I just cant get the staff.

I'm so sorry for the recent lack of postings.

I have been setting up new pairs and working really hard to make sure the hamsters aren't affected by the credit crunch.

My P.A Audacio (pictured here ) hasn't yet come to terms with Windows Vista so we have had a communication black out. Normal blogging should resume very soon.

Thanks for your patience. Lydia

Chiaroscuro...A Tale Of Two Ears....Part 1.

Chiaroscuro and Mistletoe.

This a tragic love story.

Luckily neither the hero or heroine die...but they might have done.

I'm posting this to show all the people who want to keep more than one Winter White together what can happen when it goes wrong.

I have to stress that this, although distressing, was a mild attack.



He absolutely adored her... kisses all around.....all the time..
I paired them on the 5th of December, I hoped that they would be a lovely new Pearl pairing for 2009....and be together for life, as most Winters mate for lifer.
She is a beautiful, almost white Pearl and Chiri has the stunning markings of his father Avalanche.






....they spent two weeks making a wonderful home together,
17 days later....thing would be very different.....






....Chiaroscuro,

....my beautiful boy.
One of the models for my blog.......the last photograph I have of him as he was.






Mistletoe attacked Chiri two weeks and 3 days after they were paired.
She bit his back, abdomen and ripped both his ears, nearly removing his right ear. If I hadn't been at home to hear him screaming she may have killed him or caused him such serious wounds that he would die as a result or have to be put to sleep.

One of my boys, Rubellus, died from bite wounds, it was horrible and very upsetting. I didn't realize he was being attacked because he didn't make a sound when she bit him so,when I found him, it was too late. There was not a single mark on the female.

A very distressing photograph of Chiri as he was recuperating.
Taken three days after the attack when I knew he was going to be OK.
He had to have antibiotics from the vet which I had to administer daily.









Another three days on and the wounds are healing well.

Chiri is a strong and resilient boy.

He is very brave, friendly and also doesn't mind the attention he has to have to administer the medication he needs.









Another 3 days and he is doing really well.

Here, being held by my mum, he is showing what a lovely temperament he has.

You can still see how sore and injured his right ear is.

Chiaroscuro...A Tale Of Two Ears.....Part Two.

Chiaroscuro's ears are mending really well, as you can see in this photograph taken on the 3rd of January.

Mistletoe was pregnant.

This may have been why she attacked him.....his babies were born on the 5th of January, a week and a day after she attacked him.

The babies are gorgeous.
One grey, one sapphire and five pearls. One very dark and one very pale.

Sleeping peacefully.

Mistletoe is a brilliant mum, although she wasn't so kind to Chiri, she has raised the most wonderful seven babies.

All grown up....the magnificent seven are so beautiful.

It's hard sometimes to spot the babies from the bedding, thy're so pale.

They are still only 4 weeks old today.... they're huge for their age.

Chiaroscuro was given a clean bill of health by my amazing vet. His ear is still mending but still really tender. He may well have nerve damage.

Poor Chiri has had a horrible experience but has got through it mostly intact. I have lost hamsters from biting wounds. This is why I won't sell two hamsters together when all someone wants is a pet.

Do you believe it would be worth risking any of this?

Screamers and "Swearers"..Are they Monsters? ..NO.. Not at all!

Look at this little man, he is gorgeous, but he's a Screamer or "Swearer" (as I call them).
His language would make EMINEM blush.... :)

He is beautiful and calm and sweet and would make anyone a fantastic and loving pet.

Winter White Dwarf hamsters can sometimes be very vocal. I have talked about it on my website so I thought it might help people to show what "screaming" or " swearing" looks like.


This is the same little boy with his litter mates, he was quite wary of me looking them but he wasn't worried when I started photographing them.

Then, when I moved some bedding to take better photos he started to Scream or "Swear", you can see his open mouth showing his teeth and see how he raises his hands....

...this time, bearing his teeth again, he is giving his father Hiro a real ear-bending.......

..."Dad I don't like her taking photos of us".

When they scream they raise their front legs and often go up onto their back legs or sometimes they go right over and lie on their backs.

"I hate it"............a typical Swearer, mouth wide open looking very aggressive...but not really and not going to harm anyone. They are as sweet and as kind as the other Winters...but they are just more vocal more and opinionated.............

..."oh no its her again, stop photographing me"...

....."I mean it...leave me alone".....

Just after taking the photos of him swearing I put down the camera, picked him up ant took this photo and the one at the top of this posting. He didn't make a sound when I picked him up and, as you can see, he is a lovely, calm sweet little boy.

I hope to keep this wonderful boy to breed from...his personality is delightful ..his language...well maybe it isn't so sweet.....I love him anyway ...watch this space!

Little Dots New Years detox.

After the excesses of her New Year, Little Dot has decided..........like all the other celebs..........to DETOX.

She starts her rigid regime with a sand bath...............

.....this should remove all the traces of Verve Cliq.......

.....then there is the exercise part of the regime.........

......lifting and chewing of the loo roll inner is incredibly good for the upper arms, abs and teeth ....................

.....then from the exercise its onto the aprez exercise meal .....................................................................

......eat more healthily..........or in Dots case........... EAT MORE!

My New Year starlet.............Micro Mini.

This is the tiny star Micro Mini.

She is the daughter of Hastati and Hiroshige and was born in August and yet she is still so tiny, the photos don't really give an idea of how small she really is.

I didn't let her go with her litter mates because she was so small, so I kept her..... she never grew in stature but she grew enormously in personality.

She is utterly gorgeous and is a most treasured pet....she is also a "Super model" and poses at every opportunity ...so expect to be seeing her again.

I took these photos of her in a carrier whilst I cleaned out her house, she had her loo roll inner to play and hide in.

Some photos of my tiny Pygmy Mice.

This is Lady Efe.

She is the founding mother of my colony of African Pygmy Mice.

Like all mice, these tiny versions are very adventurous and great fun to watch. They are so small its very difficult to describe to someone who hasn't seen one. There are photos of Lady Efe and her daughters in a house on the side of my blog to refer to for size which is TINY WEENY:) My friends mostly comment on their titchy little feet.

Lady Efe was really keen on getting into all the photos.

Like all mice the Pygmy's are very clean and tidy. As they are so small they make very little smell, even a group of boys are almost odorless

Ballista's new years excercises.

Ballista is taking her New Years resolution of more exercises very seriously. She really didn't appreciate me disturbing her!

Many thanks to everybody who has contacted Cheshire Hamsters about hamsters over the festive season and into the new year.

We have been very busy so I'm sorry that the blog hasn't been updated yet. There are lots of lovely new photos of our gorgeous new year arrivals and our fabulous new pairs to be added very soon.

Little Dot celebrates 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR

Little Dot is so grown up now.

She is still petite in stature but is throwing herself into celebrating New Year with her new friends Verve and Moet.....she was too young to introduce her to Stella and Newkie Brown ;)


She is a champagne girl! Verve Cliq is this party girls favourite...

...HAPPY NEW YEAR...Its 2009 :)

...but eventually its time for bed.

Its 2009 lets enjoy it :)

Happy Christmas from Mae and all of us :)

At last......

photos of the illusive and wonderful Maelstrom.

Mae allowed me to take some photos, but being a top model is exhausting!



Maelstrom proves he is the most beautiful boy...but the glitter balls are not really doing his street cred much good.

This is what most of the photos I take of Mae look like.....but without the tinsel. He is the best photo evading hamster ever.

The night before Christmas....

....and Tia D is secretively checking her list.
Dear Santa,
This year Ive been a very good girl, I even put up with my mum putting me in this tinsel and taking loads of photos of me! Here is my Christmas list :-

1. More Millet.
2. More food (especially the Millet)
3. More penuts.
4. More loo roll middles.
5. More sunflower seeds.
6. did I mention the Millet.

Thanks so much Santa,
lots of love,
Tia D x

PS. we don't have a chimney, does that matter.





My stunning girl looked wonderful in the tinsel, she is a natural model.

Pyros Grotto.

Another of my shining stars, darling Pyro, now retired he spends his time enjoying the single life and having a wheel to himself. For once in this photo you can see his gorgeous ruby eyes, the colour of the port I'm looking forward to tucking into on boxing day :)

In his star grotto he looks so sweet but quite unimpressed. He got bored very quickly and ran off.... tinsel just wasnt his thing and I think he heard about the glitter balls!

Blizzard is a star.

With four days to go before Christmas we thought it was time to get festive.

Its time for the tinsel and glitter balls to come out.

Blizzard was so good while I took the photos but, as you can see from his expression, the star on his head did not impress him..... however he heard one of the boys was modelling with glitter balls and decided the star was getting off lightly!

Baby Robs.

Limonene and Apollos babies. Lim (far right) is on the wheel with some of her older babies. She has six teens and six toddlers, her and Apollo are amazing parents.


This teenaged litter of baby robs will be ready to leave home on boxing day. The litter includes both normal and white faced babies.

Hiroshiges watchful eye.

Hiroshige is a loving and protective dad.

Hiro holds his babies close. He and Hastati have another much loved litter.
Under the constant watchful eye of a caring mum and dad the babies are thriving.

Like all the Winter white parents, they both take it in turn to care for their little ones. Here its Hiros turn while Hasti gets a well earned rest.





The watchful eye of Hiro.
.

Sangria and Saint Bernards' great news.

Sangria and Saint Bernard's' first litter are doing really well and are so sweet, Sangria is a brilliant mum and Bernard is a very attentive and loving dad. I'm so proud of them.

They have had six babies, four of which can be seen here snoozing away.


Saint Bernard is very special because he has actually changed colour from a pale Sapphire to the nearly white you can see in this photo.

Ruby and Spots babies. More professional snoozers!..

Sleeping is the favourite pass time of all baby hamsters.

Here five of Ruby and Spots kids laze the day away.....I admit to being very envious sometimes...especially when I have to go to Tescos to do the shopping!


The Black Spot is a brilliant dad, he has wonderful parents. With Phoenix and The Leviathan as his parents he learned really well.

This litter of seven is thriving under the loving attention of their parents.

Bobs still building!

Bob is building again!

He will never stop trying to provide the best home for his family. He is "an artist" and will not stop until he is happy with his work.!

He adores a loo roll middle, especially with one sheet of tissue left on it. His family and a new loo roll are his inspiration!

He has five babies in this time and, as always, he is a diligent and adoring dad.

Car and Bobs babies remain blissfully unaware of all the construction surrounding them and snooze away.

Sweet Dreams :)

Stones very active babies.

Stone has had a litter of fabulous Orange babies, they are all like her and their dad, Fire, having bright red eyes.

Stone and Fire have now separated ( due to irreconcilable differences...she got the house!) but will both be having new partners very soon.


The babies are very active and are already starting to play with Stone on their wheel.

Epona and Avalanches' babies.

Avalanche is a brilliant dad.

I thought that he and Epona had retired so this litter of lovelies was a wonderful surprise.

They have had eight babies, mostly Pearls but also a Sapphire and Grey babies.


Here you can see some of their litter. They are gorgeous kids soon they will have their eyes open all the time, they are already wandering around sometimes. they are really cute.