|
Post by pinky on Jun 18, 2008 23:31:32 GMT -4
. . . and I am an agouti Campbell's dwarf hamster. Would you like to hear my story? My mate and I were bought some months ago by an unknown person, and we soon had a litter of at least three babies. Within a few weeks of the births, our owner decided that he/she wasn't interested in us any more, and he/she dumped our cage beside a dumpster in the rain behind a bird store in NJ. Fortunately a store employee found us, but not before my mate and one of my babies had died. The bird store people didn't exactly know what to do with us, but they kept us happy on bird food. As luck would have it, one of the regular customers, Stacey, paid a visit about a week later. She runs a rescue in Pennsylvania as an avocation. She agreed to take us and find us forever homes, and she listed us on Petfinder.com. A nice lady from NJ who recently lost her beloved hamster saw my profile and it touched her deeply. She connected with Stacey, came to visit me yesterday, fell in love with me, and took me home!! Stacey says that of all the dwarf hamsters she's rescued I've been the most calm, friendly, and adaptable. I'm now settling into my new world--I'm still in the Crittertrail One that Stacey kept me in, but I've been crawling all over my new hamster mommy and running in my ball. I think I'm going to be very happy here! However, my new mommy told me that she is going to be watching my food intake carefully. . . . I seem to be carrying (not just a little) extra weight! There is more to my story, but this is all I have time for now!
|
|
|
Post by pinky on Jun 19, 2008 12:12:14 GMT -4
A few more things about me. . .
With all the confidence in the world, a bird store employee sexed me as male. So I was named Marcus, one of the names in the bird store's name. I was cared for by Stacey's children, so Stacey never noticed the error. . . till just before I was adopted. My new mommy confirmed that I was a girl, and Stacey's daughter suggested the name Mallory. So Mallory I am. . .
I am 2.5 inches wide when I huddle and rest/sleep. While my mommy has no experience with Campbell's dwarfs, she really thinks that's just TOO wide, and so I'm going to be on a diet. Hopefully I won't get grumpy and start nipping, like Fuzz did when he was on his version of Weight Watchers. . .
I ran like a maniac in my ball last night. I took a piece of green bean and devoured that. Things like noise and my mommy's presence in my cage don't seem to phase me. She is just delighted by me and hopes to have me for a long time. Her guess is that I'm not even a year old, since if I was three months old when I mated, and since the babies looked to be less than a month old when they were found at the end of April, that would make me possibly as young as 6 months.
|
|
|
Post by Hamsters82 on Jun 19, 2008 14:39:59 GMT -4
Welcome Mallory!!! You sound awfully cute and are in a great home with your new mommy; your mommy is a great person so you'll have lots of fun and have great stuff happen to you with her. My hamster Chewie would like to say, "Hi" to you and welcome you as well. He knows all about bad owners and says that being rescued is the great part and your life will be awesome from now on!
|
|
|
Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 19, 2008 19:16:14 GMT -4
That's a very sweet story. I'll endeavor to treat all my critters as well as you are going to be, regardless of the time involved. Welcome Mallory, from my entire menagerie. We await photos.
|
|
|
Post by ladyjosephine on Jun 19, 2008 19:33:23 GMT -4
OMG!she sounds adorable..What a story! I'm not a big Dwarf hamster-fan, but she might just steal my heart..I want pictures!!
|
|
|
Post by pinky on Jun 19, 2008 20:07:21 GMT -4
OK, Mallory, you've said enough--give your mommy a chance. . . But seriously--to those of you with dwarfs, does 2.5 inches across (about 6.5 cm for those in the Land of Metric) sound like the mark of an overweight hamster? Thanks for the kind words, all. DF, when I first read the story I immediately thought of Lil Bit the mouse, cage dumped in the rain. . . I don't have a digicam, so I will have to get photos the old-fashioned way. . . . have patience!
|
|
|
Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 19, 2008 23:31:36 GMT -4
>> DF, when I first read the story I immediately thought of Lil Bit the mouse, cage dumped in the rain. . . << HERE IS THAT STORYI also thought of how busy I have been--a close longtime friend recently died, plus other stuff.. More on that separately. I just regretted not having given some of my critters as much attention as I wished. Will redouble my efforts.
|
|
|
Post by Hamsters82 on Jun 20, 2008 7:00:17 GMT -4
I don't know if 2.5 is overweight, I would have to see Mallory's picture and anyway she gave birth, so....I guess maybe she's like a human where she needs time to put off that kind of "birth weight". *shrugs*
|
|
|
Post by pinky on Jun 20, 2008 15:27:27 GMT -4
I don't know if 2.5 is overweight, I would have to see Mallory's picture and anyway she gave birth, so....I guess maybe she's like a human where she needs time to put off that kind of "birth weight". *shrugs* I never thought about leftover pregnancy weight gain. . . . wonder if that happens? But it's been a few months. Something that occurred to me is she hasn't been fed consistently in the same manner during her life at all. I'm her fourth food administrator, and probably the only one who has been at all focused on her size. I looked at some dwarf hamster sites with "aerial" photos. I'm pretty convinced that she's too heavy. So she's getting just enough seed mix and Mazuri to get her through the day. She pouches everything in her seed mix except the alfalfa pellets, and she pouches the Mazuri. I don't know if she eats it all, though--I'll figure that out when I clean the cage, I guess! Oh, that reminds me--I wanted to get her some broccoli. I stupidly put all my green beans into my stirfry, so they're no longer an option. She continues to be VERY active when out of the cage, and she has yet to nip. I did try once to scruff her to look at her teeth, and she rebelled so much that I didn't try again. Of course, I'm used to scruffing Fuzz, who didn't object much to any kind of handling. She uses part of the petting zone as a bathroom, so that makes spot cleaning pretty easy. After years of aquarium use I find the lack of visibility in the Crittertrail cage frustrating. Otherwise I guess it's ok. I never really talked about how I came to adopt. . . . I SO love the Chinese hams and at first couldn't see myself adopting, but then I thought how my sister's and cousin's rescue experiences (dogs) and the tales of rescue here on RR had affected my perceptions. Because of these I was able to make the mindset shift, and then, of course, when I read Mallory's story it was all downhill from there. . . . I couldn't get her (as "Marcus") out of my head, and I got more and more excited about the prospect of giving her a forever home. So glad it came to pass!
|
|
|
Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 20, 2008 20:46:53 GMT -4
I have no idea about the weight, but I always figured I could tell if one is fat.
>> I stupidly put all my green beans into my stirfry, so they're no longer an option. <<
GB's are not all that nutritious, broccoli being much better.
What kind of CT cage? If a CT2 I have seen dwarfs go up the big vertical tube, although the PZ is bad for babies as they can fall, not that you are having any.
Scruffing dwarfs should, perforce, be harder than doing it to Chinese hamsters owing to size, if nothing else.
The more obscured visibility of the CT cage, whichever it is, no doubt is preferred by the ham.
The only problem with rescues is declining any offers. I have told these stories many times over the years; how could I say "no"? The animals' fate would have been a poor one if not.
|
|
|
Post by glitchunter on Jun 20, 2008 23:11:48 GMT -4
Do you still have lil' bit? Both stories are going to give me nightmares. So sad.
|
|
|
Post by pinky on Jun 20, 2008 23:20:06 GMT -4
As noted in the first post, it's a CT1.
Lil Bit died maybe about a year ago? There's a thread somewhere--Memorials?
|
|
|
Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 21, 2008 19:37:28 GMT -4
Do you still have lil' bit? Guess you did not read the story of him the link being posted above.
|
|
|
Post by Die Fledermaus on Jun 21, 2008 19:40:51 GMT -4
As noted in the first post, it's a CT1. Lil Bit died maybe about a year ago? There's a thread somewhere--Memorials? Again, the link is posted above. >> As noted in the first post, it's a CT1. << Oh yea. I was looking for "CT1".
|
|
|
Post by pinky on Jun 23, 2008 0:01:26 GMT -4
Two questions: (1) Mallory's coat seems thicker than a Chinese ham's coat. Is it fair to say that Mallory may be more heat-sensitive than my Chinese hams were because of this? I ask because twice now I've played with her when the room has been 76-77 degrees, and afterwards her body language seems to have been "I need to cool off." (sprawled out on side with belly exposed, or sprawled flat on floor of cage, as though she wanted to maximize heat transfer) The Chinese certainly didn't do this at such a temperature. It also just occurred to me that she may overheat more readily because she's on the heavy side. (2) I am seeing something in her that I saw in Pinky and Fuzz, and it is just so weird. All three of them have/had a thing for the northeast corner of my bed--running to the edge and then crawling onto my hand (which is there in advance to catch them as they hang over the edge). I can then take the ham and put him/her in the southwest corner, but that doesn't keep him/her from making a beeline back to the northeast. This doesn't start the moment the ham goes down on my bed (he/she scurries around the whole bed for a while), but once the ham does it the first time the obsession kicks in and it happens over and over and over. Has anyone else seen anything like this? My Chinese seemed to have some depth perception, but Mallory seems to have none whatsoever and is ready to plunge from any height! I guess this is a testament to the terrible eyesight of dwarfs. . . I'm getting quite the education from her.
|
|