 SHIV AND STAREYE by Carole
The hamsters I saw in the pet store were so cute and cuddly looking, I really wanted to get some. My husband was very encouraging, and even fell in love with one argente dwarf we saw running in the wheel, and named him Tank. However, we weren't quite ready to provide for a hamster, so we waited for a while. When I finally got the hamster home and supplies ready, I went to the pet store.
It was the day before Valentine's Day, 1998. My husband had a cold and couldn't come with me, so I went alone. After looking at the cage of dwarf hamsters for a while trying to decide (it was a couple of weeks later and Tank was already gone), I chose two adorable tiny female dwarf hamsters, one with the normal Campbell's markings and one albino with gorgeous red eyes. I brought them home and introduced them quietly to my husband, then put them in the aquarium and let them get used to their new home. Their names were Shiv (the albino) and Shank.
After letting them acclimatize alone for a couple of days, I began getting to know them. They were very happy together, not squabbling too often, and sleeping right next to each other. They were still shy, and I tried to help them get used to me slowly. Then, one week after I had brought them home, I found Shank trying his best to climb on top of Shiv, as any good *male* will do eventually. Poor Shank! He'd climb up on top and then slide off sideways, never quite figuring out what to do.
It broke my heart, but we couldn't afford to bring up litter after litter of baby hamsters, so, the next day, I had to bundle Shank up and return him to the pet store. The pet store people were very nice, and I chose another Campbell's dwarf, making sure this time that she was female. We named her Stareye, and brought her home and introduced her to Shiv, who immediately accepted this new companion, though she made sure to let the newcomer know she was the boss, being bigger and older. The two adorable hamsters shared their cage happily.
As the weeks went on, they got bigger and smarter, and came to me when I visited the cage, sat in my hands comfortably, and enjoyed their outings. Stareye seemed a lot bolder and smarter than Shiv, and soon outgrew her albino friend and claimed the spot of dominant hamster -- when they slept, Stareye slept on top of Shiv! Eventually, they gained a S.A.M. cage extension, with an external wheel.
The hamster books I read advised that you not let the hamsters have continuous access to the wheel, so I used the little door that comes with S.A.M. cages to close it off when we weren't home. One night, my husband checked on them and said, "Hey, you're not supposed to let them have the wheel all the time!" I was sure that I had closed the door, but sure enough, it was open. That happened twice more, so we sat and watched while we closed the door. We were absolutely sure that Stareye, the big brain hamster, had figured out how to open it. Sure enough, Stareye found the door closed and.... started scrabbling around all over the place, trying to get in the wheel. She dug, hopped, scratched, anything, but that door wouldn't open. Then Shiv came around from the opposite side of the cage, sniffed at the door, and grabbed it with her teeth and flung it out of the way!! So Stareye may be the muscle, but Shiv is definitely the brain!
Both of them loved carrot sticks and sunflower seeds, and they loved to run in the tubes and outside the cage on the playgrounds I would construct for them. Stareye would stuff her pouches full of sunflower seeds if she got the chance, but Shiv would take the time to shell each one, because, after all, without the shells, you can get a lot more seeds in your pouches! Shiv was afraid of heights and would not climb down a drop of three inches, but Stareye had no fear. She would jump willingly off a 3-foot desk, and I had to learn to watch her every move, so she wouldn't hurt herself.
I really don't know how to explain how much they enriched our lives. They taught me a lot about caring for animals, and also to respect them -- we might want them to play with the toys we get them, but really, they have their own minds and their own tastes, and they will enjoy themselves the way they want to. I also learned that animals can really love one another. The two of them were inseparable. They played together, they explored together, and they slept together every night (if Stareye wasn't on top of Shiv, she was cuddled up right next to her),
Eventually, they got older and less active, and though she still dug and climbed and ran, Shiv soon became unable to climb into the toob-a-trails from the cage floor, and I had to build steps for her. Stareye had a much easier time, since she was bigger and able to reach the opening, as well as much stronger. However, albinos are less endurant than their normal counterparts, and Shiv began showing her age. One day in October, 1999, I came into their room, and found that Shiv had passed on. Stareye was lying on her body, trying to keep her warm, and when she saw me, she came immediately to the side of the cage, as if to ask me to help Shiv. I wish I could have, but Shiv had lived a long, wonderful life. I gave Stareye a sunflower seed and removed Shiv from the cage.
With her lifelong friend gone, Stareye dragged around the cage, and in the morning, I found her sleeping in the spot that Shiv had laid down in for the last time. That night, she was still sleeping there, barely reacting to me as I tried to wake her, and in the morning, I found that she had gone to join Shiv in Hamster Heaven, rather than be alone in a big empty cage. We buried them the next day in the backyard, in the same tiny little box. Though I have had other hamsters, I still treasure Shiv and Stareye the most, and cry when I think about how much I miss them. © 2001 Carole |
