A hamster called Lupanine
On Friday I got an e-mail from the hamster lady saying, "You can visit on Sunday if you like? There are three hamsters that might suit you."
So we dashed down to Pets at Home on Saturday to get the last few bits and bobs (litter, some more toys, etc.) and I got a train to the hamster lady's house on Sunday morning.
There were three hamsters. A 6 month old dark golden satin female, very bold and friendly and busy. Would happily have homed her. A 12 week old chocolate satin female, with enormous Dumbo ears, still a little jumpy but friendly and sweet. Would happily have homed her too. A 6 month old cream female, friendly and active, but with a large hernia that probably won't ever cause her problems but needs watching just in case. "The fact that she's 6 months old and hasn't had any issues yet means she probably never will and whatever she dies of will probably be unrelated," said the hamster lady. Apparently while surgery is possible, the success rate is abysmal - there's so little tissue on a hamster that if you stitch one bit, another bit can tear and it just ends up awful. "She's nice but doesn't get handled as much because most people aren't interested in her," said the hamster lady.
And because I am a soft-hearted sucker, that was what decided me. Any of the hamsters would clearly be lovely pets. But the young chocolate would be snapped up within a week or two. The other mature hamster likewise shouldn't take too long to find a forever home, as she's utterly lovely. But if hernia-hamster is going to struggle to find the right owner, I will be that right owner, I decided.
So I went home with a pretty cream hamster with a reasonably large but unproblematic hernia. She settled in well, spent an hour or so exploring her new giant!cage, and then slept for the rest of the evening.
I called her Lupanine, but we call her Bob to her face.
Things Lupanine likes:
- broccoli
- raspberries
- salad burnet
- tunnels
- wheels
- new smells
- new sounds
- digging holes
Things Lupanine dislikes:
- nothing? She's not that excited by lentil and chickpea sprouts but still eats them. And she thinks hamster food is boring but OK.
Things Lupanine loves like Class A drugs and would do pretty much anything to get more of:
- sunflower seeds
If you feed her sunflower seeds she climbs all over the cage looking and begging for more and makes a complete spectacle of herself until she figures out that she's not getting any more. This is handy in helping her get more tame and settled and will later be handy if I decide to teach her entertaining tricks.
I think she is happy. So am I. She has a forever home. And I have a small furball who I will love and cuddle and call Bob.
So we dashed down to Pets at Home on Saturday to get the last few bits and bobs (litter, some more toys, etc.) and I got a train to the hamster lady's house on Sunday morning.
There were three hamsters. A 6 month old dark golden satin female, very bold and friendly and busy. Would happily have homed her. A 12 week old chocolate satin female, with enormous Dumbo ears, still a little jumpy but friendly and sweet. Would happily have homed her too. A 6 month old cream female, friendly and active, but with a large hernia that probably won't ever cause her problems but needs watching just in case. "The fact that she's 6 months old and hasn't had any issues yet means she probably never will and whatever she dies of will probably be unrelated," said the hamster lady. Apparently while surgery is possible, the success rate is abysmal - there's so little tissue on a hamster that if you stitch one bit, another bit can tear and it just ends up awful. "She's nice but doesn't get handled as much because most people aren't interested in her," said the hamster lady.
And because I am a soft-hearted sucker, that was what decided me. Any of the hamsters would clearly be lovely pets. But the young chocolate would be snapped up within a week or two. The other mature hamster likewise shouldn't take too long to find a forever home, as she's utterly lovely. But if hernia-hamster is going to struggle to find the right owner, I will be that right owner, I decided.
So I went home with a pretty cream hamster with a reasonably large but unproblematic hernia. She settled in well, spent an hour or so exploring her new giant!cage, and then slept for the rest of the evening.
I called her Lupanine, but we call her Bob to her face.
Things Lupanine likes:
- broccoli
- raspberries
- salad burnet
- tunnels
- wheels
- new smells
- new sounds
- digging holes
Things Lupanine dislikes:
- nothing? She's not that excited by lentil and chickpea sprouts but still eats them. And she thinks hamster food is boring but OK.
Things Lupanine loves like Class A drugs and would do pretty much anything to get more of:
- sunflower seeds
If you feed her sunflower seeds she climbs all over the cage looking and begging for more and makes a complete spectacle of herself until she figures out that she's not getting any more. This is handy in helping her get more tame and settled and will later be handy if I decide to teach her entertaining tricks.
I think she is happy. So am I. She has a forever home. And I have a small furball who I will love and cuddle and call Bob.