night and day. . . .

[matty]

it's been almost a week since norman and mohammed came to live with us. after a day of squabbling, we decided they may not be the best cage-mates. mohammed had kicked norman out of the house. . . and god-forbid, if norman was taking a drink when mohammed was thirsty. but, they make better neighbors, so all is well.

norman has come a long way. we woke up this evening so we wanted to give him a run in his ball. up 'til now, we could only get him in by placing the ball in the cage and waiting 'til he climbed in. but today i stuck my hand in and after a moment of investigating, he climbed right in! i was so happy and proud. he's such a good boy.

mohammed on the other hand. . . . his cage rage makes it impossible to pick him up. in fact, he attacks while placing the ball in the cage. he's a little more leery of it, even after calming down. but eventually, curiosity takes over and he climbs in the ball. from there, he's great. he'll climb out of the ball into your hand and let you hold him, and he's okay going back into the cage via your hand. but once he's loose and realizes where he is--and where you are, all hell breaks loose.

at the PetSmart, we were sure to pick two hamsters that we could tell apart. normand has a white tail, mohammed a grey. the salesperson thought we were a little crazy, but she did say that their personalities would differentiate them. boy, was she right! all-in-all, we're so happy!