The Adventures of Rosie Hamster

Rosie is our little Campbell x Winter White hamster, 2 years old in March and a little furry force to be reckoned with! She came to us at 10 weeks old via a Gumtree advert, turning up nearby after needing to be separated from her cagemate. Having had Syrian hamsters in the past, and the most recent of those being Darcy, a solid and classic large ginger and black hamster, little Rose seemed impossibly tiny when we first brought her home – and has grown very little since!

She is a wonderful presence in the house, a very contented wee soul who loves nothing more than organising her cage layout, re-arranging her bedding and building award-worthy tunnelling systems to transport her little self around.

In a household of boys, I have always been glad of Rosie’s female company, enjoying Friday mocktail nights in and joining in briefly with my hen do below..!

While very content to spend her time mainly in her cage, which she is very settled in, it is lovely to spend some time with her out and about – we’ve always let hamsters free-range in the past as the rats do in our living room, but she is just such a little minature thing that we tend just to relax on the couch where she always enjoys a scarper up the cushions and a sit on a shoulder, and especially some time exploring in a blanket.

I always find observing the way a solitary hamster chooses to live its life and its whole outlook very inspiring, and Rosie is just a joy to watch. She lives simply and is utterly content with her surroundings and all her favourite things, and is very structured in her routines and set in her ways – although now and then apropos of nothing she will suddenly shake things up and move from one of her little houses to another as her chosen bed, or dispense with the rules and relocate her food store, starting a new little rhythm she’ll settle to with enthusiasm.

In the last couple of months, wee Rose’s eyes have been almost entirely covered by cataracts, and when I first saw this happening – never having seen it before in any of our previous hamsters –  I was worried her quality of life would be affected. Quite the contrary though, she is utterly unabashed and is zootling around the cage, spinning her wheel and climbing the bars like she always has; and – with a new little extra sniff she likes to do first to be sure all is well –  is very happy to be picked up and to come out for free time with us.

She is a really lovely little soul, so friendly and so enthusiastic about every aspect of life, and I just love to enjoy her and her happy pootling.