Our shelter is hamster central, all the time. It's crazy. It wasn't like that when I first started there, what the heck? Did word get out that we do right by hamsters or something? I don't understand.
Poor Bella, she's been waiting so long and other hamsters keep getting picked instead of her. She was there first, darn it!
We have a good mix of dwarves and Syrians now, thanks to the arrivals from yesterday. This is Rudolph, the dad of the abandoned babies. He's a good dad and a little protective of his son Donner, it's cute.
This is Donner. He was all snuggled up with his dad today, they're going to make a good pair I think. Right now the little ones just want companionship because they're babies, but as they grow they'll become properly bonded.
Marbles here is one of the 8 pack that were dumped by that moron who put them all in the same box. I am thrilled (and a little astonished) to say that none of the five females were pregnant! So now Marbles is awaiting
Comet is one of the girl babies from yesterday, and she seems to be settling in nicely with her randomly-selected partner too. By luck of the draw, she got Prancer, and they seem quite content with each other.
This is little Prancer, and man, she's got personality! What a silly girl, she really likes to explore and kept dashing up my shirt sleeve. So adorable.
The last of the Syrians (except for the two still in foster at my house), Shade is another one of the 8 pack from the box. She is skittish and maybe just the teensiest bit neurotic, but she's so gentle and her favourite hobby is to sit at the side of the cage and stare at you with giant eyes. It's equal amounts creepy and endearing.
And finally, we have Blitzen, who gave us quite a scare by escaping last night with her sister Dancer. They were small enough to squeeze through the bars! Luckily we found Blitzen nesting in the corner, and she is now living with Comet and Prancer, who were amiable enough about taking her back.Unfortunately we haven't found Dancer (yet). Fingers crossed that she shows up soon...that's a big scary place for a hamster the size of a button.
Meanwhile adoptions are happening like crazy, it's been great! The ever amazing Pet Valu adopted out Rascal the rat and the three rat girls (Kirby, Zelda and Peach). Petsmart adopted out Valentino the rabbit. And at the main shelter, we've had guinea pigs flying out the door.
I love seeing them get homes for the holidays!
2 comments:
Great news on the adoptions Laura! (On the subject of hamsters, can you give hamster owners a tip for dealing with extra-long nails on our little buddies? A web search recommended sandpaper in the cage. Safe?)
Good question! I usually just ignore hamster nails as they very rarely cause problems (and most dwarves have very long front nails naturally). However, if they're causing damage during grooming (or curling), you can try sandpaper, but NOT in the cage. Put them in a box lined with sandpaper, supervised to make sure they don't chew it, and let them run in it for a few minutes each day. Don't leave them unsupervised, because eating sandpaper can cause a lot more problems than long nails! If they're really bad, you can (very carefully!) clip them, but they hardly ever get to that point. And you can always give them more, safe-to-chew material to dig in their cage, like aspen bedding or a pile of rough hay.
Hope that helps!
Post a Comment