It's been alluded to enough that I figured I should make them a thread!
Pekoe comes from Nancy, and was born in July, a day before my birthday. Amaretto is from the A14 litter, that Nancy also bred, but we reared. Both have fantastic personalities, with Pekoe being an active cuddle seeker and adventurer and Amaretto being a calm, cuddly smoosh. Amaretto has the size card on his side, and a nice broad head, so I'm hoping he throws that onto the pups.
Here is Pekoe a few days before we bred her:
She is a black tort banded. By the nice ticking on her yellow, we assume she does not carry for cream, but might carry for cinnamon.
This is Amaretto a few weeks back:
You can tell he's a lady's man, no?
He also might carry for cinnamon, but definitely carries for black.
We bred them late on the 14th of December. It was our first in-home breeding, so it was kinda fun (and a bit weird, to be honest) to sit, wait, and watch them mate.
This is kinda one of my favourite pictures right now. I bet Pekoe was saying "I thought there would be dinner first!" while Amaretto is clearly interested in other things!
We expect pups on Dec. 30th, however, I am hoping they come a bit late that evening, after midnight, so I can say they were born Dec. 31st - New Years Eve.
This is the latest picture I have of Pekoe, at day 7. She's already started to get small baby bumps, and has jumped quite a bit in weight, around 25g now.
She's in her proper birthing bin now, and in the living room, away from the other hams. She had quite a fun time digging and exploring in it last evening. She is always keen for a cuddle though, and I can't go in and fill her food dish without her trying to climb on my hand.
Pekoe will be a fantastic mum, and we're majorly excited for her litter. We already have a waiting list (which is big news for a starting hamstery!) and one of the people on it is our own DanniDorrito. Another member is part of a different hamster forum.
Both my SO and I are excited!