Archive for June, 2008

Tubby All Dressed Up

June 30th, 2008

I saw this online & thought it was the cutest thing!

This is also really cute.

I tried to do the same for Tubby .. he hated the look!

ps: he couldn’t stand still, hence the not so clear pictures.

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Angry Baby Hamster

June 29th, 2008

“Let me out! Grr!!”
*Clank clank clank*

Yesterday night, I let everyone out as usual. Daddy hamster got such a kick out of using the Run-About Balls; he went to places that were out of bound to him before, like the kitchen (lots of nooks & crannies), the living room .. Baby hamster, too, was having fun. He went everywhere! Baby hamster was out in the ball for about 10 minutes. When I put him back, he wasn’t happy about that. He tried to get out from the UFO, but that didn’t work. I felt bad, so I let him run around the study room for about 15 minutes. That’s enough run for him, because I had other things to do & couldn’t keep looking out for him.

He was so mad when I put him back in for the second time! You see that cage lock I put on his door? That’s because he’s so good at escaping! He kept trying to push the door open with his whole body weight! It was just too funny, so I had to take a picture. I didn’t let him out again for the rest of the night :-( But at least he got some carrots!

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Run-About Balls

June 28th, 2008

Hello! I live in a rodent kingdom: 2 chinchillas & 5 hamsters reside in my small study room. They all (except for the robo girlies) have their daily out-of-the-cage run. But now that I have the Run-About Balls, the girlies can also enjoy the outside!

Last week, I bought one of those run-about balls for the hamsters from Drs. Foster & Smith. That way, I could let them out, without being worried that they would squeeze into every nook and cranny in the apartment.

A few days ago, the shipment came & it took awhile for Daddy Hamster & Baby Hamster to learn how to use it. I only bought 1, so they had to take turns. I bought the 7″ in clear, so that they can still see while in the ball. I think it’s a good size for Syrian hamsters in general. Finally, they got the hang of it, except that they kept running into things .. the walls, the desk. Maybe because it’s clear, they don’t see the ball as a barrier. But I think they like it, except with the ball, they can’t climb to certain places (which is exactly what I don’t want them to do).

The packaging of the Run-Around Ball says “a hamster runs up to 5 miles each night.” I don’t think I can even run 5 miles a day. The instruction also says to let a hamster run in the ball for 15-30 minutes each time. I think 30 minutes is pushing it .. especially now that it’s summer, the hamster can overheat in that enclosed ball. So, I only let them run around for 15 minutes max in the ball.

I also tried the ball with the robo girlies. At first, I put one of them in the ball. Didn’t work. I think the ball was too heavy for one of them (I have carpet flooring, which makes it even harder for the ball to roll on the floor). Then, I put all of the 3 girlies in the ball. I couldn’t stopped cracking up because now that they had enough power to roll the ball, they were all running in 3 different directions!

That didn’t work. So, yesterday I went to buy the 5″ Run-Around Ball in clear, just for the girlies. I put one of the girlies in the ball & she instantly knew how to use it! She had so much fun with it, running around the living room! They had to take turns, because there’s no way I’d put more than 1 Robo’s in the ball .. they wouldn’t get anywhere because they’d try to run in different directions. These girlies have never been outside of their cage, except when I clean their cage, because they’re so tiny & fast!

Note: I noticed that there are some people who use the 13″ ball for their chins. NO! NO! NO! Chins tend to overheat & placing them in these balls is just a hazard. Besides, these balls are plastic & chins will chew & swallow plastic, which can block their digestive systems causing fatal injuries. Please please please don’t place your chins in these plastic balls!

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