Miles "Standish"

Do it! It's a wise investment. All $17 dollars of it.

Oh, and $14 for the bedding ... $50 for the 20-gallon tank ... $5 for yogurt drops ... $6 for a pound of "Fiesta Mix" ... $3 for baby carrots ... $12 for a hamster ball ... $20 for a patented silent wheel ... (and so on).

But he's worth every penny! : D

(thank you)

Oooooh, an interview. Cool. : )

1. Miles is a dwarf European Black Bear Hamster. His species is actually Syrian, but pet stores call 'em different names depending on their coloration.

2. Nope. Your QT with your furry friend won't usually begin until 10:00pm. They're nocturnal. You may have the occasional daytime sighting if he's thirsty, hungry, or else has gotta pee. They work the graveyard shirft so to speak ... (hence the patented silent wheel). LOL Prepare for late night lovin'.

3. Not at all. My OCD leads me to a good ol' fashioned tank cleaning every Saturday morning. I don't use chemicals, just some anti-bacterial hand soap. I layer in about 2" of bedding and he's ready to go. I was advised to use whatever kind the pet store was using at the time of purchase. It's a cotton-y, oatmeal colored "fluff" of sorts. Total odor absorption ... and goes a long way!

4. Uhmmmm, you'll have to try which treats he/she really likes. So, don't go drop a bazillion bucks on any one kind. Miles sifts thru his food and nabs what he wants ... (which is the equivalent of someone goin' for all the nuts in your bowl of Chex mix... LOL). Pumpkin seeds, sunflowers seeds, and corn are his faves. His "real" food are these gumdrop-sized pellets. The "mix" is a treat. As are his sesame covered peanut butter balls, strawberry yogurt drops and baby carrots. I hear they like broccoli and popcorn too. The aisles at PETCO are jammed packed with choices. Oh! You gotta get 'em a little den. Miles has a medium wooden box with holes in it. He burrows down in there and loves it. Oh! They love to chew on wood, so buy him/her a stick. Miles is completely drawn to wooden skewers, but they splinter too easily and I don't want him to choke, so i just tease him with it rather than actaully giving it to him. Oh! (LOL) They're obviously not tame to human touch ... so ya gotta pet 'em a lot at first. It took about a month for him to relax and not wiggle around so much when I picked him up. Shirt pockets are the perfect setting for a lil' hands on. That's about it, really. They're low key, like me. Maybe that's why we work so well together. *shrug*

Good luck!!!!!!! ... and keep me posted. : )

He *hearts* you too.

... an' I didn't even have to train him to. : )

Yay! : D

Oh! (LOL)

There's a VOX group called "Hamsters" ... you mayyyyyyyyy want to consider joining.