Following the death of my dwarf hamsters
Holly & Ivy in mid November '99, I went out a bought 2 female syrian
hamsters. One is ginger and white called Ginger - original huh :-) and
the other is brown, ginger and white named Nutmeg.
They are both very nosey. They have to know what's going on when they're
up and about - the slightest noise or movement and they're there on their
hind legs, ears pricked, sniffing. They also seem to have a 6th sense
about when they're being watched. They'll be fast asleep, but as soon
as you creep up to peek at them, that's it - they wake up with a start and
look straight at you as if to say "what'd you wake me up for?".
They are also both klutzes. They can climb up things OK, but don't
climb things quite so well. When I see them climbing up the side of
their cages I shut my eyes or turn away. If I didn't I think I'd be
a mental case by now - although Steve, my other half, already thinks
I'm one anyway :-).
Here's more info and piccies:
GINGER (A.K.A. Ging or Gingy)
She is HUGE!!! (about 15cm). She is so big that she had difficulty
fitting in a standard house (the entrances weren't big enough), so we
had to get her a Habitrail "Mega Nooks Barn Hotel" for her. We also
had to buy her a Jumbo wheel as the standard ones were too small - she
almost fills the Jumbo wheel end to end at full stretch.
She is a really gentle giant though - she's so laid back and placid it's
not true. I was able handle her no problem, virtually from day one.
Her favourite pastime is eating - she clears her food tray of any particle of
food every day and is always the 1st to the trays when fresh food has
been put out. Maybe that's why she's so big :-).
She escaped the other day though, I had given them fresh food and water
earlier and was sitting on the couch watching TV, when out of the corner
of my eye I saw this hammy sitting on the top of the cage. Needless to
say I grabbed her and put her back in her cage. One of the cages doors
was open and we're not sure if it was left open or if Ginger managed to
open it, but we have made the doors extra secure now and she hasn't got
out again YET!!!
Some Piccies of Ginger (Click on picture to enlarge)
NUTMEG (A.K.A. Meg or Meggy)
She is quite timid, but adventurous. She likes exploring new things and
also likes to jump off things now and then.
She jumps from the top floor to the middle floor instead of using the
ladder, although she does use the ladder from the middle to the bottom
floor (hammies go figure!!!).
Meg took a bit longer to tame than Ginger. I found the best way to get
her used to be handled was a combination of tempting her with treats and
also puting her in a box in the bath and just picking her up, stroking and
talking to her for a few mins, putting her back for a few mins and repeating
this for about 15 mins
My 1st attempt at tempting Meg with sunflower seeds, however, ended in an
escape bid. I was tempting her out of the cage and had her in my hands.
I thought it would be a good opportunity to get her used to being handled
(she seemed calm and relaxed), so I turned round to sit on the settee.
That was it - she leapt off me, landed on the floor, making a dash for
freedom (with me giving hot persuit) and darted under the TV stand. There she
had fun exploring for about 1/2 hr, after which she got bored and ventured out
again. She was grabbed and dumped very rapidly back in her
cage.
Some Piccies of Meg (Click on picture to enlarge)
