[Hamster Tales Part 3]
Day 3
Friday, 28 Dec 2007
My babies sleep through the day again, mostly, although one of them wakes up to use the wheel briefly a couple of times.
I’m naming them Picnic and Pixie.
Picnic is the larger of the two, which makes her look fat by comparison.
But, of course, she’s really tiny. Roborovskis are the smallest hamsters in the world.
But because she’s bigger, it must mean she eats more than her sister. She also seems to sleep more (but this is largely conjecture since I am still having trouble telling them apart).
So I call her Picnic because picnics are associated with eating and sleeping (idling), lol.
The other one is Pixie because she’s smaller (slightly) and she’s cute as a pixie.
They’re both equally cute, really, but I can’t name them both Pixie, can I?
I can’t really tell them apart when they’re alone because they look exactly alike in terms of facial features and colouring. I need to study them when they’re together to discern distinguishable differences, but they’re seldom together unless they’re sleeping, and when they sleep they roll up in little balls in the basement and I can’t see them.
People at the hamster forum advise that my cage is too small. Roborovski hamsters need really large spaces.
So I go out and buy a giant plastic container.
The Goonfather says he will help me link the Pink Princess Castle to it so I don’t have to throw the castle away.
It’s past midnight, around 1 am. Picnic and Pixie wake up and scramble to the wheel once again.
But tonight is different. Tonight, they’re squabbling. They squeal at each other, chase each other around, claw at each other and refuse to share the wheel.
I check with people at the forum and they say that Roborovskis are very territorial, therefore need a really large cage with two of everything.
Such a pity, since they were perfectly fine sharing the wheel last night. And they still sleep together in the same bed.
They have this routine tonight.
1. Picnic runs on the wheel while Pixie hides in bed.
2. Pixie gets up and walks into the wheel.
3. They fight. Picnic chases Pixie out. They play catch around the cage.
4. Pixie hides in bed and Picnic returns to the wheel.
5. Picnic gets tired and goes to bed.
6. They fight. Pixie chases Picnic out. They play catch around the cage.
7. Picnic hides in bed while Pixie goes play on the wheel.
8. Rinse and repeat alternating hamsters.
They kind of take turns antagonising each other.
I go insane with worry because there’s a lot of squealing and paw fights. I’m afraid they will hurt each other.
But I don’t want to separate them yet because the new cage is not ready and I don’t want to deprive either of the wheel for the night.
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I shall have to buy a new wheel tomorrow and set up the new cage real quick.
Next Chapter: Kiss and Make Up
Be careful when you fix the cage to the container & don’t leave gaps
cos sometimes the hamsters may escape :x
My friends’ hamsters escaped out & disappeared =.=”
Dwarves sometinmes have dominance tussles like mine do. It’s best to get another wheel in there, a large food dish big enough to contain both of them at the same time, I think you can have one waterbottle in there as hamsters don’t drink water very much, being desert animals. You can remove their current food dish and get another for the bin. Also some people find just piling the food in a corner works well, too. You may want to put teh cap on the bin when you’re not watching them, especially after bedding and toys are in there. Trust me if they have the motivation hamsters will learn some way to fly outta there. Lol! (Seriously, I’ve seen one of my hamsters climb a vertical piece of cardboard. LOL!)
Yes, remember that they are professional escape artists.
I’ve had a hamster that ran away and nibbled on the cakes on the altar before recapture. :p
they can chew thru those toyo plastic containers. mine did..
Hmmm…. a name like “Picnic” makes me want to dig out the old Roman cookbook and it’s recipes for hamster… :oP
Pingping: Yeah, I’ve heard many people talking about their hamster houdinis. I think my cage is quite secure. (I hope.) lol.
Plushiehamsta: OK, now I have two wheels and two water bottles, both on far ends of the two cages. The bottles are placed near the wheels so they have quick access to water after running. Haha, I see what you mean about the cap on the bin. One day, my hammie climbed onto her house and tried to leap over the edge of the bin. So now I keep the lid on whenever I’m not watching them!
Minou: Well, at least you managed to recapture them. Some people never do.
chak: Wow, amazing. Mine is really thick. I’d be really amazed if they chew through that.
Jesta: Did you know that at least 50% of hamsters (or gerbils and other rodents) are named after food? lol. I realised that after surfing around hamster sites and forums. I wonder why! I wanted to name my hamsters cupcake and donut but then decided not to because of that. At least picnic is not food. :P
Hamsters usually are solitary creatures altho robos are the most social among all the breeds. Still, instincts to be solitary and territorial are present in every hamster.
Eventually when they fight more often you may need to get a 2nd cage to house the 2nd hamster (notice I use “when” and not “if”). If you don’t, you may suddenly see patches of missing fur from one or the other hamster, as well as streaks of raw bloodied flesh. Makes your heart really pain, I tell you…
I’m just glad so far all of my hamsters (all 9 of them) always come looking for me in my room whenever they escape :)
I used to know someone who called himself (of all names) Pixie in a chatroom. Some asked him why did he call himself a shoe (in Chinese).
Nice observations on (your) hamster behavior. I think we have a hamster biologist in the making, hehehe.
“I shall have to buy a new wheel tomorrow and set up…”
Nice! You should try out the link that Plushiehamsta commented on your 2 Hamsters & a Wheel article, heheheh!
Miss Loi: Hahahaha. That’s very funny! Never thought of it that way.
modchip: Hamster biologist? Er… hardly. :P And, no thanks. I don’t really want to make my hamsters work for my electricity. lolol.
FoxTwo: I’ve already given them another large cage but they’re still fighting, so I tried separating them for a while. Maybe it’ll make them miss each other and stop fighting. If they still continue, I suppose I’ll have to separate them forever. :(
That’s why I got guinea pigs. Hammies tend to get territorial.
Derrick: But I find hamsters so much cuter. :P
Hey! What food and treats do you feed your hamster? I live in the UK but I would love to get Hamster food like that. Thanks.
I don’t stick to a particular brand actually. I just go to the store and pick up whatever looks good. lol. I like the Japanese brands because they look nice. But then, I think some of them aren’t really healthy so I don’t feed them those too much.
awww , this is super kawaii :3
where do i buy one ??? =. ^_^. =