Baby Boom

Wow. I took in fifteen (I think) hamsters this weekend.

Just think about that for a minute.

Fifteen.

See, these rescuers from Westchester and CT found a cage at a Petco that had squirming, days-old babies in it and no mom. No mom = no food, no drink, no warmth. These babies were going to die. So they searched the Petco, found a lone lady hamster roaming around, and decided to hope that she was the mama and put her in with the babies. Then they rescued ALL of them from the store. The babies appear to be just days old--eyes still closed, look like newts, lots of squirming.

(If you are counting, that is Mama + 6-8 babies = 7-9 hamsters)

Then Claudie, the hamster whisperer, drove all of those hamsters down from CT to me, along with a mama dwarf, her five babies, and the daddy. The babies seem to be 14-20 days old, though I'm not sure on that. In the coming weeks, I will need to sex them and separate them once they hit 3-4 weeks old. The bad news is that the dad and mom were in the cage together, which means the mom could be pregnant again right now. Fun!

(Still counting? Mama + Daddy + 5 babies = 7 hamsters)

Total = 14-16 hamsters.

I didn't have time to update the site last night with pictures of the new hamsters and with the news that Cale Hoeflicker has found a home with an amazing, caring woman and I am so happy for him. I'll try to do all that tonight.

In the meantime, here are pictures to whet your appetite.


First, the Syrian Mama and Babies:

The Mama

The Babies

Mama Nursing a Baby


The Dwarf Mama and Babies:

Me and a Dwarf

Two Dwarfs Cuddling and Napping

Cutest Dwarf Ever (with Poop)

The Dwarf Mama