Zoo member #6 - Quite long, but I'm quite excited!

[Percy's Mom]

Well, I adopted the 6th member of my zoo yesterday. Branwyn is a dwarf (I think) hamster, but I am horrible at breeds, so once I get her to let me take a couple of pictures, I'll post them for those of you who know more about them. Her original mom listed her in the Petfinders classifieds. When I picked her up yesterday, she was in a 58qt Sterlite tub with a wire wheel, food bowl, water bottle, and some aspen shavings. I reached my hand into the tub, and she scampered right over to sniff and nudge my hand, so I would scratch behind her ears. The lady I adopted her from said she NEVER does that for anyone.

Now Miss Wynnie is living in a cage very much like this http://www.critterstore.com/wa-00446.html, but I think it might be an inch or 2 wider. She has a lovely pink water bottle, ceramic hammie food dish with Mazuri hamster food, a grass rolly nest, small tropical colored fiddle stick arch, a wooden hidey house, and a bright pink solid side wheel that is silent (thank goodness since she's in my room) and mounts very nicely to the side of her cage. I seem to have adopted a bit of an acrobat. After running all over the place downstairs in her purple ball yesterday while the rest of the family ate lunch, I introduced her to her new cage, and she spent the better part of the next 30-45 minutes running all over, kicking her lavendar and white carefresh up in the air, climbing through the top hole of the house to jump off the roof, and running through and over her fiddle sticks. It took her about 10 seconds to jump into the new wheel and run a few laps. Wynnie seems to be very smart and not at all scared of anything. So far she's not too thrilled with the rolly nest, but I wanted to give her "obstacle options".

The poor thing tuckered herself out exploring and curled up very comfortably in a carefresh nest in her wooden house. She was not a bit pleased when my alarm went off this morning, and I turned the lights on in our room, but I have to say that seeing her fuzzy little head stick up through the top hole of the house to investigate was pretty amusing. Miss Wynnie seemed to forgive me for the noise and light pretty quickly when I came back with a fresh bottle of water, added some more food to the bowl, and gave her a quick morning snuggle before turning the radio and lights back off, so she could get back to sleep.

So far, it seems like she is adjusting fabulously and loves being able to see all around her surroundings instead of through the cloudy sides of her bin. I'll give her another day or so to herself, and then hammie pictures are sure to follow!

[Slap Maxwell]

She sounds like an awesome hammy! I am planning on adopting one myself soon.

Is Mazuri hamster food recommended? I am looking into different foods.

Can't wait to see pictures!

[Percy's Mom]

I asked a month or so, and Mazuri was recommended for hamsters. She was being fed Kaytee, but I decided to avoid that since it has ethoxyquin in it. The Mazuri has a few seeds and what looks like dried apples and carrots in it, but overall, it looks like just a food block. I can also readily find it without paying shipping. If you come up with other "good for hammy" foods, please pass them along.

[Ly&Pigs]

I use either Harry or Hazel Hamster food for Gracie (hammie) and Jirby (gerbil) and for my sons gerbils as well. It's supposed to be really good or so I have been told. I haven't tried Mazuri Hamster food.

[Slap Maxwell]

Ly, where do you find those foods?

[Ly&Pigs]

Hazel/Harry are both names for the same product. Mostly you find it at Petco and PetNotSoSmart but it's available at other places. I found you can order it through Amazon as well. It's made by Supreme Pet Foods which is based in the UK and so it's more available in the UK than in the US I believe. It's the same makers of Gerty Guinea pig food which is not recommended for pigs but the hamster food is good.
http://www.russelrabbit.com/index.php

The link to it at Amazon is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=284507
The shipping costs to me anyway are about the same cost as the food itself.

[Percy's Mom]

So the seeds and things in the hamster food are OK? I don't want to get anything for Wynnie that would be bad for her. And does anyone have any healthy treat recommendations?

[Ly&Pigs]

Yes. Hamsters can eat the seeds, dried veggies, some nuts and other bits.

Here is one page on hamster nutrition. I am a member of this site and they have a lot of good info on hamsters. That sites admin is a member of gl, so I trust her judgement.
http://www.hamsterific.com/Nutrition.html

They say for dwarf hammies you pick out the corn kernals, pea flakes and corn flakes before feeding. Syrians can have it all.

[Percy's Mom]

Thanks for that website Ly. It was extremely helpful. Based on the pictures, I think that Wynnie is a Syrian hamster. Apparently, the lady I adopted her from was as breed clueless as I am. Pictures will still follow in the next couple of days, so y'all can see my lovely girl and confirm her breed for me.