Several months ago I created a post on my new family member, Franklin. As you know (if you read the post) Franklin is a hamster that I adopted from the dog pound. The last few weeks have been very active for Franklin, he went on his first of many road trips with me and is K9 brother and sister; his fish brother stayed with Auntie Phyllis since he has not moved since it got cold. Once on the road we discovered Franklin enjoys being out and about. So much so that he has taken to presenting himself to me on a regular basis now. Whereas, before the trip I think I saw him a total of 5 times. Since Franklin was becoming more of a show and tell kinda guy I decided that he needed a bigger condo. He was starting to entertain after all and he was ready to move up. So like any good hamster owner I started shopping around for a new pad for my little man. Let me start by telling you that hamster condo's are not cheap. They get rather pricey and the more "features" you add to them the higher the price goes. I was not finding anything I liked or thought was good enough for Franklin so I did what any well shopped gal does...I went to craigslist.com.
If you have not tried craigslist I highly suggest it, but let me warn you it can be very addictive. Craigslist is like a cyber garage sale similar to ebay, but unlike ebay you do not bid on the items. You simply email or call the seller tell them you want it and that is it. You go pick it up and take it home. On craigslist I found the perfect condo for Franklin, it was everything any single hamster today needs. It has tunnels, it has wheels, it has 2 water canisters and a self serve food dish. What rodent could ask for more. When I found the listing it was already 9pm but one thing I have discovered is that if you wait your item will be gone. So against all my southern upbringing (never call before 10 am Mon-Sat, noon on Sunday and never after 9pm) I called. I started off by profusley apologizing for calling so late and asked about the condo, Yes it was still available. I made arrangements to pick it up on Friday or Saturday, but alas he called me and Wednesday and said they would be home if I wanted to stop by. Since I was just getting out of class and on my way home I figured what the heck. So off to Rio Rancho I went. Now let me tell you for those who do not live here, Rio Rancho might as well be California as far as I am concerned. Unless I am going to my friend Jerry & John's house I have no idea where anything is and another thing it is freaking dark out there. But by the grace of the hamster god above I found the house and got the condo. YIIIIPPPPEEE.
I was going to wait until this weekend to move Franklin to his new abode but I was anxious. What if he did not like it? What if it was not enough space? The what if's were killing me. So I got it out and put it up. Getting Franklin out of his old space was difficult; he still has issues with you touching him, but I put him and tube he was hiding in into the new space and waited him out. He smelled food so it did not take long. He wandered around, checked out the new tunnel, climbed to the second level and them made the leap to his sleeping condo in the sky. He has worn himself out crawling all over his new place and of course he can't stay out of the wheel for 5 minutes before he is back in there. I don't think he ever played in his old wheel, except to sit in there and drive Tau crazy. But he runs until he literally falls asleep. I'm starting to think he may be addicted to the exercise wheel, like some crazy sports fanactic, he can't get enough.
I am happy to say that I think the new place will work out just fine for him. Hopefully he won't outgrow it anytime soon because I don't think I can afford anything bigger. He did want me to let you all know that he is having a Hamster House Warming Party and he is registered at Petco and Petsmart as well as Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel if you would like to send him a gift.