hamster

Winners of the Great Hamster Giveaway!

- Sheylara 19 Comments

I have the results of the Sheylara.com Great Hamster Giveaway! There are 17 winners! Congratulations to you all!

I’m really pleased with the response to this contest. The only regret I have is that I don’t have enough prizes to give to everyone who participated.

Not to fret, though. I will be holding more contests in the future, so watch out for them!

[Random hamster prize]

Okay, I’m announcing the winners now! Is your name on the list?
(Click here to see pictures of the prizes)

Sheylara.com Great Hamster Giveaway Winners

  1. Jane Foo – Pink Princess Castle
  2. Syndicatee – Cosy hamster cottage
  3. Cannie – Hamster house and bathroom
  4. Kewrious – Hamster wheel
  5. Clarissa – Hamster bed with cooling pad
  6. Annisha – Hamster couch with cooling pad
  7. Danny – Hamster Bathroom
  8. Bunny – S.A.M. feeder
  9. Winston – Capsule hamster bathtub
  10. Issura – Cardboard playpen
  11. yukita – Cardboard playpen
  12. modchip – Mini food dish
  13. CJ – Grow your own grass
  14. xing – Hamster ball
  15. boa51186 – Feeding bottle
  16. Kochier – S.A.M. elbow tube
  17. GeekStars – Wood carrot chew toy

Thank you for your enthusiastic participation! I really enjoyed reading all your answers, too! ;) I will be sending all of you an e-mail soon about your prize collection.

Some interesting facts

  • The draw was conducted using a randomiser. First drawn person got first prize and so on.
  • Jane (1st) had 55 credits.
  • Cannie (3rd) holds the record for most credits earned — 64.
  • Danny (7th) is the luckiest, being the only contestant with only 1 credit to win a prize.
  • Most of the winners had at least 20 credits. Two winners had below 10 credits.
  • There are four outside-Singapore winners — Malaysia, Philippines, Canada and UK.

Well, that is all. I hope your hamsters like their new toys!

Sheylara.com Great Hamster Giveaway

- Sheylara 106 Comments

I’m not giving away hamsters, of course. What I’m giving away are my hamster stuff because I don’t have time to keep hamsters anymore.

So I’m doing a giveaway contest for everyone to have fun and win stuff! Let’s have a look at the prizes.

The Prizes

They are mostly brand new. Some have never been used. Those that have, have only been used for two months and have been thoroughly cleaned, so they’re good as new!

#1 Pink Princess Castle

#2 Cosy hamster cottage

#3 Hamster house and bathroom

#4 Hamster wheel

#5 Hamster bed with cooling pad

#6 Hamster couch with cooling pad

#7 Hamster bathroom

#8 S.A.M. feeder

#9 Capsule hamster bathtub

#10 Cardboard playpen

#11 Cardboard playpen

#12 Mini food dish

#13 Grow Your Own Grass (hamster food)

#14 Hamster ball

#15 Feeding bottle

#16 S.A.M. elbow tube (x2)

#17 Wood carrot chew toy (x2)

How The Contest Works

Perform easy actions and get credits! Each credit you earn gives you one chance to win. A lucky draw will be conducted at the end of the contest. As long as you have one credit, you’re in the running for a prize. But get as many credits as you can to improve your chances of winning!

Simple Rules

  1. Use the same name and e-mail address for all the actions you perform so I can keep proper track of your credits.
  2. E-mail all entries (or questions) to hamster@sheylara.com.
  3. People living outside of Singapore can take part and win! (You just can’t win the Pink Princess Castle, unless you’re willing to pay for shipping).

Ways To Earn Credits

  1. Post a comment here saying “Sign me up!”. (1 credit)
  2. Write a post on your blog about this contest, linking to this page. E-mail me the post URL when it’s done. (5 credits)
  3. Ask your friends (who are not taking part) to write a post on their blogs about this contest. E-mail me the post URL when it’s done and remember to say your name so I know who to give the credits to. (5 credits per post)
  4. Put me on your blogroll or links page. E-mail me the URL when you’re done. (3 credits)
  5. Participate in the daily banner contest. (1-3 credits per day)

Daily Banner Contest

  1. Every day, you will see a different question on the contest banner on my blog’s side bar.
  2. Each question will be displayed for 24 hours, so check back every day to see a new question.
  3. Write your answer and hold on to it.
  4. There will be 20 questions in total.
  5. At the end of it, e-mail me all the answers you’ve collected.
  6. You don’t have to answer all questions, but more questions answered means more credits!

The first question will appear on April 17, 2008. Remember to check every day to get the daily question! Once a question is gone, it won’t be shown again!

Prize Collection

  1. Winners will be notified by e-mail.
  2. For people living in Singapore, I will specify a time and place for everyone to collect your prizes.
  3. For people living outside of Singapore, I will mail the prize to you, but allow 6-10 weeks for shipping.

That’s all! It’s very simple! Sign up now, tell all your friends and win some really cute hamster stuff!

Start earning credits now!

*The contest is over! Thank you all for your participation!*

Mystery of the Dead Hamsters

- Sheylara 61 Comments

I didn’t want to blog about it when it happened because it was too disturbing an event to blog about.

But a month has passed since Picnic and Pixie died, and I’ve kind of accepted the situation already.

I guess it’s alright to talk about it now.

First of all, I don’t know why and how. One day I woke up and they were dead.

We buried them in the garden.

Later in the night, the Goonfather asked me, “DO YOU THINK THEY WERE MERELY HIBERNATING?”

I stared at him, bug-eyed, and declared unconvincingly, “NO.”

We rushed down to the garden to dig them back up.

We had wrapped them individually in white Ikea table napkins. We didn’t have fancy hamster coffins at our disposal.

So we dug the napkins back up and got into a sort of a argument.

“You open it.”

“No, you open it.”

“No, you open it.”

“No, YOU open it.”

“No.”

It was late at night and dark in the garden. Only the dim, yellow glow of a torchlight illuminated the lumps of napkins laid out before us.

The napkins were unmoving. Damp. Flattened. Little stain dotting a corner that looked suspiciously like blood but could be mud.

We went through a few more cycles of the “You open it” argument. We rationalised the situation. We looked at each other helplessly. We stared at the napkins for minutes, willing them to move.

Finally, we said, “they’re dead,” and buried them back.

I don’t know why and how they died.

We googled it. We considered hibernation because their bodies were relatively soft when we found them. (Dead hamsters are supposed to be stiff.) But we don’t get winter in Singapore so it’s not that possible. Picnic and Pixie lived in our air-conditioned room where the temperature never goes below 18 degrees celcius. Hamsters go into hibernation (or, more accurately, a state resembling hibernation) only around 10 degrees celcius or lower. And dwarf hamsters aren’t known to hibernate.

The Goonfather said Picnic’s cage had smelled bad. Even though I washed it and changed the bedding less than a week before.

So, my babies are dead.

But that isn’t the entire reason why I haven’t published a Hamster Tale in ages.

I do have a few more stories archived in my mind, pictures archived in my hard disk. I just need to write the stories but I haven’t had time to tackle them.

But I will get to them eventually.

In the meantime, I’m deliberating whether to get more hamsters.

I have $300 worth of hamster housing and supplies sitting in a corner of my room.

I miss my naughty, tyrannical Picnic and my sweet, innocent, timid Pixie.

But I don’t want to kill another pair of hamsters. I don’t know how Picnic and Pixie died but they did die under my care.

Picnic died buried under wood shavings. I couldn’t find her at first and thought she’d escaped her cage.

Pixie died in her favourite tube connector, next to the door that’s supposed to open into Picnic’s cage.

I’m moving house next month so I can’t get new hamsters right now.

I guess I will think about it after the move.