02 Dec Introducing Our New, Lovable Pet Hamster, Desirée

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be calling a rodent lovable, but here I am. If you follow along with our blog, you may remember a couple of months ago, we talked about How to Teach Your Child Responsibility Through Pet Ownership. My son had recently got some fish, and my daughter was wanting a pet of her own as well. She had decided on a hamster, so for her birthday we got her a new pet hamster, named Desirée.

Luci Did the Research

Owning a pet is a bit of a learning curve. Every animal has different requirements, and these must be learned before bringing the pet home. So, just like with my son, I figured that if Luci was old enough to own a pet, she was old enough to do the research on it. I asked for a research paper that would include all of the care a hamster would need, including food, habitat, time, cleaning, etc. Luci took on this responsibility beautifully. She ultimately chose a dwarf hamster, and gave me a comprehensive list of everything we would need to give the hamster a good life.

Desirée Comes Home

A couple of days before her birthday, we headed out to the pet store to collect our equipment and to see if there was a dwarf hamster there that would be a good fit. They only had two. One was a scrappy white hamster with red eyes that bit at the pet store worker’s hand when they put it in the cage. The second was grey with a white vest. She sat quietly in the corner watching. Luci knew instantly that this was Desirée, her new pet hamster.

We brought her home the next day. Luci lowered the pet store box into the cage and let Desirée loose in her new habitat. The first thing she did was jump on the ball and flip over backwards into the soft bedding, Then she found her water, food, and running wheel. It was truly delightful to watch her explore her new home.

Things Desirée Loves

So far we have loved having Desirée in our home. She is sweet and gentle, and so much fun to watch. We have figured out some of her favorite things. The first and foremost is peanut butter. She gets it as a treat every so often, and will eat it right off of Luci’s fingers. She also loves running on her wheel, which can get loud at night. Since hamsters are mostly nocturnal animals, we move her habitat to a quieter spot at night so she doesn’t keep the family awake.

When she wants out of her habitat, she will climb the door and rattle it. She is very persistent and will not stop until she gets her way. When Luci gets her out, she will run up and down her arms, often hiding in the crook of her arm or bravely peeking over the edges.

Once she has tired herself out, Desirée loves to snuggle with Luci. She burrows deep inside the warmth of her arms and falls asleep. Can it get cuter than that?!

Things Desirée Does Not Love

We know for sure that Desirée does not love a sand bath. We’ve been introducing it to her slowly so that she will bathe herself, but she hasn’t quite figured it out yet. Luci gives her a guiding hand, in hopes of helping her.

She Brings Us Joy

After just a little over a month of being with us, we have all gotten surprisingly attached to our new, lovable pet hamster, Desirée. I don’t think a single one of us expected to fall in love with a rodent, yet here we are, completely enamored with her and her exploits. I think you can tell by the look on her face that Luci, for one is finding joy.

Come back to visit us often, and I promise to bring your more updates on Desirée!