Pumpkin and the Dwarves - Page 2

Leila0420 · 05-25-2015, 09:33 AM

I'm glad you got it to work Cypher, I still can't!
I never knew about sandbaths when I last kept dwarves, it's so cute watching them wriggle around in them

Leila0420 · 05-25-2015, 09:36 AM

So these are a couple of videos of my boys.
The first is Haneen having a fight with a tissue. He still hasn't managed to get all of it into his bed yet but he's chewed off a fair few chunks

http://s1148.photobucket.com/user/Le...4.html?filters[user]=143219085&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

The second is Dina in his sandbath. I think he's a little bit smarter than his brother because from the first day he's been in his new cage he's loved rolling around in it whereas it took Haneen a little bit longer to figure out what it was for. I also think it's sweet that such a timid little guy who goes into a wild panic if we so much as sneeze around him is comfortable flashing his belly in the air

http://s1148.photobucket.com/user/Le...4.html?filters[user]=143219085&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2

Leila0420 · 05-25-2015, 01:46 PM

These are a few photos of my boys taken over the past few nights. They're both settling in really well although I just upset Dina by attempting to stroke him while he played and he ran away to bed...

They look so similar I have to keep photos of them in separate albums on my computer so I don't get confused!! They tend to wake up at the same time too...

Haneen sneakily hid in a fold in my duvet last night, had a clean and then ran away. When I checked he'd pooped in it lol

It's a lot harder to get close ups of Dina because he's still so scaredy although he does cautiously climb onto your hand he is much more content bustling around in his own space.

My BF has been bonding with him pretty well though

(I like this photo cos my BF looks very red bearded, usually it's more brown looking like his hair

)

I'm feeling like they're dominating the thread so will add a few posts about Pumpkin's manic antics over the next few days

cypher · 05-25-2015, 11:09 PM

They're both gorgeous, really cute photos!

It sounds as though they're settling in well already.
The links to the vids aren't working for some reason btw.

Leila0420 · 05-26-2015, 02:46 PM

Thanks Cypher, I cant get the videos to work either...
It's a shame, the video of Dina rolling in sand even made my dad chuckle!

Leila0420 · 05-26-2015, 03:03 PM

I was going to show some photos of how much of a beast of destruction Pumpkin has been lately but then I gave her some millet and it was too cute...

She's actually been really docile lately which is a little out of character. Usually she's a mad blur of running, chewing and scent marking everything!! I did have my wisdom teeth out last week though so maybe she can tell I've not been 100%

cypher · 05-26-2015, 11:36 PM

Awww bless her! She does look just too cute with her millet, they can look so innocent when they want to lol!
Hope you're recovering from the wisdom tooth extraction, that's not nice!

Leila0420 · 05-27-2015, 01:47 AM

Haha I suppose they have to at least try to feign innocence or we'll stop giving them chances to escape!! lol
In the end she got bored of the millet so I let her out and she made a desperate race towards some unknown new ground (under the kitchen table) because her barrier wasn't up last night. Haha I spent the whole time chasing and catching her

Thanks about the wisdoms too

I was actually really looking forward to having them removed in a weird way lol... They've been getting infected on and off constantly for a while now so it hurt but I'm glad they're gone! (It was nice to have some time off work, watching films and stuff too

)

Leila0420 · 07-07-2015, 05:11 AM

It's been over a month since I last posted an update on my hamily so thought it would be nice to write a little about what they've all been up to over the past month...

Taming the dwarfs has been going really well. Although I think I've thoroughly confused myself over their gender... When I first got them and checked I was certain Haneen was a boy but recently she (?) has developed nipples!! So I'm guessing they were actually girls all along and I'm just not as good at gendering hamsters as I thought I was haha

To be honest I've never even tried to check Dina, she doesn't like being handled at the best of time so I didn't want to upset her by holding her up in a glass jar and peering at her underside. I don't mind either way if they're boys or girls because they're healthy lovely little beasties and that's all that matters (although I have taken to referring to my hamily as 'my girlies' which might be insulting if I'm wrong... Haha)

I went on holiday for a week in June, my mum fed and watered the dwarfs and kept an eye on them at home and Pumpkin spent the week with a friend so she could get some out of cage time. Dina went a bit backwards after this and has only just come around to letting me stroke her and have my hands in her cage as she bustles around. She will happily walk onto my hand and cautiously walks up to me for a treat but doesn't really like being lifted up. Which is fair dos and I love just sitting watching her and telling her she's beautiful

Haneen greeted me on return with a nice hard bite (I think she was trying to kiss me but her teeth got in the way

) but within a day was back to racing out of her bed at dinner time and sitting waiting impatiently in her food bowl for some fresh food and a cuddle

I have been a bit concerned recently that they're noticeably very different sizes now. Both of them are pretty tiny but where Haneen resembles a chubby ball with legs Dina is skinny and lean. I weighed them recently and there's 10g between them! Haneen is exactly 50g and Dina 40g... More than Haneen being a pudding I'm concerned about Dina. She really is tiny and when you stroke her you can feel her spine a little bit. I've been trying to feed her up with fattier foods like sunflower seeds, meal worms and peanuts but then I worry if she fills up on things like that then she wont be getting enough fiber/ a decent proportionate diet. She loves brocoli stalk and bits of greens but doesn't seem interested in porridge or chicken. She does seem to run on nervous tension though so maybe she just burns off all her fat from running around (or away from things) and is a lean toned sporty-ham?

Writing this has taken longer than I thought so I will be back in my next work break to write a bit about Pumpkin and her destructive antics later

cypher · 07-07-2015, 08:15 AM

Good to get an update on your hamily!

They all sound wonderful, it will take time for the dwarfs to really settle & I guess you can't blame them for giving you a bit of a telling off for going away on holidays without them!

I'm a bit useless at sexing babies, it's a bit easier when they've grown but I'm sure they really couldn't care less what you call them!

It's so funny how their characters vary so much, they are all real little individuals & I love the way you respect that & enjoy the way they are.
I wouldn't worry too much about Dina being that much smaller, they vary a lot, 40g is quite small but not unhealthily so I wouldn't have thought.
I did have similar problems with Mickle when she was a baby she seemed to take forever to grow & put on weight & she really wasn't that interested in treats, she still doesn't like lots of things, I just gave her a couple of little pieces of kitten kibble a day (something she actually likes!) & it seemed to do the trick! As long as Dina is eating a good mix of ham food & getting her veg she should be fine.
ETA forgot to ask if you've tried her with some porridge? If she will eat a little of that it's a good all round food for building them up a bit.