Shweety's day begins about the time the sun goes down! She is nocturnal, and stays up all night making alot of noise, eating and running on her wheel. We have had some disagreements over wheels in the past. She has had two very nice hot-pink wheels. I don't know if she just doesn't like hot-pink, or if it was her way of trying to be difficult, but she slowly chewed both of them to bits. The first one was a normal looking type wheel with little bars all around. She worked on it every night until all of the little bars were disconnected and the whole thing collapsed. The other wheel also doubled as a running ball to use outside the cage. It had a plastic stand so that it could be used as a wheel inside the cage also. She chewed all of the edges of the stand and eventually this one collapsed as well.
Surely the wheel designers have tested these wheels before they put them in the stores to sell, haven't they? How can they possibly pretend to not know that a hamster can shred one of these wheels faster than termites could desintegrate a toothpick? It is really disgusting, in my opinion. False advertisement!
Anyway, I resorted to buying her a metal wheel now. She only uses the new metal wheel in her traveling cage for when we go to visit Grandma, or I decide to take her along for some other reason. Her everyday wheel is actually attached to her new cage. It came with the cage and is a solid, full circle so there are no bars or edges for her to chew. She does try, believe me, to chew her way out of her cage. It must be made of a different type of plastic than the aforementioned wheels, as she has never succeeded in doing any damage to her new cage yet. Just some little teeth marks here and there. Anyway, as she has gotten used to this solid round wheel in her cage, well, she has some problems when she gets on the metal wheel in her traveling cage. The first morning after I put the new metal wheel into her travel cage, my mother called me over to look at her. Both of her little shins were red and scabby! Apparently as she was not used to the new wheel with bars, her little feet probably slipped through while she was running, and her shins got skinned. Well, anyway, they healed up ok, and she is fine now. I just hope this doesn't happen again next time we travel.
Well, I have to tell you about Shweety's latest excursion. She is a very adventurous little girl, and she has escaped from her house several times. Once, Niles (my cat) knocked her house off on to the floor, and she got out. Another time she just jumped out somehow, before I realized I should have lid on her cage. Anyway, I have always found her somehow. She will disappear for the day, probably sleeping in some cozy little nook she has found. Then in the evening she will mosey on out into the open, and I will find her covered with dust! Well, recently I came home from visiting my Grandma and Grandpa, only to discover that Shweety had pried the lid off of her tower, and she was gone again. I wasn't too worried because I knew she would probably show up pretty soon. Well, evening came, and no sign of Shweety. I waited up late into the night, hoping she would appear. Niles has learned to bahave around her, although he has to force himself to tolerate her. He was very noble the last time she went out for an adventure. He located her and patiently kept an eye on her until I noticed he had found her. So, I was hoping that Niles would be able to track her down again, but even he was at a loss. Eventually I dozed off into a restless sleep. There was still no sign of her the next day, and then the next night came and still she was missing. This went on for a week! I finally gave in to feeling I would probably never find her, and could only hope that she had found a cozy new home somewhere in the walls or attic. I started to blame myself, I should never have let Niles read "The Tale of Tom Kitten" to her! That is probably what gave her the notion to take off and explore under the floor or in the walls.
I invited my friend Ami over the following Friday for the night. We were listening to music and watching videos in my room, and then we took a little break and went to the kitchen for a snack. Ami went over to look in the fridge, when a movement outside the back door caught her eye. She looked out the door into the breezeway, and would you believe there was Shweety running around, all wet and muddy? We were in shock! How on earth could she have gotten outside? How long had she been out there? Who knows, but we grabbed her and she went right into the sink for a warm bath. She was very skinny and frail, and I can't tell you how happy she was to get into her bed! She ate a little bit and then jumped into her bed, and she slept for several days! It was so adorable to see her snoring away in her little bed, and she was so tired that she even ate while laying on her side in her bed, with her eyes closed.
After that, I taped the lid down on her tower with several strips of Duct Tape!
CLICK below to see some pictures of Shweety
