Angelina, you dirty little hamster

Allow me to introduce you all to the newest member of our family.

Meet Angelina...




Angelina is a Winter White hamster.

Also known as a Djungarian hamster, Dzungarian dwarf hamster, Siberian hamster, or Sapphire Winter White Russian dwarf hamster... whew, that a lotta names for something so little!

As for her name-name... Angelina... well.... I am a big Jersey Shore fan.

There! I said it! And I am not ashamed!

OK, maybe a little ashamed.





Moving on.

So I was at Petsmart getting some supplies for my aquarium when a very evil, evil employee told me that they had a very cute hamster up for adoption. For free. And that said cute hamster needed a good home.

I tried to counter my inner squealing 10 year old by reminding myself that I had nowhere to put a hamster. And then I remembered that I had an empty aquarium. Dammit!

Then he brought her out, and showed her to me...




And ZOMG, she was too cute to resist.

I mean, seriously? Look at her.

So I ended up with a new hammonster.




I like how she looks like she is going 'nyah nyah nyah'... all sinister, like Snidely Whiplash, in this shot.

Since I can't afford to get her a proper habitat til next month, she has a ghetto little home right now... an old aquarium held closed with a bungee cord, with dollar store bowls modified into a wee 'house', and some toilet paper tubes. Heh heh. She seems to be ok with it.

When I can afford to, I am going to hook her up with a great little bachelorette pad.





Angelina hadn't been handled much by humans, so I started out with a glove. Because hamsters ARE SCARY!

"That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!!"

Heh heh.

But she has been ok with it so far. She's still a bit scared & nervous, and she has harmlessly nibbled me a few times, more of a curious-exploration-type nibble. She has allowed me to hand feed her, and to pick her up bare-handed...





...aaaannnnd of course, she has also pooped on me half a dozen times (thanks, hammie!)

Fortunately, hamster poops are teeny, smaller than a grain of rice, and thus not too gross.

I have become way too familiar with hamster poops this week.





Though I never anticipated that I would become a hamster-owner, here we are. I love watching her and I think she is adorable. Those sweet, beady black eyes! That stripedy fluff!

Those itsy-bitsy little pink hamster 'hands' wringing each other!

I die.

We are happy to welcome Miss Angelina to our crazy, motley familia. And we all look forward to getting to know her better, and to getting closer to her.

Some of us more than others...

No, kitty, NO!!



All photographs copyright Heather Shade