Gaby's Thread

[Razor]

Thank you Thin Lizzy!

[Razor]

It has been a long time since my last post! Here's what we've been up to of late.

I finished my hike through the North of Sweden sometime last week, after having walked 300kms. I was so very eager to get back to my city and meet Gaby again! That was pretty much the only thing I was thinking about the whole way back! The first thing I did when I got back was go straight to my friend's place (who was ham-sitting Gaby) and see Gaby. Gaby was sleeping when I got there, but when I called out to her a few times, she woke up, but didn't come out to greet me. I suppose she was quite mad at me!

My friend tempted her out of her nest with a sunflower seed. Gaby got out, grabbed the sunflower seed and ignored my friend completely after that. She walked straight to my hand, gave me a nice long sniff, and then, a soft nip, and finally, she started licking every last corner of the fingers! And then, hopped onto my palm and cuddled! We cuddled alright, a lot! Gaby did not want to get off me, nor did I want to keep her back in. She was so excited, running all over my hands and shoulders, and ignoring everything else. No treats from my friend could slow her down. She was bolting at the speed of light all over me! I couldn't help but cry from the happiness of watching the pure joy in Gaby! It was the most beautifuls thing I have seen all summer. None of the magnificent sights I experienced in three weeks of hiking could have prepared me or matched such a beautiful moment.

We then moved Gaby back into my apartment, but this was only to be temporary as I was moving to my new apartment in two days. Would have been less stressful for Gaby to move twice, but sadly I didn't have much of a choice. Nevertheless, we moved to the new apartment two days later. Poor Gaby was was so stressed and in shock for nearly four days. Barely socializing or coming out of her nest when I was around. But soon she started calming down, bit by bit, and became a lot more confident. The Gaby inside Gaby started coming out once again. My little cuddle monster was reborn. She started eating mealworms again from me like normal, hopping onto my hand to play and cuddle. As usual, I let my little girl run freely around my place and she sure was excited and curious with all the new changes in the new apartment.

I decided to record a video of Gaby running around on my new couch, exploring, climbing, jumping and bolting at the speed of light, and finally, finishing off with a quadzillion cuddles.

[Pebbles82]

Lovely news She is so fast running around! I like the bit where her head pops up above the cushion. She has lovely markings as well. Glad she has settled again and is pleased to see you.

[mzwiwy]

Soooo cute!

[cypher]

It must have been so lovely to be reunited with little Gaby after your break, good to hear she's got over the stress of all the changes & is back to her normal self now.
She really is so cute running around the couch, quite the intrepid little explorer!

[BorisPasha]

Gaby is so brave, having a good explore. I like the way she's taking it, quite literally, all in her stride

You must have missed her so much when you were away but I'm glad she's adjusted to the changes so well, just shows what a strong bond you have with each other

[Thin Lizzy]

Congratulations on finishing your hike and being reunited with Gaby.
I can't see the video as there's nothing to click on.

[dreamtree1234]

I'm so glad that you are having a wonderful time on your adventure and getting to take in so many breathtaking sights. That pic is totally awesome, and hiking at midnight sounds like such a wonderful experience. I'm so sorry that your attempts to talk to your darling Gaby hasn't been successful thus far; hopefully, the timing will be right the next time you schedule a call with your friend. It is wonderful that your buddy has been taking such excellent care of her and you are able to receive lovely pics of your heart-ham, too. That is so kind of your friend to send them to you. I'm so sorry that you and Gaby are missing each other so much but it is just because you two have such an amazing, loving bond with one another. Your relationship is truly beautiful and felt by us all. I'm sure that your reunion will be absolutely incredible. Have fun on the rest of your trek and best of luck on your next phone attempt to Gaby.

* * * * *
Lol, I just realized that I didn't notice the next page prior to me posting the stuff above. Hahaha, I feel absolutely silly now! I am so glad that your final portion of the journey went so well and your reunion with Gaby was so heartfelt and touching. I totally understand what you mean. I was away from my precious Eros for a few weeks due to us both being on vacation, and our reunion brought tears to my eyes just like your with Gaby did. There is nothing that can compare or brings us as much joy as being with those we love.

Congrats on your move, too! I'm so sorry that Gaby had a hard time at first, but I'm relieved that she is back to her usual adventuresome self again. I totally loved seeing the video of her exploring the couch in your new home. She is truly the great explorer and is a perfect match for you. I had the largest smile on my face just watching her adventure on the couch; she is quite the adventurer and I love her.

[Razor]

Thank you Serendipity7000, mzwiwy, cypher, BorisPasha, Thin Lizzy and dreamtree1234. I'm really relieved as well that she was able to adjust to all the changes that happened so quickly and all at once. I did feel really bad about it for quite a while for putting her through this. Now that she's back to her usual routines, perhaps with a few additions makes me really happy.
Thin Lizzy here's a link to the video!
Indeed dreamtree1234! I couldn't agree with you more on that, there's nothing that can bring us more heartfelt joy than in a reunion with our loved ones, no matter how small or big they might be! After all, there is no bond more pure and unconditional as that with our beloved pets.

I guess I have grown quite fond of shooting videos of my little Gaby over pictures. This week is a video again. While in the process of moving between apartments, I dropped by the only pet store in the city that I feel somewhat comfortable with to buy Gaby a little gift. Most of the stuff felt quite boring, until I walked into the reptile section where I found this huge cork tunnel! I guess it's slightly over 30cm in length and has a diameter of probably 6-7cm. A bit overpriced but I thought she might like it, so I bought it and treated it to a rinse in hot water and a week in the freezer, before placing it into the Gaby's palace.

She sure was excited about it! She woke up pretty much the instant I placed it into her cage and subject it to her highly scientific sniff and nibble test. She gave every inch of the log a very very thorough sniff, inside and outside. Once she felt that section had passed the sniff test, she then does the nibble test, where she would nibble a section for a bit, think for a bit before approving it and moving onto the next section. She did this for a full 15 minutes! Just watching her go about this cracked me up and I found myself struggling to control my laughter at my silly little girl's test. Eventually the cork tunnel received the prestigious and exclusive stamp of approval by Gaby and was officially inducted into her palace.

Here's Gaby meticulously performing her highly scientific test. I just found the choice of song to be sort of cute for the video.



Here's a direct link to the video if you're unable to view the embedded video.

Among other things, while I was searching for Gaby's new toy, I decided to give another pet store a chance. Went in, inspected their live animals first, checking the conditions they were kept in etc. Only after I felt the enclosure (a back room, with sound isolation) was satisfactory did I start looking at the toys and other things they had there. I asked one of the staff a couple of questions, who's answers just infuriated me. I tell them Please don't tell this nonsense to customers who are new to hamster care, you're basically sentencing the poor animals to a stressful life. I can give you a link to the website of the National Hamster Council of UK, they have good tips. And her reply was just downright arrogant and unprofessional "This is Sweden, I don't care about animal welfare in other countries."
I was so angry at that, I made it my life's mission to find the equivalent for Sweden so that I could rub into her face so that, hopefully, they would start sharing correct information to the customers. Perhaps a good thing I did, because I have found this along with the list of all registered breeders in Sweden. Here's a link to the website. I will also share the link for the sticky thread so that others here can be benefitted from it. The website is in Swedish, but you can always use Google translate to read it in English. They were founded in 1982 and serve all species of Hamsters and Gerbils.

[dreamtree1234]

I'm so glad that Gaby enjoyed her cork tunnel so much. That video of her thoroughly testing its worthiness for being officially inducted into her palace was so awesome to watch and very, VERY funny indeed. She is surely very thorough so her stamp of approval is even more prestigious to receive, lol. I also love that she decided to shove her cute cheek pouches with tissues at the end of the video. She is too cuteness overload.

I'm so sorry that you had to experience such a rude and uncaring employee at the pet store; that is so sad that there are people like that who just don't care enough about the welfare of the animals that they are selling to at least look into the standards for those animals. That is also extremely unprofessional of her to treat you in such an obnoxious manner. That truly is sad and very upsetting. She should be thanking you for helping to educate her in animal care so she will be able to better inform her customers and make both pet owners and pets happier in the long run. This, in turn, will also make the store's business thrive because people always want to purchase items and animals from the most informed and caring people possible.