one year with chicken

in march of last year, we took this cutie home. at the time, she arrived in her new home with her sister, waffle. they were both such adorable babies, and as you might imagine i was completely obsessed with them. in honor of chicken’s anniversary of being our hamster, and in memory of sweet waffle, i decided to write a little post about them.

i picked chicken and waffle out of all the hamsters at the store because when i put my hand in to meet them they didn’t bite me. this was a great sign so i knew it was meant to be. at the time i knew i wanted a pair of hamsters and so brainstorming the names was tough since my boyfriend vetoed almost all the names i thought of. (cookies & cream, hugs & kisses, peek & boo) we settled on chicken and waffle because it wasn’t too cutesy, and had some humor in it.

they were so shy the day we took them home. they both stayed in the hut for the first two days because they were so nervous about their new surroundings.

as they became more comfortable, they started sneaking around their cage, but of course staying in corners and keeping huddled together. ironically, chicken was the more adventurous one as she was more likely to be seen wandering the cage and waffle liked to stay in the hut and would rarely come out. they were so cute and sweet, and i remember being so obsessed with their little white eyebrows.

we eventually upgraded them to two cages, so that they each had their own space. the expansion made them happy, but it was so difficult to keep clean.

but they were happy nonetheless and so that made me happy. this is my favorite picture of them. i even have it framed in our house.

i played with them almost daily, and tamed them so they would be comfortable being held. eventually they let me hold them both together. it was my favorite part of the day. their small bodies and little paws seem even cuter when compared to your palms.

unfortunately in september, waffle developed an upper respiratory infection and died in just a few days. we took her to the vet but by the time she showed symptoms, it was too late for her. i cried a lot that week. when i brought her home, we said our final goodbyes and buried her under a tree in our yard. i still visit that tree from time to time.

suddenly chicken had all this space to herself. she seemed sad for a bit, as hamsters do mourn the loss of their cage mate, but after a week or so, she was back to normal. the hardest part of mourning was saying “chicken” but not “and waffle.”

after a few weeks, i realized that i shouldn’t be so caught up in losing waffle, and i should make sure i love chicken to the fullest so i wouldn’t have any regrets. i played with her even more often and we got comfortable with each other.

eventually, we upgraded her cage. i spent a lot of time researching diy hamster cages, and when i decided what i wanted for it, we started building. she loves her new set up. sometimes i can’t believe how spoiled she is.

for halloween, i made her a bumblebee outfit. she did not like it one bit, and it took a lot of coaxing to get her into the costume. but in the end, i was able to get a few good pictures of her in it.

now she just enjoys her treats, and lives a simple life of running on her wheel and hoarding her seeds. i’m glad she’s still alive and healthy.

sometimes i can’t believe i’m so lucky to have such a sweet hamster like her. chicken has been a huge blessing and i can’t wait to see what this year has in store for us. happy one year, chicken. ❤

do you have a pet that you love?