Saturday, December 03, 2005
Late-night snacking...
Can't sleep...I think I had too much caffeine or something. Plus the steroid medication, probably. And I'm soooooo exhausted! But can't sleep.So I made myself, and Tink (since she was up), a delicious turkey, avocado, and brie sandwich! Tink's is minus the bread, of course--she's an Atkins girl....
Maybe a full stomach will make me sleepy. And turkey is supposed to be sleep-inducing, right? If only I had some warm milk. Alas...
Tink appears to be settling in to her new arrangements just fine. She started sleeping up against the glass again, so maybe it's not too cold in here? While laying in bed, wide awake, I had all these ideas for how to rearrange/improve her living space.I was thinking it would be cool if I had a bowl made of a rock...then I could put her potty litter in there, and empty it easily, but it would be more natural-like, instead of the current Gladware container I'm using. I guess it wouldn't be as sanitary as plastic...but...but...it might help wear her little nails down to be climbing around a more natural habitat.
And I was thinking about how the Dwarf Hamster book--I think?--says how it's a nice habit to bring little things home from the outside world, to put in your hamster's cage. Like leaves, and rocks, and sticks and stuff. I think the author was saying that since you can't take your hamster to the outside world, you should take the world to your hamster. Sort of. And then in the Jane Habitat Pages the guy(?) shows how he puts rocks into his hamster's cage...and a little tile that he can cool in the refridgerator for hot days (does it get that hot in Sweden????), and a sand box for recreational digging. It all looked so luxurious and interesting.
So I started thinking. The "habitat" stuff at Petco is sooo expensive. I guess it's all sanitary and aesthetically pleasing, and all, but I have a problem with PAYING for rocks and bits of wood. Hmmm. Maybe I could go to the desert to get some cool, light-weight rocks...or to the beach for driftwood, maybe....oooh, maybe petrified wood....
But what's this about bringing the world to Tink? If we didn't keep hamsters as pets, they would have the whole world to roam! I have this terrible guilt complex about it. I know she's just as likely to get eaten by an owl as have a full and productive free life, but I can't help wondering sometimes if it's bad that humans are keeping these little guys as pets? Dogs and cats have historically chosen to live with humans. But these little guys would probably prefer living without us. After all, they're mostly solitary and not particularly social even amongst themselves. And nocturnal. Natural hermits, I suppose. And they love love love to run...for miles. So being cooped up in a cage, with day-living creatures, who surround them with brightly-colored plastic things....is that a good life? Maybe better than being eaten, true...but what about compared to the excitement and drama of everyday existence in the wild?
Of course, once they're born into captivity, I suppose they don't have much of a choice anyway. If I hadn't gotten Tink, someone else would have. I don't know what to think...
It seems like they are just wired to hustle around and do their day-to-day things, and maybe it makes no difference to them where or when or how they do them. They don't seem to have emotions like we have...except for maybe irritation. Though...take that back...I think I read somewhere how scientists were doing studies on hamsters for depression...because when you separate two mates (I think it was the Campbell's species), they found the male would get very "depressed". As in sluggish, and apathetic, and no appetite. But maybe that doesn't mean that they have emotions....is depression just a state, then, and not an emotion? Hmm.
Sigh. I wish I could sleep....
