31 Days of October

[dreamtree1234]

Just catching up on your lovely thread, SKB! It's sure to be such an amazing and entertaining thread, and I look very much forward to it. Pumpkin looks so gorgeous in all of her training photos. It is hard to believe that she ever was a trembling little ham as she now is so brave, confident, and happy. It is due to all of your love and attention. I so love your amusing and gorgeous Pumpkin. She always puts a huge smile on my face!

I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your first pet Lavender and your brother's first pet Poppy! They were two incredibly gorgeous and adorable piggies. They sounded so sweet, too. I'm sure they had such a wonderful life with you, your brother, and your entire family. My favorite pic of them together is the first one on your 2nd post. My favorite pics of Poppy are the two on the left side of post #3; and my favorites of Lavender are the top two of the same post. I'm sorry that you have such bad hay fever and asthma as I know any piggies will be truly blessed to have you as their mum.

[cypher]

Lovely photos again, Lavender had such a sweet expressive face & Poppy looks to be enjoying herself outside there too.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Thank you dreamtree and cypher.

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4th – Honey and Caramel

Honey and Caramel were my first hamsters who I welcomed home on the 29th November 2007. Prior to bringing Honey and Caramel I had been trying to convince my parents to allow me to get a hamster ever since they said me and my brother could get a pet. Although I wasn’t allowed a hamster this didn’t stop me researching and finally in October 2007, I was informed that I could finally could get a hamster as long as I proved I would be responsible enough as well as following a few rules for a month before I was allowed to get my very first hamsters.

I loved Honey and Caramel from the moment I brought them home, they were really tiny (as I was so used to guinea-pigs) and adorable. They both started my love for hamsters, and on the 29th November this year will mark my 10 year anniversary of owning hamsters.

Honey and Caramel weren’t overly keen on being handled and they were only happy to be handled if I wore gloves otherwise they used to bite. However I didn’t mind to much that they didn’t want to be handled to often as I still had Lavender at the time so I could give her cuddles however I did thoroughly used to enjoy watching them in both their cage and playpen – I especially loved watching they rolling around in their sand bath!

Although Honey and Caramel looked very similar I could easy tell them apart one way I could tell them apart was by their dorsal stripes – Caramel was very thin whereas Honey was slightly thicker.

Here are a few of my favourite photos of both Honey and Caramel when they happily lived together …

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The top left photo is a photo I took soon after I brought them home – I only recently managed to find were I had those photos stored as they weren’t in my folder labelled “Honey and Caramel” – after seeing that photo I decided to look to see if I could find that lion house in my hamster storage in my loft but sadly I couldn’t find it – so I decided I had to buy another lion house as it brings back so many wonderful memories of them both even if it isn’t the one they used.

[dreamtree1234]

Aww, Caramel and Honey were just too cute! Thanks for sharing the story of your first two hammies, SKB. It sounds like they were quite the pair, lol. I just totally love the last pic of the two of them popping their heads out from their purple snuggly beds. Their expressions were totally priceless and showed that that they were quite entertaining. That pic definitely made me laugh. The top left pic was so sweet one snuggling inside the lion house and the other wondering how to get inside it, too. I'm glad that you were able to purchase another one; it's always extra special to see another ham enjoying the stuff that was so beloved by other hams who had passed even if it isn't the exact same one used previously. The pic with Caramel and Honey racing each other on the wheel was funny, too. I wonder who usually won the race?

[cypher]

What a lovely start to your life with hamsters SKB, your girls look adorable
Really enjoyed reading about their time with you & seeing the photos, what great memories they have left you with

[Thin Lizzy]

So loved seeing more pics of Lavender & Poppy, so very cute and super soft.
Aww at Caramel & Honey. What little sweethearts.

[SabreRose]

Absolutely love that picture of Honey and Caramel on the wheel together.
They look like such little sweeties!

[SKB_Hamsters]

Thank You dreamtree, cypher, Thin Lizzy and SabreRose.

Honey and Caramel were such a lovely start to owning hamsters even though they were small they had such huge special and unique personalities. They have both left me with so many wonderful memories - it a shame I didn’t take that many photos of them but the ones I have got I really treasure.

I too also loved seeing them both run in their wheels beside one another – even when they had two wheel they would happily run side by side. Dreamtree – I don’t know who used to win their race in the wheel but it may have probably been Honey as she was far more energetic than Caramel – despite being in the lead in that photo.

It was so cute seeing both Honey and Caramel asleep inside their lion house, when they were babies it was an okay size for them (also in their first cage – which was tiny! – I didn’t have room for a larger house) however as they got older and had a larger cage they both used to snuggle together in a nest beneath their shelf. I did consider doing a photoshoot with Pumpkin with the lion house but when it got delivered I thought it might be a bit too small for her. However it looks really nice on the shelves I have above Pumpkin cage which I use to store all my hamster house and hideaways on.

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5th – Honey and Caramel (continued)

Today I thought I would share a little more about their very special personalities.

Honey, was my dominant girl although she was slightly smaller than Caramel. Honey was more active and energetic than her sister– this meant I would see her more often out exploring, foraging and running in the wheel than I did Caramel. Honey to was less keen about being handled out of them both.

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Whereas Caramel was my lazy girl – she loved her sleep as well as her food! – When they both still lived together when Honey was out and about foraging, I would often hear Caramel eating food that they had buried in their nest instead. Caramel was a more laid back girl and slightly friendlier than her sister – she was more happy to climb into my hand and after I separated them after a bad fight (which left Caramel with several bite wounds around her neck – so decided they would best be separated) she made lots of progress with taming until she left to go to the bridge. Although they both loved their sunflower seeds, playtimes and sand baths!

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[cypher]

Both such lovely characters in their own ways, it sounds as though they were happy & enjoying living together for some time , shame you had to separate them after a while but a great bonus that you got to spend more time with Caramel after that.
Great photos of them both, I think the first of each set are my favourites

[SKB_Hamsters]

Thank You cypher, both those photos of Honey and Caramel are the ones I have framed on my wall to remember them both by. As it was my first time owning a pair of dwarf hamsters that I wasn’t initially aware that they could fall out and fight – they lived together for over a year so I was shocked when they woke me up early one morning with lots of squeaking coming from their cage and seeing Honey biting Caramel, I knew instantly they needed to be separated – since owning a pair I don’t think I would ever own a pair of dwarf hamsters again.

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6th – Cotton

Cotton was my 3rd hamster but 1st Syrian. On the 3rd August 2009. Cotton was named after her little white feet which reminded me of white cotton socks – so I thought her name perfectly suited her and also she was so soft too!

Cotton was an intelligent girl – she was always amazing me with her intelligence. She soon learnt how to let herself out of the metal playpen which was a lot easier than climbing up the sides – she would lift up one of the panels which closed the playpen and pushed it therefore letting herself out. This was so funny to watch – she has remained the only girls who have ever done this.

I was very nervous about taming Cotton – and I think she could sense that. During Cotton first taming sessions she was happy to climb into my hand this made my confidence grow but then she bit me and this completely knocked my confidence. However Cotton took the matters of taming into her own paws and she invented my taming method. Well I never quite realised that Syrians hamsters could easily climb up the side of a metal playpen – so when she reached the top I offered my hand and placed her back into the playpen. This quickly became a habit and I quickly became confident in handling Cotton. This is still the method I use to tame my girls and it has worked wonders even with my most nervous and fearful girl, Toffee.

Here are a few photos from her taming sessions – look at her adorable white cottonsocks!

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