A Special Post for my Hamster, Little Panda.

I have sad news: on December 24th, my Syrian/Teddy Bear Hamster, named Little Panda, passed away due to a stroke. He was an adorable, fuzzy, little creature who liked running on his hamster wheel and nibbling cute food.



April 2nd, 2011

This is Little Panda on his first day in my home. He was only a few weeks old and was very tiny, and a little apprehensive. He shred the newspaper into little tiny bits to make a comfy nest for himself.








Little Panda's First Adventure

After a couple of weeks of getting to know Little Panda, I let him venture out of his cage to explore my living room. He was very excited and ran very quickly around! Hamsters are very good runners.









Me and Little Panda :)

Little Panda also liked to climb on me! The sweater I'm wearing has deep pockets that he liked to explore.

In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are active at dawn and dusk, when they awake to run around and collect food. Pet Hamsters are often active all throughout the night because they have no predators to hide from.






Little Panda climbing

Hamsters are Rodents and are related to Mice, Rats, Squirrels, and Beavers. They are great climbers as seen in this photo of Little Panda! He loved to climb all over his cage and had little tiny feet with claws to grip on tightly.

A New Cage!

When I moved into a bigger house in May, I set about building a big cage using old window screens that I found on the sidewalk. I decorated the inside with grass and pebbles, and also made a really cool house for him with medium-sized rocks. It had multiple entrances and levels because Hamsters like to be protected. In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are considered "vulnerable" because people are starting farms on the land where these fuzzy guys live.

I fed Little Panda grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and some treats of cheese and milk. Hamsters have special cheek pockets that they store food in, which makes their face look really chubby and cute!

In September, I embarked on a cross-Canada adventure. I got Little Panda a new travel cage with a wooden house, a water dispenser, and lots of privacy. He traveled with me on the train across all the provinces (except P.E.I), making him a very well-educated and cultured little Hamster.

Little Panda was buried in a cute park on the beach on Salt Spring Island, close to a farm with Alpacas and Sheep. I think this will be a quiet and nice place for him.

Hedgehogs!

Baby Hedgehog!

Hedgehogs are really popular as pets, cause their so adorable! They are also popular because they are fairly easy to take care of and can be very playful.

Hedgehogs have stiff spines, which are actually hollow hairs. These little spines are not poisonous. The hedgehog can lose spines though, through "quilling", when they shed their baby spines for adult ones.

Hedgehogs are good runners, swimmers, and even good climbers. 


They also make really cute noises, such as snuffles or squeals.

Hedgehog in a cute ball.

To defend themselves, hedgehogs roll into a tiny little ball so that all their spines are sticking out. 


These cute spiky balls like eating insects, frogs, snakes, bird eggs, berries, mushrooms, and melons.

In places where hedgehogs are found naturally, many people like to encourage hedgehogs in their garden. People will often leave snacks for these cute animals and even make holes in their fences as doorways. 

Baby Pygmy Animals!

Since I've become unemployed, I have so much more time to update my blog! 

Today's post is about pygmy animals, which are tiny versions of big animals, making them extra cute!

Maybe one day I'll pet a baby pygmy hippo!

A baby pygmy hippo! 

These hippos live in Africa in forests and swamps. They mostly keep to themselves and are more active in the night (nocturnal). Like bigger hippos, they like living in the water, and will sometimes give birth there. 


These adorable little hippos love munching on grass and fruit. They sneak out of their river hiding spot around dusk to eat. Sometimes pygmy hippos sleep in dens or burrows in the river bank. Although, no one knows if the hippos actually make these homes themselves.

So tiny!

A baby pygmy tarsier!

Pygmy tarsiers were thought to be extinct since the 1920's until recently in 2008 when these cute little animals were rediscovered. 

They are nocturnal primates who live in Indonesia and are only about 9 to 10 cm long!

They have long tails and nails on their teensy hands for gripping onto trees. Tarsiers nibble on insects and sleep vertically in trees during the day.

Pygmy Marmosets are the smallest monkeys in the world (although pygmy tarsiers are tinier, but are not monkeys, just primates). They are abut 14 to 16 cm in length! These tiny monkeys makes their homes in the rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.


Pygmy marmosets use different whistles and calls to talk to family members. Sometimes these calls give warnings of approaching danger.


These super adorable monkeys eat insects, fruit, tree sap, and leaves.

Pygmy goats are originally from West Africa and have since been domesticated. 


These mini goats like chewing on grains and grasses. 


They live for about 10-15 years and are very popular as household pets or in petting zoos. 

My kitty: Wigglytuff!

My youngest kitty cat, Wigglytuff, is named after a Pokemon, who is the evolved form of Jigglypuff.



Jigglypuff

Wigglytuff

My cat Wigglytuff is about 1 and a half years old. She likes cuddling in fuzzy blankets, licking yogurt from bowls, and sticking her paws in cups of water.




Wigglytuff (on the left) as a little baby.

Here she is only a few months old, cuddling with her brother. All of the kittens liked to cuddle in a big pile of cuteness.







Wigglytuff (on the left again).

Some nights I would come home from an annoying shift, working in the mall, and find a pile of fluffy kitties on my couch!







Wigglytuff and Muffin, cuddling on a box as I get ready
to move to a new apartment. November 2009

Wiggly is bigger now, but only by a little. She was the runt of her litter and is still pretty small (especially in comparison to my older cat, Muffin).






L to R: Charlie, Wombee, Wiggly, Theodore, Elly

Most recently, Wiggly has taken a liking to cuddling with my stuffed animals, that I still keep on my bed.

This is only an introduction to Wigglytuff. There will be lots more adorableness to come.