Thursday, January 16, 2003
It's 12:42AM and I'm still up like an idiot because Pete and Shelley have been fretting all evening and I hear violent squeaks. After reading about hamsters for two hours, particularly Roborovskis, I've come to the conclusion that I am a terrible owner, as:1) I always grab and lift my hamsters off the ground and never "scoop" them, leading them to think I am a predator. (I knew I wasn't supposed to do this but it is simply not possible to "scoop" a hamster out of a cage with the door on the top.)
2) Hamsters like toys. This is a given. However, for Roborovski hamsters (picky, quick, very active) toys are not just liked, they are necessities. The only toys I've ever given Pete and Shelley were some shredded toilet paper and wooden chopstick bits. Come to think of it, none of my hamsters ever had toys save Sleepy and Bravey, hamster couple no. one from New York. They had a wooden barrel to chew and climb, and it was later bequeathed to Sleepy Jr. in all his crabby glory) .
3) Roborovskis are really really really (this was so pointedly emphasized on everything that I read that I started feeling super pangs of guilt) active and require lots of space (and lots of toys, and lots of special care, and lots of tolerance...). Pete and Shelley's cage is fairly big for hamsters of their size, and honestly, this is the biggest cage I've seen for hamsters that was only one floor, but I still feel guilty because they seem to be bored. Shelley has started climibing up the wire mesh on their ceiling and falls to the ground on her back. Mainly I'm just really worried that the lack of space and diversions is driving Pete to attack Shelley in violent fits.
4) When they start having babies they're supposed to have four litters in succession but they have had only one litter and I am wondering if it was because I bothered them too much. I didn't lay a finger inside the cage except to deliver large heaps of seeds and kernels for a month after the babies were born, but maybe even that was too soon. Roborovskis are really picky. In my defense: Sleepy and Bravey didn't care when I touched their babies after two weeks and put them in an old pot (the cage was getting really crowded with 11 babies so I let the first litter live inside an old tin pot with lots of bedding in it and food hidden in various nooks).
5) All that fretting ismost likely just Pete chasing down Shelley to mate (apparently Roborovski males have a difficult time mating as they must first be able to outrun and catch the female who is constantly moving). But I have a feeling that my next paycheck will go to buying toys and really sweet treats for the hamsters instead of enhancing my record collection.
On a side note, there's a British Hamster Association. People accuse me of a hamster fanatic, but I've never even trained hamsters for shows. (Obviously now I want to go to one.)
posted by styrene at 11:21 AM-comment?
