Hammy Update

[bluejeans07]

The Brother One ended up not taking Mr. and Mrs. Dwarf-Hamingtons to church today because he didn't want to freak out all the rodent phobic little old Korean ladies. More hams for me! I went to Pet Smart yesterday to get a few things, such has more food, sand, and a cheap dish to make little sand baths for the hams to keep their fur clean. I've never seen a hamster take a sand bath before so after I set up separate ones for them in their separate living spaces, I watched both of them like a hawk to see if any of them would take a sand bath. Mr. Baka Dwarf-Hamington prefers to bathe in private and kick his shavings into it so I haven't seen him use the sand bath yet, but Mrs. Polar Bear Dwarf-Hamington is a finicky sort so she takes a sand bath every few hours.

From watching Mrs. Polar Bear Dwarf-Hamington, I now know that sand baths have a step by step process:

Step One: Circle around the perimeter of the sand bath. Mrs. PB is probably complaining of the size of her bath compared to the size of her husband's (she's in the little cage that they came with, mostly because I thought it was a good idea not to move her from cage to cage, but I do want to give her the aquarium if it turns out we're keeping her)

Step Two: Find the very center of the sand bath and dig like crazy. This ex foliates the little hammy paws and trims the nails.

Step Three: Flop onto your back and flail your limbs to spread the sand evenly into the fur. Extra squiggling helps get the sand in those tricky, hard to reach places.

Step Four: Pretend you weren't just doing that and delicately lick your paws, then shoot a dirty look to the curious Asian girl who keeps staring. Hello, privacy?

Here's a video I found on youtube of a ham taking a sand bath:

Watch on YouTube

*squee!*

Comments

[aznaphrodite.livejournal.com]

Is taking a sand bath a dwarf hamster thing? None of my Syrians take sand baths, even though they've got pans filled with litter in them. My hedgehog used to take sand baths in her litter after we cleaned her cage and the litter was completely clean. She flung it eveywhere but it was cute!

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Sand baths are a dwarf hamster thing because their fur is a lot finer than a Syrian hamster. It's similar to a chinchilla needing a sand bath. Syrians just pee on the sand. XD

Watching a sand bath is suuuuper cute though! :D

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

Definately not two males then? Alas, too bad :\

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Yup. Polar Bear is definitely a girl and I'm really glad I checked. I've been thinking, if Anne comes home on Friday for Veteran's day, I could just go straight from work over to her house.