Getting My New Hamster!

Hey guys!

So bit of a change. No art, but lots of photos!

I got a hamster!!!

Here she is in her travel carrier, when we picked her up this past Saturday.

Now, let me say, I've been wanting a hamster for a little while. I had a dwarf hamster when I was younger, but we didn't really get to do much with it. I knew I wanted a Syrian, since they're larger and a bit more amiable. Plus they're just so cute! I thought it would be a fun pet to have, especially now that I don't live with my dog anymore :/

I just need to come home to a little someone, god dammit!

I know most people just go to the pet store to pick up their hamster. But after reading some reviews that raised many ethical questions, I decided to see if I could find a breeder. Living in one of the most liberal cities in the country, it shouldn't be a surprise that I did, in fact, find a reputable hamster breeder nearby.

In case anyone in SoCal is interested in a hamster, the breeder I contacted was Cheeks and Squeaks. They have a lot of great information about hamsters in general on their site, and you can apply for one of their baby hamsters online as well!

When I applied, I received an email suggesting that I may not be able to get a hamster for several months, due to some difficulty in breeding. That was fine, I was willing to wait.

However, two weeks ago, I got an email. They had rescued a couple hamster babies from a pet store. There had been an accidental pregnancy, and they were unable to sell them. There was one left, and she was up for adoption.

(photo cred: Tony from Cheeks and Squeaks)

I mulled it over. Thought about it. Do I wait several months for a specially bred baby hamster? Or do I take in this baby hamster rescue now? Eventually the sentiment got to me. After all, Ollie was a rescue. He was the last of his litter to be adopted. And he also needed a lot of TLC and patience before he was comfortable. (he STILL needs a lot of patience tbh lol)

So I messaged back. And luckily she hadn't been taken! So now I needed to get this little sucker a home.

Now, I learned that there is a LOT of hamster misinformation out there, especially regarding their cages.

When you think hamster cage, most of you probably think of something like this:

(Source)

Unfortunately, that cage is way too small. Syrian hamsters in particular need, at minimum, 360 square inches of floor space. I'm not sure about other countries, but I know in the US there aren't very many cages sold like that and readily available in pet stores.

There are several solutions though, some cheap and some expensive. The option I decided to go with was a bin cage. The amazing people at Cheeks and Squeaks custom make them, and had a used one they were willing to sell me at discount.

(photo cred: Tony from Cheeks and Squeaks)

I'm sure you can already imagine the size difference.

Now, obviously, decorating the cage was tons of fun. I bought a giant pack of shredded paper for bedding, and tons of other things from my local Petco. The little vase with holes is actually from the aquarium section. I also hot-glued two bendy-bridges in an attempt to make a little digging area for her, and tried to finagle some stairs out of build-your-own puzzle blocks.

I can definitely see why this size is the bare minimum, though, as you can see I barely managed to fit everything without completely covering the floor. Eventually I'd like to get a nice 40 gallon tank, as then I'd be able to really section areas off for digging and sand, but until then, this'll do.

There was a moment of serendipity as well. A college acquaintance was selling two Ikea end tables for hella cheap, and I was able to snatch them up so I could put the cage on top. My TV might be on a cardboard box, but I will not settle for my sweet daughter's cage on the floor!

And finally, Miss Microwave Lightspeed herself, Micro for short, enjoying her new crib:

Sorry for blurry pics, but I just couldn't get the natural lighting to work. No worries though, I'm sure this won't be the last I post about little miss Micro.

In the interest of length, I'll end here, but if you guys enjoyed I can definitely write more about my adventures with Microwave! I definitely want to, anyways.

If you're interested in getting a hamster, and were perhaps surprised by the cage requirements, I'd recommend doing lots of research! There were tons of videos, websites, and many subreddit posts I scrolled through over the past two years (and certainly over the past couple weeks) to make sure I was getting the best for my little daughter. Again, Cheeks and Squeaks has some great information, and I'd also recommend the hamster subreddit, as well as Erin's Animals, Hopping Hammy, and Vanilla Ham Ham youtube channels (the last one is kind of just her making lots of really cute things for her hamster, but she has some informative videos as well!)

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

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