Saturday, January 17, 2009
Brief update from the Rat Factory
There was quite a bit of excitement around the house this week, as we welcomed eleven new members into the family, in the form of a litter of hamster pups. My oldest daughter's hamster, Katie, whom we've had for close to eight months, is the mama, while my other daughter's new pet hamster Freddie is the indifferent father. Freddie was a surprise addition to the family just after Christmas, when the local pet store made my wife an offer she couldn't refuse ("Here, take it, we don't want it.")
Freddie came home in his own terrarium, which we placed side-by-side with Katie's so the two of them could see each other. A couple of days later my wife (whom I now refer to as "Heidi Meiss, the Rat Madam of Stratford") decided to dispense with formal introductions and see if the two animals would interact... and well, they got along just famously. I wasn't home to witness the conception, but I'm told it was immediate, inevitable, and obviously quite effective. Sixteen days later, all of the neighborhood kids who saw the show are now eligible for a souvenir.
If you know anything about me (or used to read this space in its former incarnation), you know how I feel about rodents, so you can imagine just how thrilled I am about this latest development. I'd been fastidiously avoiding looking at the brood, until finally earlier this evening Katie briefly left her nest and my wife and daughters prevailed on me to take a look at the litter. In all honesty, I was horrified. The pups looked like a cross between a pulsing brain and an Hieronymous Bosch painting.
The very bestest part of it all is that, in order to protect the group from feeling threatened by our two cats, the terrarium has been temporarily relocated to my bedroom. Which in turn means I have been temporarily relocated to the couch, since in my irrationality I refuse to sleep in the same room with them.
They will be ready to adopt out in about six weeks, so if you're local and just can't live without a little critter of your very own we will have one available, in stock, in your choice of color. Drop me an email or comment below and we'll add you to the list of recipients. ¶ 1:28 AM
Freddie came home in his own terrarium, which we placed side-by-side with Katie's so the two of them could see each other. A couple of days later my wife (whom I now refer to as "Heidi Meiss, the Rat Madam of Stratford") decided to dispense with formal introductions and see if the two animals would interact... and well, they got along just famously. I wasn't home to witness the conception, but I'm told it was immediate, inevitable, and obviously quite effective. Sixteen days later, all of the neighborhood kids who saw the show are now eligible for a souvenir.
If you know anything about me (or used to read this space in its former incarnation), you know how I feel about rodents, so you can imagine just how thrilled I am about this latest development. I'd been fastidiously avoiding looking at the brood, until finally earlier this evening Katie briefly left her nest and my wife and daughters prevailed on me to take a look at the litter. In all honesty, I was horrified. The pups looked like a cross between a pulsing brain and an Hieronymous Bosch painting.
The very bestest part of it all is that, in order to protect the group from feeling threatened by our two cats, the terrarium has been temporarily relocated to my bedroom. Which in turn means I have been temporarily relocated to the couch, since in my irrationality I refuse to sleep in the same room with them.
They will be ready to adopt out in about six weeks, so if you're local and just can't live without a little critter of your very own we will have one available, in stock, in your choice of color. Drop me an email or comment below and we'll add you to the list of recipients. ¶ 1:28 AM
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Wow, incredibly fortuitous timing. We promised my lil' sister a guinea pig for xmas and never got around to it. So if you wanna unload a hamster I'd be more than willing to take one off your hands.
My sister has informed me that I should ask you what size hamsters these are. We can take one regardless, it's just a question of whether or not we'll need to get a bigger cage eventually.
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