In this content, I'll tackle the hamster care and handling based on my petkeeping experiences. I have already written a content about how to care rabbits and guineas and had spoken about the responsibilities entangled with taking those tiny, cherished lives under our care. There's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to hamster keeping for other owners tend to think that hamsters were just like any other domesticated creatures that could live throughout their lifetime with just the basic necessities, food, water, and shelter. But that's a very wrong realization about these tiny creatures for their size was perfectly opposite to what they really need. A smaller body that requires a greater care. So here, let me introduce each of my hammies with their distinct characteristics which I have learned throughout those days tending to their needs and submitting to their inner requests.
Mamita
This is Mamita. Her name was taken after noticing her that every time she gave birth to her babies, she really eat them. Commonly, Mamita was tagged to great mothers by their grandchildren. It's not a sarcastic or a negative perception why I gave that kind of name to her. It was because I highly appreciated and respected her love for her children. Do you know why? Eating her newborn babies means protecting them for her. I don't know why but every baby that she hadn't given birth appeared to be disabled, either no complete legs or ears and other imperfections may be just visible to her. If she will tend to let them live along with those flaws, it's a greater risk and their bodies might keep on failing them as they continue to grow or there's a lot of limitations for them due to their weak points.
One of the rules in hamster breeding was to never pair or mate hamsters that are related, either with the same mother or father or even just skipping a certain level of generations, but still, their genes are alike and linked which could cause abnormalities to babies and certainly, I'm submitting to such rule. Another one is to never pair both hamsters with red eyes, the same black has no problem, so you should find a black-eyed hamster for your red-eyed hammies. Maybe in Mamitas situation, it's just a matter of luck. So, I guess I'll just continue to find a suitable partner for her till a good result comes out. She doesn't deserve to grow old alone, without children, that's what I've always thought.
Arthur
And this is Arthur. He's not so fond of being held or disturbed on his bin. Whenever I come to feed them or put some water, I have to use a small cup to pour his small water container because every time he notices other's smell aside from him, he hastily attacks it without a second thought. I understand his behavior for I have bought him and brought him home when he was already months old I guess which is a little bit old for hammies, already hard to tame. I've tried countless times taming him and teaching him that I'm his new friend and that I won't do any harm to him but I got nothing from it. Instead, all of my bite marks in my hands are all from him.
For now, he's alone on his bin, as I'm waiting for a female hamster that could fit to him and to his behavior because he also chooses his partners, sometimes when he doesn't like the female hamster he really bites it hard that leads to small cuts and bleeding in the tummy or in the face, and if he likes his partner, he just really let her become his superior, allowing her to land her claws on his face and rest assured, he'll never fight back.
Gummy
And this is Gummy with his share, a cut of apple as his treat. He is housed with his brother named Bear inside the bin. They still got no pair for the only females available are their little sister and their mother.
Gummy and Bear
They just both love to sleep under their buried wood shavings and my main trouble with this two is that there's no such day that you'll see them dry. Just like Arthur and Killian which picture will follow soon, they always bathed themselves in their small water container. That's why I always have to check their bins before bedtime because naturally they are wide awake at twilight hours and they may get thirst whenever the water container is empty. Hamsters' fur must be kept warm and dry, they should never be bathed because it could cause certain illness but I don't know what's going with these four males. Maybe they also just love to feel the summer getaways on a summer season, who knows, right? Well, let's move forward.
Mother Hop and Bebe
And here is Gummy and Bear's mother, Hop and their little sister, Bebe. Bebe is the smaller but the plumper one. I used to call her Bebe because after her mother give birth to her, I tend to look at her closer by using a spoon to draw her from her mother's bin whenever Hop is asleep and I'm so fond of her as she was the only first baby that was born solely and her first daughter. I really hoped this one would never be liked her brothers with their bathing behaviors. I took Hop's name from her actions for she really hoped so high that she could even escape from their bin which has the same measurement of a ruler. By the way, the first picture of this content was the two of them in a cup.
Killian and Tam
And here is the other troublemaker, Killian with his hyperactive newly found partner Tam. took Killian and Arthur's name from one of my American Drama Series, "Once Upon A Time". Tam's name was taken from the place where I bought her along with his brother Bo. The place is named Tambo here in Iligan. Tam is so hyperactive that she always does this backjump and sends herself off right into their food's plate. I find it very disturbing as she could hurt herself but she does it like she's inside a hamster wheel, and I guess she enjoys it for she does it every time she finishes her share or she just wakes from sleep.
Here are Bo which is Tam's brother which names are supposedly connected based on the place's name. Gang is one tag from our dialect used in calling a girl and I find it very suitable to her because, for me, the name is accompanied with genial, innocence, and sweet characteristic. She's very soft with her actions and most of the time I just find her cleaning her fur or slowly running through their hamster's wheel.
Gang is so affectionate with Bo. For me, Bo is the most handsome hamster under my care. I find them a perfect pair because of their color where Bo is like a brownie and Gang appears to have a silky mocha fur. Bo is a black eyed-hamster while Gang is red-eyed one. I'm so excited about this pair's result and what could be the color patterns and varieties of their babies. Bo is so playful that he could run inside the hamster wheel for several minutes without stopping unlike the other.
Hangal and Spock
The one appears in mocha color is Hangal and the spotted one is Spock. Hangal is a red-eyed female hamster while Spock is the male black-eyed hamster. I have come up with the name Hangal because of her persistent and suicidal attitude. She always tends to find ways to escape even if I'm watching her and jumps off no matter how high it is which makes her dizzy the moment she lands off with her head first on the floor. But this incident never stopped her from repeating unlike other hamsters that whenever they experience such fall, they happened to get traumatized or afraid to get closer to any edge whenever I remove them from their bins. And Spock's appearance reminds me of Spock in Star Trek movie and I don't know why. Just a thought.
I housed this couple in a mineral water bottle, cut in half where the upper part was for them and the lower part was used by Mother Hop and Bebe. I used this material instead of buying new plastic bins to save money and space because this was once stored in the room unused. It's also a great thing to use as I have this suicidal Hangal and the height of the container would prevent her from jumping and escaping. It can also be cleaned easily as I could just take out the cover at the bottom and let the water run through it, thus, washing all the remains and sticky fragments.
As Mother Boots has soundly asleep on her corner, her babies was so busy devouring their food
This is Mother Boots on her pretty poise while taking a rest, giving herself a break from his babies' simultaneous breastfeeding while her babies were so busy munching the food on the plate. I find them so cute trying to snatch the food from the other and trying to ingest it with their two little teeth on the upper jaw. Watch this little fellow as he/she was happily guarding his/her share.
Look at that expression after his/her first experience of eating his/her mother's leftover, making a big laugh like he/she just won a lottery, showing his/her newly grown teeth. I still can't distinguish their genders for their genitals are still too little and are hard to assess, adding their movements that you'll gonna have to apply extra care because they're still babies.
The Food for Them
Commonly, the food that was given to hamsters were pellets, Integra 3k or slasher but for me, to assure their health especially during this season, I have to combine Integra 3K, slasher, dawa, and sunflower seeds and to assist their vitamin intake, I have to feed them with wheat germ.
Combined Integra 3K, slasher, dawa, and sunflower seeds
And you also have to give them treats like small cuts of carrots, watermelon, and lettuce, but for today, we have apples.
Always remember, that when it comes to their food, avoid buying the cheap foods for them just to save spending your money because it's a part of your responsibilities to provide the best thing that you could. They deserved to be nourished and flourished, not depriving them of having the right amount of nutrition and starving them just to save your pocket from diminishing.
What to Provide?
Aside from giving them the cleanest bin you got, with the adequate space required for the hamster's volume, provide them with the right beddings and try to use ones that have no scent if possible because some scented wood shaving products could cause respiratory affliction to your hammies. And also, always provide them with toys or things that could keep them in motion most especially if they're just staying inside the bin and you have no time to let them play on a hamster ball or roam around your room. Providing them say for example a hamster wheel could save them from experiencing obesity which at worst, could lead to death.
Tips to Share!
In this part, I want to share my hamster bins arranged in my room's corner. They're still messy to watch as I'm really struggling with space nowadays because of my fish aquarium tanks but will do better in the next few days.
So, just what I've talking lately about Spock and Hangal's bin, this is what it looks like.
It could be messy to observe but it's very comfy inside for it's really stuffed with wood shavings and I put a plastic and metal screen as a cover to prevent Hangal from escaping again and again. And I also put a heavy weighed food container above to avoid our apartment's cat Lenlen from opening the cover. It's also one to take precaution because many hamster owners experienced the trauma from a cat or rat attack that sometimes just leave the bins emptied with life.
This is the small cup I've been using to pour my hamster's water container because sometimes it's too hard to use bigger cups or tumbler for it could flood the container as it's so hard to control the water outflow because of its bigger lid. And also, to keep my hand from getting bitten by Arthur.
Lastly, during cleaning, never forget to use plastic wrap to protect your hands from touching your hamsters' remains directly as your pores could be exposed to germs. Always remember that no matter how sure you are that your hamsters are well-kept and cleaned, bacterias can be everywhere and is a greater risk if you're having wounds or cuts. Always maintain the hygiene on your hamster's environment for they're so sensitive to any kind of diseases and you must always be ready and willing to learn and gain new ideas about them. As what I've kept on saying, it is life what we're upholding onto, not just a toy to give a time when you're bored and alone.
I got 983 photoshoots trying to capture the best angle, yet I haven't anticipated that only 40 will look good and usable for me. Of all my pets, my hamsters are the most difficult and demanding when it comes to photo shoots because it really requires patience and ideas how to get hold of them for a while. Well, after all, it's worth it, not just with the pictures I have taken but the quality time I have spent with them today.
May the force be with us.
