Chickens, hedgehogs, rats, hamsters, yada

rats have the same play circuit as humans…a really remarkable discovery that links our evolution…

1 Like

The degus are so curious whenever anything new is put in their cage. Literally anything. A cardboard box, a stick, and old shoe. It will entertain them for hours. They will pick it up, chew it, climb on and in it, try to sleep in it, try to eat it, pee on it.

Best thing ever is a whole nut in its shell. This seems to keep them occupied all day.

1 Like

Came here expecting this to be a recipe thread. Left disappointed.

3 Likes

Not sure how it came about, but Mrs GB let it slip to big mini that we had a hamster cage in the loft (neighbour gave it to us when he was having a clear out).

Cue 24 hours of relentless begging. I’ll give the girl her dues, she has perseverance. It went from having a hamster when she was 8, to 7, to the summer, to tomorrow, to today! :joy:

Being the firm, robust, stoic parents that we are…

10 Likes

Love a good hamster. They look so cute. However…

… have you ever seen what happens if you put two adult hamsters of the same sex together? It’s like Foreman v Ali all over again.

When Mrs FT and I were first married we had a hamster. She was a newly qualified teacher (Mrs FT, not the hamster) and the school also had a hamster. Somehow she ended up bringing the school hamster home for half term, so for a week we had two hamsters.

One evening we thought it would be nice to introduce the school hamster to our hamster on the living room carpet.

Big mistake. They instantly went for each other in a spinning ball of fluff, claws and teeth. Completely vicious. There was hamster fur and blood all over the carpet, and when we finally managed to seperate them - incurring considerable collateral damage to our hands in the process - school hamster was missing part of an ear, and had a massive open wound on his back.

Luckily he survived, and I don’t think anyone ever noticed. But wow. Those little guys can fight.

6 Likes

Are you sure you got a hamster, not a rat? Erm, no offense intended! :joy: :rofl:

3 Likes

How very dare you! haha

I know what you mean though. But i can confirm, it is indeed a hamster!

2 Likes

Crikey never realised Hamsters could kick off like that.

We have 4 male gerbils who all co habit reasonably happily with only the odd bit of argy bargy.

Suspect things would be different if a female was introduced to the mix.

3 Likes
1 Like

We had some hamsters when we were younger. Unfortunately the pet shop gave us one of each gender so they rapidly multiplied!

One day we noticed that they’d had babies and the next day they’d gone. We found one of the parents (thereafter known as Freddie) had eaten them!

3 Likes

What do the cats think of that? :open_mouth:

I’m guessing the cats think “dinnertime”

PS GB changed the title for you

2 Likes

Yum

4 Likes

Weirdly they’ve been totally uninterested. Especially as one of them, the one that my daughter takes to bed every single night, is a proper hunter.

We have the little one the full talk about cat/hamster relationships and she booted the car out of her room for the first time ever last night so she could play with the hamster. But then she put him away and went back for the cat.

But so far they act as if he’s not even there. So we’ll have to see! Little one has been padlocking the cage shut! :joy:

1 Like

Cat employing sneaky tactics!

2 Likes

Ours begged for a hamster when she was about 12. We relentled on the condition that she did all it’s care - cleaning and feeding. So, Hamish joined the family.

I think she got bored with it almost immediately. The constant care that a pet needs was an immediate burden.

Fortunately for Hamish, the wife loved him. If had been down to me, he would have been rehomed - at best.

4 Likes

Yeah we’ve been pretty similar. But luckily for us she’s animal mad, so she already helps out a lot with the cats and the chickens. So she’s used to, and enjoys all that.

The two of them were in the garden on the weekend with 3 newts in a bucket, handling them (carefully) and stroking them :roll_eyes:

Common newts i might add. Not messing about with the endangered ones!

2 Likes

Yep, I think we all know our own children well enough to know how it’s likely to end :grinning:

2 Likes

7 chick eggs that have been incubating for 22 days and are now starting to wobble and make little cheep noises

10 Likes

Just a hatching project, or something longer term? Though aren’t you off to me soon?

1 Like