Spider

 I decided that I wanted to bring back the Hamster Halloween Costumes this year with Haleth!  This is something I started back in 2014 with my internet famous hamster, Tarcil.  I did 3 Halloweens with Tarcil before he passed away.  By the way, I have ebooks of his costume days which you can find more info on by going to https://talesoftarcil.blogspot.com/p/tarcil-books.html.  Then in 2019, I picked it up again with Laurelin and did 2 Halloweens with her.  I figured that since Haleth is getting older and has been so good at modeling for me, she would be a good candidate for resurrecting this tradition.  Spoiler alert: She was actually a bit rotten, but we made it work.  😁

I started brainstorming ideas in September and then promptly forgot about it for like a month, so I knew I needed to keep it simple and that I couldn't do a dozen of them like I have in previous years.  I decided my goal would be to do 5, but my current plan is to do 6.  I still have 2 left to photograph, and one of those costumes hasn't actually been made yet... so we'll see.  😂

I'm starting this year up with Haleth as a spider.  I am pretty okay with the little ones, but definitely not a fan of big ones.  I opted to not do a single ounce of research to make her look like any specific kind of spider, so here is my take on a generic spider.  😅  Honestly, despite the fact that she just wanted to run around the floor instead of posing for pictures, I think she looks super cute and I'm happy with how her first costume turned out.  I'll be posting the rest each day leading up until Halloween!  As always, I'm curious what your guesses are for what costumes I did this year or if you have any ideas for ones to do in the future.  As a quick side note, I'm really hoping Glorfindel will be able to take this on to continue the tradition.  I haven't photographed him yet with my camera so I don't know how he'll do.  He was still awake this morning when I got up so I got him out, and he hung out on the kitchen counter while I made my coffee.  He's definitely a bit scared of this big new world he has been plopped into, but he seems to like being with me, so I'm hoping he'll be my cuddle buddy soon.  💓

Meet Glorfindel!

This little puff ball is Glorfindel!  A few weeks ago, I saw that The Pipsqueakery was getting in a ton of Syrian Hamsters from a pet store that quickly got in over their heads through their negligence which allowed for the hamsters to breed over and over again while at the store.  Anyways, I immediately applied to adopt one and a week later was approved.  It took a couple weeks to make arrangements for me to travel to Bloomington to pick out a hamster, but a couple weeks ago I made the trip.  I had hoped I could finally get a little grey one (in March of 2020 I almost had arrangements made to get a little grey one from them, but then there was a travel ban due to the pandemic, and that's when I instead adopted Fili and Kili from the Fort Wayne ACC).  There weren't any grey ones presented to me, but there was a bin of these identical looking golden, long-haired baby boys.  Admittedly I was a bit overwhelmed because I couldn't see any differences between them as they all ran around.  But as I sat with them and chatted with the awesome adoption coordinator, Amy, I began to notice subtle differences among the boys.  For example, there was one who had a comically tiny face for his body and another who the colors seemed more muted than his brothers.  After a while, a few of the hams started to dig in the bedding and go to sleep while some others began to tussle and play with each other.  That's when I noticed one by the food bowl that wasn't eating, but just standing there staring at me with his hand perched on the bowl.  

I reached down to pet him and he just squished down a bit, but stayed put and didn't run off.  I knew that's the one I wanted.  The first couple times I picked him up, he managed to fly out of my hands.  But the third time, I got him safely into my travel carrier.  I gave him some juicy veggies and fruit for the ride home, but he wasn't interested in the treats and quickly moved to the tissue box for a nap.

The drive home was longer than getting there due to more construction, but we eventually made it, and as far as I could tell, he slept the whole way.  When I first tried to remove him from the carrier, it was clear that the ride had been a wee bit overwhelming for the poor little guy as he just lay frozen in the tissue box.  I eventually got him to go into his new home, which is a 40 gallon aquarium.  He quickly ended up in his new sand bath which he seemed to instantly fall in love with.  But after a couple of minutes of digging and rolling around in the sand, he promptly plopped down and froze as if he was remembering that terrifying ride to this big, new home.  Eventually he snapped out of his daze and began to explore his new home while pausing at times to observe those watching him (which was me and the cats).

When I had asked Amy how old he was, she said 1-2 months, so I'm gonna assume he was 6 weeks old and use that to track his age.  What makes Glorfindel especially interesting is that he (along with his brothers, dad, uncles, etc.) were all neutered at The Pipsqueakery.  I believe they were also in the process of spaying the females, but so many of the females came to them with babies or were already pregnant from living together at the pet store.  Anyways, fixing hamsters is incredibly uncommon still, but I believe and hope that the work the Pipsqueakery is doing will be instrumental in being a catalyst for this becoming more popular.  There are a lot of interesting implications to be explored with this practice.  For now, my curiosity is mostly in seeing if fixing hamsters will increase the average lifespan as it is already known to do so for your typical pets like cats and dogs.  I've always felt honored when my hamsters make it to 2 years old as that is considered quite old, but maybe a fixed hamster would be more likely to live to be 3 years old.  Time will tell!

The name Glorfindel is of course from Tolkien's writings.  My husband suggested a cute, non-Tolkien name for this little guy, but I just couldn't break our tradition.  Also as a side note, I'd love if Glorfindel would make an appearance in Amazon's Rings of Power!  We'll have to wait and see on that too. Anyways, welcome to the family, Glorfindel!

If you want to adopt a fluffy little guy like Glorfindel from The Pipsqueakery or would like to donate to help the Pipsqueakery continue their work as a rescue and sanctuary for animals in need, be sure to check out their website by going to: https://www.thepipsqueakery.org/

 

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!

Grey Blanket

This colder, rainy day has me wanting to curl up under my huge, soft grey blanket.  But instead, it's been a busy and productive morning which transitioned into a slower and contemplative afternoon.  Now as my evening is starting, I'm quickly finishing up numerous tasks that were started earlier so that I can finally check off these items from my to do list and get to relaxing under this nice, warm blanket.  Tomorrow the cycle will start over.  Sometimes I try to fight against this ebb and flow, but today, I'm embracing it and reflecting on how the changing seasons also mirror a constant cycle of change.  I might not always like change, but it generally seems helpful.

Laurelin really appreciated the chance to enjoy her favorite treat in such a cozy blanket.  Doesn't she look so happy?!  

Tarmund didn't want to just sit and enjoy his snack in this serene environment I created for him.  Instead he pouched the treat and wanted to explore.

I believe that Kili is the one on the right side of the picture who was thrilled to savor this yummy treat.  Fili took a much different approach.  He pouched his and then immediately tried to steal the treat from his brother.  😂

Peter Rabbit Mug

These two precious boys came into my life at just the right time!  They bring SO much joy and fun!  It makes my heart so full and happy that they get along so well!  I know that could still change, but for now, I really adore seeing them together and happy ALL the time!  These pictures are from the first weekend after I brought them home.  I can't believe I've already had them for over 6 weeks!

Daffodils

The last two weeks have flown by!  Even though these pictures are from two weeks ago and these flowers have wilted, I still have SO many lovely daffodils blooming in the yard that I am thankful for.  Today is the first day since I took these pictures that has felt "normal" to me, and yet there is still so much that isn't normal about today, but I'm okay with that.  Although I'm not okay with the lack of sleep...  I don't do too well with prolonged sleep deprivation.  

All the hammies enjoyed walnuts to get them to sit still for these pictures.  I was so glad I captured this picture of Laurelin!  She picked up the walnut with her mouth and just sat there, not eating it and not pouching it.  She just kinda froze before she decided what to do with her treat.  😂

Tarmund LOVES walnuts and sat very still while he slowly savored his treat.  😍

Kili also loves walnuts and sat sill to eat his.  Fili pouched his and then wandered around exploring for a bit.  At some point Fili realized that his brother still had a walnut and so he tried to steal it.  😂

Tiny Bowl

These pictures are from the first week of having these babies.  Back then, it was very easy to tell them apart because Kili was so much smaller than Fili.  I miss them both being this tiny!

Empty Fruit Bowl

Oh man, these pictures are melting me!  Fili and Kili are NOT this tiny anymore!  These pictures are only like two weeks old!  😭  I am glad that in the last two weeks, they seem to be a bit calmer and more comfortable with me.  For example, before, Kili didn't seem interested in food and wouldn't really take it from my hand.  I have a video on my phone from last night of him sitting in my hand, eating a walnut.  😍