Hi guys; nice to meet you all! My name is Loz and I've been meaning to join for a while now after watching lovely Erinsanimals channel on YouTube and hearing her reccomend this forum. I'm probably a bit older than the usual hamster owner (31 in May, unfortunately!), but I needed a little friend to give me some companionship after my father recently passed away from kidney cancer, and although I desperately wanted a dog, I work most of the day and there is no one to walk it as I live alone, so it wouldn't be fair. Therfore, I figured a hamster would be the perfect pet, as I've owned three hamsters in the past and know quite a bit about how to care for them, and I really missed having one.
I got my first hamster, Tinker, when I was about twelve years old; he was from a local pet shop that really did not keep its animals in the best condition; he had been in a tiny cage with no toys, just food and water, and a pile of bedding to sleep in with no house or anything. He also clearly hadn't been handled and was very distrusting of humans. He was an albino Syrian with red eyes, and I think that plus his slightly aggressive nature had put people off from buying him, but I felt sorry for him and wanted to give him a chance. So we took him home; or, should I say, took HER home, as we found out later that Tinker was a female and had wrongly been sexed as a male, so she became Tinkerbell :P She never lost her distrust of humans and I was never able to handle her, but she would occasionally allow me to stroke her and would take food if I held it out to her. She was not the easiest hamster to take care of and would sometimes bite if I took her by surprise, but she lived until she was 4 and taught me a lot about hamsters, and I was pleased that I had been able to give her a happier life than she would have had in the pet shop.
I got another hamster shortly after Tinkerbell died, abd this time it was from a new pet shop that had just opened (the old one had been closed down). The new pet shop was, and still is, brilliant; the cages are nice and spacious and the staff really know how to care for hamsters, so I was happy to get my next one from there. This time it was another female Syrian; a cream one with black ears. I named her Nala, and she couldn't have been more different from Tinkerbell. She was sweet and friendly, and I was able to handle her very quickly after bringing her home. We had a very happy year together, but then I noticed she looked sore around her bottom so I took her to the vets. He gave her some antibiotics and told me to keep an eye on her, but she went downhill very quickly and was losing control of her bladder, so I took her back to the vet and sadly we had to put her to sleep
It took me a few more years to get over losing Nala, but eventually I was ready for my next hamster. I wasn't sure what colour I wanted, so I just popped down to the pet shop to see what they had and found a lovely little black and white female Syrian who I fell for instantly because of her inquisitive nature. I called her Drusilla, or Dru for short, after my favourite Buffy character :P Dru was a handful as she was into everything, but she loved being held and stroked and we had a good relationship. However, she loved to climb the bars of her cage and one day, she had a bad fall and landed on her head. I took her straight to the vets, but he said she hadnt suffered any injuries and appeared to be fine, so I took her home again. It soon became apparent that her injuries may have been more internal than external, as I started noticing her behaviour changing; she was always energetic, but now she was going crazy, constantly running in circles around her cage and backflipping out of her food bowl. I think she may have suffered some sort of brain damage, but as she wasn't in pain and was eating and drinking normally, both myself and the vet felt that there was no need to put her to sleep. She ended up having as nornal and happy a life as possible and lived until she was two and a half.
Dru died when I was about 18, and I haven't had another hamster since, until now. My current hamster is another black eyed, creamy coloured, male Syrian named Hamilton (I've been trying to find out the correct term for his colouring; I think it's yellow black as his fur is covered with black ticking) and he reminds me a lot of Nala. But his personality is definitely more like Dru; he's extremely energetic and curious and wants to run non-stop. It took me a while to get him used to being held, and although he will now let you pick him up and is content to walk from one hand to the other, he is always looking for a way to get out of your hands and on to the floor so he can run. He's a little troublemaker who will headbutt you and snuffle at you if he doesn't get his way, but he's very cute and I love his stubborn little personality. I believe he's around five to six months old currently.
If you've taken the time to read my very looooong introduction, thank you so much and I hope to be here for a long time! Can't wait to meet you all properly
Loz