Hana/Harry Hamster, RIP 9 May 2017
We got you in March 2015, when you were just a little baby hamster. The sales assistant, who seemed so knowledgeable, told us you were a girl, and that you needed a small cage with absorbent charcoal pellets. She also said a regular hamster mix was good enough, and it was okay to feed you fruit. We found out later that typical winter whites like you were susceptible to diabetes, so we gave you tiny portions of anything with sugar only very occasionally. How you devoured those morsels.
We dutifully bought everything she recommended, and named you Hana, for spring, and for flower, as I was missing Japan extremely badly.
I'd thought of getting a Syrian hamster, but you seemed cute, small and very independent, so we made a decision and carted you home. What happened next was a classic case of becoming obsessed with hamsters, reading up, taking countless photos of Hana, playing with her whenever there was a spare moment (or making spare moments in order to play with her). researching the best sort of food for her (sunflower seeds were woefully inadequate nutrition-wise, although I've never met a hamster who didn't love them). cleaning and arranging your cage and hideouts endlessly (you were a good sport and curious about everything).
As you grew from baby ham to an adult, we noticed that it was very obvious that you had male appendages. Even as a baby, you also attacked Bola hamster and Claire hamster mercilessly. Very alpha male. Whenever I waved my little finger in front of you, you would gamely chomp down on it, leaving two vampiric bite marks. You also had a distinctive musky odour that coated my fingers whenever I played with you, and I came to grow fond of that scent.
Your fur was the plushest of all the hamsters who passed through our home, and you were also the only one purchased from a pet store, so I suppose there is something in that about quality control and type. We switched your bedding to paper bedding, and you were incredibly neat, only peeing and pooping at one designated corner. You were neat and houseproud, weren't you, my little buddy? Yiur bright, liquid, round black eyes and inquisitive little nose also made you look very intelligent, and you enjoyed finding you way around tunnels and mazes.
Late in life, you were still very active, running around and climbing all over even though you developed the scrawny, feeble legs all mammals at an advanced age seem to develop. Your teeth and appetite were insatiable though, and it seemed that the skinnier you got, the more you needed to eat. You developed a preference for vegetables, oatmeal and lab blocks, when you used to be very particular about what was served you.
You left as quietly as you left, just flopping over next to your food, in a very natural pose, as though you had just gone to sleep. There was no agony or pain in your expression, and your fur removed soft and thick, although you bore the unmistakable mark or a curved spine along the stripe marking on your back.
Cross-posted to www.welovehamsters.com, a resource site that's always a work in progress, and always personal. Come say Hi if you're based in Singapore, or connect with us via the site (the internet has made the world pretty much borderless).
We dutifully bought everything she recommended, and named you Hana, for spring, and for flower, as I was missing Japan extremely badly.
I'd thought of getting a Syrian hamster, but you seemed cute, small and very independent, so we made a decision and carted you home. What happened next was a classic case of becoming obsessed with hamsters, reading up, taking countless photos of Hana, playing with her whenever there was a spare moment (or making spare moments in order to play with her). researching the best sort of food for her (sunflower seeds were woefully inadequate nutrition-wise, although I've never met a hamster who didn't love them). cleaning and arranging your cage and hideouts endlessly (you were a good sport and curious about everything).
As you grew from baby ham to an adult, we noticed that it was very obvious that you had male appendages. Even as a baby, you also attacked Bola hamster and Claire hamster mercilessly. Very alpha male. Whenever I waved my little finger in front of you, you would gamely chomp down on it, leaving two vampiric bite marks. You also had a distinctive musky odour that coated my fingers whenever I played with you, and I came to grow fond of that scent.
Your fur was the plushest of all the hamsters who passed through our home, and you were also the only one purchased from a pet store, so I suppose there is something in that about quality control and type. We switched your bedding to paper bedding, and you were incredibly neat, only peeing and pooping at one designated corner. You were neat and houseproud, weren't you, my little buddy? Yiur bright, liquid, round black eyes and inquisitive little nose also made you look very intelligent, and you enjoyed finding you way around tunnels and mazes.
Late in life, you were still very active, running around and climbing all over even though you developed the scrawny, feeble legs all mammals at an advanced age seem to develop. Your teeth and appetite were insatiable though, and it seemed that the skinnier you got, the more you needed to eat. You developed a preference for vegetables, oatmeal and lab blocks, when you used to be very particular about what was served you.
You left as quietly as you left, just flopping over next to your food, in a very natural pose, as though you had just gone to sleep. There was no agony or pain in your expression, and your fur removed soft and thick, although you bore the unmistakable mark or a curved spine along the stripe marking on your back.
Cross-posted to www.welovehamsters.com, a resource site that's always a work in progress, and always personal. Come say Hi if you're based in Singapore, or connect with us via the site (the internet has made the world pretty much borderless).
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