02 January 2013

Meet Ginny

Why is it that I always have the energy to start the new year with a new blog post?  And then that energy wanes and peters out as the year progresses. Work can kill all that extra energy I must say.

I've been way behind in all my blog posts, and I've been meaning to tell you all about Ginny.  Now that she's 9 months old, I suppose I really should start writing.

Remember that dream I had about Joey, my first hamster?  Those recurring dreams of my beloved Joey affected me so much, I realized that I missed having a hamster. I haven't had a hammy for more than a decade now, and I felt it was high time to get another one.

I got Ginny at a pet store on April 1, 2012.  I wasn't planning to get a female Syrian hamster because females have a more excitable, agitated temperament, and I was sort of looking for another Joey--the laid back kind.  But none of the boys in the litter really got my attention, and so I turned to look at the next bin, where the females were. (By the way, pet stores aren't really the best places for animals, especially sensitive ones like hamsters. These stores can be borderline heartless when it comes to taking care of pets.  That was why I felt compelled to rescue a hamster from the pet store rather than get one from a breeder.)

And then I saw her. She was one of the plumper ones, but her weight didn't stop her from scurrying about.  While her litter mates were just snoozing away or hiding inside the tunnel, she was all over the place, an active little one.

I loved her the moment I clapped eyes on her.  She's a Syrian hamster, with a white and brown band--exactly like Joey. Her coat looked more orangey than brown, and that reminded me of the Weasleys of the Harry Potter books with their carrot colored hair.  And because she's a girl, I named her Ginny after Ginny Weasley. Some people think I named her after myself. (Gina? Ginny?).  I say--WTF.

Before I got Ginny, I had to prepare for her arrival in a big way.  As any decent hamster owner would, I had to buy her cage, food and accessories first before bringing her home.  Because hamsters get stressed easily when moving to a new environment, you need to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible. I set up the cage and everything else before going out with my small animal carrier to choose a hammy. And where I live, I'm fortunate enough to be 15 minutes away from the pet store. As such, the travel time for Ginny wasn't bad at all. When Ginny finally arrived, she took to her new home right away, and that was a huge relief. At that time, she was already around 3 weeks old--and most probably ready to be weaned from her litter mates.

Here are her first photos in her real home:

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Negotiating the stairs

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...and finding it fun.

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She learns to drink from the bottle for the first time.

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Food, glorious food! She probably realized she no longer has to share food with her litter mates.

With Joey, I regret not having a point-and-shoot to record his life. I mostly shot video footage of him on a digicam, and now I don't know where those tapes are. :( 

I'm afraid the next few blog posts will all be about Ginny and proper hamster care. So if you folks feel like tuning out, that's okay.  I suppose these Ginny-related posts will appeal more to hamster owners looking for tips on how to care for hamsters in the right way, and I just want to do my bit. After all, the internet has also become my resource when searching for hamster-related topics.

Hamster care has progressed dramatically in the past decade; most of the cages, bedding, food, and accessories that I'm able to get now were not available then. I'm still amazed by the array of choices in the market today. In many ways, Ginny is luckier than Joey--although they share equal places in my heart. :)   


 

1 comment:

  1. Very cute! If she was real a Harry Potter hamster I bet she could do some neat tricks.

    ReplyDelete