising and the Reptile POhase with the Grandson I Raised... done now. Tho', she recently wore me down enough to get another Cat a Friend couldn't keep since his Aunt Raising him was allergic. Miss Priss had died last November, so I guess it was time for a replacement Pet since Priss had picked the Granddaughter as her Human and they were inseparable. Eli is a cutie and I've grown fond of him even tho' he's her Kitten, I'm such a freakin' Sucker for discarded Pets! *Winks*

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    1. I am too, that's how I ended up with so many rodents. lol

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