Monday, September 8, 2008

New Pets


For the first time ever in our 15 years of being a family, we have pets. (Well, if you don't count the goldfish.) Our kids, like any other normal, red-blooded kids, have been begging for pets almost since they were born. And we always said no. (Other than those aforementioned, ill-fated goldfish.) But see, Bryan is allergic to anything with fur. And I put my foot down on anything reptile or amphibian. That leaves birds and fish. I could do a bird. I had a bird growing up. But Bryan can't stand the annoying, loud chirping. Personally, I think that chirping is kind of cheerful but yes, they are loud. And fish? Well, did I mention our luck with fish? So our kids were destined to be pet-less. But then Bryan's sister and bro-in-law, Carolyn and Treg, bought their kids two dwarf hamsters. Those two hamsters got together and had babies even though they had been assured that the two were both male. Ooops. This led to Julianne asking if maybe we could take one. "Yeah, right! You just go right ahead and ask your Dad!" was my response. So she did. And he gave her an official "maybe." Whoah! That was pretty huge. So Julianne got on the computer and researched anything and everything to do with dwarf hamsters from how to take care of them, how to tell if they are sick, down to how much cages and food cost. Bryan was quite impressed with her research and the next thing I knew I was going out to buy the cage the two of them had found on-line together. I asked about Bryan's allergies but Julianne even had an answer for that. Apparently dwarf hamsters are not as bad for allergies as normal hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. would be. In fact, Carolyn, whose family has more allergies than anyone I know, took all her kids to the pet store and basically rubbed their little faces in dwarf hamster fur to see right off the bat if anyone would react. No one did. I guess that convinced Bryan that he would probably be okay as well. Arrangements were made for Carolyn and Treg to bring the baby hamsters to Wyoming. (See post below.) We'd bring our cage prepared with bedding, food and water and we'd do the swap. We ended up with three...one each for Julianne, Rebekah and Brandon. Bryan figured that if you're going to have one, what difference does it make to add a few more? So, please welcome Cheddar, Hammie and Custard. All boys, we've been told. If not, give it a few months and I may be offering dwarf hamster babies to anyone who wants to take them.

8 comments:

Mindy said...

Your new pets are so cute and tiny I didn't think they would be so small. Love the names by the way. Maybe it's good all 3 kids got one, the more to help clean the cage. (that is one key thing to keeping these things alive ya know haha)

Croft Family said...

I have to admit for a rodent they are cute. But if by chance one is a girl and you have little rodent babies PLEASE oh PLEASE don't ask us. I don't think that Kevin would take my "NO!" for an answer or he would just come home and SUPRISE we have a hamster.

Liz said...

How fun! I'm impressed with Julianne's internet research--sounds like she was badly wanting a pet and is a little smartie to know how to get it. :)

Mary said...

Hamsters huh? I would have never thought. Ryan and the kids want a dog and I keep saying no. Maybe when they are older I tell them. Does Rebekah and Julianne really take care of their animals, or do you end up taking care of them in the long run?

Anonymous said...

I still have bad memories of being bit by a hamster once. I had this perfect little v on my index finger that hurt like the dickens! The little rodent belonged to Danielle...oh...just blanked on a memory...she lived across the street from you when we were kids!...shoot...see! That's how far the bad memory goes! I've blocked the owner from my mind because her pet hurt me so!
Oh well...your little ones are pretty cute, and I bet their mouths don't open far enough to do much finger biting.

Powell Family said...

Wow, I thought I was brave doing a puppy, but hamsters take the cake. You are a good mom!

Melissa@thebblog said...

I hope they don't lose interest too quickly! I loved little smokey but I don't really remember playing with him tons - I did like that little hamster ball . . . Make sure the lid fits tight on the cage so you don't find them on your face in the middle of the night.

Katie said...

I loved my hamster--even if he did get out quite often. It probably would have helped if we had had a real hamster cage. How fun for your kids. Just make sure they clean the cage and not you!