Today I’m sharing a photo of my cute little hamster Marty, he’s a Roborovski hamster which are one of the smallest breads. Marty is one year old this week and is currently measuring about three and a half centimetres. He sits comfortably in the palm of my hand, in fact I could probably get two in the palm of my hand.
I do actually have two Roborovsk hamsters, Marty has a brother called Doc. I don’t get to photograph Doc much as he is so much faster than Marty. He can also sit on my hand, but I have to be careful as he likes to run up my arm and try to escape.
I chose these hamsters as a birthday present last year. I saw them in the pet shop and they were so cute huddled up together. I bought a large cage for them and two of everything as suggested…but they did nothing but fight after I brought them home. Doc attacked Marty so bad that I thought he wasn’t going to make it for a while, but I bought another cage and separated them and, thankfully, Marty got well again. As you can see in my photo he’s a handsome little fella.
Being nocturnal I don’t really get much time with my pets. In the morning I wake them up and give them water and food and let them run all over my hand. I wish I could cuddle them but they are so small there is not much to cuddle. So, I have to settle for a little run on my hand and I can stroke them with my thumb.
Every weekend on of the kids help me to clean out their cages. It’s a fun job with Marty as he runs around and plays on our hands. It’s not so fun with Doc, he constantly tries to escape and it’s a bit of a panic. If one of them did escape I doubt very much that we would find them. They are very tiny and very quick. In fact, I don’t think our cats would find them either!
We have to keep them separate to the cats. They are put on a high shelf in the daytime while they sleep and the cats take little notice. We move them to the kitchen when they are awake at night and keep the cats locked out of there. The cats would have problems getting into the cages, but I’m sure if they were determined enough they’d find a way.
The lifespan of these little creatures is only about three years. I can’t believe they are already a year old. They bring me so much pleasure even if it’s only for a little while each morning. Marty is my favourite because he comes running towards me in the morning, whereas Doc takes lots of persuasion to come and sit on my hand. Doc is definitely the Grumpy one, whereas Marty is friendly and wants to play.
So cute! I had a pet hamster ages ago.
#MySundayPhoto
Oh my word that's tiny, my girls would lose him
Thank you for linking up
They are so amazingly cute! #MySundayPhoto
Such a cutie, I love how he is looking up at you, beautiful colouring
What a lovely little friend for you. Hamsters can be so naughty with each other.