New friend - Zelda

joselynmay · 09-04-2014, 05:20 AM

Hi all,

I have had my new dwarf hamster for a little while now, she is called Zelda!

She is a dwarf, I presume a hybrid as she was a P@H rescue. She had lost her tail and part of her ear in a fight which is why she was in the adoption center.

The person at the shop said that as she didn't have a tail her balance would be messed up and that I should be very careful with having any levels in her cage, does anyone have experience with how much a hamster is actually affected by not having a tail?

Here are some very bad photos, she wouldn't stop moving for long enough.

And another photo of her tailess bottom!

I tried to find some pictures of a similar looking dwarf to find out what her colour is called, but my google-fu was seriously lacking and I couldn't find any! Does any one know what she is?

I will get some better photos soon!

Thanks

**kyrilliondaemon** · 09-04-2014, 05:50 AM

I don't think not having a tail will make much difference - the tail is so short it probably doesn't help too much with balance in the first place. I'd call her an agouti - but that does cover a wide variety of shades lol

SinNyx · 09-04-2014, 05:56 AM

She is lovely

Hamsters don't rely on their tails for balance, unlike for example a gerbil, so don't worry about it, she should be fine without it!

cypher · 09-04-2014, 11:28 PM

I'm sure she won't miss her tail at all, she'll just be happy to have a nice home at last! Congrats on adopting her she's really sweet

Stockannette · 09-06-2014, 10:40 AM

What a cute face!

joselynmay · 09-08-2014, 12:38 AM

Thanks everyone!

She is the sweetest little thing, she has way too much energy though. She just runs everywhere, I have never seen her just walking.

She looks like she has grown lots recently. I weight her last week and she was 30g, so I will weigh her again this week and see if she has put on any weight yet.

joselynmay · 09-09-2014, 01:18 AM

I weighed her again last night as she is 35g now, still so small!

She doesn't seem to gnaw on anything, there are loads of things in her cage to gnaw on, but she never seem to be interested. Is it normal for dwarfs to not gnaw as much as Syrians do?

Thanks

cypher · 09-09-2014, 03:48 AM

None of mine have really been keen on gnawing toys or wood but they really enjoy dog chews & dog biscuits so that may work for yours too.

joselynmay · 09-09-2014, 03:59 AM

Yeah, she has her Antos crocodile dog chew which she likes chewing on, but it seems more chewy rather than gnawy (does that make sense? :P) I think I will be hunting for some dwarf sized bonio things soon for her.

My husband recons she is spoilt from all the stuff I have bought for her, and is threatening to ban me from online shopping!