Meet Haleth!

Say hello to Haleth!  I got this beauty on March 17 from the ACC.  After Laurelin passed away, I knew I wanted another Syrian hamster as they are my favorite.  But I wasn't ready right away.  I decided to wait while checking the ACC daily since I was looking for something specific.  My desire was to adopt a young male that didn't look like any hamster I've had before.  After a while, I saw a handful of females listed and definitely considered one of them, but I decided to contact the ACC first with some questions.  I chatted with some awesome people on and off for over a week before I went in to see the hamsters.  I initially thought that there were new little males available that day, but their final determination was that they had 2 baby girls, not boys.  Regardless, I instantly fell in love with this one!  She was VERY scared compared to her sister.  In fact, she pooped and even peed on me when I was transferring her into my travel bin to take her home.  😅

The first week with her was a bit rough.  I didn't want to give her a name until I confirmed that she was in fact a she and not a he.  Her fluffiness was making it very difficult to tell.  And she was terrified of being held and peed on me again the second time I held her.  So I spent an hour sitting on the floor with my hand, full of food and treats, laying in her bin to convince her that my hand was not something to fear.  After almost two weeks of doing this nearly every night, she's not as scared of me and I actually picked her up and held her last night fairly easily.  😊

She does use her teeth to communicate to me more than any hamster I've had before.  The first couple times I had my hand in her bin for her to sniff and eat food and treats out of, she bit a couple of my fingers hard enough to make me bleed.  The best way to teach a hamster not to bite is to not react, which is obviously easier said than done!  I think that worked though because she hasn't bit me hard since.  I am also getting better at understanding her personality which helps immensely!  Last night, when she was done being held and wanted to be put down, she gently put her teeth on me which I took as a warning and put her back in her bin.  She is VERY food driven and quite curious which has helped speed up this taming process.  I have yet to find a treat she won't eat!  😂  

All of these pictures are from the first day I had her as she was exploring her new home.  As she is still quite jumpy and I'm still working on taming her, it'll likely be while before I can get pictures of her outside of her bin.  Oh by the way, if you can't tell how fluffy she is from these pictures, she's definitely a long haired Syrian, but since she's a female, she won't get really long hair like Tarcil had.  She was 5 weeks old when I brought her home, so she's 7 weeks old now and already quite a bit bigger than she was in these pictures.  Welcome to the family Haleth!  💗

Name of course comes from JRR Tolkien's works.  I also want to say again how awesome the staff is at the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control!

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

This week has more uncertainty in it than I generally like.  The construction on our street started up again, and we no longer have access to our driveway.  Obviously I would prefer a schedule and timeline of what to expect and when to expect it, but that's not going to happen.  Yesterday I got a very bad headache which I believe was from the noise of the construction and the general tension I feel with not knowing how this will affect us in the coming weeks.  Our wonderful neighbors who are behind us let us park our car at their house so we are walking through the backyards when we have places to go which has helped me immensely to have some peace of mind in this craziness.

Fili likes to wander and explore.  He is currently the most active hamster I have and therefore often the only one I really get to interact with unless I wake the others.  Yes, that is plural.  😉  Hopefully next week I can introduce the new one.

Kili can be summoned with food.  Otherwise he'd prefer to sleep.  I actually regularly see him in the mornings now for a couple minutes after I first get up before he goes to bed for the day.

Treats

 I love watching my pets when they get to eat a treat.  They all have different approaches of the best way to consume their treats.  Kira scarfs down all food, no matter what it is, while doing as little chewing as possible.  Arien and Beren do actually chew their treats but barely because they want to make sure their treats aren't stolen by Kira (yes, Kira totally steals even the dog treats if given the opportunity).  But with all my hamsters, they slowly chew and savor their treats, often taking breaks to really appreciate what they are eating.  And of course if their treat is too big to eat in one sitting, they simply pouch the rest for later.  😊

I can't get over Fili's little leg sticking out!  I don't know why he was sitting like that, but it was too cute!  😍

Kili always wants more treats.  He never seems satisfied with what I give him.  I try to limit him a bit though since he's already fairly round.  😁😂

Checkered Box

I recently got an order in this box and thought it would be a cute backdrop for the hamsters.  I'd say I was right.  Doesn't Fili look adorable?!  😍

I love how much more relaxed and confident Kili is compared to Fili.  Also I can't get over Kili's tiny little legs in the second picture!  😂

New Flooring (RIP Laurelin)

My sweet Laurelin passed away sometime during the night on Saturday.  I remember when I picked her up from the ACC back in June of 2019.  I think the guy helping me probably thought I was weird because I never even held her before saying I wanted her.  But it was love at first sight for me!  😍  Due to not knowing what her 8 months of life was like prior to me bringing her home, I figured I shouldn't expect to have a long time with her.  I always hoped I could get a full year with her, and she both surprised me and blessed me with 20 months together!  I sometimes wish I could have had her when she was really young, but I am guessing she was a bit crazy.  😂  I am so glad that I was able to love on her and spoil her so much, especially as she got so very old.  As I'm sure you can tell, these pictures of her are from a while ago.  They were taken shortly after I first got her, but I never published them.  She was so fun to photograph and has been the only hamster other than Tarcil that I put in costumes.  I miss my sweet Laurelin.  ❤

Fili actually ate this treat instead of ignoring it to wander around like he normally does.  Honestly, based on just these pictures of Fili and Kili, it is easy to wonder if I accidentally switched their names before I split them.  But I don't think I did.  😁

Joe said I should just admit that this whole time there was only one hamster that I cloned in the pictures that had two side by side.  But of course he's only joking!  I really do have two hamsters.  Although, I don't think I'll ever get identical hamsters again.  As a twin myself, it stresses me out that I've potentially mixed Fili and Kili up and there would be no way to know since they can't tell me.  😅  That being said, this here is definitely Kili.  😊

Red Rose

These are a couple of older pictures I never posted of Laurelin.  I decided not to take new pictures of her today.  She's still hamstering on, but it is a struggle for her.  She seemed to appreciate her bin getting cleaned up a bit.  I also gave her some yummy treats which she was happy about.  😊

Fili was acting and looking so much like Kili during this little photo session.  He doesn't like when I clean out his bin.  I think he's grown a bit territorial since being split from Kili.  He tries very hard to keep me from stealing his stash of food and poops.  😂

Kili is my wittle sweetheart.  He's so easy to please as long as you have a treat for him!  After he ate his pecan, he checked to see if the rose was also a treat for him.  😅

Plaid Blanket

I still don't think Laurelin has much time left, but she's been surprising me for a long time now.  She's taken on the persona of the sweetest old lady who slowly wobbles around to get to her treats, water, and potty.  I don't think she uses her wheel anymore, but I've left it for her in case she wants it.  The abundance of energy that she was surprising me with even as recently as just a few weeks ago seems to be fading fast as she mostly just sleeps now.  As much as it can be hard to see her deterioration, I actually do appreciate knowing that when she passes away, it will be from old age.  And in the meantime, I have so much freedom to spoil her more than I would with a much younger hamster.  😊

Fili is my little explorer.  He isn't swayed by treats.  Photographing him is a very reactionary process as I have to patiently wait and hope that despite his running around, he will at some point move to the spot I want, so that I can capture the picture I envision in my head.  I am not always successful in getting what I want, but when I am, it is so exciting!  😊

Kili is a blob that clearly loves treats.  😅  When I photograph Kili, I have a much different approach that isn't reactionary, but instead is proactive.  With Kili, I can envision the shot I want in my head and then place Kili how I want him knowing that as long as I have placed a treat there for him, I will have a few moments to get my shot as he sits right where I place him.  I can usually even adjust him if I didn't get him placed quite right and then get my shot before wanders off to explore.  Due to the different processes needed to photograph Kili and Fili, I actually start with Kili to get the exact shot I want, and then with Fili, I try to get a shot that matches that.  However, blogger reversed the order of pictures when I uploaded them the first time, so I just went with it and now you'll always see Fili's pictures before Kili even though I probably took Kili's pictures before Fili.  😁