Nala and Gaz

[whitelop]

Do the hammies have to be separated? Or can they be together, like mice and rats? I know sometimes they're different. I don't really know much about hammies other than they're adorable and they have weird little tail nubs. I couldn't imagine having that many cages. AHH. I would be going nuts.
What will you do with them if you can't sell them? Do you have animal fairs where you are? We have them here, while I've never been to one, I kind of understand the idea of them. Its to inform people/kids on the responsibility of "exotic" animals. Like rabbits, guinea pigs, ponies, hammies, things of that nature. They usually have all kinds of animals out there for sale or adoption. And they have like a pony/horse/donkey/goat petting zoo thing. They usually do it in the spring time at a church near me. If they have one of those near you, you could enter into it. That way you would be telling people all about hammies and their starter kits and what they require. That would be a good outlet, if thats something that you guys have in your area. Thats what I think I would do if I had an over abundance of hammy!

 

[Imbrium]

mice and rats and (I think) gerbils and dwarf hammies can each live together (same sexes, obviously, or else you get babies out the wazoo)... Syrian hammies (the big ones, like I have) are loners, which is a real bitch right about now.

I've been gradually separating them as I get cages finished - went from 5 girls in one/7 boys in the other (plus mom and dad each in their own cage) to cages of no more than 2-3 hammies in each. I have seven more bin cages to make :banghead, and I'm procrastinating. currently, dad is in a meshed rabbit cage in my parlor area and mom is in a bin cage that's on top the rabbit cage. the babies are in the dining room in a single stack of 5 cages. I really wish the cages could open from the front or side or something instead of the top, then I could give their daily fresh foods/sunflower seeds and some attention without having to unstack and restack it all.

on the plus side, when I started breaking up the babies into pairs/groups of 3, I had the foresight to get a sharpie marker and some masking tape and make labels for the cages - I've got them numbered on one side and on the other side has gender and markings (so M/F and then BS for banded sable, UG for umbrous golden, etc.) to tell me at a glance what's in the cages so if someone finally gets around to buying one and is only interested in looking at certain ones, I know which cages to pull even if the hammies are hiding.

I also printed out some monthly calendars for dec/jan/feb so far and stapled them together and keep them and a pen by the hammies, then when I clean cages, I mark down the #s that I cleaned on the day I cleaned them so I'll know when it's time to clean that cage again (meaning I don't waste bedding cleaning something that was cleaned very recently, I don't let anyone's cage get all stinky and I don't have to clean them all on the same day).

that sounds like a great venue - I could totally teach kids and stuff about hamster care and talk some parents into a hammy 'cause they're super low-maintenance (unless you have 14)... too bad I don't know of anything like that here

 

[whitelop]

Could you check with local churches or even the humane society or shelter? They may have something like that, that maybe you don't know about lol

WOW! That sounds like quite a schedule and quite an ordeal. But it seems like you have pretty good organizational skills! I would be like up to my ass in hammies and completely lost. Hell, sometimes I'm lost with just the animals I have and they're all really low maintenance. I really hope some people start to pipe up and take some hammies. I'm surprised no one wanted them for Christmas for their kids, as terrible as that is.

 

[Imbrium]

I'm usually fail at organization, but more for lack of effort than ability - if I'm motivated enough, I can pull it off

I'm surprised about the christmas thing, too... and honestly, I wouldn't have felt bad about that sort of thing with hammies the way I would with bunnies. bunnies are high-maintenance. hammies... throw some food in their cage, fill their water bottle, toss in a new chew or two periodically and as long as the cage itself is appropriately big (my bins are), they've got some toys and the wheel they have is big enough to be comfortable (the wheels I'm providing are), they're pretty much set. bin cage only needs cleaning every 2 weeks or so (and maybe scoop the potty corner every few days). obviously most don't mind some human interaction, but they definitely don't crave it like other animals do. pellets are a 95% complete diet, these just need to be supplemented with a couple sunflower seeds and maybe a high-fiber treat now and then... and Syrian hammies can eat a LOT of human foods. most fruits and veggies, unseasoned meat, eggs (cooked without oil), most grains (wheat, not white) and most nuts are ok for them. they really are the *ideal* cute/fuzzy starter pet for a kid that might get bored because they don't give a **** if you ignore them and the upkeep required from the parents if the kid slacks off is minimal.

 

[Chrisdoc]

This is totally fascinating and don't know how you manage with all your animals so you must be organised. It's such a shame that you're having troubling homing them as they seem to be quite easy to look after, sounds like a great starter pet for any kid and don't need loads of space. Hope you can home some of them over Christmas and the New Year. Your house must be really like a menagerie..how do you manage to keep sane ??

 

[Imbrium]

I'm not sure I do, lol.

so I found this all-natural/organic/totally safe for people and animals stuff at home depot that's supposed to kill stupid buggies like those **** caterpillars that ate up ALL my plants except my sage, and you can use it up until the day before harvest.

I tried to buy more plants, but the jerks don't sell veggie and herb plants this time of year and they said THREE MONTHS before they have them again. bastards. I had to drive all the way over to the plant nursery. I got some dill, the kind of basil that has purple on it, a new mint plant and this plant that's got different lettuces in it. I feel bad for the plant nursery folks, I'm sure business isn't exactly booming this time of year. I'm just glad they sell stuff out of season for those of us who lost their ENTIRE FREAKING GARDEN to **** caterpillars. man, am I still pissed off at those caterpillars. I worked so hard at not killing my plants and I kept them alive for MONTHS! the raddicio was SO close to being ready to harvest when it got slaughtered, and the plant place didn't have any and now I STILL don't know if Nala would eat it.

 

[Kipcha]

Sorry, I just got a chance to look at your agility equiptment and I must say, you did a fantastic job! Are the buns doing any better with it?

 

[Imbrium]

yup, once I tightened the fencing on either side so that going around obstacles wasn't an option, they were breezing through it without me even needing the harness. Nala didn't want to do 9'' jumps the second day we practiced, so I had both girls at 6''. sometimes they went backwards through the course before I could even grab someone to take them back to the start, lol. I got videos of each of them, but I'm having comp issues (windows explorer seems to hate me and crash my computer) and got frustrated/gave up trying to upload them... I'll try to get them posted at some point. I think they really like the agility training

 

[Kipcha]

That's awesome! I cannot wait to see videos of them zooming around!

 

[ldoerr]

I was talking to my mom about your hamsters the other day (and asking if I could get one, No sorry). She said that you can not even GIVE hamsters away. I think that pretty soon you will have to cut your losses and just try to give the sets away. Maybe ask at the petstore if they will rehome them for you. Hamsters are next to imposible to give away let alone sell. The only time I have seen a big demand for hamsters was at the raffle at a rabbit show. Someone had brought 5 young hamsters (2 males and 3 females in the same cage) to donate to the raffle (the raffle tickets cost $$ that goes twords the rabbit club sponcering the show). Those were the most popular item there. People ended up bringing them home in boxes or just holding them the 3-8hr drive home. None of the kids that ended up with the hamsters had cages or anything. At another rabbit show the most popular item was a parakeet that I ended up winning (my mom was MAD).

Good luck finding them homes, but you might just have to cut your losses soon. Sorry

 

[Chrisdoc]

Sorry to hear about the bugs in your gardens, they're a real pain but great to see you growing you own. I'm no gardener, don't have green fingers like my mum or my sister and on my terrace, it's not suitable to grow or keep anything. I did try at the beginning but it's either too wet or far too hot. Mine love the basil flowers, they love the leaves as well. I'll be picking some up today from my friends house as she has it growing in the garden. It's like going to the market when I go there as I pick up any veggies she has growing at that time plus herbs and twigs. My boys will be happy when I get home tonight.

I love the agility course, you are so handy lol. I don't think I could make anything like that but would love to try mine on it as they love jumping although they don't love wearing a harness. It's so good the way you set out the steps to put it together, good teacher. I have seen videos of rabbits competing in agility courses and they actually seemed to really love it.

 

[whitelop]

I really glad your girls like that agility course. I think its supposed to be really good for their self esteem(yes I just said that, lol) I think when they do things like that, it makes them feel better and they get lots of great exercise which is so good! Especially if you say Gazzles is chubby(I don't see it, but if you say so haha)
I think I might try to make Ellie a jump or two, I think she could really excel at that, she is pretty hoppy already.
I can't wait to see the video of your girls jumping the jumps and doing the whole course! I'm excited!

 

[Imbrium]

if you're thinking of making Ellie some jumps, you should ask in the rabbit agility group about what age to start out at - I think there might be a minimum age. I know they're not supposed to do jumps higher than 12'' until at least, I believe, 9 mos old - hence why my jumps stop there.

Gazzles really isn't all that chubby these days, but if I don't stay on top of her diet (pellets in particular) and make sure she gets enough exercise, she gets a big ol' chubby tummy in no time flat. she's at a pretty good weight these days and I intend to keep it that way! she tends to *seem* chubbier than she is a lot of times just because Nala is SO lean and muscular and Gaz has a stockier build because that's how Hollands are bred.

 

[whitelop]

If I do try to get Ellie into any kind of agility, I would wait until she was 6 months or more. Until she's done growing. I probably would never build her a jump or anything, since I'm pretty lazy and its hard to find time to do things like that! haha.
I'm glad your girls like to do it though!

Yes, Hollands are like little balls! They're so round. Nala is totally different than Gaz, so its probably weird with different breed standards in both rabbits you're with all the time. I would always think one was too fat and one was too thin. lol

 

[Hyatt101]

Can we have new pics of all your animals Jennifer? How is the runt hammy?

 

[Imbrium]

I'll try to get pics soon, I just hate the process of getting them off the camera now... **** computer. lucky is still doing great!

 

[Hyatt101]

Good! Glad to hear the little guy is holding on! ray:

 

[Imbrium]

smoke and carbon monoxide detectors piss me off sometimes. lately, my smoke alarm has taken to beeping periodically... every few days, it does it for a couple hours in the middle of the night and drives me crazy, but then it stops for some reason. I didn't bother buying a new 9V battery (**** the thing for not just using AAA or AA so I can use the rechargeable batteries I already have) because it stopped making the noise and I figured if the battery was actually low, it wouldn't have stopped, right? (plus I need to dig out the rarely-used charger that does C batteries and figure out a) if it still works and b) if I'm remembering right that it can also do 9V so I know whether to cough up for a rechargeable one)... but then the day after I go to the store, it does it again!

so finally tonight, I got pissed off at the beeping (because it didn't stop after a couple hours this time) and took the 9V battery out of the carbon monoxide detector and put it into the smoke detector to shut it up. it worked... except the freaking carbon monoxide detector started beeping (way closer together, louder, and more annoying) about the battery being low. so I took the battery out, thinking that would shut it up - after all, why does it need a battery in the first place if it's plugged into an outlet? it KEPT throwing the fit about the battery!! I had to unplug it to shut the **** thing up because it's convinced it needs something that *I* know it doesn't need. so now I have to go buy it a battery and cough up money on something UNNECESSARY just to silence the horrendous beeping while still making sure I don't die on the 1 in a million chance I end up with a gas leak 'cause, you know, dying is bad.

anyway, just felt like ranting... stupid inanimate objects are ganging up on me!

 

[whitelop]

Our smoke detector is too sensitive. Its not in the kitchen, its in the living room on the wall that connects the kitchen to the living room. If there is even then hint of smoke, it goes off! It makes me nuts! I hate when they beep because the battery is low. Because they never stop! My carbon monoxide detector just plugs in and doesn't have a battery. Its for when your power goes out, you can still make sure you're not dying from a gas leak. Just get some canaries and if they fall out then you know you have a gas leak. hahhaaa. Do you have gas appliances? We only have a carbon monoxide detector because of our wood stove, in case is leaks gas? lmao.

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, I know the battery's for power outages, but if I wanna take it out I should be allowed to, **** it!

we used to have a crazy-sensitive smoke alarm in our house in New Orleans... I think it was in the hallway right outside the kitchen and the oven was *just* inside the kitchen door. I remember mom waving a towel back and forth under it TONS of times after setting it off by opening the oven. the one here is in the living room on the opposite side as the kitchen, so there's like 20' of space and a wall between it and the kitchen.

I have a gas fireplace, furnace, stove, oven and water heater (and pool heater, though it's outside and hasn't been used in nearly a decade) so I figured with all those gas appliances, a CO detector wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.