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Old 02-23-2005, 02:40 PM   #1
SnuggleHam
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Default Might Adopt a Syrian.. Fingers crossed.

Funny how this is all coming together. I recently had two hamsters that passed. Butters one female Syrian she lived a few months before she became ill, but despite my efforts and the vets she passed away,



The next one was Hammy who passed away just six days after I bought him, Partly frustrated and feeling like a hamster killer I was apprehensive of trying again, but with encouragement from others I have realized there is no reason why I cant have a healthy Syrian that dies of old age, It was just sort a combination of some bad luck I suppose.



I wasn’t planning on getting another for a while; I first wanted to finish this project of building another cage special from a bin. It’s coming along great but I still need to clean and sterilize the old hamster equipment from the old age.



My husband works at a collage and one of his co-workers were telling him about this hamster (Gerald who I keep calling Arnold by mistake) they are hammy-sitting while this family is on vacation. She was telling him that their kids didn’t really seem to care for the ham or seem interested in it



Patently from what my husband was told this family has gone through a few animals they eventually got rid of because their kids weren’t interested and the mother who dropped the ham off asked the children if they wanted to say good bye before they left and they didn’t!



I was even more disturbed to hear that the mother actually said to this lady, "if it happens to die don’t worry about replacing it with another!!" What a sad situation.. I don’t know its age, color or anything, its most likely a Syrian, But even if it wasn’t I wouldn’t care, just hearing the story makes me want to save it. So when they return the woman watching the ham is going to ask if they even want it and try and get them to give it to me.



Fortunately I have hamster central and a new hamster bin cage to back me up.. Could there be a batter owner then me...



Anyway fingers crossed. They return in about a week so I wont know much until then, unless maybe the family calls to check in on it.
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Old 02-23-2005, 03:12 PM   #2
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Default Goodluck!

Goodluck with him! Hopefully he'll be snuggling in his new home soon!
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Old 02-23-2005, 04:37 PM   #3
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I really hope so, I havnt even seen the little guy but I keep thinking about him. I might get to see some pictures, if I get any Ill pass them on
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Old 02-23-2005, 08:33 PM   #4
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Just hearing that makes me want to cry. The poor baby.
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Old 02-24-2005, 05:17 AM   #5
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An all too common story unfortunately...

SOME children do take their little one/s for granted and it is good that you are waiting to see the outcome of this situation so you are on hand to offer a new home if required.

You may find when challenged the kids do not want to let the hamster go but hopefully their parents will be realisitic and understand it is for the best.

I get a large number of adults contacting me to say their children are pestering them to get a dog and they just are not up to the commitment that entails so they have decided to get them a hamster instead. Sometimes in secret and I think this is just a recipe for this kind of situation to arise. Hamsters need commitment too! They may be left for a weekend away if necessary but in everyday living they do need an element of daily care to keep them happy and healthy.

I always like the youngster to come and visit the hamstery and see him/her interact with my little ones. All are hand tame and socialised but it is important to demonstrate good handling skills, and it also helps ascertain if this is just a fad or not.

All hamsters that I part with go with the reassurance that if for any reason at all they can no longer accomodate it in their lives I will happily take it back, no questions asked if they prefer. More pet stores should do this as otherwise some poor hamsters out there are living out their lives with hardly any interaction. Maybe once a day if they are lucky enough someone remembers to feed them.

Only a few filter back to the pet rescue centres and it is always sad to see adverts for 3 month or 6 month old hamsters with full setups going cheap or free just to get rid of them. It would not be the first time I have waited a couple of weeks and then bought up these unwanted hamsters and tried to find them more permanent homes, rather than see them languish on a shelf unloved.

I wish parents would realise they may be short lived but 2 sometimes more years is a long time to a child and a lifetime to a hamster! I actually think an older hamster is often better for a child's pet than a baby hamster - they are generally more stable and if they have been handled and socialised well more able for the child to relate to quicker. The fear of being bitten or the hamster jumping out of their hands can be quite off putting to a novice owner. If a child cannot touch its pet I think the interest is more quick to wear off.
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Old 02-24-2005, 05:44 AM   #6
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Sounds like you can give this unloved ham a good home Candace.



After having an almost identical experience to you recently (hammy dying 6 days after being bought home from a pet shop) I've really gone off the idea of buying livestock from pet shops. I'm not anti-petshops altogether, I see they have their place in the pet market, but for me I'm going to be going with private sales and rescues from now on. All my guinea-pigs in recent years have been rescues (including one rescued from a pet shop! Well, pet shop bought it in to be euthanized for a broken leg - 18 months later he's still going strong and walks fine). There are rarely hamsters in the rescues local to me though, I do check regularly. I'm not sure whether thats a good sign or not!



I'm attending a hamster show in a few weekends time, and hope to get 1 or 2 good quality Syrians from breeders there. I've never been to a show before so not really sure what to expect, but I know there are usually sales of excess stock at them. I'm very interested in the genetics of Syrians though and hope to breed them one day, showing seems like a fun sideline.



Good luck with your adoption Candace!
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Old 02-24-2005, 05:45 AM   #7
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Sorry that last post was me, didn't realise I wasn't logged in!
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Old 02-24-2005, 06:07 AM   #8
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I don’t think there are any problems with this hamster. Just a lack of interest and caring really. His pet sitters think he’s cute, they say he has little cute black eyes.



I guess the other night the women “ham-sitting” him and her husband took the ham out to play a while and said it was very friendly, so it not that it bites I don’t think.



Kids are high in activity, they usually like to run around play with toys and video games, Unless the child is a real animal lover and begs and begs to have one they are probably going to be distracted with something else, especially since hams sleep all day.
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Old 02-24-2005, 06:14 AM   #9
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Hehe Emma, Isn’t that the second time now you forgot to log in.. I believe there is a button you can check to have the site keep you logged in all the time :P I keep thinking to myself "Oh yay guests are coming" then it turns out to be a mistake.



I don’t have a problem with pet stores really.. Well some family owned ones I have seen were pretty bad, But some of the large pet store franchises here in the US are actually nice and keep their cages clean and so on, But then I bought two hamsters from these two different large pet store chains and they both died.. So I’m not sure where to get my next one from if this adoption doesn’t work out.



I guess Ill have to look up some local breeders. It sound like there are allot of great ones in the UK, its to bad hamsters don’t ship very well. Someday id like to get into breeding could quality hamster lines, but in my small apartment now I haven’t got the room,
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Old 02-24-2005, 06:22 AM   #10
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Default Reasons not to buy a hamster for a child

This is from another forum but quite pertinent http://child.spoiledhamsters.com/
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