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So...though we were mourning Oaky, we couldn't help beginning to look for local adoptions.
Serendipitously, or at least coincidentally, a couple of weeks prior to Oaky passing away, a couple who lived about 40 minutes from me had adopted 2 hamsters (housed separately now) from a pet store closing. One had been mis-identified as a female while at the pet store, and within a short time of bringing their first female home, she gave birth to a litter (coincidentally, they had loved a second "female," went back for him a day after adopting the first one, and it turns out he was dad). They wanted the babies to go to good homes and had posted on a regional hamster adoption/ rehoming page. She had posted on March 9th even though the babies were not yet ready to be adopted. They were born roughly around March 1st.
Because they were so close to me, I reached out to see if any of the babies had not been spoken for. It turns out there a female unaccounted for. The babies had recently been separated by sex and were starting to be picked up.
So, this may be the youngest hamster I have ever adopted or will ever adopt, as she was about 28 days old when we picked her up. If her coloring was different, she would look like a dwarf hamster! She can fit her whole body in our small food dish
She stayed hidden yesterday after we transferred her to her new enclosure. On a whim, soon after we turned the lights out at night, I shone my phone light on the cage just in case she'd come out. She had! (of course, likely waiting until the lights were off and she didn't think we were near) Luckily, though she was a bit cautious when we came near the cage (and with a light), she decided to stay out and let us watch her for awhile. She very much foraged all over and did not seem like a picky eater. She nibbled at various sprays, a dried flower bud, freeze-dried chicken, a dried meal worm, seed mix, etc. She got in her sandbath a bit, too, but I didn't see her use the wheel. Our Bucatstate wheel is on the small side for a Syrian (10 inches), but clearly fine for her now. We had a Silent Runner that was 12-inches for our past 2 hamsters, but I felt like it got a bit wobbly, and the bottom had to be taped down because it doesn't have that cork bottom, so I'm thinking of upgrading to a new 12-inch wheel when she gets bigger- if anyone has a wheel recommendation let me know!
I'll post a number fun shorts below and some photos. I put deep bedding in her carrier for travel, and she almost immediately burrowed down to the very bottom, and between her falling into a deep sleep, being so small, and matching our natural paper bedding, we couldn't find her when we first got home! I eventually had to start gently removing bedding from the carrier, because she wasn't stirring and I didn't want to accidentally move her in a rough way.
Any particular advice to such a baby would be helpful! I think our Cinnamon was around 6 weeks old when adopted, but this is even tinier!
Serendipitously, or at least coincidentally, a couple of weeks prior to Oaky passing away, a couple who lived about 40 minutes from me had adopted 2 hamsters (housed separately now) from a pet store closing. One had been mis-identified as a female while at the pet store, and within a short time of bringing their first female home, she gave birth to a litter (coincidentally, they had loved a second "female," went back for him a day after adopting the first one, and it turns out he was dad). They wanted the babies to go to good homes and had posted on a regional hamster adoption/ rehoming page. She had posted on March 9th even though the babies were not yet ready to be adopted. They were born roughly around March 1st.
Because they were so close to me, I reached out to see if any of the babies had not been spoken for. It turns out there a female unaccounted for. The babies had recently been separated by sex and were starting to be picked up.
So, this may be the youngest hamster I have ever adopted or will ever adopt, as she was about 28 days old when we picked her up. If her coloring was different, she would look like a dwarf hamster! She can fit her whole body in our small food dish
She stayed hidden yesterday after we transferred her to her new enclosure. On a whim, soon after we turned the lights out at night, I shone my phone light on the cage just in case she'd come out. She had! (of course, likely waiting until the lights were off and she didn't think we were near) Luckily, though she was a bit cautious when we came near the cage (and with a light), she decided to stay out and let us watch her for awhile. She very much foraged all over and did not seem like a picky eater. She nibbled at various sprays, a dried flower bud, freeze-dried chicken, a dried meal worm, seed mix, etc. She got in her sandbath a bit, too, but I didn't see her use the wheel. Our Bucatstate wheel is on the small side for a Syrian (10 inches), but clearly fine for her now. We had a Silent Runner that was 12-inches for our past 2 hamsters, but I felt like it got a bit wobbly, and the bottom had to be taped down because it doesn't have that cork bottom, so I'm thinking of upgrading to a new 12-inch wheel when she gets bigger- if anyone has a wheel recommendation let me know!
I'll post a number fun shorts below and some photos. I put deep bedding in her carrier for travel, and she almost immediately burrowed down to the very bottom, and between her falling into a deep sleep, being so small, and matching our natural paper bedding, we couldn't find her when we first got home! I eventually had to start gently removing bedding from the carrier, because she wasn't stirring and I didn't want to accidentally move her in a rough way.
Any particular advice to such a baby would be helpful! I think our Cinnamon was around 6 weeks old when adopted, but this is even tinier!
Very happy for you and it was a lucky adoption process. She's a tiny baby and still very young! She will be fine though although maybe a bit timid at first. It's unusual for them to be rehomed before 6 weeks, but if the owner couldn't manage .......... Tino was about the same age when he came and I didn't know until the night before I was about to go and pick him up. Apparently the boys had been fighting and she decided to rehome them straight away rather than just put them in their own cages for two weeks. He was always quite timid, but she looks quite chirpy!
Sort of Ostrich mode - I can't see you so you can't see me. Once they are in their own enclosure alone, they develop the territorial instinct just like any other hamster.