I thought it would be nice to keep a record of the adoption process of our new hamster and what better place to do that than Hamster Central!
Bit of background before we start... my hubby and I have kept hamsters before and had guinea pigs too but not for quite a few years, we have recently been feeling like it was time to introduce a new small fury into our lives and as it has been soooooooooo long since we last had a hamster, we thought we had better do some serious research into housing, diet and care so we have been doing this for a few months. We also started buying supplies and making the lonnnnngggg and much debated decision about which cage to go for.
We decided quite early on that we would like to adopt if possible and give a lovely hammy a loving forever home
We are quite lucky in that there is a small pet rescue centre not too far from where we live so I have been following them on facebook for some time.
On 7th May, I contacted the rescue to ask about the adoption process and enquire about one of 2 beautiful female Syrian's I had seen on their facebook page. We were sent a fairly in depth adoption questionnaire to complete which we did and then we had to wait to see if we would be accepted.
Fortunately we didn't have to wait for too long and 2 days later we were approved to adopt one of the girls!
Unfortunately- the timing wasn't great as the lady who oversees the adoptions at the rescue was going on holiday from Saturday until 24th May so we have to wait until after that before we can go and meet the little ladies and decide who we want to bring home. (Not looking forward to that decision!)
Although, a bit disappointed at having to wait a little longer than we wanted to, it is probably a blessing as it has given us more time to get the cage all set up and organised ready for our little girl.
Yesterday, we went out and bought the last few bits we needed and then spent the evening setting up the cage.
In the end, we went for the Barney cage which we hope will give our new hamster enough space to be happy and we have tried to keep the setup quite natural and provide lots of places to climb and chew and hopefully keep her entertained. We used the cages photo's thread on Hamster Central a lot for reference and really found it useful. Any recommendations for changes or things to add to the cage will be gratefully received if anybody has any?
So that's it really, that's where we're at now- the cage is ready, we have the pet carrier and we're just playing the waiting game now....roll on 25th May when we can go and bring our girlie home!
Here are some pictures of our girl's new setup: