My amazing gorgeous girl has been with us for a year! It might not sound like much of a cause for celebration, but she's been very special to me.
It's been such a crazy year! I was obsessed with finding a winter white hamster as my first ham and was not successful for some time--even getting my two white robos, being told they were winter whites... So when I heard a store in the area had a few, I rushed there. Miscalculated the route and took a bus to a totally wrong spot with the same street name. Ended up walking 40 minutes along highways to get to the store, and it was raining. I picked out Lucy right away--she was the chubbiest and was alone (others were in groups of 4). She did a loud screech at the guy who told me she was all friendly and tame, and I loved her An hour later, I walked out of the store with a warm cardboard box and called a taxi.
When I brought her home, she lived in a dresser drawer that I took out for a couple days until my first ever ZooZone 1 arrived (where my robo sisters went). Lucy moved into her Ware Natural and that was the last I saw of her... for a month and a half. Sure, she came out briefly to have a drink, but then she'd dash into one of her tunnels right away and that would be the end of it!
A very rare glimpse at the about-to-disappear Lucy:
I thought I would never break through her shyness, but over time, I made her a large bin cage, got her a Wodent Wheel, and with lots of modifications, she came out of her shell.
She would sleep in her wheel, sleep in her play pen--very lazy!
Then she started progressing to being very excited about being out. She couldn't wait to get off my hand and charge off to explore - a complete wild hamster on the loose She grew very confident and bold and loving adventures. Though she's never been a snuggly kind, she has a bond with me and stays near me for the first two minutes she's out, while I stroke her back and tell her it's okay to go out and explore. She really requires most of my bedroom floor to satisfy her love for dashing around.
Last October, after losing a lot of weight (59g -> 37g) Lucy was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, which means her kidneys were failing, and given a few months to live. I was devastated, as she was such a special girl to me, and I didn't want to lose her after everything we've been through to get her to become friendly and comfortable. I did a lot of research and changed her diet completely. It's March, and she's still with us, happy and active as ever! I don't expect her to make it to her second anniversary, as she's around a year and 5.5 months now by my estimates, but I'm so very pleased I've been able to share her life thus far.
So here's a video of my girlie getting a bit of millet spray as a treat, since she rarely gets "normal" hamster food nowadays.
edit: fixed the blacked-out last part of the video.
__________________
~ Maxwell ~ Hamilton ~ Tofu ~
Reward yourself and make a hamster in need happy - Consider Adoption!
Happy Anniversary Lucy. She's adorable ! The first picture is so perfect and shows her colouring beautifully. A big round of applause to you hamtastic. She looks amazing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are an amazing hamster mum. Little Lucy brings a tear to my eye when I think that if she hadn't got lucky enough to come home with you she most likely would be at the bridge by now. I love seeing pics and vids of her, and always want to know how she's getting on. Happy anniversary to you and to lovely Lucy, I hope she'll be here a long time yet, and with you as her mum I'm sure she will be xx
Happy First Anniversary, Lucy <3
An hour later, I walked out of the store with a warm cardboard box and called a taxi.
Re: Happy First Anniversary, Lucy <3
Linear Mode
