One new floof baby or two?

[Gemma_xo]

Firstly, I do hope this is in the right place, if not I'm more then happy to have it moved or I can delete it and move it myself, mods, just say the word and it shall be done!

Now Pixie and Tinkerbell have both passed on (I miss you both loads!), I have two single IKEA Billy cages (see ErinsHamster's guide video here).
Now I'm only interested in homing Dwarf Hamsters, these cages aren't suitable for a Syrian, even if they were joined up.

So, my question here is what would you do in my situation, given the fact that a cremation with urn returned to me is costing between £80-£90 a time. (So that's been £80 for Pixie's and £94 for Tinkerbell's) in the past 4 months alone, I didn't have time to build back the vet fund prior to Pixie's passing so I've had to loan money for it. I have three options that I'm considering, I just need some help picking the right one.

Please bear in mind my vet fund gets £10 every month (at least, I get my money fortnightly so I make a point of a monthly deposit at the very least, I'll add another £10 each month IF I can afford to)

1) Get another two hamsters considering I have two cage set ups with enough food / treats / accessories to keep an army of hamsters.
2) Get one hamster and just keep one at a time for the rest of forever by making one long cage by joining the two current single IKEA hack cages.
3) Donate everything I have to a local animal charity to avoid this absolute faff.


Now, cremation costs. I do not have a garden. I live on a park to the back of my flat and a car park to the front, I don't really want to bury my furbabies in a park for obvious reasons. I'd like the hamsters home when they do pass away, at the moment I have Tinkerbell's casket in a glass cabinet where Pixie's will soon join her, however, my friend has pointed out that I will eventually run out of space and up to two new caskets every two years will soon mount up and become overwhelming and eventually more depressing then helpful. So the idea I had was to get a planter outside of my door and get them cremated and put their ashes into the plant pot so they are "home" but, also not going to build up a casket collection in my (one bedroom) flat.

So, with that I ask this question. What would you do?

1) Get one hamster so it's near enough half the cost
1a) Casket
1b) Plant pot idea
2) Cremate the hamster(s) but get a scatter tube instead of a casket and do the ashes in plant pot idea. I think it's estimated at £40-£60 each for a scatter tube)
3) Get them cremated but don't get the ashes (still around £10-£30 if I remember rightly)


NOTE: I will call the vets I use tomorrow (Thursday UK time) and see if I can get exact costs and edit this post with a little more accuracy.


I am sorry this is so long winded but I have literally got two people in my social circle who have both (that's the joys of a couple I guess) basically said "get one, cheaper on death and don't get ashes back on cremation, cheaper and less creepy" which I felt was SERIOUSLY unsympathetic and overly biased due to money, despite the fact I will be saving up a vet fund in a couple months (got to pay back the £100 I loaned before I can restart the vet fund), and I figured you guys would be able to offer more help due to some of you being in the same situation if not similar.

Thank you in advance.

[cypher]

I would be inclined to just get one hamster to begin with, you can always think about getting another at some point if you feel you want two, losing both Pixie & Tinkerbell is a lot to come to terms with & concentrating on one ham may be easier for now & if you are concerned about finances there would be less worry then too.
I really like the planter idea, it would be a lovely memorial for your hams as well as being a practical solution.

[flowerfairy]

I have buried both Flower and Fairy (roborovskis rip) in plant pots and think of them often when I go into the garden. I think a planter is a lovely way to remember a hamster.

I would also be inclined to start with one hamster and take it from there. Very best of luck.

[velma]

I would say, like cypher, get just the one in one cage & if you have space keep the other cage for now. You could always use it as a play pen or somewhere to pop your hamster for cleaning. I personally like having hams at different stages because (unless there is an illness) there passing (& the cost that can incur if that is also a concern) is staggered & I don't have to face losing them all together. You can take the time to really bond with one & maybe look at another in a year, if you feel it is the right thing to do.
As for your other queries to do with cremation, burial or other that is something you need to decide which option you feel comfortable with but everyone has different ways, quite often determined by circumstance & I'm sure you will get some good ideas to help you work out what you'd like to do.

[Gemma_xo]

Thank you all for your help!

I’m going to take all of it into account x