A Memorial to some of my past little critters that don't fit into any other category.
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A Memorial to some of my past little critters that don't fit into any other category.
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(Writers Note: Raising baby ghost shrimp project was a bust) So as I said in my latest blog post, Moriarty got a new tank. It is a Fluvel Spec 2.5. It is SOOO cute. Only problem was, I got this pretty white sand, which got dirty and messy- really fast! I looked into cleaner animals, and decided I wanted to get a Ghost shrimp. So welcome my newest pet, Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper:) I got her at Petco and didn't really noticed until the Bagging lady put her in the bag that she was full of eggs!!!! It was yesterday that her eggs hatched (or more in proper terms, she released her eggs:) They all got sucked into the filter of the tank and I had to save them by dumping the filter into the tank (very messy business indeed) After netting them out (so Moriarty wouldn't find them a tasty treat) They are staying in a brine shrimp net until they get a little bigger. I also have to mention that I "adopted" 2 Marimo Moss balls. They add so much color and interest to the tank. They are so awesome. I named them Miki and Arnold. just for fun:) Mrs. Hudson's babies did well in the net for about a mouth, before one of the remaining three died. The two left ("Martha" and "Jones") where moved into a new 2 gallon tank that fit them quite well. They grew a bit and flourished for about two weeks before they also died suddenly:( I had the water checked and there was nothing majorly wrong with it other than a little elevated PH. They where just so small and fragile. The pictures above are of Martha, who was the biggest one. They got to be quite big compared to how small they where originally! I was excited to have raised them as far as I did. The picture on the right is about life sized.
Hi, Hamster fans, This is a combination of old Blog posts about my past syrian hamster Delilah. I hope you enjoy reading through her life and the crazies that we dealt with together. Jan 2014 Its good to be back into the world of hamsters! I have adopted another hamster, this time a Syrian (or teddy bear) Hamster. Her name is Delilah (after one of my all-time favorite songs by Plain White T's) She is 5 weeks old, and she was raised at Petco with her 6 siblings. All black-eyed cream, long haired. She was the biggest of the females. She is a little troublemaker already! She has been enjoying chewing, chewing, chewing.... oh, and eating too. Confession. After having Delilah a little longer I realized she had gotten SO much bigger, that the 17 gallon bin cage was about the same size the 10 gallon had been to her when she was little. Oh my word I can't believe how big she got!!! I could't put a lot of toys in the bin cage and she was really board. so I upgraded. Big time. I bought the Living World (Hagen) Ferret/rat cage. It is HUGE!!!! in gallons (although its wire) it would be about 40 maybe more. And for those wondering, the wire spacing is just a tiny bit more than 1/4 inch, so perfectly safe:) So I promised pictures of my new cage levels, so here they are. It is painted with Lullaby Paints, which are a non-toxic, edible paint. Then it is sealed with Kennel Seal, which I ordered off HomeDepo.com. I put in a LOT of research to make sure it was all none-toxic and waterproof. America unfortunately does not have PlastiKote like the UK does, which is a nontoxic water resistant paint, so I had to make due. If you are looking for a non-toxic paint for your pets, Lullaby paint sells sample colors your pretty cheep, thought the shipping might get you. p.s I am in no way associated with the company, I just think the paint is good:) http://lullabypaints.com/ 7/19/14 Oh, the troubles with owning a cat and a hamster! Ever sense I got my Hagen, Living World barred cage, Blackberry, my kitty has taken an extreme interest in Delilah. So I have been trying some ways to get her to leave Delilah alone. I thought I'd share my story. The first downfall was when Backberry ("Baby" for short) figured out how to jump on the cabinet I (used to) keep my cage on. Well that was that. She wanted to watch Delilah at the closest radius humanly-- I mean catly possible. Well After that it was impossible to keep her off, which was surprisingly more annoying to me than Delilah, (who didn't seem to mind the predator) but Blackberry started to paw at Deliah and nearly jump on the cage in excitement, so something had to be done. I got to work, and made two paper mach'e triangles to keep the cat at bay. Well in short, this was great for about two weeks. Then my stinker figured out how to balance on about three inches of space that the blockers left. Oh well. The next thing I have done now is moved my cage up onto my dresser, which is very high, too high for Blackberry to jump, and with not enough space even if she tried. Thus the first half of this posts name. This has worked so far, even if it makes me feel very small lol. So summing up this ramble, here are my suggestions if your cat thinks your hamster looks like a hamburger. (by order of least to most helpful (or at least I think) 5) Give it time, sometimes your cat will just let your hamster alone after a while 4) Close the door to the room your hamster is in so your kitty can't get in (this doesn't always work if your hammys in your bedroom and your kitty likes to snuggle at night) 3) Spray your Cat if it gets uncomfortably close to your cage (Blackberry is so stupid that she forgets I sprayed her 5 seconds ago and comes back anyways, but if your cat hates the water gun, this might work) 2) Add stuff around the cage (like triangles lol) so your cat can't jump up to the cage. This probably will stop older cats or in-serious hammyburger hunters) (Edit 2016 put aluminium foil around the cage, works like magic) 1) if all else fails, move your hamster cage somewhere completely unreachable to your cat (just make sure you can still get to it, like don't put it on top of your roof or your living room ceiling fan) somewhere high up, or with NO space around the edges of the stand, so that your cat can't possibly jump there. After being associated with hamsters for three years I have realized some things. I also relized that some of the imformation I have posted I don't necessarily believe anymore. When I first was doing research on hamsters, I thought I knew everything: 1) glass tanks are the best cages ever. 2) only breeders have good hamsters. 3) feeding you hamster anything but what the websites say is evil, extra, extra. Then I learned more when I got my first hamster. I figured out that what you read in books and on the web isn't written in stone. That getting you hamster from a breeder doesn't insure your pet wouldn't get a terminal illness when they are only three mouths old, and reading about hamsters is lots different the the responsibility of having one XD. Then I got Delilah, and then I realized that adopting it from Petco doesn't mean it will be an evil biting wild rodent. Also that syrain hamsters have quite a bit more brain than dwarfs:P Most important though, I learned to keep my mind open and think for myself! So without further ado here are some long overdo updates:" 1) Oxbow hamster food. Everywhere you go people say "Get Oxbow! its wonderful." Well maybe it is better than feeding your hamster "Festa" food but I would like to disagree with this statement. Oxbow isn't the the salivation of the hamster food argument. Delilah, for one is allergic to timothy hay and feeding her Oxbow makes her sneeze like crazy. Also it isn't a good food to feed all on its own, because it lacks in curtain areas (This is stated on many hamster websites and forums). Right now I am feeding Delilah Higgins Sunburst which is found at Petco. I have never heard a single forum or website suggest this food, but who cares? It is free of any hays that could make my hamster sneeze, it is full of fresh fruits and enriched with digestive probiotics, plus it has no dyes or preservatives. Do I sound like a commercial? Oh well. I am in love. 2) Cages, First of all if you got yourself a dwarf, I think the best cage is either a ten gallon or a habitrail Ovo. You want to keep your dwarf in a 55 gallon long? fine. Go look up some of the German cages, but that's just not me. Syrians I have found a little more tricky. As you know I have kept Delilah in a ten gallon, a 17 gallon bin cage and the equivalent of a 40 gallon (wire cage). The 17 gallon ended up too small, but it makes a great isolation tank. The wire "knock down" cage is a nightmare. Do yourself a favor and don't even consider one of these monsters! (unless you have a rat, because rats don't need bedding, and can be trained to come when they are called). If your hamster isn't potty trained it would be impossible to afford to keep it in a cage like this (well unless your Uncle is a superstar who gives you lots of birthday money) because it is just SO big. I clean the bedding out of mine about once a mouth because Delilah has a litter box (sand) to use so it stays clean longer. Also, it is impossible to keep a hamster in a cage like this if you don't make yourself some type of levels, because they can hurt themselves climbing the bars. I got my Dad to make my levels out of wood. It was great at first, but became annoying to get Delilah out of there to play. So it took one out for easy access. The only positive thing about this cage is that it gives a lot of running space for the hamster which is nice. (Recently I have given up on the whole thing and am making a new larger bin cage for Delilah. Vets: Today I had to take Delilah to the vet because she has an eye infection. (more on this later) I tried using a salt water solution that was suggested by a friend but she didn't get better, so eye drops it is! My current standing on vets is this, if you can find a way to treat it yourself, do it. Taking a hamster to the vet can be very stressful for them and if you can treat it yourself safely, its probably for the best. Though if your gut tells you they need professional help then go. But find a vet that is used to seeing small animals. I saw a big difference in the vet I went to today verses the one i went to for Chadwick. They knew how to hold her and were comfortable with it, even though Chadwick wasn't cured, I would at least have liked to see that. Wheels: This is what I think about wheels, I HATE THEM. lol.When you live in the same room as your hamster, wheels can be a real pain. Finding the quietest one is an art. I have tried the flying saucer (in two sizes) the silent spinner (in two sizes) the Habitrail wheel, the Wodent Wheel and the Hearts cage wheel. I have much to say about wheels, and will be making a You-Tube video on them soon. Bedding: Don't get ceder don't get pine. Don't get aspen it makes your hamster oily. Don't use pellet bedding, (I tried that once it was horrible). Find something paper, I don't even care what it is anymore personally. I use Carefresh or Kaytee, depending on which is on sale. Cleaning: I am horrible at cleaning! I just hate it. the most important thing is, if it smells, clean it. Oh and don't go by your own judgment on if it smells, get someone to go into the room and say if it smells, as febreze says so well, you could be nose-blind. (I am not associated with febreze in any way I do not sell or promote their products I just like their adds thank you very much). Well I think that is all my mind has to offer currently. I might be really empty of anything to say now. I will go now so you can process all this while I walk around the house like a zombie muttering "there is nothing in my head" for a few hours. Hope you enjoyed! As I mentioned in my last post, poor Delilah has an eye infection. No fun! I took her to the vet Tuesday and she is looking better, but I'm still a little worried. Her eye has gone from super red and irritated to smaller and less irritated though, which is good. She has been a real trooper (well mostly lol) taking her eye drops and antibiotic (oral) medications. The picture on the left is the day before taking her to the vet and the picture in the middle is from Wednesday, two days after (it looks wet because I just had given her her eye drop). The picture on the right is today, it still looks quite red around the eyelid:( I couldn't get her to stay still for a clear picture which is a good thing really, she didn't even need a wheel before Wednesday because she was so lethargic; but her activity has increased sense she has been on the meds. Delilah got to looking so much better after the two weeks of meds. Unfortunately after the meds ended she went steeply down hill. So back to the vet for her. Turns out she had a part of her tooth break off and the piece got in-lodged into her cheek pouch. This is what caused all the swelling she had. the puss was drained out of her cheek and she was given two more weeks of meds. Today is the last day of medication. Delilah finally got her new cage! I mentioned she might get one a few months ago but the making of it was postponed while she lived in a recovery cage (her old bin cage) while she was sick. Now that her cheek pouch infection is all cleared up (yay!) she got moved into her new (permanent) home. (For an idea of how big it is, that is a 12 inch flying saucer in there!) RIP sweet girl Delilah 12/23/15 who was only 25 days away from being 2 years old. See Delilah page under critters bar. (Editors note 2016 Delilah died of mysterious causes, she got a chill after moving rooms and passed away the next day. She was very old as well so quite fragile by this time.)
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