Getting a new little furbaby!!

[phantasy]

Soo...this Friday I'm going to get a new little hamster to love and take care of. Since my husband has a course to go to today, we can't do anything in regards to buying supplies and all.

Today I will deem as my Cleaning Day. Apartment must be totally cleaned because 1) I want my new arrival to at least be in a clean house and 2) I don't want my mother-in-law to say something like "OMG WHY DO YOU HAVE A RAT WHILE YOU'RE LIVING IN THIS DISGUSTING HOUSE!!?"
She's super-nice, but I can understand if she said that to me.

Today is also the day that I start my research on finding a good, affordable vet in case I need one.

Tomorrow I will buy the cage, water bottle, wooden nibblesticks, substrate, foodbowl, little house or something they can snuggle in and wheel. I want to have it set up before I bring the hamster home, it should be a little less stressful.

Friday I will go to choose my little buddy and bring him home. It's a little cold here in Peru, enough to make me worry that it'll be too cold for it. I promise to give it a toilet paper roll and some random stuff to tear apart to make a soft, warm nest.

Which reminded me, should I throw away it's nest when I go to clean the cage? I feel kinda bad making it make the nest again...but I don't want it to live in a dirty nest either.

I'll take pictures on Friday, but I won't handle it until I can tame it. It will be a Russian Dwarf, so it might take a little while to train it.

I'm super-excited! Yay!! >.<

[Exaspera]

Awww! They are so cute! Get one of those little clear balls so they can run around in it.

[Sheldonrs]

Wow! I haven't seen someone this excited about getting a hamster since Richard Gere. :-)

[phantasy]

I know, it' kinda sad but so is my apartment. It's so...dead And besides, I can't get anything like a cat or dog (prohibitted by my evil landlady) not do I have the time to take care of one. Hamsters, on the other hand, will sleep while I work and be awake when I return. And it'll stay in a cage and destroy only what's near their cage (which is another reason why I'm cleaning, I don't want a shirt to become a hamster nest)

Wow! I haven't seen someone this excited about getting a hamster since Richard Gere. :-)

Hey! That was a gerbil! And ew...I just remembered that reference. For a while there I was looking at your post like

[BlaqueKatt]

Which reminded me, should I throw away it's nest when I go to clean the cage? I feel kinda bad making it make the nest again...but I don't want it to live in a dirty nest either.

I always got rid of most of the nest and kept a couple small pieces of tissue or cardboard so it "smelled right"-also if you weren't aware they do hoard food and when you clean make sure you put some food where they had their "hoard" or they will stress/panic......and they usually do their business in one area of the cage in the states they do have "litter boxes" for that but we just used a small empty glass jar-cleaned daily it keeps the cage fresh for a week, can go two weeks as long as you freshen every few days.

And one more thing...no cedar or pine shavings aspen is better but corncob or wheat is best-cedar and pine both have oils that not only burn their feet but cause respiratory distress.

[Sarlon]

another thing that helped when I had a hampster growing up was put a little bit of cat litter (scoopable clay type) in the corner or area where the hammy takes his business.

Also...a warm nest idea....scraps of fabric, just a small pile, mine loved it!

[phantasy]

I know that they like to stuff the seeds into their cheek pouches, but I actually wasn't aware that they keep a stash in their nest...I'll be sure to leave some of the stash when I clean. I will, however, dump most of it's nest and leave a little bit. I feel bad, but I dont want it to live in filth.

So, I should be getting it today instead of tomorrow. Yay!!

Can I give it yarn to shred? Or could that pose a health threat? Wel, I guess if I actually have to ask, then it's not a good idea.