Hamster Education

Well, not only is Randall getting some sex ed, but I'm learning a whole stinkin' lot about hamsters. My favorite: a hamster is only pregnant for about 18 days. Amazing!

I found this info on the computer and freaked out!

So, I grabbed Bashful/Doc/Grumpy/Sneezy out of the cage and made him a makeshift cage in a tall plastic box. I left the top off, I promise. I called Wet Pets 'N Critters, where we got our hamsters, to ask if the info I had read on the website was correct and she said, yes, it is. So, for the safety of the newest little members of our family, Bashful is in his own home for a few weeks.

I'm not sure why none of this info was given to me when I bought the hamsters, but I'm very thankful for the great world wide web where I can find out more information than I can from people.

Hopefully, Pepper isn't pregnant again and hopefully she won't eat any of her babies! Whew, who knew having hamsters could be so exciting?

A little trivia: Baby hamsters are called pups. Isn't that sweet?

I counted the babies and there are 7. Seven tiny, wiggly, pink little things. They're so, so cute! The girl at Wet Pets 'N Critters said that they need a few weeks with Mama before they will be ready for new homes. They need to be able to eat on their own and that should be within about a 3 week period. So, if you want one (or two or seven), you have about 3 weeks to get a cage (or cages) and all the other stuff. That's assuming Pepper isn't pregnant again and that there won't be another litter born in the next 18 days. Yikes!

And, I don't know how to tell if you're getting a girl hamster or a boy hamster (obviously, neither do the nice girls at Wet Pets 'N Critters...). So, if you want more than one, you might want to be prepared for babies. I don't know how quickly they grow, so I don't know when you would need to worry about them being big enough to get pregnant. So, anyway...

All you homeschooling moms, here's a fun way to teach your kids about reproduction... Or not...

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on when they'll be ready to adopt. Please, please consider adopting! Adoption, the loving option. :-) Free to a good home!

Slade doesn't know yet (Randall wanted to surprise him like we're going to surprise Russ), and I can't wait to see his response. :-) Hehe. I'll keep you updated!