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 Farewell to "Bitey" who finally died yesterday after nearly 3 years - a long life for a dwarf hamster. As it was me who looked after him (JD lost interest a few months in!) It'll be odd not to feed him each morning or save him leftover pieces of vegetables. RIP Bitey!
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 The Internet tells me that Chinese dwarf hamsters can live "up to 2 years" and that a 1½ year old is considered "elderly". So, as "Bitey" turns 2½ this month, with no obvious lack of energy and looking as healthy as ever, we wonder just how long this chap can keep going? JD had long since lost interest, so it falls to me to feed Bitey, clean his cage and give him the occasional outing. And yet he still has a nip at me, given half a chance!
 After "Whitey" died a year ago, we assumed "Bitey" might not last too much longer. Yet here he is, seemingly as perky as ever.
 "Whitey", one of our two hamsters, died this morning. He'd been sick for a month or two - shaking, blind, no back legs working - and I've been giving him food and water by hand (JD lost interest in the hamsters a long time ago!). "Bitey" is in a separate cage and is still full of health and energy, so I continue to have a feeding and cleaning regime!
 We don't know when exactly our two hamsters were born. but we know that we bought them a year ago today! JD stopped taking much interest in them pretty early on, but it was his idea to give them a little celebration today. So we had two tiny cakes with candles and a rendition of "Happy Bought-day". "Bitey" is still full of energy, but "Whitey" has been sick for a month now - barely able to walk or eat, but resolutely refusing to die!
 Whitey and Bitey continue to provide JD (and I) with a lot of fun. They seem to be growing too, despite technically being dwarf hamsters.
JD and I spent this weekend making a castle for "Whitey" and "Bitey".
 Last weekend JD and I built a Duplo maze and gave the hamsters a variety of races. Being nocturnal critters, we found they were more likely to snuggle up under the Lego and fall asleep than race around the many corners! But by the end, "Whitey" was a clear winner (sorry, "Bitey"!) and got a JD cuddle as a medal... 
We took a trip to the Bird and Flower market the other day to fulfill a Birthday promise to JD to buy a couple of gerbils. Unfortunately Kunming doesn't seem to know about gerbils, but we were able to get a two dwarf hamsters instead and JD is delighted with them. "Mr White" was tame from the beginning, but "Goldie" is a biter and needs more gradual human contact! I also bought a Venus Fly Trap while there which I'm hoping will help keep the flying insects to a minimum in Jiajia's balcony garden!
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 AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
September 2023
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