last night i drove out to fofas to get my shirt for the price is right (mom and i are both wearing fofas shirts because they have a variation of bob barker's tag line printed across the chest "help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered"). while i was there, i checked out the baby hamsters. they were just about the cutest thing i've ever seen. if you need a baby teddy bear/fancy hamster thing, go get one. they'll give it to you for free. there's about 7 of them. their eyes are just starting to open and their fur finally grew in. we gave them a couple of baby carrots and a bunch of basil leaves. mom was a good mom and brought pieces down to the babies. they all tried wandering out to get the good food, but they had a hard time of it since they're just starting to figure out walking and their eyes aren't totally open yet. it was SO cute seeing 4 of them lined up along the baby carrot trying so hard to dislodge their siblings so they could attempt to eat this carrot that as big as they were. there was one smart cookie in the corner with a teensy piece of carrot (about half as big as my pinky finger nail) that he was holding with both hands and eating little bites contentedly. there was another one that was struggling to open his eyes so he could see the basil leaf that was in front of him. he was opening his mouth and trying to eat it straight in the center. he finally figured out he needed to go at it from the side. it's probably the most movement those babies have done yet. every now and again dad would come tearing through, stealing carrot bits from the babies, and then mom would chase him off.  they REALLY need to separate dad, both cause he could kill the babies and get mom pregnant again.  diana put a note on the cage for the shelter staff, so hopefully someone separates them today. and please, if you want a little fur ball, go get one. no one ever comes to a shelter looking for rodents (at least in the east bay), so they'll just sit there until they're euthanized.   :(

edited to add - they need cages for these guys.  let me know if you have an old one collecting dust that you'd like to donate.