Adventures of a Pampered Hamster

This is a heart-warming story about a feisty, soft Russian dwarf hamster with a line down his back that made him look like a small, dark chipmunk. He was adopted and taken home from a local pet store by a kind little girl named Jasmine. Jasmine made and sold soaps to earn money to adopt him and he was delighted when the day came that she finally brought him home. She took such good care of him that he wanted to let the world know how good a friend she was to him. This is the story that has been written down by the prolific little hamster himself, and translated into English by the author for you to enjoy reading.

Hello. My name is Chocolate Chip and I am a Djungerian Russian dwarf hamster. For the first six months of my life, I lived with my sister in a tank under the care of kind pet store owners at Mayo's pet and pet supply shop in Northborough, MA. We lived alongside many different kinds of other animals, such as mice, rats, and guinea pigs. I was happy enough frolicking around with my sister, but I am even happier now that I have a young human girl named Jasmine and her family to take care of me. Their home is so cozy and warm, the lights are softer, and she gives me much more attention than the store owners did.

My home is my palace. It is a very roomy cage in the living room of Jasmine's house. In my palace I have a sleeping hut, an exercise wheel, and cardboard tubes to crawl through. Along with my soft, comfy bedding are cotton balls to add to my sleeping nest. There is also a ladder that I am too small to climb, but I like looking through the space between the lower rungs as if it were a window. My family spends lots of time in the living room, and they pay lots of attention to me, especially Jasmine. She loves to talk and sing to me, take videos of me, and put me in a blue ball to roll around the house. I talk to her, too, but everything I say is heard as squeaks.

My Main Munchies

My diet is made up of lots of nibbely things. I usually eat most fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Much of my daily nutrients are in the dry kibble that Jasmine pours into my food bowl. My sleeping hut is edible, too. It's called a Snack Shack, which my girl bought for me at Mayo's. It is sweet from the honey in it, so I have chewed some extra windows to look out of. All this hard nibbling keeps my teeth trim so that they don't grow out too long and sharp. It also makes me thirsty, so Jasmine makes sure I have fresh filtered water to drink every day.

Special Treats and Snacks

Jasmine also treats me to small pieces of carrot, cucumber, lettuce, and fruits. My favorite fruits are strawberry, apple, kiwi, and grapes. She usually gives them to me after a roll in the ball, a run in the maze, or a cleaning of my cage. The amount that she gives me isn't more than 10% of all the food that I eat, so I don't gain too much weight or retain water in my belly. In between the sweets she gives me sunflower seeds to nibble. She enjoys the sound of my cracking open the shell to get to the seed. It makes her giggle.

Hamsters are pretty playful friends when you get to know us, and we are very curious. We love to roll around exploring the boundaries of our world for new and exciting discoveries.

Exercise Ball

Jasmine bought me a clear, blue ball to roll around the house in. I love to look at the things on her floor. The soft rug of the living room feels warm to my paws. Sometimes she lets me crawl around inside the circular enclosure of a tambourine. The metal discs make a lovely tinkly sound as I step on them. I also love to spend time with all of the delicious smells of the kitchen. Sometimes I accidentally roll into the bathroom or the pantry, but she picks me up and puts me back in the living room when that happens.

Monster Maze

Jasmine and her Papa spent time making a giant maze out of cardboard boxes and toilet paper tubes for me to run around in. They encourage me to check out its many paths by laying out oats for me to nibble on my way. This is very fun for me, and I love hearing her cheer for me when I run around all of the paths she has laid out. The colorful blue and purple tape she added between paths is a soft place to rest my paws.

Transportation

One of my favorite ways to travel between my cage and the ball or maze is a long-handled spoon that Jasmine calls a ladle. She lays it down next to me and I climb in. I love that it's just my size! She used to use tubes, but I prefer the ladle. When I ride in it, I can lean my paws on the edge of it and look around while she moves me from place to place.

I will let you know when I get to enjoy more adventures with my gentle human girl Jasmine and her friendly family. She loves to read to me about the adventures of Humphrey the classroom hamster when I'm out exploring in my ball or running in the wheel inside my palace. Hearing about his adventures and everything he is learning gives me lots of great ideas! Every night before she goes upstairs to bed, she wishes me "sweet little happy hamster dreams."

Here's hoping that you are as lucky as I am to have a loving family to care for you and to entertain. There is so much to learn from observing another species!

After almost eighteen months of life, Chocolate Chip left us to cross the Rainbow Bridge to hamster heaven, where he will make many new friends. We miss him with all our hearts!

The life expectancy of dwarf hamster is very short ~ around eighteen months. He brought us so much joy while he lived and fought for his life against the wet tail virus. We did our best to make him comfortable with soft oats and syringe-fed water while he still had the will to eat and drink, and hoped that he felt how loved he was.

My daughter will adopt another hamster to love and cherish when her heart heals from losing her dear "little guy." Before Chocolate Chip joined us, his cage was a source of excitement and anticipation. Now we are sad and cannot bear to look at the empty place where our "little guy" frolicked and squeaked. But it will be full of life again some day.