corn cobs.

Posted by Ah Peng.

Mama gave me a new type of beddings! It's called corn cob and I quite like this new one! Mama said she can finally "wean" me off the cat litter I have been using for the past year as I am fully toilet trained. Besides, corn cob will not cling onto my pretty long fur.

Mama also gave me a spanking brand new red sleeping bowl! However, I do not understand why she filled it up with toilet sand. But anyway I have pushed away all the toilet sand and will be snuggling into this bowl tonight.

Uh oh, Mama don't look really excited that I have pushed the sand out.. time to put on my cute face!

new member.

Posted by Osher

hi, i am Osher, a yellow boy. I used to live with my brother Lex and Hershey until Lex and I had a small argument and a little fight. Thus my Mama-One (will explain why she is called Mama-One later) separated me from Lex and put me in a separated tank. I had a small cut on my cheek, but luckily Mama-One used this powerful medicine and now the cut is healing very fine.

Yesterday was a wierd day. Suddenly alot of human came to Mama-One house. One funny girl picked me up and played with me. I was abit shy and afraid because I never seen her before! After a few hours the funny girl packed me into this small carrier and said that she is bringing me home to take care of me! A new Mama! I am excited and scared because I would be leaving Mama-One to be with Mama-New!

Mama-New (whom I think I should start addressing as Mama) has already prepared my home for me. She took my old tissue and some of my old corn cob beddings and pour it over my new home. This way, I can still smell and remember the smell of my old home. I missed Mama-One alot, and I kinda regret fighting with Lex. I wonder how Lex and Hershey are. :( and my sisters.

Mama told me that my sisters, brothers and I are named by using one letter each from "HOME ALONE". Hershey, Osher (me!), Mojosan (my same colored brother!), Egor, Algio, Lex, (and sisters) Onion, Noodle, and E-ger! It came as an inspiration because Mama, Mama-One and two other friends were thinking of names for us when we realised that the names we chose formed the word HOME if we take the first letter of each of our names. Then one of them said that the rest of us could be named according to HOME ALONE since syrians are supposed to be housed alone too! Just nice there are 9 of us too, one alphabet each!

Mama just fed me egg yolk. I love it alot. I think I will like it here.

we love lowtous (lotus)

Posted by Ah Peng

I heard Mama opening my door so I quickly ran to the next closest thing to the door, my wheel, hoping that Mama will bring me out to play. (She has been staying home these few days, said something about x-zams.. mm, all the better for me though!)

After playing awhile she gave me this funny looking food! It has holes in it! I think it is for me to put my paws in to hold onto it properly. It taste juicy, and it is the first time I have tasted something like this! Mama said its called lowtous, and she took it out from her cooked soup. I liked it so much i chomped my way through it and Mama had to give me a 2nd piece because she wants to take some photos of me eating it. (actually I knew that was her plan that is why i quickly ate up the first piece, i am such a clever ham! now i have TWO half slices of lotus!)

From my keen sense of smell, I think the pretty girl who lives below me is also given a slice of lowtous. But I also heard Mama laughing at her because she kept turning around to find her favourite spot to eat, only to realised that she is outside of her home!

She is getting prettier. I hope I look okay to her. Must groom my fur more often now.

I hope Mama cooks that soup again. I will be waiting lowtous!!

playing with tissues.

Posted by Sonya

It has been raining very often recently in Singapore and Mama was kind enough to include some tissue paper in my tank for me!

However the tissue paper was too big for my little self, and while holding onto the tissue with my mouth, my pinky feet kept stepping onto the tissue and falling over :( In the end Mama shredded the tissue for me! And I am finally able to bring the tissue back to my favourite sleeping corner.

Can you see the tissue behind me? I am looking forward to a warm day (because cute hammies sleep in the day!) of sleep in this cold cold weather.

taugeh and orange bell pepper.

Posted by Ah Peng

I tried orange bell pepper for the first time today. Mama gave me a small slice. Bell pepper has good fats and fibre. And also rich in Vitamin A and C! No wonder it tastes so delicious! All that goodness is in me now.

Today's lunch also included a small portion of taugehs. hee. They are also known mung beans (proudly translated for all you foreign hammies out there! YO!)

Yesterday she brought me out to visit her dear friend Huiling. Finally I got to see the person who bought me my cake for my birthday! She is a nice person who loves coke and ice cream. I stayed in Mama's bag for most of the time, enjoying the air con and sleeping away.

Mama seemed to like snapping photos alot when I eat. But however, she does not look like she has very good skills eh? hahaha. So lousy. ;P

happy birthday to me!

Posted by Ah Peng

Mama did not forget about my birthday after all! See what her friend, Huiling bought for my birthday - a Vitrakraft cake with wholesome seeds in them! Thank you Huiling, even though I have not seen you before, but I heard from Mama that you like me alot. :)

I remembered when I first came to Mama's home, I was brought home in a honey carrier-container. I was THAT small! At first I was very frightened of my new environment and bit Mama and her friends abit. Mama's ten fingers were all biten by me. hehe. Luckily Mama was patient and slowly I grew to trust her. Besides, how can I not love someone who always gives me good food? ;P

Even though my birthday is on 11th Sept, the unfortunate day of "The 911", my birthday wish is for everyone, and every hammie in the world to be happy and smily always! (and for Mama to not catch me whenever I managed to escape!)

Thank you Mama! I love the cake and the extra veggie treats. :)

Mama only gave me half a cake.. I wonder where is the other half..?

on heat. (estrus)

I managed to catch a photo of Sonya on heat (estrus) this evening. I think it is important for all syrians owners to know how a female syrian looks like when she is on heat. (Note how the body is pressed to floor and her raised tail)

Syrians goes on estrus every 4 days. On this day if she is ready to receive a male, she will stay in this 'freezing' position. (I got the same effect by stroking her back for this photo) The gestation period for syrians is only 16 days, the shortest among all hamsters breeds. Some unethical breeders or owners who do not have enough knowledge do not realise that this means that syrians are able to get pregnant twice a month. This is a very important to take note of. Smaller sized syrians (which sadly, is become more of a common sight) come from continuous and inappropriate breedings.

I do not recommend breeding, but if one really do want to breed their hamsters, please do read up alot before attempting. Seek help from more experienced and beware of those who call themselves "professional breeders". Do not be afraid to ask alot of questions, and make sure you are pepared to take care of an entire litter plus mummy. Hamsters can be sexually active at 4 weeks old, please take precautions to separate the males and females at this point.

Please practise good breeding ethics to ensure that our beloved hamsters remain what they deserved to be - healthy.