brian roberts

Last night we lost our little Bear. He passed in Judy's hands not long
after she got home from work.

He was one of our odd hams in that he didn't really spend much time in his
wheel, even though we tried a couple of styles to see if he was just picky,
but it just wasn't his thing I guess. He was pure black with the cutest
little mouse like face on him. Bright shiny eyes that seemed to just light
up.

He did spend a lot of time sleeping of late, coming out to scrounge for
goodies then scampering right back to bed. He spent a lot of time in the
little truck house we got him. He seemed to love that most of all. It had
an opening in the top that he could poke his head out and grab his nightly
tofu treat. More recently he had been spending a larger amount of time in
his other house though. When he was younger he'd be up all night running
around, though rarely in the wheel.

He was never an easy one to handle, and he'd bat at your hand if you put it
in his tank. We did manage to hold him now and then, but he always wanted
to go back home. A couple of times we let him roam around on the huge bed,
which he seemed to like a little bit. If you wore a pair of gloves he
seemed to be more willing to be handled and come out. Perhaps there was
just something he didn't like about bare hands.

There were a few times when he seemed to get very slow and sluggish and we
were afraid we were going to lose him, but he always turned around and got
better, until last night. His once shiny black coat had turned to silvery
gray and his back legs had started to stiffen on him. He always came out
for his nightly tofu treat and devoured it though. We had been cutting up
his food for a while as we thought he might be missing a tooth or two. We
changed out a lot of the hard foods for softer ones that he loved, like
oatmeal and tofu. Judy spent many a night cutting up seeds so he would
always have something he could manage to eat.

He was such a sweet little fellow, and we're going to miss him dearly.

Rest peacefully Mr. Bear, we'll always miss you and your bright little face.

The few photos we have are here......
http://pets.webshots.com/album/561194141SKaqAC

Or navigate from the main page.....
http://community.webshots.com/user/limahl

Brian & Judy & The Tiny Hamster Horde

hilary

I'm sorry you lost wee Bear. I'm always glad to hear that one of you were
with him at the end, but I also know how sad it is when these little ones
leave us.

Its amazing the impact they have on our lives. We are in the middle of doing
the kitchen and as with old cottages its a case of renewing 180 yr old
joists and floor boards as needed. I was stood in the kitchen admiring the
new pine boards and just for a moment it smelt just like hamster cage
litter. So there I was standing with tears streaming down my face,
remembering all the wee ones and hubby trying to figure out what was wrong
with his woodworking skills.

(((((Judy and Brian)))))