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Old 01-04-2017, 03:59 PM   #11
Rads
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What an absolutely amazing thread, I enjoyed reading about your escapeds and the new pups can't wait to see pics of those little beauties.
Alice sounds like she is a very attentive little Mum, fingers crossed for you and your Hammy family.
Pip says hi too and waves her paws
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Old 01-07-2017, 01:14 PM   #12
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It's been chilly out here, so the hamsters have been bedding in and I haven't seen them much. Just a few peeps from Alice's nest here and there! The babies are a week old, and I know that they are adorable furry peanut things now. It's so hard not to be excited to see them.

Since I isolated Bo-Bo, he's been in the small wire cage. I've been able to hold him more; since Jo-Jo isn't there hogging the wheel, he has been coming out for a spin each night.

Here's hoping the next update will be furry peanut pictures!
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Old 01-08-2017, 02:17 PM   #13
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Apparently, escaped rodents is the theme lately in this house. Alice got out this morning, and scurried into the next room, which is the bedroom of two of my children. My daughter who is always losing the rodents - as well as finding them - of course is the one who found her and put her back in her cage. I'm glad she told me about it.

If you didn't notice in the pictures, there's no lid on Alice's tank, because I don't have a second 20 gallon lid. I tried to make it so she couldn't climb out...but apparently, Alice JUMPS. Lol. She sure showed me.

So here is what happened. I had to rearrange the tank a little, obviously. I also wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been away, or what she had in mind with escaping, so I wanted to make sure the babies were okay. The nest is in a tea box underneath a shelf in the cage, so all I had to do was move some bedding aside and open the other end of the box (where she doesn't have the entrance).

I peeked, and there are floofs still, and they seem to be just fine. Although, I noticed on one of them that there seemed to be bite marks? I hope Alice isn't stressed. Maybe she's just a new mom and doesn't know how to handle them gently enough yet? In any case, I tucked the flap back in on the box and replaced the bedding around it.

I have been giving Alice some peanut butter lately, and she can't seem to get enough. I have a feeling she's seeking out more of it (or more fat in general), maybe possibly why she escaped. So I gave her a peanut butter sandwich, and will be giving her many different food items today to see if I can help her out with what she was searching for.

Just one more week until these little guys are in the clear, praying they do well.

I got to see Lou-Lou this morning too, she came out to see what was up and come out for cuddles. You would hardly recognize her from the pictures here, she has gotten so white! Her whole face is white except her head, and her body followed suit. She looks so much like a white-faced Robo. Lol.
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Old 01-08-2017, 03:10 PM   #14
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This thread is very interesting, I enjoy reading all of your little one's antics! I'm excited for them to be of-age for photos to be taken
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Old 01-09-2017, 06:32 AM   #15
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So love this thread! What a little rascal Alice is escaping!
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Old 01-15-2017, 05:01 PM   #16
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Update time!

Nothing much is new with Bo-Bo. He's just hanging out in the wire cage still, and comes out to say hi occasionally. He doesn't seem overly fearful now, and he'll poke his nose out if he hears me. He is slowly getting more and more used to the thought of being handled. I'm super slow and gentle with him. Still lots of licks for me if I offer him my hand (and nibbles, if it tastes like food). I imagine some better housing will be for him in the near future.

Same with Jo-Jo and Lou-Lou: not much is new. I think they've been hanging out in the nest so much since it's the coldest part of the year here, and they are in one of the coldest parts of the house. I imagine it's usually about 66-70 in their room in the winter. Not super cold, but chilly! I still see them come out and about. Jo-Jo seems a lot more settled for some reason; now he'll sit in my hands for longer. Otherwise, he's now the hamster that I see the least!

Lou-Lou is the one I usually see out, between her and Jo-Jo. She doesn't hop onto my hand, but she still always needs to see what's up. She comes up to me, and tolerates being scooped up. She loves food and treats, and I honestly think she likes to be petted, as long as she's not too nervous. She is not pregnant from what I can tell, and I have a feeling one factor could be that she is "winter mode." Though, maybe her and Jo-Jo never will have babies. Who knows?


Here she is in her winter coat. It's almost like she's a different hamster!




"Hold still, Lou-Lou, where's your face?" She was not impressed with the slick keyboard she was on. :P




Alice. All of the things happen to Alice. The day after her little escapade, I noticed she was limping: her back left limb was injured. I examined her, and thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken. She could use it, but didn't want to put very much pressure on it. She didn't react much when I touched it. I'm hoping that means it's not excruciatingly painful or serious.

Poor Alice. It's hard not to blame myself for her getting hurt, but I remind myself that accidents happen. I'm not sure what happened or when. I have a feeling it happened during her escape, but anything is a possibility. I did have some wire racks in her cage she could have caught her leg on. Since someone said something to me about that, it had me worried enough that I went ahead and removed them. I figured it wouldn't hurt, since her leg was compromised now anyway. I've been observing Alice more since I noticed her leg, and it definitely seems to be getting better. She is still in good health and has good energy.

I found out what Alice has been after. Greens! I offered her an array of food items after her escape, and she decided that broccoli was THE thing. Here's Alice attacking some broccoli last night. Sorry for the child-smudges on the tank. XD






Last, but not least, the pups! Oh, the sweet little darlings. My brain dies with cute just thinking about them. They are doing wonderfully. Very early on the morning of the 12th, when no one was awake, I decided to hold them. I felt confident they were big enough that I wouldn't hurt them, and I didn't think Alice would mind if they smelled like me. She happily hopped into my hand as always, got cuddles (which she really seems to love), and I placed her in a carrier cage so she wouldn't get upset when I opened up the nest.

I carefully opened the nest the same way I did when I peeked at them, and I put my hand inside slowly. I let the pups become aware of my fingers, didn't poke them, and gently caressed them. I laid my hand on top of them to make them feel safe, and they responded with adorable little clicking noises. Then I began to very carefully move them into my palm with my fingers, like a mother hamster tucking her babies under her belly. Slowly, I moved them out of the nestbox with my hand. I was only able to get half of the litter at a time because the box is so small. They startled a bit at being suddenly separated. I cupped them all in my hands, and they calmed immediately.

Even though I was so excited and nervous to be holding them, I kept my demeanor calm, confident, and loving. The babies seemed to respond and remained quite calm, also. I carried them into the music room where it's warmer, sat back, and laid them on my heart. I cupped my hand around them and, honestly, just stared in awe. I stroked them and talked to them. It was so quiet in the house; the morning atmosphere was almost magical being with these little creatures.

Though they are still quite young, I noticed a few personality quirks immediately. One of them even had his eyes open. They cuddled against my hand, and eventually began climbing into my sleeve. After two of them found the warm sleeve, the rest followed quickly. Once they were all piled in, and I'm in a coma from how soft and cute they are, they began to try and nurse on my wrist. The cute little smacking noises, the paws, the licks, the nibbles. A bite! After a few minutes of pure bliss, I decided to put them back with their mommy so they could nurse and fill their cute little round bellies.

I took them back to the nest, tucked them all in, and closed it back up. I cuddled Alice one more time, thanked her, and told her how beautiful her little ones were before returning her to the cage. I made sure to leave a few snacks.

Sweet little Alice and her beautiful babes. She reminds me of a hamster I had about 8 years ago who also became a mommy. Her name was Opal. Here she is pulling on my finger...not sure if she just thought it smelled good, but she was trying her hardest to bring it to her nest of pups.




Here's another pic of her at a precious four weeks old.




Another funny thing she did was "trance out" when I petted her. It didn't matter if she was sitting somewhere, in the cage, in my hand. If I full-body petted her over and over, she'd basically just fall asleep.






Sorry for all the pictures. I just love these little guys. If I had to compare myself to any animal, I would probably say I am most like a dwarf hamster. Haha. XD

Here are the pictures we've really been waiting for. I didn't say how many babies there were, or their colors. I think the pictures can speak for themselves. I just snapped a few quickly; I promise as they get older I will get better, more individual ones. Mommy Alice made a new nest after I removed the wire racks and took these pictures (they were taken Friday the 13th!), so I've just been letting them get settled in. New, better pics will be in order soon - they grow so quickly!


Boy, Boy, Boy, Boy, Boy, GIRL!








I tried to get some faces. You can see the one who looks like Bo-Bo...also acts like Bo-Bo. All of the others crawl away, and he's left sitting there with his eyes closed, like, "...Huh?" Then he opens his eyes and slowly crawls over and wedges himself back under the pile. He is so funny and adorable. The agouti boy is sweet and outgoing, the pudding/argente twins are like yin and yang. The girl is like Alice, and her twin seems to just go with the flow.

Glad you guys are enjoying the story. Peace!
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Old 01-16-2017, 02:53 AM   #17
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So many cute hamsters and the pups are gorgeous
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Old 01-18-2017, 06:20 AM   #18
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Heart melting over and over at your hams & babies! Such little beauties!
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Old 01-26-2017, 01:57 PM   #19
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I was doing a bit of research on dwarf colors and genetics the other day. It seems that my little orange guys fit the description of mandarin? If that is true, then here are the colors displayed in this litter: agouti, sapphire pearl, mandarin, and mandarin pearl. Even though they look like pearls now due to winter coats + fading, I think both Alice and Lou-Lou are solid mandarins. Jo-Jo is a sapphire obviously, and Bo-Bo a sapphire pearl. I've never really seen the mandarin color before. I think I maybe had one or two mandarin dwarfs in the past, but I didn't know what the color was called. Either way, all of these guys are just beautiful.

To make this more fun and interesting (and because I couldn't help it...), I've named the litter. The agouti is Harry, the girl is Ginny, her twin is Ron, the mandarin boys are Fred and George, and the sapphire pearl is Draco. I hope some of you appreciate the reference.

Here's what's been happening!

Alice and the pups have been doing well. I've been feeding them all sorts of yummy, healthy things to eat. I've noticed that they seem to be more content if they have new things to eat often, and they seem to especially favor fresh produce. I've also been giving them things like baby cereal puffs for a treat.

On the night of the 17th, Alice attacked little Harry! I noticed the babies had been squeaking and wandering around the cage more, and I also noticed Alice was pregnant again. I was holding each of them, and when I set Harry back down in the cage, Mom went after him. I took the hint and removed Alice immediately.

I decided to set up a bin for the pups. I knew that 17 days was young, but I also knew it was barely old enough to be weaned, and I could see the pups were doing well on their own. I have made sure they always had wet and easy-to-eat foods for the first few days away from their mom. They especially liked baby cereal mixed with almond milk.

I have been handling the pups several times daily, and it has been a joy to get to know them. None of them seem particularly afraid of us, but they do all have different personalities and react differently to us. Harry, George, and Draco are the shy ones. They will come up to me to say hi, and occasionally hop into my hand, but for the most part, they tend to avoid being handled. They'll give me a nudge, maybe stop for a sniff/lick/nibble, and then carry on with their business. The other three seem to enjoy handling more, and jump at the chance to be held. I very much enjoy seeing them all interact with each other. Lately they have been totally into nest-building, something their mother showed them before their relationship ended abruptly. They seem to be eating and growing well.

Without further ado, let's get to baby pictures. Instead of taking the time to choose which ones to post, I decided to be lazy and do photoshoots. Pictures of them are here.

You called it, flowerfairy! Here's baby bump Alice (also with full cheek pouches). She had her second litter on January 21st. I'm going to guess: 8 babies.




Jo-Jo and Lou-Lou haven't been up to much in the baby department, but they have been out more since it's been a little warmer out. They are such a joy to interact with and watch. I took a bunch of pictures of them the other day. Their photoshoot is here.

The other day, I had a water bottle fail in the pups' bin cage since they'd been burrowing around it. Half of the cage was soaked. Being at the three week mark, I wanted to separate Ginny from the boys. I also needed to clean Bo-Bo's little cage, and give him a change. So, I gutted the bin and the wire cage. I re-introduced Bo-Bo to his kids. Introductions went very well. He is such a laid back little guy. Now Ginny is in the wire cage, and Bo-Bo is in the bin with the boys. The next set of photos I'll be taking will hopefully be of the first litter of babies individually (and Bo-Bo!). After that, we'll see what the next litter looks like. Stay tuned for updates!
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Old 01-27-2017, 10:48 AM   #20
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Oooer Alice a mum again. Hope her second litter are all healthy and happy when the time comes. She looks nice and round.

You will have quite a collection!
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