another day, another hamster... u/d face pics added

[Faye]

I went into P@H to look at cages, popped over to the adoption centre - nothing there: great.
looked at cages some more & then saw that a staff member was putting some WWs into the adoption tanks - they had just been dumped outside the shop.
3 females + 1 male, all together... the girls had also been fighting.
I said "isn't there a chance that the girls are pregnant?" the bloke said "yeah, probably" and went away...
I called him over to show him a nasty looking wound on one of the girls and he had a look and said "she'll probably be ok" and went off again... the girls started fighting again (2 of them had wounds, one seemed to be steering clear), so I called him over again... and said that I'd take the one with the bad wounds.
I brought her home, let her settle for a while then bathed the wounds - I think they look quite clean, but I'll keep a close eye on them... here she is:




sorry there are no pics of her face yet!
What are the chances that she's pregnant? I read that they don't breed as much in the winter, but I assume these are from over-bred pet shop stock
poor hammies

p.s. I am not going back there again - even I have my limits!

[jayne]

Oh my word! What a poor wee soul!!

I cannot believe, or maybe i can, that they would have such a laid back attitude!! Yeah, Pets at Home look like they're doing good by having an adoption centre but clearly have no concern if they are treating animals like that!!! Probably ok isnt good enough, they should have realised straight away that they were all mixed sexes and separated asap.

Thats great that you took her in and cleaned her up. I am still in shock at those pictures Faye Seriuosly cannot believe it!! Poor wee things...

I think i am with you on the 'limits' thing! I have just come back from the vets, little Pepsi has wet taila nd has got Baytril. Need to keep and eye on him and make sure hes driking eating etc. Just as well i'm off work for the next 3 days and can be by his side.

I have called Pets at Home to advise that i bought him on Sunday and a manager is going to be calling me back. When i told the guy, he siad he finds it hard to believe as they have health checks every morning and only ever see a case in their stores once in 6months!!!

Arghhhhhh, i am seething, i will finish my rant right now before i get really started!!!

Good luck with her and look forward to seeing her recovery

[Faye]

They took the male out straight away, which is 1 good thing I am just shocked that they'd have injured and possibly pregnant girls out on the shop floor and up for adoption
Sorry to hear that your little one is poorly - I hope the baytril clears it up soon!

[souffle]

Oh my goodness what a mess and what a bad attitude. This group obviously needs split into singles and I hope they are all safely rehomed. The wounds do look clean Faye but that is likely because they are fresh so you need to watch them closely. It is best just to bathe the once then allow them to heal. We did this with Bingley under advice and found it did take quite a long time to heal over and the scabs to go but he was fine in himself though obviously sore for the first few days as he did not want us to touch them to check and would squeak. He is fine now though he still has a little triangle of 'funny fur' at his back end. There is a good chance that she will not be pregnant as they do not breed so well in winter and when stressed so heres hoping. I would still feed her extra protein and prepare just in case though.
Poor little Pepsi. How awful for him. I hope he feels better soon. Can you get some plain yogurt or Avipro to keep his good bacteria. He is probably stressed from the move too. All the best for a speedy recovery for both little ones.

[Ghostofarose]

I strongly suggest you email Pets@Home(<a href="mailto:customerse...home.co.uk</a>) and send them these photos. I've complained to them before about the condition of their animals, and they've been very nice and helpful when replying. Just make sure you attach the photos. I'm glad you have her with you though Faye- I'm sure she'll be right as rain soon!

~Katie

[Faye]

thanks for all the advice... i'm glad it's true that they don't tend to breed as readily in their winter coats - fingers crossed!
How do you tell the difference between a pearl and a normal or sapphire in winter coat? (sorry if that's a dumb question )
She woke up and had a little explore, so I got some shots of her face

You can see where her wound is under her front leg


having a drink... she's in a temporary cage at the moment, so can't fit a bottle in - I have ordered her a new cage, which should arrive next week...


<sniff> "who's there?"

[DonnaB]

Poor wee mite, another reason why the whole pets at home adoption scheme stinks! I try and avoid there as much as I can. Maybe if they didnt sell them to just anyone, in the first place, they wouldnt have them dumped on their doorstep..... but even so, for them to let you take her in that state is so irresponsible, fortunately we know shes in competant safe hands.

Shes lovely Faye.

[Holly]

She is absolutely gorgeous, well done you for getting her, I don't think I'd have been able to resist either, bless her.

I agree with Donna - if P@H didn't label winter whites as "social" and then proceed to sell them in groups of four to people with inadequate cages and no idea that their cute little babies will soon start fighting and killing each other - then they probably wouldn't get so many back to their "adoption centre". I don't think they are really doing anything altruistic with the adoption centre - it's just for their returns.

The state she was in is disgusting - not as disgusting as the attitude of the sales assistant though. I wish I could say I'm surprised but sadly I'm not.

I've never seen anything too horrific at our local P@H myself but I avoid it when I can, I just hate the whole pet shop thing

[kimtekz]

very nice of you for taking her in ^^

very very cute
man I love WW