All About Anya!

[emojimom]

I had no plans to adopt a third hamster, and I planned on my next hamster (whenever I adopted one, likely in a year or so) to be a Robo, so I could gain experience with all the species, but then I got a call today. I live in a rural area and there are not a lot of small pets that come into the shelters, nor even the pet shops, so I was thrilled to find Beatrix when I did. I adopted my dog Jolene from a local rescue, and am friends with several people who work there. I told them to let me know if they ever get hamsters, because they have a really hard time placing small pets, even though they rarely get one. The last hamster they had up for adoption lived its entire life at the shelter.

So when my friend called me today saying that just last night two baby "short haired" hamsters had been dropped off, I decided I'd just go and take a look. She was told that they were dwarf hamsters because they were shorthaired, but I'm pretty sure she's a Syrian. She looks just like my childhood hamster, Algernon. Same exact coloring. There was a male and a female, 2-3 months old, they said, the product of an accidentally litter. Apparently a woman had adopted a hamster from a pet store and there were 11 babies, so she has distributed the weaned pups to rescues and pet stores all over the area so as not to overwhelm one place. She was in such a tiny cage, with the smallest flying saucer I've ever seen--maybe it was 4 inches--and nothing else. It's a good shelter, but they just weren't prepared to have her, though they did assure me they were going to get better arrangements for them tomorrow.

Anyway, my heart melted, and I decided I had to take her home. I have a place to put her, I have an entire room to keep my hamsters in, I already have food, and plenty of extras of everything, so better I adopt her than someone who doesn't know what they are doing. (Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I am an adult who cares enough to research and learn!) I chose the female, though both were sweet, since I already have a female at home. I didn't want any risk of babies, even though I obviously won't keep them together, I'd hate for an escape to happen and more unexpected pups in the world.

That has been a long preamble, but all that is to say, here is Anya!

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She is very tame already. My friend at the shelter says the woman who dropped them off was very responsible and tried to handle them and take good care of them. Anya climbed up my arm so fast and cuddled right into me! So different from Beatrix and Emoji! She's so small, and the name she was going by was Runt, so I'm assuming she earned the name by being the runt of the litter.

She is all set up in a temporary cage, an extra tank I had, and on Tuesday, a large cage I originally ordered for Emoji is arriving, so I'll move her into that. I think it's important for the Syrians to have the biggest cages first, because Emoji is really happy in his big bin cage, so I don't think he'll mind staying there a little longer.

She is so cute and now I'm even more motivated to get the "hamster room" all set up.

Is there anything I need to know about caring for a hamster her age? She's the youngest hamster I've ever had, and she does seem so small.

[Crystalroborovski]

She's a cutie

She's definitely a short haired Syrian. Her coloring is called golden I'm pretty sure.

I'm not an expert on specific care for different aged hamsters so I can't really give you any advice. Just do some research on dieting- I think a younger hamster has different nutritional needs than an adult, but I could be wrong

[Drago]

What a little sweetheart, good on you for taking her in! You've certainly got your hands full now

CR is correct, young hamsters will need more proteins and vitamins than older hamsters. You want to aim for 19-22% protein for hamsters under 6 months to help them grow quicker. Handling young hamsters can be a chore, but they settle as they grow. Best wishes

[emojimom]

It just occurred to me that she might be too young to have a wheel?

[Drago]

Originally Posted by emojimom

It just occurred to me that she might be too young to have a wheel?

I wouldn't think so personally. Most hamsters get the hang of wheels pretty quickly so I see no need to not have one. Did she have a wheel in the shelter?

[emojimom]

She had no wheel but a teeny tiny saucer. She loves the wheel already & is running away in it, I just worried, because I remember hearing once that hamsters shouldn't have wheels until a certain age.

[Drago]

I think it would be fine to leave it in. I find young hams are rambunctious and hard to handle as it is, and not having something to exercise on just makes that problem worse. Some people say to leave out wheels, but it's just my personal opinion that there's really no good reason to.

[Burakki]

She is such a cutie! I'm very happy for both of you! Looking forward to learning all about her! She has a similar coloring to my Marti's so she sends you a Golder Power high five!

[emojimom]

Anya loves food! I have her on the same mix of Higgins Sunburst and Mazuri pellets that I have Beatrix on, and she seems satisfied with that. She also got a peanut in the shell (though I had cracked it open quite a bit to help her out) and she had a great time with that. She also ate a piece of spinach, because the owner that gave her and the rest of her litter to the shelter reported that she'd already been eating vegetables, and spinach was her favorite. She is so tame! It's obvious that she was used to humans and being held and touched and even likes it and knows we are the ones who bring food. I'm so pleased that she was born in a home where they were willing to properly raise the pups until they could be weaned and put up for adoption. I know unexpected litters don't always fare so well in unprepared homes.

She's got quite the burrow built to her house, and has made an attractive little nest with bedding and toilet tissue.

And she loves the wheel. She's on a small one now because she is so small (I am eager to weigh her once I've let her settle in a bit), but I have a large one on the ready as soon as 1) she grows into it and 2) she is in a large enough cage, which she will be on Tuesday.

She reminds me so much of my first hamster from childhood. Feisty and friendly and the exact same coloring. I wish I had pictures of Algernon somewhere. He was such a love.

I just moved into this house a short time ago, and I feel very blessed to be able to fill this big empty house with rescued pets who need love. I'm not a mother to human kids, but on Mother's Day (in the US at least), I am feeling very lucky to be the pet parent to so many great creatures. This is what I always dreamed of as a young thing; so many pets of so many different species. It is a pretty good life.

[SocksnPheobe]

Congratulations on adopting little Anya! She is just precious and what an incredibly lucky hammy to have found you