Hi everybody!
I've been lurking on this forum for a while (and I am so happy to have found such an active and resourceful community!)
I thought I would share my journey with my first hamster, as I particularly enjoy those types of posts/videos and I figured that other people would like them too
Background story:
I've always wanted to have a hamster; I was a big fan of the kids cartoon 'Hamtaro' as a kid, but my parents wouldn't let me have a hamster because of all the unknown attached to it (they had never owned one) and also since I was just a kid >.<
Anyway, 3 weeks ago I saw a really cute hamster video on my newsfeed and I suddenly felt that my life would be incomplete without a hamham in it!
So I started doing lots of research (google) on hammys, different breeds, temperament, cages, toys, sexes, needs etc, after which, I was convinced that a hamham would be the pet for me: I sleep at 4 am and wake up at noon (postgrad student life), I like to eat, have chubby cheeks and don't like noise.
So anyway, I then tried to find out where I could buy a hamster in my country (I live on an island). I browsed through all the groups on FB (don't judge) that I could find, and my boyfriend and I drove to two different petshops near our region but couldn't find a hamham I wanted. Most of them seemed very old, some had eyes that wouldn't open and missing patches of fur, well they didn't look healthy and I didn't want to get an unhealthy hamster for my first time.
I live in a small country, and we don't have many shops that sell hamsters. I was getting quite sad until a friend of mine recommended someone to me and after getting in touch with him, it turns out that he did have some hamsters on sale and actually just got a new litter of dwarf hammys! I was overjoyed! At the time I got in touch with him, he said that they were only 2.5 weeks old and that they would only be available in 2 more weeks.
Everything was great, except for two 'details' - his shop is over 1 hour drive from where I live and since there were only 6 babies, 4 of them had already been "reserved". So basically, if i wanted to get one, I had to reserve it ahead!
I didn't want to commit to buying a hamster without seeing it first(which is quite expensive, since it is a dwarf, and hamsters are already not that common in my country) due to the common reasons.
Seeing IT
So anyway, we finally made time in our schedules to make the hour+ drive to the shop this Saturday and it was love at first sight! It was about 5:30 pm and he was sniffing and walking around, seemed quite curious and even came to say hi to us! (Definitely not shy). We found out that 5 out of the 6 babies had been reserved already and that he was the only one left. There was only one boy in the litter and for some reason, everyone else preferred to take females, which REALLY suited me because I wanted a male! (Didn't want to risk unwanted pregnancy, and I read that males are less smelly)
It was fated!
The shop assistant even held it and there was no biting.
Unfortunately, we couldn't take the hamham back with us because it was too young. The shop assistants said that we could come back in one week.
My boyfriend 'reserved' the hamham for me and here I am, writing all this in huge anticipation and excitement
Thank you for reading all of this, and I will now reward you all with pics of this cutie pie!
Meet 'hamham' (I'm not sure what to name him yet), it is a HE, tiny 3.5 weeks old dwarf hamster half hiding in the tunnel!
*see post #3, sorry I didn't know how to upload pictures!*
Isn't he so precious?
He is soooo tiny though! (My BF says that he's like me, coz i'm 5'3 ._.) Even his parents are tiny!
Yes, I was able to see his parents too. His mom looks like a normal/tiger winter white and his dad is beige-orangey which is not with the usual 'pattern' of a WW, identifying rather more like a campbell dwarf, with red eyes.
Here is a closer pic of my future hamham's fur pattern:
*see post #3, sorry I didn't know how to upload pictures!*
The mom, dad and hamhams are definitely dwarves, but I think that (sadly) my hamham might be a hybrid, although leaning more towards the winter white side. (any thoughts?)
I am so excited to bring him back home! (We're thinking of getting him on the 1st May)
I still need to buy him his cage, etc etc. I already ordered a Trixie 11 inch wheel, Trixie water bottle and Hamster sand for him. I hope that they arrive fast enough!
I am thinking of making a bin cage for him, since he is so tiny and i suspect he might be able to squeeze through any bars! (Also because I don't want him to chew on his cage bars)
I will post updates about which cage I settle on, which toys I will be getting, etc etc throughout this week and hopefully I can get some input!
It's my first time owning a hamster, and although I have done extensive research, nothing is better than personalised advice/input
I'm sorry if it was posted in the wrong section of the forum, but I wasn't quite sure where to post it, since I am not sure of his breed either, and the shop assistant didn't seem to know the differences between the various dwarf species ^^''
Hello! Newbie hamster owner to be!
Re: Hello! Newbie hamster owner to be!
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