Prudence and Madness

It was only recently that I have begun taking care of hamsters as pets. I used to have guinea pigs but that was ages ago. I think I have already forgotten how it was to take care of these fancy rodents (hamsters and guinea pigs share the same Order, Rodentia, but of different suborders, the hamsters being in Myomorpha while the guinea pigs are in Hystricomorpha). But I rather miss the touch of their soft fur and their little squeaks so I’ve decided to start having these as pets again. This time, it’s hamsters.

That’s the current home of my two teddy bear hammies, Coco and Qingzi (more photos of them later). I actually started with just one cage, housing Coco and the late Pao Chi (who died for reasons that I still don’t know up to now, and probably will never know unless I consent to digging her up and performing necropsy on her). Those are plastic containers with painted metal gate rails and a plastic door on top. Then I found out that the portholes on top and on the sides are for the fancy embellishment that could be bought for the cage in the same store where I got it. It’s quite exciting that I started with one pink plastic tube to connect the original house to the second house that I bought for Qingzi. Now the two have ample space to run around and, if they’re not feeling very social, they can retreat to their own nooks and be undisturbed. And the container being plastic, it’s easy to clean and easy to assemble. It also comes with its own water bottle, exercise wheel, and food bowl. All for the price of Php 676/house, plus a pair of hamsters. The pink plastic connector tube is only for Php 40. Good deal, I’d say.

Yup, even after a bit of a tussle, they still snuggle together

I’m using pine shavings as bedding for these hammies, though some experts say that pine shavings contain some toxic oils that could react with the urine and give off dangerous fumes that are harmful for the hamsters. Check out the bedding guide at Hamsterrific.com (thanks to Pinoyblogero for the link!). But there are also those who argue that there shouldn’t be a “debate” on pine/cedar/wood shavings at all, as most softwood beddings are fine for small animals, including hamsters and rabbits (check out this article by Corinne Fayo. So far, I haven’t encountered any problems with the pine shavings. My hamsters did not have any injuries attributed to it nor any kind of respiratory problem. But, of course, I’m still in the lookout for the best possible bedding for my hammies.

Got corn?

For food, I’ve started with the feeds I bought from Bioresearch. It was said that these feeds are already formulated to give balanced nutrition for the hamsters. But it is also advisable to give fruits and vegetables as supplements. After some time of taking care of them, I found out that they also like the following food:

• carrots
• lettuce
• apples (too bad I didn’t get a picture of how Qingzi, biting on an apple cube, held her head up while going to her “burrow” so that Coco won’t be able to get to it hehe)
• banana
• egg white (hardboiled)

But, of course, these should only be supplements, and not the main meal. Also, never give citrus fruits to hammies.

Look at that athlete go!

I’ve grown fond of these little critters, as it’s so fun to watch them move around their cages. They seem to be so carefree. And I find that they’re the right kind of pet for me (like cats) because they’re more asleep during the daytime when I’m at work and more playful at night when I’m already home and can play with them.

Also, I’ve got a collection of funny sleeping hammie photos:

Coco loved this tube so much he sleeps in it most of the time. And puts a stash of food in it, sometimes.

Text conversation (of course, already translated from idiot SMS language to human-readable English):

Mommy: Qingzi looks dead. He’s not moving.

Me: Why would he be dead?

Mommy: I don’t know.

Me: He’s not dead. He’s just sleeping. Take a picture and send it to me through MMS

Mommy: I don’t know how to take picture.

Me: Tell Daddy to take picture. And poke Qingzi to see if he’s dead.

Daddy: I poked him. He turned over. He’s not dead.

A lot of people would envy this kind of peaceful sleep

I often stay up late at night watching these little hammies play and sleep and take pictures (yup, after playing PW, that is). This practice makes me ultra-sleepy the next day, but it’s well worth it. It calms me just having to see them play. And they’re on my mind even at the clinic or in the hospital. They certainly make coming home so enticing.

How about you? Are you fond of hamsters too? Maybe you can share your own tales of hammiesessiveness.