My Gorgeous Dexter

You know when you are cuddling your pets and you suddenly get that overwhelming rush of love for them?
They only have to do something sensationally cute or sweet and you really do get this pang of  ’awwww you are all mine and I love you dearly! How did I ever forget this!’
I only say this because I feel I have slipped into a sort of contempt with the hamsters. Yes, they are wonderful to hold but sometimes the feeling of a chore overtakes the feeling of ‘omg-I-need-to-snuggle-you-right-now’

Well the other day I really did smile from ear to ear at a photo I managed to snap of Dexter. Its like he knew I was taking pics and knew how much I wanted just one decent snap for the blog!

Here he is, my gorrrrrrrrrgeous little Dexter! )

And check out them famous long whiskers! Isn’t he a handsome devil
xxxx

Who Knows Who’s Nose Is Who’s: The Results!

If you haven’t already taken part in this little game then look no further and click HERE so you can see the original post. These are the answers to that post so you don’t want to look at this until you’ve had a go right?!

NO PEEKING!! :p

Who Knows Who’s Nose Is Who’s?

Phew that is a mouthful!
Who can say that quickly after a drink or two??

I have a little party game for you all here.

You may remember something like this when I was away on my holiday in September. The post was Which Hamster Do You Belong To?

Here is the nose version of the game because I couldn’t resist the title pun. I am so easily pleased I tell yah.
Comment all your answers below!

Good luck folks! Answers will be published on Monday so follow to make sure you dont miss out on the results!! ~
Have any ideas??

xxxxxxxx

TGIF

Oh Friday, I have missed you.. Come visit me sooner next week??

Sorry for the short post, I am one BUSY bumble bee!
Thought this would get you all smiling nonetheless!

ENJOYYYY!
XxxxX

Handmade Hammy Gift #2 – A Simple Hamster Treat Recipe

So I may be a bit slow on the whole home made hammy treats feature before this Christmas but I am only just finding time to wrap the presents let alone research and try out things for the blog.
I am sure once the hustle and bustle of Xmas (and my birthday next Friday) is over I can settle back down into a routine

Any ways a neat little idea for your beloved furries can be to make your own little treats for them! They say a way to man’s heart is through his belly – well Im pretty sure the same thing goes for pets.
(Not saying that men are animals… Im not honest! Just that some characteristics may be shared. That’s all!)

So here is a SUPER simple recipe for little pet treats (suitable for small furries – not so much big furries as small bits and pieces can be choked on by big furries!)

What you need?

• Honey
• Assorted nuts (or your furries favourite – so sunflower seeds in Dexters case. Make sure theyre not salted varieties)
• A mold tray (funky shaped ice cube trays are ideal!) You can make all kinds of shapes depending on the tray
• Any oats or even original cheerios are good for this recipe

How long will it take?

About 5 minutes to actually make and then another hour or so to set.

How do you make them?

1. Take a mixing bowl and pour in a hammy portion of the assorted nuts and a sprinkling of oats or cheerios
2. Take a spoonful of honey and dollop it into the bowl.
3. Mix it all together, coating as much of the nut/oat mix as possible.
4. Add a spoonful at a time. Once everything is coated -STOP! You want the mixture to be tacky all over not pourable!
5. Take a spoonful of your honey coated mixture and fill it into the ice cube tray.
6. Once all the ice-cube spaces are filled, pop the tray into the fridge for the treats to harden up.
7. After about 1 hour, have a look at your treats. If they are solid-er, take the tray out and pop out the finished article!
8. If they are still squidgy, put them back in and check again later!
9. Give them to your furry – watch them enjoy the sweet delight!

With this recipe you can swap in your favourite pet nibbles! Like for example, Dexter LOVES his sunflower seeds and peanuts. So I could mix together sunflower seeds, some chopped peanuts and some oats to bulk it out. Chuck in the honey and ta-dah! Dex could have a treaty-delight!!!

How awesome would that be!!

 

 

Another Blog Post About 12/12/12

If you haven’t read about, heard about, facebooked about, tweeted about or talked about today’s once in a century date then I am here to inform you.
Today is the last day of the century we will see the date 12/12/12
Pretty special right?

Yeah well I only noticed this once in a life time moment pass by at 12:30… so I didnt quite make the whole make a wish at 12:12pm on the 12/12/12.
Darn it! There’s always next year. Never mind… ;/

Anyway back to the three wise hammy’s.

Christmas is fast approaching and what can I say we are all getting in the Crimbo spirit!
Me and the bf have put up our Christmas lights up on the tree and even have some in the window! Well they twinkle down on the hamsters cages and I get that warm festive feeling!

There is nothing like a toasty snuggle on the sofa under sparkly fairy lights!

I have resorted to using paint to edit together some Christmassy spirit pics. I cant seem to find a spare five minutes to actually take a bunch of photos let alone find the little xmas props! So I have spent my evening instead, painting a tiny present into this picture of an eager Dexter.

It turned out a little better than I expected.
It is just paint afterall. I can’t work photo-editing miracles!

I hope you are all getting festive yourselves! I may not be posting so much fascinating articles.
What can I say, it is a very busy time of year!
(My alter-ego isn’t Santa I promise!)

I will keep up my daily posts, do not fear! I can imagine you are all just as busy as myself!

Till tomorrow!

The Lick Of Love

One of the plentiful problems with multiple hamsters of both genders is that the smells confuse them all.
Let me try to explain this better.
When I hold Eve for a bit, she snuggles on my hand and has a wonder around for a bit before I plop her back into her bed. Ahhh isn’t that lovely. Well yes, that is all very lovely until I then hold one of the boys.

This is the ‘Im gunna lick you’ face.. The eyes all squint up and the nose burrows down.

Now after holding a girl, unbeknownst to me, she leaves her scent on everything she touches (this isnt the smelly-smelly female hamster stink, this is the general female hamster stink that is invisible to humans).
This not only sends both of the boys into a frenzy, but they have a terrible habit of ‘licking’ my hand clean! All that female hamster stink is literally licked clean! And I didnt even have to get up!

I can only describe having your palm licked by a hamster as nerve-wrecking!
Dexter isn’t such a bad licky-ham. He is a bit slobbery but he doesnt bother me too much and the fact he sits still for longer than 10 minutes is a godsend!

Casper on the other hand **bad dum tss** hasn’t quite got the etiquette of licking mastered yet. He uses his teeth to lick so its actually more of a biting, nibbling motion. It kind of tickles for a bit.. until he gets inbetween your fingers – right on that fleshy web bit inbetween your fingers and he ‘nibbles’ that. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is not a pleasant experience!

A quick squeal and a flick of the wrist and he’s off licking the next surface that Eve happened to traipse by.

Oh to be a hamster, Such simple beings!

xxxx

The Problem With Hamster Photography

It is fast become a routine where I base my posts on a photograph I have taken in the week of one of the hamsters. I try to take photos as much as I can because I never know what I will post about. and so having lots of nice, focused photographs makes writing a post for later in the week a hell of a lot easier.

I will be the first to admit however that hamsters are not the most photogenic creatures.

I like to think I have a very high standard of photograph on this blog. It needs to be focused, bright, vivid and all about the hamster.

Its what people want to when they visit this blog to cut the chase short.

So the problem with hamster photography really is they move quickly so its hard to focus and they rarely face the direction you want.
Basically they are the master of avoidance.

I, personally, hate my photo being taken – I don’t have that flawless pout perfected yet so I end up looking like a complete goof. BUT, I love having memories from nights out and days away, so I put up with my goof smile for the greater good of the memories.. Or just pull a stupid face (if I’m gunna look bad, I may as well go all out!)

Hamsters however don’t seem to have this “Ill have my picture taken for the greater good” mentality. And its unbelievably frustrating - especially when I am trying to visualise a blog over here!!

 I find that even the perfectly normal hamster-whisker twitches end up blurring all attempts at decent photography. It has also gotten to the stage where I need to take about 50 pictures in quick succession to even have a remote chance of getting that blissful picture I decide to use on my blog.

I did try using my actual proper camera for some photography, but it ended up being a lot of kerfuffle. And it was never actually handy when I wanted to take the picture.

I am sure all pet-owners will agree, them funny pet moments are fleeting times and rummaging around looking for a camera, switching it on, adjusting the flash settings and then actually lining up the shot ends up being ridiculously time consuming.

So how do you cope with animal photography??
Do you follow any tips when snapping your furry???
Have you got any advice for a struggling animal photographer???

Handmade Hammy Gift #1 – Funky Tunnel-Tube

I promised you some handmade crafts to fill those hamster-stockings! And here I am with instalment number ONE!

Now before I begin I would like to point out that this can actually be done for ANY occasion, so that could be your hammys birthday / they just need cheering up/ or like I am demonstrating here, Christmas of course!

It is not expensive, it is some thrifty thinking and just perfect to make your hammy’s feel that festive spirit!

WHAT IS IT?!
It is a decorative tube for your furries!

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE??
No more than 1 minute!

WHAT WILL YOU NEED??
Some wrapping paper, a used up toilet roll/kitchen roll or even pringle tube, some sellotape and some scissors!

WHAT TO DO:

Step 1

When wrapping up those Christmas presents – keep hold of the scraps that you cut off and would otherwise throw away. You wont need much! If there aren’t any scraps, just cut a small section off and place to one side.
This is the brilliance of this little gift is that it doesnt need to be Christmas wrapping paper. It could be birthday wrapping paper or even just a pretty designed wrapping paper. Whatever takes your fancy (I would still to paper though as the foil wrapping papers may not be so good for hamsters cages)

Step 2.

Take your tube/tunnel and place it in the centre of your wrapping paper scrap. Remember if you don’t have an actual tube bought from a shop a used up toilet roll inner-bit is just as good and practically free as you’d only throw it away anyway!!
If you have a bigger furry, a washed out pringles tube with the ends popped out is also perfectly good! Just make sure that you have enough wrapping paper for whatever sized tube you are using!

Step 3

Use small tabs of sellotape to stick down the wrapping paper as it covers the tube.  Trim the excess paper from the edges as you want it to look all neat and voila! You have yourself one funky tubey-tunnel for your hamster!!!

Quick, easy and doesnt need to cost you any extra pennies! It really can be whatever you make of it and it can brighten up your hamsters environment! Who said handmade had to be complicated!
Use that imagination of yours!

That’s one hamster stocking filler down, I wonder how many more to go?!
Lots of love!
xxxxx

Christmas Eve

I am not on about the 24th of December – ohhhh no I am not!
I am on about Eve, getting in the Christmassy spirit!

Eve does not get much press on this blog. Its unfair I know! She is the quiet, calm and well behaved hamster who doesn’t get herself into drama’s that are necessarily blog worthy.
But this was a blog-title-pun I couldn’t afford to miss!

She seems to go through incredibly smelly phases – yes that’s female hamster for you. But in the last few days she has been a beautiful little ham who has been cuddly and snuggly and just adorable (and definitely not smelly!) And to make the most of this affectionate Eve I got the camera out and she politely posed for me!
Yes this little diva sat perfectly still for her picture to be taken – she is most certainly is a paparazzi queen!

How are you all getting in the Christmas spirit? Have you all got your decorations up yet?