First Show - Some questions.....

[Louby]

Ok...so...tomorrow will be our first show, and we are bringing Alvin along and are going to enter him in pets.

I have bought him one of those little carry cases, am I ok to enter him in that, or shall I bring his cage?

What shall I put in his little case with him? A little bit of food, cucumber and some fluffy nesting stuff?

What happens about him drinking? We will be leaving home at about 7am and I don't expect us to be home much before 5pm...we he be ok with just his cucumber, or shall I bring a little bowl so he can have a drink?

Ummmmm....any tips for a first time show goer and pet class entrant gratefully received!

I am sooooo excited!!!! :D

[I_am_plankton]

Hi Louby

Carry case will be fine, put in big chunk of cucumber and should be alright, you don't need to bring anything else except a handful of food or a dog biscuit :)

I don't really have much advice except try and find the show sec, and when you approach the showground it is just after set of traffic lights, and the hamster tent is the first one.

[Jane]

The carry case will be fine for him - if his cage isn't too big and you'd rather bring that along then that would be find though.

In Charlie's carry cage (for pets) I put bedding, a big nest and a wooden bridge - he also has food in there.

For drinking I bring a water bottle with me, but I don't attach it to the cage until I get to the show otherwise it could leak everywhere on the journey. However, if you can't attach a water bottle then I'm sure a chunk of cucumber would be fine for him. Afterall, in the main show hamsters don't have water bottles.

There's not much to worry about really :wink: Okay, so I'm scared of even entering my hammies into pets, but when it happens it's fine (even though I do worry about them biting even though he never has).

[Louby]

Thankyou both,

Ok, so I will try and stay calm, and give Alvin a lovely big chunk of cucumber to keep him hydrated.

Jane, your carry case sounds brilliant...room for toys and everything? :shock:

Alvins Cucumber will probably be clonking him on the head in his! :roll:

[Yaffle]

ooooh you're first show, very exciting :D

Alvin will be fine in a carry case with cucumber. My only tip would be to try and speak to as many people as possible, don't be shy, everyone will be really nice and pleased to help you :D

[Mollz]

Bet your so excited :D

Yep, what everyone has said is right, a bit of veg will be plenty to keep him hydrated and you could also put a small sprinkling of food or a dog biscuit.

The bes tip though is to not be too shy. I was terrible to begin with and realise that it would have been so much better if I'd just been brave and spoke to people. I remember Sue trying to talk to me at Bath - I was terrified :shock: Sue knows most of us, so you can ask her who we are and I'm sure she'll point us out :D

[Louby]

To be honest, I think I may burst! :shock:

I'm going to have to go to bed in a minute, as I know that I will be laid there for ages, and I am doing the driving tomorrow, so I need to be awake and alert!

I just keep trying to tell myself that I must ONLY come home with Cupcake...NO MORE! James will be with me though, so I don't think i'd get away with any more than her tomorrow anyway. :(

But if there is a little older one...needing a loving home...how can I resist??

Thankyou for all your help guys, and I will see some of you in the morning!

I'll be in a big black long coat, pink and purple spotted wellies, and probably dragging a man and a 3 year old along while i'm squealing....WERE HERE!!! :lol:

[Mollz]

I know - I am always so tired on the day of the show as I can't sleep the night before (brain is too active :roll: )!

I will try to look out for you, what time are you planning on getting there? Also, what should I call you in real life (Louise?)? I was scared about asking Leanne if she was who I thought she was because I didn't want to go up to her and say "Hello, are you Plankton?", incase it wasn't her lol :x

I predict you will be coming home with two new ones personally :x there are normally one or two older ones (or there were at Thame anyway!).

[Louby]

Call me Louise or Louby, people call me both in 'normal' life! :D

You will probably find me at the sales table for the whole day, so you needent look far.

Were leaving at about 7am, so should be there for about 9am (in theory!)

If I do come home with 2, does that mean I can blame you for predicting it??? :wink:

Can't wait to see who you come home with too....don't you have a few spare cages???

[I_am_plankton]

It will be a good day tomorrow, I'll be wearing black Lou and book stewarding but I don't know if for syrians or dwarfs yet (say hello though as sometimes when I'm involved with the judge I don't really notice who is around lol)

It is a really big show, lots of tents and things to see, me Pete and Chris were really surprised at how many things there seemed to be

[Mollz]

Call me Louise or Louby, people call me both in 'normal' life! :D

You will probably find me at the sales table for the whole day, so you needent look far.

Were leaving at about 7am, so should be there for about 9am (in theory!)

If I do come home with 2, does that mean I can blame you for predicting it??? :wink:

Can't wait to see who you come home with too....don't you have a few spare cages???

Feel free to blame me!!
Yep we have some spare cages at the moment (although 1 is for mum's new boy!) :D

[Mollz Mum]

First shows are very exciting and a little bit scary.

We were incredibly nervous for our first one (Bath) and really didn't know what to do. We did stick around for a snack and cuppa, but then left as we didn't know what was expected of us. Loads of people talked to us, even though we didn't know who anyone was.

Just introduce yourself to people and Molly and I will look out for you. We are still meeting people from the forum for the first time, it's lovely to put faces to names.
And once you are into it, it really feels like a close community, I'm now hooked on logging on and chatting to everyone! It's even more fun once you've met them.

Try not to go to bed too early, as Molly says, we never sleep anyway!

[Bourne Valley Hams]

It will be a good day tomorrow, I'll be wearing black Lou and book stewarding but I don't know if for syrians or dwarfs yet (say hello though as sometimes when I'm involved with the judge I don't really notice who is around lol)

It is a really big show, lots of tents and things to see, me Pete and Chris were really surprised at how many things there seemed to be

I think you are doing dwarfs Leanne - Andrew has his 'favourite' book stewards and I think he has added you to his list!! :lol:

[Louby]

James calls me a hamster addict already....goodness knows what he will do if I get worse after tomorrow! :shock:

Ok...i'm off to bed to read Hamsterlopaedia....see you in the morning fellow hamster addicts!! :wink:

[I_am_plankton]

I think you are doing dwarfs Leanne - Andrew has his 'favourite' book stewards and I think he has added you to his list!! :lol:

Ooh how embarrassing!! :oops:

I like doing things for Andrew as he is a very good consistant judge.

I've only ever pen stewarded for Jean so would be nice to steward for her sometime too :)

I can't wait til tomorrow - I hope we get chance to look at the birds of prey, mind you there are enough wild Buzzards around the Monmouth area, I kept looking at them today :D

[Bourne Valley Hams]

James calls me a hamster addict already....goodness knows what he will do if I get worse after tomorrow! :shock:

Ok...i'm off to bed to read Hamsterlopaedia....see you in the morning fellow hamster addicts!! :wink:
Goodnight -see you in the morning! :D

[Mollz]

Yep, see you in the morning Louise - and everyone else too!! :D

[Bunsey]

wow, that's an honour plankton! i think if i book stewarded I'd be staring at the hams going "awww... cutie" and forget to write anything :oops:

it takes a great deal of restraint not to squeel "awww, look at that one" every time the judge picks one up at a show anyway! my mum say i bruise her by grabbing her arm every time there's a cute ham! how many years does it take to get over that? :lol: