At the moment everyone, except the guinea pigs are living in their summer quarters which is my sun room. It is warmer than the actual house and they have much more room out there. I am down to only 2 guinea pigs, Zara and Zoe. Teddy and Swirl were reunited with their family a few weeks ago. I was sad to see them go but knew how excited Vikki was to get them back in her house.
The last members to join to group (I think) were 5 baby Russian Campbell hamsters born on February 5th. Unlike, the big Syrian hamsters the dwarf hamsters can live together and usually prefer to have a companion. However, once they have been separated it is almost impossible to get them to live with another one again. These 5 boys came together and lived together in a huge aquarium. However, after a few days they started beating up on the two smallest brothers. So the small ones were removed and the three bigger ones were adopted out together. I decided to keep the two smaller ones to see if they were in fact able to be a good pet or if they were just mean by nature. Having Lakshmi aka Satan, knowing he was never abused or hurt being so mean I was curious. I named the two boys Raja, Hindu for King and Raavi, Hindu for Sun. Raja is a light grey in color with fire red eyes and Raavi is a dark grey with dark red eyes. I held these guys every day from the day I got them. Hand fed them, hand dusted them, everything and one day out of the blue Raavi turned into a mini Satan. Raja became very skittish and would not let you touch him or in most instances even see him.
About a week ago, I noticed that the two boys were fighting a lot, it seemed to be all they did. They fought over who would go through the tunnel first, who would get food first, everything. Earlier this week, I discovered that Raavi had beaten the crap out of his brother so their cages were immediately separated and they live as bachelors now. Raja was thrilled to have his own place, Raavi on the other hand was mad as a wet cat when he discovered his whipping boy was no longer available. I now refer to him as Evil Jr.
Mama had a stroke over the weekend and I did not expect her to live past Saturday night. I noticed on Friday that she was not really herself but she is a pretty solitary hamster. On Saturday when I returned from Pridefest,she was not walking very well and just did not look good. I called Phyllis and we started the process of sending her Reiki and energy to help her transition to the other side. Sunday morning came and she was in bad shape, she could not walk at all, she could not use her back legs and was having a hard time breathing. On top of that, I noticed she was infested with mites. The main thing to do at this point was get the mites off of her so she could be more comfortable. So in her fragile state she got a nice warm bath and a quick dip. I put her in a basket with lots of warm blankets and towels and just kept her by my side so she was not alone. Every hour or so I would try to get her to drink water but for the most part she did not want anything. I discovered that if I did not let her curl up in a ball (which is their tendency) she could breath much better.
Monday came and she was still with me, so I packed her up and took her to work. She sat on my desk and I continued the ritual of giving her water whenever she would take it and by the end of Monday she was taking water on her own. By the time I got home Monday night she was taking small bits of fruit. Tuesday she went to work again and by this time everyone was stopping by to see her. She hated this, most hamster do not like to be woke up. And Mama is no exception. In fact she was getting really nasty about it and would threaten to bite anyone who looked at her. By Tuesday night she was eating on her own and drinking on her own.
As for everyone else they are all still there and still the same. Sasha is still as prissy as ever, Parker is still the stud of the group and is in love with which ever girl he can get to at the moment. Guini is still Guini, he is bitchy when he escapes from his cage and can't get back in. Apparently this is my fault and he screams at me when I find him. Tommy the gerbil is getting a new baby boy this weekend to hopefully be his friend. Dharma the mouse is still there and still as cute and happy as ever. Laki is still evil and nasty and I would toss him out but I am afraid he will break my door down and come back in. Lance and Pandora my dwarf's are good. Although, Lance is getting up there in age and is now kind of batty. Zara and Zoe the piggies are back in the living room where they like to be, high on a table where Kali can't bother them. They adjusted fine to their friends leaving. Tau and Kali will never change, although Tau has all the sudden turned into a lover and wants to sit in your lap and have you cuddle him. He has not been this way since he was a tiny baby. But he turned 5 and reverted. Kali is still just as in charge of the house as she ever was. Nothing get past our girl. They are going to Carlsbad and White Sands Desert this weekend so I will have some pictures for you next week.