Cat or hamster?

Oliver, that cheeky boy, always plays with his food.

As we packed our stuff together because we prepared to move we found his secret food stack!

Under a piece of marble platter that was sitting on the floor, he kept tossing his bits underneath and apparently wasn't able to get them out again. We also found some under the fridge. He is just a nutcase!

Forever Doody!

Sometimes sad things happen in life. Sad things with nothing you can do to prevent them. Sometimes it will hurt so much you think your heart is going to break into pieces...

When I grieve for someone I turn the pain into some force that makes me create something special. Something that helps me keep him in memory.

Doody, you were one of a kind!

Backyard Cats

Backyard cats are the sort of cats that just happen to be there one day and refuse to go away again. So you start feeling sorry for them and start feeding them. After that they won't ever go away again. They will stay wild and won't let you touch them but also go begging for more food every time they see you.

And of course they will get kitten every now and again. And besides them being wild backyard cats the kitten are still adorable!

This fellow is called "Fleabomb". Guess why! He is a little older than the other three.

The tabby one must be a girl! She is so cute and decent! A little Bella!

Her daring brother.

And all three of the last litter.

Michiko's new home

It took a long time until this new cage got ready. But not because it's a lot of work it was rather the lack of time. I started building it in August and then two weeks nothing happened and so on...
But I think the result is worth showing!
Here the right side with her house (she doesn't use it much) and the closed door to the outside.

The left side with her wheel in the "deep side"... And her sand bath on top of the platform.

Hide & Seek

My russian hamster Michiko surely is a "bigger=better"-hamster. As I can't provide her enough space in her aquarium I thought long about this topic. Letting her run in the living room under supervision was nearly impossible because she woke up when I went to bed. And trust me, I don't go to bed early!

So there was only one way: Letting her run around in the living room on her own. Making sure that there are no cables lying around and no place where she can hurt herself I started trying it.

It's working good for several weeks now. She collects the sunflower seeds I hide for her anywhere and is back in her aquarium in the mornings. I wasn't always sure for that but after hearing a little scratch I was satisfied. I had to close the aquarium over days because of the birds and when I'm at home I leave doors open...

Well, one day I discovered that she made herself a little nest in my shelf. Hidden behind my board games...
A small larder.
And her bed. (Don't notice the torn down wallpaper...)

I had already laid newspaper in this place because she had always liked hiding in there. For long time nothing had changed and suddenly there was all this bedding in there! She carried her toilet paper across the whole living room!

Snapshot of the month

Aika's visit at my home. Michiko was a bit curious and walked along the glass. It was hard for Aika. She wanted to play with the little furball and started licking the glass. Michiko was unimpressed by that and walked away again...

Finally Spring!

I don't remember what day it finally started getting warm, because I lay down with a flu. But then suddenly it was the time to sit outside in the wonderfull and large garden of my parents. T-Shirt-weather, sunshine and cats hanging around!

I love it! It's been cold and nasty for too long now...

Snapshot of the month!

This is Aika, the basset hound of my parents, as a jung puppy in 2007. She was so full of energy that it was only luck to catch a good shot of her. Mostly she was moving away again.

Bye bye Hachi!

Hachi (in the coconut, right), is my first little mouse which went over the rainbow bridge. The medis which I gave her over the last two weeks didn't show any bettering. But she was tough and till the end she loved her wafers and walked around in her paradise on earth. 

Farewell my dear.

Michiko

It was October, the 4th, a saturday. The first saturday after my birthday... I went to the animal shelter and fell in love with this adorable little dsungarian hamster.

She is about 1-2 years old, which is quite a good age for this hamster, as they usually reach 1,5-3 years. I didn't want a baby hamster. I like giving older animals a nice home. And Michiko surely diserved a nice home. She lives in an aquarium with the sizes: 130x50x50, but it still seems too small for her. I let her run around in the living room from time to time (hard to see her in wake moments) and then I notice how much a hamster should run.

In the wild they run on the search for food about 8km per night. In the cage she has a running wheel, the same one as my mice have and she uses it a lot.

She is such an adorable little thing! Very interested in everything!

As for her running around I built a little bridge to the living room. She knows how to use it, that's not the problem. Unfortunatly she turned out to be sleeping for long into the night so I don't see her much and can't let her running around as much as I would like to.
Still she gives me the feeling to be a happy hamster.

Some videos of my pets!

Davy and the cucumber



Mice everywhere!

Squirrels

After watching "Over the hedge" this week and seeing Hammy, the adorable squirrel in it, I found these pics on my computer.
As they are searching for food and are most times used to have humans around, they lost their fear. Well, this fellow lives in a nice park with hundreds of other squirrels, they are not looked after and not in cages. But they got the trick to beg for some nuts!

They are a bit older. But I still love them! I love squirrels! You can see the pics are taken in winter because it has furry ears.

"The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a species of tree squirrel (genus Sciurus). A tree-dwelling omnivorous rodent, the red squirrel is common throughout Eurasia. "
Source: Wikipedia

Finally: real mice!

In June 2008 I invited some new fellows to live with me. The castrato San and his girls Ichi, Ni, Nana and Hachi. Did you notice? I love Japan!

They settled in a selfbuilt home made of an old rabbit-cage-bottom (100x50cm) and an aquarium (60x30x30cm). This kind of petmouse can be held in an open cage. They can't see very far and are too scared to jump down. Of course there are always some exceptions, but my five are very safe in here.

Very soon I noticed that they could be happier. I included a second tray and more possibilities to climb. They seem much more relaxed now and use their space happily. It is now in a total 210cm (incl. the aqua)!

I am totally against buying pets in pet stores. There are so many animals who wait in the animal shelter to find a new home. And most people in the shelters want to see their animals well looked-after. Pet stores only want to make profit. They sell a lot of rubbish for pets as well. You might think you can find there everything you need, but that's an illusion.

Mouse-cages that have the size of max. 50cm should only be a mere transporting cage. Running wheels with 15-20cm diagonally can cause a lot of illness and misshaping. Not to speak of all the plastic that could tear up their stumaches when they gnaw and swallow it.
The wheel I have is of gnaw-safe plastic and has a measure of 27cm. I have only found the German producer of the wheels: Rodenti
Everything else in their habitat is safe to gnaw. And they do it! The wood I built with is coloured with a paint that can be used for baby-toys.

So no plastic, better use wood, cartonages and ceramic. In facts, nearly everything you would also feel save to give a baby.

See you next time!

Davidoff (Davy)

January 2008 Davidoff entered my life. He lost his wife out of age and was sitting alone. So I thought I will take him and give him a nice end of his life. His previous owner thought he might be 10-13 years old! A real grandpa! But you can see his age, he does look a bit scruffier than the other two.

But the vet assured me that he is healthy and he just showes signs of age. I had him in the old bird cage and he was very curious. When I let him to the others he was so happy to be able to get close to them! Tommy and Snoopy were not so happy in the beginning. But it has settled down. Sometimes he just watches the others (seems to me to have a satisfied smile) and sometimes he babbles either with Tommy or with Snoopy.

The good thing is: He loves cucumbers! It was a joy for me to watch a budgie creedily eating it! And after a few weeks I also watched Tommy and Snoopy eating it! Good boy Davy!

Tommy and Snoopy

Snoopy (left) and Tommy (right) are a male standard blue and a female purple opalin budgerigar. They live with me since 2002 and are now 6 years old. In the beginning it looked like having two male budgies, that is why Tommy still has her male name.


I did a lot of mistakes in the beginning. After having had a budgie as a kid I thought I knew enough about these birds. Two years ago I started to learn a lot about the appropriate keeping of budgies. I think it is my fault that Tommy can't fly any more and I feel very guilty for that. I try to do everything right now. I started with buying a large cage (it is still a bit too small, but its better for Tommy because she sometimes has troubles climbing long distances), feeding them a good food and giving Snoopy the possibility of flying in the living room every day. He doesn't use it, I think he is too scared... But I know he can still fly, sometimes it just happens... :-)