Let's start off by saying, Butterscotch died 3-ish years ago. She was a year and some odd months old when she passed. Butterscotch wasn't my hamster but my cousins. To be honest, she had absolutely horrible care. She was cared by a little 8 year old who didn't know any better. After all, this 8 year old couldn't read let alone spell. Bought from Petsmart and put in a tiny, 10x12" cage. 5" wheel, hay diet and half an inch of bedding but a mother who loved her dearly. She ate a lot, probably to try to survive with the 0 nutrition food diet she was on. A very sociable hamster. She was a people hamster. Loved the interaction from anybody. Very smart as well. You could tell her to come and she would. She knew what the treat bag sounded like and surprisingly, never chewed the bars. Although she would climb them to get to the second level, that was probably the best option for her, as the tunnels were too small for her chubby body. Never really used her wheel, probably from the discomfort. When she did use her wheel, she was as noisy as possible. She would always put food on it and those chunks of hay weren't exactly small, either. Later in her life, her cage was upgraded, but it wasn't really an upgrade. Taller, but not bigger that I'm aware of. This cage was so cool to my cousin and I. It looked like a mansion to the un-trained eye, I guess you could say. A few days after the move, Butterscotch died. My grandmother, Butterscotch's main caretaker, said that the cage must have been bad but even I, a tiny child knew that wasn't the case. In my mind that cage was bugger so how would it be bad? I assumed that she was stressed from the move and I stand by that to this day. Between the move and the already small enclosures, it all got to her and she passed away. My younger cousin, Butterscotch's mom, was the first to hear. My grandmother later told me and I was shocked. I was upset but, what was I supposed to do? My cousin cried for a good 20 minutes before she was talking about getting a new hamster. Typical 8 year old. I started doing my research shortly after and taught my cousin about proper hamster care. Although her care isn't 100%, she's saving up her money to make it the best possible. It's over the American limit and it's about 566 square inches of floor space. Cinnabun isn't showing any signs of stress. She has a proper sized wheel, enough bedding to burrow, lots of hides and accessories and gets handled daily as she CRAVES human interaction.
Moral of the story, people make mistakes but with slight research and a little pass-me-down stuff from me, we learnt proper hamster care and how to let a hamster thrive. Although I know my cousin feels extremely guilty bout Butterscotch's life, we were able to learn a lot from her. We all love you Butterscotch, we really do. <33
Edited by Finn ♥, 03 June 2022 - 10:55 PM.
