Tiger's Before & After

Tiger is now almost 2-month old. This is how he currently looks like. He has progressed from a mere 21g to a solid 50g and his body shape somewhat resembles a rugby ball (he is very rounded in the middle and challenging for small fingers to wrap around). The good news is that he has stopped his squealing ways - the bad news is that it has been replaced with pooping whenever he comes out! He is a real Captain Poopy Pants and will leave a string of 'presents' for us. (I think in general hammies poop when they're nervous.) This greedy little bugger will dash out excitedly whenever I shake his food bin during feeding time. He also likes to lie on his back and expose his white under-belly when chilling out. We're getting to know this adorable boy much better as the days go by and I think the feeling is mutual.

P.S. I can still see the resemblance in his baby photo and now. Can you?

Here's LOOking at You!

Did these photos make your eyes pop out too? These photos are not 'special effects' by photoshop. This is really how Dale looks like whenever we take him out of his cage (no, he is not a Gremlin!) . Our 1st theory is that he has poor eyesight and was dilating his pupils to take a better look at things around him. The 2nd theory is that he is attempting to create the 'big eye' effect similar to babies and children to receive constant attention - much like most best-selling toys that have oversized pupils.

The table turned on him one day when the vet thought there was something wrong with him and tried to 'massage' his eyes back to normal. After the unfortunate ordeal, he was dazed by the time I picked him up from the vet. In fact the vet thought that she was doing him a 'big favour' - ha ha ha..... Dale must had been cursing and swearing in his hammy tongue. Anyway, not to be alarmed if your hammy has the habit of eye-popping. There is nothing wrong with their eyes - perhaps they just want to see the world around them a little better.

Here is a photo of handsome Dale at his normal self :

Manicure or Pedicure?

This is Penelope - and this is how she looks like when she is perky. She is a happy little girl who likes to collect bedding and tissue paper as her hobby. Also seen here is an enlarged photo of her little claws as I've been trying to trim them for quite awhile but she won't sit still for the manicure / pedicure. So is it a manicure or pedicure for hamsters? For the clueless, hamsters can use their front paws like hands and can hold things with them. They mostly fall into 4 categories: grabbers, snatchers, droppers and holders. The greedy ones are normally grabbers, they'll stand erect in anticipation and expertly grab the food out of your hands. The timid & greedy ones are snatchers. Their strategy is snatch & run off with the food - often their greed overcomes their fear. The droppers are the really timid ones who are so fearful that they'll clumsily drop the food you give them followed by the most apologetic look. The holders are the relaxed ones who will just take the food from you and say "Thank You".

Back to the claws..... It is advisable to trim their overgrown claws with a baby scissors or nail clippers if they grow too long. Actually Penelope's claws is still considered acceptable. So what is considered too long? It is when their claws start curling inwards, making it painful for them especially when running the wheel. You should only trim off a little portion and leave some behind as they need to scratch themselves. If you're unsure please Ask a vet to do it for you as their paws are very intricate. So I leave you with the clawing question - Manicure or Pedicure for hamsters?

Tiger's One Month Celebration

Remember the little baby squealer? Well, this little squealer has already turned 1 month old ++ In the Chinese culture, we celebrate babies' 1-month aka 'full month' (direct translation) with red eggs. (This was the closest we could get to a red egg.) Thankfully he was a good boy and cooperated with the photo shoot.

P.S. He did not even squeal at Mr. Egg although he didn't get to eat any.

Food For Thought?

Q. What was your first thoughts when you saw the above photo?

a) Doraemon and hammies are friends hanging out.
b) Doraemon was bringing out a plate of food for his little friends.
c) The hammies are Doraemon's pets.
d) Doraemon was salivating at them as food?
e) Dunno what to think, too bizzare.

I recently bought a small display case to house my ceramic hamsters dust-free. As there was still some space, I decided to throw in the Doraemon figurine as well (he came from someone's birthday cake - a grown up, not kid's). I thought they look quite chummy together until my best friend commented that Doraemon looks like he is smacking his lips in anticipation to eat the 3 hamsters! Come to think of it, Doraemon is supposed to be a fat cat from outerspace, so she isn't that far off afterall.