[Fluffagrams]

A lot has been going on at Metallica since I last updated and not all of it good news I'm afraid. It's disappointing but it comes with the territory of having multiple hamsters at any one time.

Last time I wrote Lord Jack had been paired to Embers but despite there being some signs of life in the nest to begin with, the nest was empty at the two week check. Embers returned to Vectis Hamstery and instead Jack went out on loan in May. He was paired to Embers again and two other females with Vectis Hamstery but only sired a litter with one of them. His wife Diome had six lovely babies towards the end of June which as you can imagine, I am over the moon about as Jack is one of a very special family line. I'm hoping that at least one will make their way to Metallica Hamstery when they are ready for rehoming. Jack returned briefly in the middle of June but is now out on loan again.

My little Danish Princess, Juno was PTS at the beginning of May. I already knew she'd got an ovarian tumour and we were keeping her comfortable but a weekend of rapid growth meant that I had to make the decision to have her put to sleep. She was my little ray of sunshine and I still miss her.

Diabetes also made an unwelcome return with both John and Ben becoming diabetic within a few weeks of their first birthdays. They were retired from the show team which meant that I had a much weaker show team for Bath. Thankfully Lord Jack managed to come fourth in the overall show so I was pleased with that and newcomer Leo also brought home a prize card. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to show Jack for and have him do well but he's very laid back about the process so he may be kept as a reserve in case of entries needing a boost or it's a particularly busy show that some of the youngsters may find a bit stressful.