Happy Hamster Must Haves

 Anyone who knows me or follows me on instagram knows that I have completely fallen in love with our Pandemic Hamster: Lily Cat. As I type this I am watching her forage for her dinner which is adorably distracting. And shes foraging her dinner because since bringing Lily home in October, I have done elaborate research - the kind of research that one can only do on sleepless pandemic nights  leading up to an important election - on how to give this darling, sweet girl the best life in captivity and one of the ways is to sprinkle their food around the cage so that they can utilize their foraging instinct rather just get their dinner out of a bowl.

Lily came to us rather impulsively during a trip to the pet store with Judah. I had been having some baby/puppy/hamster fever (I blame Kelle Hampton for that one) and we came across these little Roborovski Dwarf Hamsters. I texted Josh a picture and said "can we get him one?" Josh said "sure, and something about how cool of a memory that will be," But I was already surprising my boy and the excitement on his face is something I hope to never forget!

As I said, I've done a lot of research and I may just be able to call myself a hamster influencer because one of my instagram friends (that's Louie, isn't he cute???), kind of, maybe got a hamster because of Lily. And at least three people have said they want to. haha

So I thought it would be fun to share some of the highlights of my research!


First, let me introduce you to our sweet Lily!

Silent Spinner - A wheel is a must have for hamsters. These little critters love to run! A robo like Lily can rup to six miles a night! And the silent spinner won't just make your hamster happy; it will make you happy, too, because it is so much quieter than other wheels. Your hamster will run the night away and you'll be able to sleep the night away!

Nature's Salad -  This mix is also great for those foraging instincts. We give Lily a handful, sprinkled around her cage every two days. She loves it and its fun to watch her nibble on it. Its great for their teeth, since their teeth never stop growing, they need lots of things to chew on. 

Millet Spray -  Sprays are another great way to stimulate foraging instincts. And they are a delicious treat to hammies. When I propped this up for this photo, Lils immediately poked her head out of her door and went over for a snack!

Sand Bath Sand - It's important for hamsters to have a sand bath. I grew up with gerbils and didn't know this about hamsters. But Lily was thrilled when we introduced hers in her cage. I did a ton of research on the best kind of sand to get and settled on hermit crab sand, or reptile sand. It has to be natural with no added minerals. (And it can't be too dusty - chinchilla sand is bad for hamster lungs.) Play sand is also okay but I didn't want to commit to a giant bag of sand. But in my research, I found that hermit crab sand is the closest to the sand of the deserts of Central Asia that roborovskis inhabit. We keep Lily's sand in a drawer organizer. They like to have a hideout in the sand, this one is a wax burner that we repurposed. And yes, those are dried rose petals because Lily is  Queen. 


Strawberry Hideout - And last but not least, how adorable is this Strawberry Hideout? We have a Pear that I found while thrifting - I think ours is meant to hold a sponge, but its perfect for her to hideout in. Hamsters like a lot of hideouts and I like to make her cage as cute as possible. Cause why not?

Hamsters only live 2-3 years, so my goal is to make Lily's short life a happy one!

Tell me all about your cute hamster in the comments!



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