Herbie the Hampster

mobius

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We are sad to announce the passing of Herbie the Hampster, who would have turned three years old in January.

Herbie leaves behind his water bottle, excercise wheel and an almost full box of food that was just purchased on Sunday. Oh, and his owner Katie, 13.

Herbie will be interred in a Seiko watch box burried in the woods behind the house. No public service is planned.

(I can't believe I actually have to bury a stupid furry rat.......
)
 

punkygirl0101

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Sorry for your loss.

There is no P in hamster by the way


And I take offense to the stupid fury rat comment. I happen to be a big rodent lover. Hamsters/rodents are animals too, and are peoples beloved pets and deserve respect. I know a lot of dedicated rat lovers who even cremate them. I think throwing away a beloved pet is showing it you could careless about it.

I bury all my small pets (cremate the cats and dogs), in a special area of my yard dedicated to them.
 

rosiemac

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Originally Posted by Möbius

(I can't believe I actually have to bury a stupid furry rat.......
)
You know, their all Gods creatures at the end of the day, and like everyone they do have feelings


RIP Herbie


________________________________________
 

ladylonewolf

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RIP Herbie.


I at one time had 12 hamsters; a pair and all of their offspring. When they passed away, they all were buried in the backyard. I gave them just as much ceremony and respect as any of my other pets. The only two I didn't bury were one of my rabbits and my dog; they were both cremated.
 
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mobius

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Well, it seems that the universal opinion is that I am/was an insensitive jerk about this. Mea Culpa!


I had hamsters and gerbils as a kid, and almost without exception, they all
tolerated handling very well. Herbie didn't. As a matter of fact, he would
attack the fingers of anyone who reached into his cage. Katie was actually
afraid of him, so her mother or I would have to be the one to take Herbie out
of his cage (wearing leather work gloves) when it needed to be cleaned.

I once suggested that Herbie might enjoy some 'companionship' but
apparently he didn't tolerate other hamsters either. Herbie had a cagemate
at one time (Hannah - who was bought at the same time as Herbie) but
after Hannah had a litter, he killed two of their babies and bit off one of
Hannah's ears. So Herbie got put into a cage by himself, and Hannah got
another cagemate, her surviving baby - Flower.

Hannah and Flower escaped one night and, despite an attic-to-basement
search of the house, were never found. (Rumor has it they were seen driving
a blue 1966 Thunderbird convertible, being chased by the police.
)

BTW, this little hamster soap opera occurred way before I came on the scene.

Other than feeding Herbie and cleaning his cage every other weekend, Katie
hadn't shown much in him, at least not in the year-plus her mother and I
have been dating. According to her mom, Katie's disinterest in Herbie seemed
to happen around the same time she discovered boys were no longer as icky
and gross as she had previously believed.


So, I was quite surprised when Katie insisted on a 'proper' burial for Herbie.
She read a poem she had written when we buried Herbie in her mother's back
yard on Thursday. She also found a nice rock she wants to use as a
headstone, once she finishes painting it. We are going to the craft store
later today so she can pick-up some supplies.

And now Katie says she wants a ferret.
 

babywukong

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Hamsters are solitary, just like Punkgirl said. Even Dwarf Hamsters will only tolerate cagemates which had come from the same litter.

When my friend adopted her Dwarf from the local SPCA, the little fella was a biter. Near a year down the road, she's STILL a biter. We just leave her be, and enjoy watching her instead of handling her. For entertainment, her "house" has plenty of connecting tubes for her to run around and these get shifted around so that the hamster has a new environment to explore now and then.

Having a pet isn't always on the owners own terms. Not all animals of the same species can be expected to act the same way, much less in this case, since Dwarf Hamsters are known to revert back to wild, snappy ways if not handled for some time. Yet owning a pet means respecting it, no matter what its temperament, and I think that's one of the important lessons for a child. I'm glad Katie insisted on the burial.
 

AbbysMom

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I guess Katie wants to remember the good times with Herbie.
My hamster is also a feisty little thing.


May Herbie RIP.
 
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mobius

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I never knew hamsters were solitary. I had maybe 3 or 4 in a cage at once
when I was a kid, and never had a problem.

But then again, they were all females.

BTW, Katie's mom said no to the ferret (I knew she would) but she might
let her have a dog next year.
 

ladylonewolf

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Originally Posted by Möbius

I never knew hamsters were solitary. I had maybe 3 or 4 in a cage at once
when I was a kid, and never had a problem..
Usually they're very solitary; hamsters can get into some really nasty fights with one another! (My female hamster actually killed her one female baby because I had them in the same cage.) I tried to keep mine in separate cages; the father was in one cage, the mother in another (though I kept the smallest baby with her for a while); I did keep all of the boy babies together, but they had several little houses so they could get away from one another!
 
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