Kenzieayyyee
12-17-2019, 11:28 AM
So the newest addition to my family is my Syrian hamster, Fig. Shes got a bit of a weird backstory. WARNING: some kinda gross stuff u guess? Nothing major just icky.
Fig is my Christmas miracle. I found her at the beginning of December, 2019. So this year. Now I say found because I literally mean FOUND. At around 11 PM my friend was dropping me off at my house. We were talking in her car for a minute when I looked over to see what I at first thought was a plastic cup blowing around. I realized it wasnt windy enough for a cup to blow that fast so that couldn't be it. Then I saw what I thought was a rat by one of my trash can lids. My friend, who also owns hams, pointed out that rats dont really come in those colors and that it looked like a hamster.
We got out of the car to get a closer look and wouldn't you know it, it was. Given that its December and I live in Pennsylvania, it's pretty cold at that time of night. That also happened to be the first snow of the year that night.
I ran upstairs to my room mates and asked if they'd let a hamster go. They hadn't, thankfully. Me and my friend knew this hamster wouldn't survive the night if she was left out like that so we sprung into action. I got a bunch of treats and food and and a towel to try to catch her. She wasnt making it easy as she had found a small hole in the corner of the porch that she was sheltering in.
It took a lot of coaxing and sitting very still and quiet in the cold but eventually I managed to grab her. She was immediately wrapped in a towel and taken inside to a bathroom so we were away from the cat. So here we are sitting on the bathroom floor with a hamster in a bin with bedding and a quarter cup measuring spoon with food. Were pretty sure the only thing that kept her going that night was adrenalin. Her pouches were full. Stuffed to the brim. We knew there had to be non food items in there. Unfortunately we were right. She had what looked like coffee filters and cigarette butts in her mouth when she finally spit the stuff out for a yogurt treat.
We inspected her after she spat out some nasty stuff and ate a little. She was so so thin especially for a Syrian. It was clear that she had either been out for a few days or that she wasnt taken care of in the first place. She has patches of fur that looked like they were cut with scissors so due to that we assumed the latter. We texted around seeing if anyone had lost a ham. No one. So it came down to if my friend or I would be keeping her. My friend already has 2 of her own so i took this baby in.
Luckily my other hamster that I've had for a while is pretty spoiled so even though I'm a broke college student I I had the means to provide a comfortable set up for her in a bin cage. The only thing missing is a wheel unfortunately. But I'm going home for Christmas and having one over nighted so i can actually get her the proper sized wheel. Since she dosent have one I take her out and let her have supervised runs in a pen every day.
Despite everything she has gone through she has never ever tried to bite. She has the sweetest demeanor and is such a gentle thing. Shes very, very nervous. She jumps easily and is very skittish still but I'm doing my best working with her. She gets daily snuggles and treats and shes even getting used to me holding her for longer periods of time and she no longer tries to jump out of my hands. She needs a lot of work but I'm more than happy to do that if it means shes gonna get a good life. Shes already putting on weight and her personality is coming out more every day.
I love her with all my heart. I named her Fig after the God Dionysus. But also because figgy pudding. Shes my newest baby and I'm gonna give her the best life i can.
If anyone has any advice about handling rescues like this I'd really appreciate it.
Have a great day and thanks if you read this :)
-kenzie
Fig is my Christmas miracle. I found her at the beginning of December, 2019. So this year. Now I say found because I literally mean FOUND. At around 11 PM my friend was dropping me off at my house. We were talking in her car for a minute when I looked over to see what I at first thought was a plastic cup blowing around. I realized it wasnt windy enough for a cup to blow that fast so that couldn't be it. Then I saw what I thought was a rat by one of my trash can lids. My friend, who also owns hams, pointed out that rats dont really come in those colors and that it looked like a hamster.
We got out of the car to get a closer look and wouldn't you know it, it was. Given that its December and I live in Pennsylvania, it's pretty cold at that time of night. That also happened to be the first snow of the year that night.
I ran upstairs to my room mates and asked if they'd let a hamster go. They hadn't, thankfully. Me and my friend knew this hamster wouldn't survive the night if she was left out like that so we sprung into action. I got a bunch of treats and food and and a towel to try to catch her. She wasnt making it easy as she had found a small hole in the corner of the porch that she was sheltering in.
It took a lot of coaxing and sitting very still and quiet in the cold but eventually I managed to grab her. She was immediately wrapped in a towel and taken inside to a bathroom so we were away from the cat. So here we are sitting on the bathroom floor with a hamster in a bin with bedding and a quarter cup measuring spoon with food. Were pretty sure the only thing that kept her going that night was adrenalin. Her pouches were full. Stuffed to the brim. We knew there had to be non food items in there. Unfortunately we were right. She had what looked like coffee filters and cigarette butts in her mouth when she finally spit the stuff out for a yogurt treat.
We inspected her after she spat out some nasty stuff and ate a little. She was so so thin especially for a Syrian. It was clear that she had either been out for a few days or that she wasnt taken care of in the first place. She has patches of fur that looked like they were cut with scissors so due to that we assumed the latter. We texted around seeing if anyone had lost a ham. No one. So it came down to if my friend or I would be keeping her. My friend already has 2 of her own so i took this baby in.
Luckily my other hamster that I've had for a while is pretty spoiled so even though I'm a broke college student I I had the means to provide a comfortable set up for her in a bin cage. The only thing missing is a wheel unfortunately. But I'm going home for Christmas and having one over nighted so i can actually get her the proper sized wheel. Since she dosent have one I take her out and let her have supervised runs in a pen every day.
Despite everything she has gone through she has never ever tried to bite. She has the sweetest demeanor and is such a gentle thing. Shes very, very nervous. She jumps easily and is very skittish still but I'm doing my best working with her. She gets daily snuggles and treats and shes even getting used to me holding her for longer periods of time and she no longer tries to jump out of my hands. She needs a lot of work but I'm more than happy to do that if it means shes gonna get a good life. Shes already putting on weight and her personality is coming out more every day.
I love her with all my heart. I named her Fig after the God Dionysus. But also because figgy pudding. Shes my newest baby and I'm gonna give her the best life i can.
If anyone has any advice about handling rescues like this I'd really appreciate it.
Have a great day and thanks if you read this :)
-kenzie