Boz's Blog of Animal Nonsense 2010

[Boz]

Last week Monday I (and a friend!) went and picked up two dwarf hamsters (there were four but his parents apparently took the other two (this dude was like 40)) because he was offering them free. No that's not why I took them. I took them because after emailing him and saying something (nicely!) about offering free he said he honestly didn't care if they became snake food and that offering them free would probably be better then letting them outside to be eaten by a hawk. :shock:

Well on March 10th I got a wonderful surprised...
More hamsters!!!! :shock:

Now I am about 99% sure the two I got are both female, so that means one (or both) of the other two hamsters were males. And that means there could be more on the way!!

Anyway, I temporarily named the two hamsters Doodle and Noodle until I come up with better suited ones. Noodle gave birth March 10th. (have any name suggestions? )

Doodle is on the left and Noodle is on the right. They are both opal but slightly different. Noodle's colors are bolder then Doodles.

Doodle

Noodle

Can you guess who this is?

I think this is Noodle.

Doodle in the front and Noodle in the back.

They are now separated since Noodle gave birth.

And you didn't think I'd leave you hanging without at least one baby picture did you? Took these March 10th.

Look! A red eyed baby!

I can't wait till they start zooming around!

I went down there tonight to check on Doodle and see if she had babies. None! She just wanted out! So I was holding her for a bit. Poor Noodle wanted out too. I have a blanket covering half of her tank for more privacy. They are in a quieter part of the house as well.

Man I got my hands full... :thud:

 

[tonyshuman]

WOW!! Poor girls, and poor you! You do have your hands full. Did you find this guy off craigslist? I remember seeing someone on there with free dwarf hammies and I was not happy about it, but it is too soon since I lost Petunia for me to get another dwarfie.

How can you tell that Noodle is the mom? Also, would Doodle help with the babies, or cause trouble? I don't know a lot about dwarf behavior, but I do know they like a friend and they're one of the rarer hamster species in that the father participates in taking care of the babies. I was under the assumption that they did more of a communal rearing thing, than a single-parent, with other adults being a threat to the babies. However this is from an academic standpoint, not real-world!

Give those sweeties a kiss for me! You probably know 10x more than I do about these critters, but I'm sure mama hammie would love some hard boiled/scrambled egg or bread soaked in milk to get some more fat and protein in her diet. My Petunia also loved yogurt and peanut butter.

 

[tonyshuman]

Just saw this today too:
http://madison.craigslist.org/pet/1640399063.html

 

[Boz]

I watched them for about 20 minutes and Noodle kept going in and curling up around the babies and checking on them, while Doodle just kept running around begging for attention from me. hehe

I do know that daddy will help with kids but I wasn't sure about a sister/friend and since I have a feeling she's having babies herself I took Doodle out. I have done a lot of searching on the internet, however there is a lot of false information out there. Luckily I have a couple friends I've met who breed hamsters. So I can bug them all I want! hehe

Aww I'm sorry Petunia passed away. I just saw her picture on your blog earlier. Soo adorable!

I'm going to the store today to get a couple things for mama(s).
As of this morning Doodle hadn't had any babies.

Aww poor hamsters! I saw a couple free rabbits the other day. *Must not go on craigslist no more*



This is off topic but I can view this "part" of the forum (or any part for that matter) when I'm not signed in. Like if I click on a section I can't see it but if I click on an individualthread (like when it shows the newest thread) I can see it not signed in. Maybe I should bring this up in the About the Forum area?

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh super, sounds like you're all set for advice. I'll be watching closely! As for the privacy issues I'll forward the question on to the higher-ups.

 

[Boz]

Thanks!
And I showed someone those pictures and they said they look about 2 days old! So Now I'm saying they were born the 8th, not the 10th!
It is very likely she did have the the 8th because I hadn't held them much and been by them much besides for water and food. Plus the babies are deep in the nest so I wouldn't have seen them if it was covered!

 

[naturestee]

I'm sooooo glad you're fostering Midnight! He really does have a lot of potential, he just needed to get out of that cage and have someone work with him regularly. It's possible that just moving him to a pen changed some of his cage aggressive behaviors. I'm glad he still is a lap bunny. He was a nice one last fall.

And OMG babies! So it sounds like the adult girls are friendly? That's great. I don't suppose you have friends who want to adopt them. I'm guessing there's still a ton at the shelter.

You should come over and see Melody. And James redid the bunny room for me so everyone fits in it. Yay! Just give me a phone call since I'm not online much. If I don't pick up just leave a message since I probably have my hands full at the moment. I'm always here.

P.S. Boz was bunnysitting my bunnies while I was in the hospital.:inlove:

 

[Boz]

Naturestee: He's come along way so far!! He's already begging for treats! He still isn't too sure about being touched but he'll come around. He's a lot like Marley was when she was like 6-18 months old. He's got the same my-way-or-the-highway attitude.

I know!! You want a hamster baby!? hehe just kidding!
Actually we don't have very many! I got a few adopted out at mobiles and the others just got adopted. We only got four, one is at my house as he was a little freaked with hands but he's a lot better now!

I know I need to see her! I could bring my camera too if you want. Baby pictures! In fact, I got to message you!

I'll see if I can go tomorrow, though I can't promise anything! It's a busy day tomorrow. And I want to see the bunny room. That is going to be awesome to see!

 

[paul2641]

Hamster babies bring back memories, I got a new hamster and within 2 days she had a litter I was like OMG. They were so cute though.

 

[Boz]

Here is Doodle! Fat Pregnant Hammy! I was hoping by some chance she wasn't but she definitely looks pregnant. Looks like more babies on the way... Now it's just waiting!!

And here is Noodle's litter of 5 fat and chunky babies! 5 Days old here!

NOTE: I did not disturb the nest in that photo of the litter!! The tank is on a table and the end is hanging off a bit so I laid on the floor and took the picture from underneath.

 

[Boz]

YAY! I finally got the critter room all rearranged the way I want it. It looks awesome!! I am so proud.

And since I don't have pictures of the bunnies, I got baby hamster pics.
6 Days old!

 

[PeytonBunny]

OH MY GOSH!!! Look how small those guys are....I've always wanted a hamster but you can't get them in Australia..Can't wait to see pics of them as they grow..

 

[cheryl]

Oh wow..have never seen little baby hamsters before....yeah they are actually illegal here.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

they are so tiny!!!!!!! Cheryl why are they illegal in Australia? I know in the county above me Ferrets were at one time illegal, i dont know exactly why, but t hey were,lol.

 

[kherrmann3]

Aww! Lookit the little ham-lets! I used to breed hamsters (Russian dwarfs were my specialty). Looking at those pictures makes me squee!, though. I wouldn't worry about disturbing the nest too much, though. I could handle the baby hammies I had almost from birth. Since the mom was raised that way by me, she never really minded. I can't wait until they look like miniature adults. That is my favorite period! My other favorite thing about baby hammies is their cute little squeaky noises. Especially when mom runs the nest over and knocks them around (when settling in for nursing, etc). It's like she's riling up the babies!

 

[tonyshuman]

I love the baby tails!!

I can't tell if Doodle's pregnant--my hammies all looked pretty fat!

Re: the blog privacy settings, they should be fixed now.

 

[Boz]

Noodle is REALLY friendly! Same with Doodle.
I went to give Noodle some hamster "mush" (just some yummy food with extras in it since she's a mommy!) and she was trying so hard to get a grip on my hand. So I held my hand flat just about an inch above the bottom and she zoomed right in and started up my arm!

Doodle is the same way. As soon as she realizes I'm there she's trying to get up the side of the tank! I barely get my hand in and she's crawling up my hand and up my arm! They are both so so friendly!

I want to hold one of the babies! I've never held on before.

And thanks Claire!
And compared to Noodle, Doodle looks huge now! At first Noodle was the big one.

 

[Boz]

I got some updated pictures of the babies I will post later tonight or tomorrow! But for now I got this..

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

[Elf Mommy]

Awwwww!!! Too adorable.

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Thats so cute!