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| Ok, everyone else on the web has a "My Pet" page. I thought it was quite silly until I started looking for information about small animals. I found some good informative sites and enjoyed the personal pet pages. So here is mine. |
Eric has been wanting a new pet for about a year. Yolanda, our cat of 15 years, died October 1997 at the age of 17 plus years. We are left with two very large goldfish that we have had since 1994.Dogs and cats are the best pets. There is a good reason that they have been domesticated for thousands of years. A dog or a cat is out of the question for us because, in the area where we are building our house, there is a new "Lost Dog" sign every couple of weeks. Our neighbors have had their cat killed by neighborhood dogs (theirs).
Eric has been doing research on guinea pigs. He would like to get a pedigreed guinea pig and take him to guinea-pig shows. I didn't realize there was such a thing, but you can learn a lot on the internet.
While waiting to find a local breeder, I wanted to see how Rachel would react to a guinea pig. We went to a pet store to let her see and hold a guinea pig while Eric was at his fencing class.
We had the pet-people paged to come to the "small and furry" department. They didn't come, so I took the guinea pig out myself. It was skittish, and Rachel didn't care for it. Unfortunately, I stuck my hand into the unmarked cage next to his. A wonderful little animal hopped right into it. She was so tiny she tickled my hand. There were other animals in the cage that were more attractive but none so sweet. I put her back in the cage and we watched her. She was lively and active, with red eyes which, Rachel pointed out, was her favorite color. Every time I put my hand into the cage the animal would climb into it. Bill knew it was a lost cause and resigned himself to the fact that we were coming home with a new pet. While we were waiting for an employee, Bill gathered together a cage, litter, and food. We were right beside the cash registers, but no one came. We waited for over an hour until the store closed, then left without buying anything.
I got on the Internet that night and tried to find a picture of a hamster similar to the one I liked. I decided it must be a mongrel but with lots of personality. I decided that we could keep it in an aquarium. We had an aquarium left over from the hermit crabs we had brought home from the coast. We enjoyed them for two years then released them.
The next day I sanitized the aquarium. I explained to Rachel what we were doing and asked her what she was going to name her hamster. She immediately said, "Fred." Changing her mind she said,"No." Then she asked, "Where is her family?" She felt the job of naming a baby belongs to its family members.
She said we would name her Little Rachel. I didn't think that was a good idea (because of the short life span of hamsters).
Eric said, "Cool, a pet, and I don't have to clean the cage." I hoped this would put off the guinea pig experience.
We went into town. When we walked into the store there was a person who was holding my hamster. She was talking her husband into buying it. I didn't say anything. I just hoped she would put the hamster down so I could get it. They took my hamster to the checkout lane, and I decided that it wasn't meant to be. Bill asked if I wanted to go to another store. I said, "No. We don't need a hamster. I just wanted, that hamster."
An employee came back with the hamster. Eric said, "Look, she changed her mind."
I asked the employ if the other people had changed their minds. I said that we wanted to purchase the hamster if they didn't. Unfortunately, he was just there to get a box in which he could put the hamster.
As he was getting the paperwork ready the person did change her mind. She said, "I'm not paying $15 for a rodent."
The employee said, "It's a Siberian. Do you still want it?"
"Yes," I said and quickly took the box.
Bill, Eric and Rachel gathered the supplies while I clutched my little box. I didn't think the hamster looked at all like the Siberians I had seen on the internet. If I had to pay extra to get the hamster I wanted, then that was fine with me.
Bill laughed. He said, "I'm surprised you didn't go after her and offer her money not to buy it."
When we got home, Rachel helped prepare the aquarium and put the carry-home box into it. Rachel named her Spot. Eric named her Peaches. Rachel added Strawberry.
So I guess her name is Spot Peaches Strawberry. She is usually just called Spot or Peaches, depending on whose doing the calling.
I got back on the internet and found a very informative site in the United Kingdom called the Complete Hamster Site by Lorraine Hill, where I discovered what kind of hamster Spot is. She is a Ruby-Eyed, Mottled, Dwarf, Campbell's Russian Hamster who is white with Argente colored spots.
<:3 )-
(Do the preceeding characters resemble a hamster?)
Hamsters
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April 1999: Eric has now purchased a pedigreed Golden Agouti Teddy guinea pig. He named him Kiwi. Guinea pigs are diurnal (awake during the day) and friendly. The dwarf hamster is easier to take care of, but the guinea pig is a better pet for our family.
April 2000: We still have the same menagerie.
