Our Happy Hamster Paradise

Once upon a time, there was a man named Mark.  He wanted a hamster pal.  So he went to a local pet store and bought a cute, fuzzy, male hamster.  Mark named him Little Buddha.

A better name for Little Buddha was Little Biter.  He mistook fingers for food and bit both Mark and me.

A bitey hamster wasn’t what Mark had in mind for a pal, so he bought another cage.  See, hamsters have to be kept in separate cages so boys and girls don’t make babies, and because boys fight with boys and girls fight with girls. 

Of course, when one has an empty hamster cage, one must fill it.  Mark drove to six pet stores in the Lansing area looking high and low for the right hamster, before finally coming home with this female hamster.

The thing about Nibbles, Mark said, was that she was afraid of most everything and therefore not quite the snuggly little pal he was looking for in a hamster.  So guess what we got?

One evening I had to get some more dog food and sunflower seeds, so Mark went along with me to the pet store.  After fondling a dozen different hamsters, Mark brought this one home.

While most hamsters cost around $10, Snuggles was a panda hamster–note the black and white– and therefore cost $17.   Since Mark could actually snuggle Snuggles, we all thought she was worth the extra cost.   

Snuggles was only with us a few days when, Mark picked her up and said she felt heavy.  He thought perhaps she had gotten lazy.   But she has an exercise wheel like all the other hamsters, and we’d seen her use it.  Mark had learned hamsters can run 8 miles a night on their hamster wheels, and come 10 p.m. each evening, all three hamsters are running on their wheels. 

Snuggles on her exercise wheel.

Friday night was a normal night in Hamsterville, with all three hamsters getting their regular exercise.  On Saturday morning, I heard what I thought was the squeaky sound of a hamster.  The noise was coming from the top of Snuggles’ cage, yet she was wide awake when I checked on her.  She had clean bedding, plenty of food and water and seemed to be okay, so I thought perhaps she’d just had a bad dream. 

Sunday was Father’s Day and Mark got this card from Becky.

We had no idea how appropriate this card really was.   Because the next day, Monday, Mark called me at work and said I was an aunt.  He said Snuggles had had four babies.   Only then did we realize that Snuggles hadn’t used her exercise wheel on Saturday and Sunday nights.  Only then did it occur to me that perhaps the noise I’d heard Saturday morning was the sound of a hamster delivering a baby. 

Well, you might imagine that the Hamster King was quite proud of Snuggles!   He made sure Snuggles had plenty of water, and good food like fruit and nuts.  And doted over the babies, checking on them now and again, but not disturbing them.  He covered the top of the cage with a black t-shirt so they were in the dark and felt all safe.   So it wasn’t until Thursday night –when Snuggles was on the bottom of the cage getting a bite to eat — that we finally dared to take a photo.  This lousy photo, shot through the plastic, shows there are more than 4 baby hamsters. 

I was in a state of shock when I opened the lid and took this photo and counted 8 babies.

Mark’s first response was, “We don’t have enough hamster cages.”   This was followed by, “But think of the deal I got–nine hamsters for the price of one!”

So welcome to our Hamster Paradise, little pandas.  And here’s to hoping you become so cute and loveable that other people want to take you home to be their little hamster pal.