Back and Better than Ever!!

So you might have noticed that I took down my blog a while ago. Sorry if you were following it and found yourselves confused as to why it was gone. Well, I am terrible about updating blogs but I will try my hardest to keep this as up to date as possible.

In between the last post and this one, I had to, sadly, separate my little robo pair. Kousagi now lives in several Habitrial Ovos all hooked up together, on the headboard I use as a bookshelf. All in all, they took the separation quite well and are as happy as clams being apart.

Anyways, with that all said and done, onto some more fun stuff. You'll see that I gave my blog a brand spankin' new title picture. Don't you just love that new picture smell? I sure do! Its the best smell ever!! You'll notice that it features a certain little somebody whom I love and adore. In case you're puzzled, that's Holly up there. She is still around, though getting on in age. I guess she is getting to that point in life where you spend more time sleeping than awake. She always seems to be snuggled deep within her huge nest, leaving me puzzled as to what she is always doing in there.

Keeping on with the all new feel to the blog, I am adding reviews for treats and food stuffs later on. Yeah, I know I promised something like that about a year ago, but its going to happen. I swear!!

To start things off, I am going to give you all a review on something I picked up at Petsmart some time ago. Its a package of oat sprays I found in the pet bird isle. You'd be surprised as to how many bird items can be safely fed to a hamster. Well, here is a link to the oatsprays at the Petsmart website so you can see what the packaging looks like:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4353872

Its part of the store's All Living Things brand so, it has that sort of packaging to it. The cellophane packaging is kind of difficult to open and I struggled with it for a few minutes before finally getting the scissors and slashing it open in one fell swoop. Inside there are about 20-30 oat sprays, which look like something like this.

Mmmmmm, full of fibery goodness!

They are golden yellow in appearance and have several seed pods where the oat seeds are located. Since my dad was raised on a dairy farm, I knew what to expect. Some people not familiar with the oat plant might be a little surpised to find its actually a very grass-like plant. Its not super fresh, but since its dried, its very much okay to feed your hamsters.

I put about 3/4 into Holly's tank and she waddled on over and began to "harvest" the seeds from the stalks. I felt it gave her some very important enrichment as she went about it, and to me felt like she was almost gathering them like her ancestors would have done with similar plants in the wilds of Syria. When the seeds were all gone, she had the stalks to gnaw on as an added bonus. She pouched some, waddled on back into her nest hole and (I am assuming as I can't see what she does in there) began to line it with her new prize.



I also gave some to Chibiusa and Kousagi respectively, and they each did pretty much the same thing. After a few days, not much remained of the sprays.

All in all, I say this is a very good buy. It provides a healthy treat, enrichment, something to gnaw on afterwords, and a good nest lining material. I give it a solid 10 out of 10!!

News and a Warning

Well, things have been busy for me and I've just only rediscovered that I made this blog. Sorry about leaving my followers hanging. I am going to be more attentive from now on, seeing that I now have three little hamsters to use as models and such.

I am going to start this blog entry by introducing my precious dears to you all, and then end it with a warning about that fluffy nesting material and why its so very dangerous. I also promise an up and coming review on different hamster foods.

Now onto the stars of the entry. First up is my lovely short haired mink syrian, Holly. She was brought home shortly before last Christmas, hence her holiday themed name. She loves to come out and sniff at me, and is always eager to get a special little treat.

Holly

She is just a little dear, and I wouldn't have her any other way. Now, moving on to my newest hamster additions, the Tsukinos. They are roborovski hamsters and the tiniest species of hamster in the world. They are named Chibiusa and Kousagi and I love them to bits, as they are so gosh darned cute.

Chibiusa and Kousagi

Chibiusa is the bolder of the two, always daring to venture out and see what is happening every time I do something to their cage during the day. She can be differentiated from her bolder attitude and the fact that Kousagi has a dark frown spot on her back. She also nests under the pile of shredded paper and coconut husk I put in there for nesting material.

Kousagi, on the other hand, is the shyer of the two and has her nest in the right front corner of the cage, deep within the bedding. Sometimes I see her, sometimes I don't. It depends on how bold she is and how much she wants to venture out to stretch her legs.

Next time I'll share both Holly and the robo girls' cages with you. 

And now onto that warning about the fluffy and soft nesting material. While it may seem nice and cozy, its anything but. Actually. the hamster may pouch the material, and because the fibers are so small and snag so easily, they might get stuck in cheek pouches, causing an infection to occur. They can also be accidentally ingested by the hamster and cause a blockage along its digestive tract that is almost always lethal, if not directly, indirectly though dehydration from diarrhea and malnutrition. I know of a poor ham who went though just that. Poor dear.

So now you know not to use that kind of nesting material ever again. Instead, you can just rip up some toilet paper and give your hamster that.

Well, that's all for now, so see ya later!!

 As always, stay savvy!!

Hamster Savvy is Born!!

Hamster Savvy is an online resource for hamster knowledge. I am going to collect knowledge from all over the webs and put them in one place for all to see. Continue to come back for more interesting and informative posting.

Stay Savvy!!