B for Bedding

There are so many types of bedding it can be overwhelming when trying to find a good one for your pet. The cheapest, and usually the best is simple unscented, white toilet paper ripped up. I often use the supermarket's own brand as it is so cheap. 

If you insist on buying hamster specific bedding then there is flaked paper (from Wilkinson's in the UK) or vegetable parchment bedding.

There are other types like the safe bedding from Pets at Home

However, under no circumstances EVER buy you hamsters the cotton type fibre bedding! If it is vegetable fibres which are easily digested, that is ok, but the cotton type is an absolute no no. It can get caught in your hamster's digestive system and kill them, or get tangled around limbs and cause them to be lost. In some cases you might think "it never happened to me before" but why risk it when there is no need?

P.S Sorry this is a bit late, I've been travelling home today.

Albino Hamsters

Ok so first post of the A-Z challenge is going to be about Albino hamsters.

Syrians can be albino, white with red eyes, as can dwarf hamsters. The albino gene is recessive, meaning the two parent hamsters must carry it to create an albino baby. Winter whites are NOT albino hamsters as they have dark eyes and only change coat in winter (unless you have a pearl which is white all year round). If you are curious as to whether your hamster is albino or not one of the biggest clues is the coat colour, clearly. They will be white with red eyes. If they have red eyes and are pure white, they are albino :D.

Sadly, albino hamsters can be born with no eyes and live a maximum of 1 year. It is one of the biggest dangers when breeding without knowing the parent hamster's genes. They have a poor quality of life and struggle to do the simplest of things, so that is why people make sure they are 100% sure on the genes of parent hamster's before breeding.

Now for some cute pictures!

The Boys

We finally settled on some names after trying out a long list, and watching them for a while. The inquisitive one, who is always out and seems to be more dominant, is named Sherlock and his brother is Moriarty (Morris for short). They still seem very happy together but I'm keeping a close eye on them, I know the chances of fighting between any pair, let alone a chinese pair!

No more pictures yet, I'm leaving them alone when they are in their cage to minimise stress levels, but here is a picture of my daffodils to keep you entertained XD

Poor babies :(

Last night I rescued 2 male chinese hamsters. They arrived at my door in a shoe box with clingfilm over the top, unnamed and unloved. The shavings lining the bottom of the shoe box were filthy, and there was hardly any food in their bowl, which was also filthy. They are tame, which shows something I guess, but very timid. The woman ask me some ridiculous questions, such as "are you going to breed them?" when I told her about Pea. I rescued them because they lived like this:

And arrived in this:

Both of them, in that cage. To be perfectly honest I felt a little sick when they arrived. In my opinion it was bordering on animal abuse. I took them and immediately took the climgfilm off, she took the money and left and I put them in their new cage which is huge compared to what they were in. She was praising the cage they used to be in, saying how fantastic it was, then I showed her what they were going into and she shut right up. 

Anyway, they are nameless so suggestions welcome, I'm formulating a list so I  an try them all out. Here they are, two beautiful little boys:

The cage looks mucky because I had to put a little of their shavings in there to make them feel at home, and help prevent fighting. It is unusual for chinese hamsters to live together in harmony, so we will see how things go. At this moment in time they are snuggled together sleeping so fingers crossed it continues as this is stressful time they are going through.

My Prize Arrived!

Just a quick post to say my prize from Hannah over at Animal Tails arrived today. Its lovely, I wonder what the postman thought when he delivered a letter addressed to Onion XD.

Cuteness Overload

First off, an apology. I haven't been posting as much as I would like recently as I'm in the last term of my last year at University :o. The work is getting piled on top of me and I can't afford as much time on the computer as I would like. Unfortunately my uni work and pets come before me time so I have to cut back on blogging :(. This doesn't mean I won't be around, it just means I will be around a little less for a while.

In other news, my mini Munchkin arrived in the post today...

How amazing is he?! Done by the wonderfully talented Erin over at Danni the Kat and a mini replica of Munchkin! I love it, go check out her stuff, she even does custom orders like Munchkin there. 

All the animals are doing great, and there may be a new arrival on the horizon...keep a look out ;)

Bye for now

A Big Thank You

This blog reached 1000 page views today, and I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who reads my posts, whether intentionally or stumbling upon it! Without you guys I wouldn't have bothered to carry on writing, and I wouldn't have had as much fun. So it is with a big smile on my face I bid you all goodnight, and thank you again.