kikis-hamster-blog

[kikis-hamster-blog]

Why this blog went quiet for a bit

So, I've been having a hard time adopting a hamster.

I don't have any shelters nearby that adopt out hamsters, and I can not drive so going a long distance is out of the question.

I tried Craigslist to see if I could try rescuing hamsters there, but every single person I tried emailing was shady as hell or didn't respond.

So I tried e-mailing the nearest shelter to see if they could bring the hamster to me and we could meet someplace public, but they didn't respond either so I'm going to assume that they don't or thought I was messing with them or something...

Not being able to drive is rough. But also I'm honestly kind of terrified to drive? I have a horrible attention span so I'm worried I'll lose focus while driving. I'm also black so I'm also terrified of the idea of ever having to be pulled over, so if I don't drive I don't have to worry about that, right? It sucks that's even something I have to worry about, though...

I guess cars are expensive, anyway, because of insurance and gas and maintenance and that'd be less money going towards taking care of the hamster in the first place. I have the budget for a hamster, not a car and a hamster.

So, I don't really have many updates in terms of this blog as of yet because I'm having a hard time even getting one. Sure the petshops nearby have them, but also from all the research I've been doing it's not really a good place to get them from because they don't treat them well and get them from rodent mills. I guess no one said trying to do the right thing would be easy.

But yeah, at the moment, I'm stuck at a bit of an impasse. If anyone has any suggestions on where to go from here, that would be great.

[kikis-hamster-blog]

Late-night hamster thoughts since I can't sleep

Something I've been thinking about is how a lot of pet stores will sell super tiny cages for hamsters with the minimum bare essentials and promote that as "good hamster care".

But like, setting up a proper cage for a hamster and getting them good food and toys is so much more expensive.

I don't really understand why they don't promote proper hamster care when it seems like it would make them more money if they can get people to buy bigger cages and healthier food. If anything, they're losing business to online sellers because most of the things that hamsters actually need aren't really sold in a lot of pet stores here in the U.S.

Niteangel is a very popular brand among hamster owners, but I've never seen Niteangel inside of any store. I'll have to order their products online if I want them. And like, I hate shopping online. The whole experience is just frustrating to me, and it kills local businesses. I would 100% prefer to just ride my scooter over to the nearest pet store, pick up what I need, put it into my backpack, and ride back home. But I'm stuck having to order stuff online because the pet shops here just don't carry the proper items.

Imo, it would be mutually beneficial if pet stores just... promoted good pet care. If they're a good business and know how to actually sell, they'll still make money. If they can't adapt to that, it wasn't a good business to begin with.

Anyway, we really need better regulations for pet care in the U.S. and need to stop treating animals as if they're solely for entertainment purposes and not as the living, breathing things they literally are.

[kikis-hamster-blog]

HAMSTER HAUL!! WOOOOOOT!!!!

Guess who just bought a stupid amount of hamster stuff! THIS enby did!

So, adding onto the beach-themed enclosure I have picked up...

Some millet sprays! The bag says that they're for birds, but hamsters actually really love sprays! This was the only spray I found in the shop, though, so I just picked this one up.

Hideouts! You need multiple hideouts for a hamster so I picked up these three. I think they'll have a good time with them.

Extra bedding! One of the folks on the hamster forum said I didn't have enough so I got this to add some more.

Chewing sticks and a water bowl! The sticks are apple tree sticks, which are known to be safe for hamsters. I didn't remember what other kinds were okay for them, though, so I only picked up those. The bowl is made out of stone. I saw it in the lizard section, but thought it fit with the beach theme.

Sand! Also from the reptile section since this kind of sand is known to be safe for hamsters. I didn't expect it to feel so SOFT, though. I was literally just sitting there sifting my hand through it because it felt so nice. (I was in a voice call with some of my friends while setting up the enclosure and doing this, and we were joking about me eating it. I was slightly tempted, though.)

Rocks and sea shells! I actually got these from the dollar store, but figured what kind of beach didn't have these?

Putting them all together, it looks like this!

[Image description: A large bin filled with several inches of bedding. One third of the bin on the right side has blue coloured bedding meant to represent water. The rest is just plain white bedding. On top of the blue bedding is a rock-shaped hideout, and a yellow submarine hideout. Inbetween the blue and white bedding is half of a wooden log with an opening. On the far side of the white bedding a straw hideout can be seen, as well as the stone water dish. There are several millet sprays stuck into the white bedding in various corners. Scattered over the white bedding are several sea shells and chewing sticks.]

So things that you are not seeing; The rock hideout actually has a toilet paper tube leading into the bedding underneath it. This is here for just in case the hamster doesn't burrow on its own. Sometimes you need to give them a burrow starter for them to do the rest on their own, and thought the rock made a nice entrance to whatever burrow they'll make (kind of like they're diving deep underwater!)

Under the log hideout, there's a plastic dish inside where the sandbath is, so they'll have lots of privacy when they need to clean themselves and do their business.

I still have some other stuff to buy for the hamster, plus I'm still waiting on the second cage, but I'll get them some more stuff soon! In the meantime, though, it really seems like it's coming together, and I'm SUPER excited!

[kikis-hamster-blog]

Note to self: Make a Supercook account marking down all of the hamster safe foods so it can give me a bunch of hamster-safe recipes

[kikis-hamster-blog]

So I'm probably going to be posting some things that look like nice ideas for when I get my hamster, just so I have an easy place to keep track of them. Feel free to use those ideas all you want, too. If any hamster out there gets better care from stuff they've found here, I'm happy for that. Go nuts! Get creative! Have fun! But I am going to be posting stuff like hamster food, enrichment, toy ideas, ect. in addition to my hamster blogging. If you don't wanna see these, though, and just want to see my rambles, I'll tag them as "not blogging" so you can blacklist it.

[kikis-hamster-blog]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay.

I need to give you some background before I launch into this new adventure.

I moved out into my own apartment for the first time during February of 2020. I was optimistic about my new endeavor as a fully-fledged adult in the big city! (Well, as a fully-fledged adult next to the big city, but close enough!) And nearing the end of February I had just finished bringing over all of my essentials; furniture, cooking ware, clothes, hygiene and cleaning products, my computer and internet.. Stuff I would need to essentially survive. In just a couple of weeks I could start bringing over the fun stuff; my video games, my movies, my instruments, my records, my sewing projects. All the things that would keep me occupied in-between recording for my radio show. I mean, there's nothing that could possibly happen in a couple of weeks that could hinder me getting this stuff, right?

Right?

Anyway, Covid lockdowns happened and I was stuck without any kind of entertainment for months. I couldn't go out to see other people. And after a few months of having nothing but a computer screen for any kind of entertainment, everything started to feel very dull. The first half of Covid lockdowns was probably one of the worst periods of my life. It was boring, it was depressing, and most of all, it was lonely. Because I was living all by myself, the only people I would talk to in person were the people at the checkout counter when I went out for groceries once every two weeks. I had people to talk to online, and I love my online friends to heaven and back, but it's not the same as having someone there in person.

It was at about this half way point that I decided that once I had the financial ability, I was going to get a pet.

My friends, now, it is TIME!

But honestly, this being my first time living on my own, I'm pretty nervous about this. I've had pets before living with my parents, but I wasn't the only one taking care of them. Everyone in the house did. This will be my first time taking care of a pet all by myself, thus why I decided on the humble hamster. I figured "Hey, everyone says they're super easy to take care of. The hamsters and cages are both pretty cheap. They sell sunflower seeds at the dollar store. This should be a cake-walk".

Well, if you've seen the post I made on my main blog (and reblogged here), you'll know that's 100% wrong. Thanks to my extreme anxiety, I ended up doing some extreme research over the course of months. I was a dumbass, to say the least. I honestly still feel like I'm a dumbass, but it feels like I've squeezed out as much information from the internet as I can since every piece of information I've been finding is just repeating what I've already learnt.

Now, I'm a believer in the fact that there's always more to learn, so if I see a hamster care video or article covering something I think I know already, I'll look it over just to be sure. Hell, if you send me something now I'll still look it over. I think I'm pretty well-versed at this point, though, and that I'm at the step where I can start preparing a home for my hamster before getting them. I've already started a little with a bin cage I'm working on.

I still need to get more bedding and some sand, and get some help modifying the lid, but the basic idea is that this particular cage will be beach themed, and meant for a place for the hamster to make burrows in. It's going to connect to a fish tank that a friend of mine is giving me from when she used to keep a hamster. I'm still trying to arrange when to meet with her to get it, though. The fish tank, however, is going to be Fraggle Rock themed. Once again, if you follow my main blog, you know how huge of a Fraggle Rock nerd (and Jim Henson nerd in general) I am. I thought it would be a really cute theme to go with and would be fun to construct.

Before anyone says it (because the hamster forum I consulted said the same thing many times), I am 100% aware the hamster is going to destroy the nice, pretty bedding and make a mess within the first day. That's not the point, though. The point is that I want to make sure they come home to a nice, welcoming environment. They can do whatever they want with it once they enter, but I at least want it to look nice for them when they arrive.

Anyway, when my check clears I'm going to be picking up some more supplies for my future buddy! It should clear by tomorrow but the bank has been finicky recently so who knows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Either way, it shouldn't be later than the end of the week so when I get the hamster supplies I'll make another post.

[kikis-hamster-blog]

Hamster Care

Okay so, a while back I decided that I wanted to get a pet hamster. It's going to be the first pet that I'll be taking care of completely on my own since I'm living in my own apartment now, and I wanted to be sure that I'll give it the best care possible, so I've been doing LOTS and LOTS of research. And, as it turns out, a lot of cute hamster videos I've seen floating around on this site are actually quite abusive or not cute at all!!! And then, I realized, it's December. The holidays have started. Someone is going to get someone a pet hamster somewhere. And they probably are going to get them a cage that's too small, with a tiny wheel, and nothing to eat but sunflower seeds, thinking that they're giving everything their hamster needs but aren't. So, I'm going to try to put together a little guide of stuff I've learnt about hamster care. As a warning, this post is going to be a bit long, but they're really not as easy to take care of as you think, because it certainly wasn't as easy as I thought it would be at all.

So first, these cages that you normally see at the Petsmart and Petco?

[Image description; Two different Hamtrail cages. They are bright, and colourful. The first one is a small plastic cage with many colours, and metal bars on the sides and top. Inside are a little platform, a little wheel, and a plastic hideout. The second is a set of pods all connected in complicated ways through various tubes that's also bright and colourful.] Yeah, these are apparently bad for the hamsters. Usually these have a floorspace of about 150-250 square inches, when the bare minimum a hamster needs is 450 square inches. And 450 isn't even the recommended size, that's just the bare minimum. I know, shocking right???? And not only that, but they need 6 inches of bedding minimum (not even the recommended inches) so that they can burrow and make tunnels with different chambers (Which they do like rabbits). Also, keep in mind that you want to use aspen or unscented paper bedding. You don't want to use pine or cedar bedding because it could give your hamster a respiratory infection (which they are VERY prone to) So, why do pet stores sell these?

Because apparently when hamsters were first brought to the U.S., people didn't know a lot about them... and one particular company decided "Hey, you know what would be neat? If we had a bunch of small, plastic cages that we connect together via tubes and kids can collect them all!"... That company was Mattel Toys (You know, a company that totally knows all about hamster care and doesn't just want you to spend as much money as possible) So, you might be asking, where do you find a proper cage made for a hamster? Well, the short answer is, you don't. You don't find a cage for a hamster. The actual answer is you use cages that aren't made for hamsters. "Huh????" I hear you ask "Kiki, what the FUCK are you talking about??? What am I supposed to actually keep them in???" Well, first of all, calm down just a little. Secondly, there are options that are right in that same petstore! What I need you to do, is walk all the way to the end of the hamster isle.... Then leave it. Walk a few isles away, leave the rodent section entirely, then go into the fish isle. Pass by all of the beta fish glaring death at you, then turn your eye to these;

A fish tank. You want a fish tank.

Specifically, a 40 gallon fish tank per minimum. (You can get one for 40 dollars during Petsmart's a dollar a gallon sale)

If that's still too much money and you're working on a budget, though, you can walk out of the Petsmart, get in your car, drive to your nearest superstore, and buy one of these instead;

A storage bin. A storage bin also works. Just keep in mind that you do need to modify the tops so that the hamsters can... You know.. Breathe. There's plenty of tutorials online for how to do this properly from many different hamster owners who know what they're doing. I don't know what I'm doing so I'm asking someone else for help with this. There's no shame in asking for help. As a matter of fact, if you're a minor, I would highly recommend asking an adult for help with this step otherwise you're gonna hurt yourself. Heck, I hurt myself trying to do this and I'm 25.

So, now that you've gotten yourself a proper tank, you probably think that you're ready to get all of the hamster supplies.. A cute little wheel, a plastic igloo hideout, any ol' water bottle will do... Hahahahaha, I thought the same as you, my friend. But I was so so wrong. So.... so..... wrong....

These wheel's here?

[Image description: Two hamster wheels. The first one has a wire mesh. The second has wire bars] Apparently they're bad for hamsters too! I've been learning a LOT of things they sell for hamsters are bad for hamsters and... [screams into a pillow] I'm NOT okay! [Takes a deep breath] But that's okay. That's why I'm writing this post. So someone has a chance to see this and not have the same assumptions I had about hamster care before doing research. So, these particular wheels are bad for hamsters for a couple of reasons; 1. Because of the wire mesh/bars, your hamster's foot can get stuck in them and they can break their foot, or get something called "bumblefoot" where their feet swell up and get giant nasty bumps.

2. Chances are these are also probably WAY too small for hamsters.

Anyway, what you want to get is one of these;

[Image description: A wooden running wheel with a cork surface. Also sitting inside is a hamster that looks almost comically small inside of it.]

So, that hamster might look almost comically small sitting inside of it, but believe it or not, that's what you want to aim for! Hamsters need much larger wheels to run on, otherwise they'll have back problems. As long as the hamster can still run on the wheel, it's not too big for them.

You see this hamster?

[Image description: A hamster running on a wire bar wheel that is too small for her. Her back is bending backwards as she runs]

Her back shouldn't be bending backwards as she runs. That is bad. She is going to have reserve scoliosis. ...Okay, maybe that isn't the technical term, but that's essentially what's going to happen. You don't want your hamster's back bending when they're running on their wheel. The wheel doesn't strictly have to be wooden, it can be plastic as long as it's big enough and has a solid running space.

Now, let's talk water bottles. Water bottles are generally okay, but are really best for hamsters that are prone to falling into their water dishes. Otherwise, a water dish is the way to go. Make sure it's not too big to the point your hamster can swim in it because they're not supposed to get wet.

Speaking of; Don't give your hamster a bath!

Generally, hamsters groom themselves and are pretty clean animals. But, they still need a bath, just of a different kind... Specifically a sand bath.

[Image description; A hamster in a round container filled halfway with sand. Over half of the container is a wooden slab.]

You can easily make this out of a tupperware container or a cardboard box if you're low on funds. Just make sure to add a hideout for your hamster inside the sandbath so when they go to clean themselves or do their business, they have a place to feel safe doing so. Now, you want to avoid getting anything that says "dust" on it. Hamsters are not chinchillas and they're not going to have a good time with that. In fact, they're going to have a very bad time because they can get a respiratory infection from it. You want to buy soft children's playsand (if you go with this option, be sure to sift it and bake it to decontaminate it), or lizard sand which can be found at the petstore. This is NOT OPTIONAL, by the way. Hamsters do need sand baths so that they can keep their coats nice and clean.

I'm going to have to add on a reblog to continue since I have more pictures to show and I've hit my image maximum. But I have more to talk about, so please be patient as I add on more.