Tributes to our dwarf hamsters who have crossed over to the rainbow bridge
Gemma came to us from a home where she was no longer wanted. She had been sold to them as a breeding pair with a winter white (see 'Splodge') and they had fought, leaving Gemma injured.
She was a lovely girl with a sweet, gentle nature who loved treats and attention. She loved playing in her cage - an imac fantasy with extention level (pictured in the cages article). She passed away at just over a year old, on 28th Feb 08. |
Splodge was a rescue hamster. His original owner had housed him with a Chinese hamster (see 'Gemma') for a while and, of course, they had fought, with the Chinese coming badly off.
Splodge has the appearence of a sapphire Winter White, but is most likely a hybrid between Winter White and Campbells dwarfs, which is a bad thing as these hybrids can suffer from health problems. Splodge was a very proud hamster who liked nothing more than constant attenion. His favourite food was millet and he could quickly polish off a whole spray in one sitting! |
George was bought from a pet shop to be paired up with one of our older male robos. Unfortunately, the partnership broke down when George reached maturity and they were separated.
George then lived alone until he was 1yr 10m old, when he was successfully paired up with an 18m old rescue male (see 'Humphrey'). Unfortunately, just 6 days later, George passed way. George's favourite thing to do was to run for hours on end in his wheel! |
I adopted Humphrey from the Pets at Home adoption scheme in December 2007. He looked to be around 10m old.
He was very lively and loved running in his wheel and ball. He wass very interested in people and liked to have his cage in a position where he could people watch! Humphrey lived alone except for a brief period where he was paired with George before George sadly passed away. Humphrey was reunited with George in March 2008. |
Pebble was bought from a pet shop in January 2006. She lived a long and happy life until she passed away on 25th July 2008.
Pebble loved having lots of toys to climb on and enjoyed making secret dens in her bedding. She was very particular about her food stash and would use separate locations for each type of food! Her favourtie food was monkey nuts. |
Poppy and Lily were my very first hamsters, a pair of roborovskis bought on 28th Aug 2005. They were the best of friends. They died a week apart in September 2007.
They both enjoyed nest building, running in the wheel and exploring. Their favourite toys were the wheel and cardboard tubes. They would love it if they had new toys in the cage or a new layout. They were both very nosey and would poke their sleepy heads out of the nest to see what you were doing if you made a noise near the cage! |
Apple was a lovely natured boy, who lived with us for almost 2.5 yrs. He was believed to be female when he arrived with his sisters. I tried to pair Apple with 3 others over the years, but sadly his first friend passed away after a couple of weeks and the other 2 bullied him. He was just so sweet and gentle.
His favourite things to do were running in his wheel, shredding tissues and gathering seeds for his stash. |
Max is Paddy's twin brother (see 'Paddy' below). He was a very loving hamster who loved cuddles and attention. He liked to sit on my knee and look around. He was a good friend.
Max was entered in several shows and whilst his results never matched up to those of his twin brother, he has done well, getting in the top 4 a few times. Max passed away on 27/11/08. An abscess on his stomach turned out to be hiding a malignant tumour. I miss my little buddy. |
Paddy passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on 30/01/09.
He was a wonderful father and husband, leaving behind 4 lovely children and his wife. He was playful, outgoing and a bit of a charmer. Paddy won 4 Best in Show, 1 Reserve Best in Show and 7 classes during his show career. He made me very proud throughout his life and will be missed a lot by everyone who knew him. |
Chiddy was a normal (wild colour) Roborovski hamster. She was 2 yrs, 4m old when she died in Dec 08. She was born here out of an accidental litter caused by a pet shop mistake.
She was originally housed with sister Chirpy, who unfortunately had a fatal respiratory disease and died aged 6 months. Chiddy spent most of her life alone until being paired with Fern a few months before passing away (also see 'Fern', below). |
Fern was born here on 31st July 2006 and passed away 2nd July 2009. She was a wonderful girl who i became very close to. She was extremely tame for a robo and would confidently take food from me, which i've never managed to get a robo to do before.
Fern had a long life and a couple of partners over the years. First she lived with her auntie Heather for around 18m and a while later she spent 4 months with her sister Chiddy, who had previously been paired with a different sister. She spent the last 6 months of her live alone, sleeping in my bedroom and being a companion for me. I will miss Fern a lot. |
Heather arrived in January 2006 with her siblings Tammy, Bailey, Apple and Skye. When the group fell out, Heather was split off into a pair with Apple. They got along extremely well, but unfortunately, we discovered that Apple was a male and so they had to be separated. Luckily, Heather was not pregnant.
When Tammy's litter was 4 weeks old, we chose a girl to be paired up with Heather. This girl became Fern and they lived together until Heather's passing in March 2008. Heather was a very curious little robo who loved nothing more than looking at the wonders of the world around her. |
Chirpy is the daughter of Tammy and Bailey. She was paired up with sister Chiddy, with whom she got along very well.
When Chirpy was around 2 months old we noticed that she was not growing at the same rate as her littermates and had difficulty with breathing. We tried treating her, but her respiritory disorder worsened and she passed away at just 6 months old in December 2006. Chirpy was a lovely girl who loved to sit on my hands and be carried around, which is an unusual trait for a robo. She was badly missed by Chiddy. |
Pearl is the daughter of Tammy and Bailey. Tammy had 2 litters in the summer of 2006 with Bailey. They both came from a pet shop and were believed to be female.
Pearl was the only hamster from the second litter to remain here. Pearl and Tammy got along extremely well and never squabbled. Unfortunately, Tammy passed away at only 14 months old. Pearl then lived with Chiddy for a while, but was separated when she tried to bully Chiddy. Due to over-crowding in the hamstery, Peal went to live at another hamstery (Nobody's Hams) where she was happily intergrated with a group of female robos. She passed away in March 2008. |
Bailey was bought from a pet shop with his supposedly female siblings in January 2006. Due to fighting, Bailey was separated off into a pair with Tammy. 7 months later, Tammy gave birth and it was discovered that Bailey was male.
Bailey was a fantastic father who was very protective of the litter, even giving up his own space in the nest. I attempted to pair Bailey first with his son and then with 2 other adult males, but none of the partnerships worked out and Bailey lived out his days alone. |
Skye was bought along with his siblings Bailey, Apple, Tammy and Heather. He never got along with them and was separated almost immediately.
I then bought another girl to pair him with, who we called Summer. Unfortunately Skye didn't think too much of her! They were separated and the girl was eventually re-homed at another hamstery (Nobody's Hams) due to an over-crowding of cages here! She was successfully introduced into a group of females at her new home and lived out her life happily. We then discovered that we had had a lucky escape as Skye turned out to be male! Skye was a sweet chap who, we discovered, was very much a loner. He was house-proud and loved to be the king of his very own castle. Skye passed away in July 2008, aged 2.5yrs. |
Henry and Herbie
I am including these brothers in the same memorial as, sadly, i have no decent pictures of little Herbie. When Herbie was 4 weeks old he was successfully paired with his uncle Apple. A few weeks later I moved them into an Imac Fantasy cage, which is a wire cage. Some how, Herbie was able to squeeze through the bars and escape. We found him the following morning behind the freezer in the kitchen, looking very poorly. He passed away a few hours later. I believe he drank water from the freezer, which poisoned him.
Henry was paired with his father Bailey until he reached maturity at 6 months and fought Bailey for dominance. Bailey was badly injured and Henry was separated into his own cage and subsequently moved to another Hamstery. |