I got my first hamsters a little over a month after moving into my new apartment at the end of January 2003. We no longer have any hamsters, but here are the stories of all our babies.

Baby Girl - adopted by Charles Born to Rasputina on February 10, 2004. Baby Girl has been a rough one to coax into liking people, but now she's friendly most of the time. Girls in general just seem to take longer to come around than the boys. Like her brothers, she is black with white on her underside. Named because it's what we kept calling her, and it stuck. Adopted on September 11, 2004. I think she's going to have lots of fun in her new home.

Chen - deceased Chen is very outgoing, active, and friendly. He likes being handled, and has a lot of personality. He tends to be more interested in exploring your hand than taking treats when you get him out. His environment stimulates him more than food, apparently. Chen was born February 10, 2004 to Rasputina. He is a black hamster with white patches on his chest and belly. Named after Iron Chef Chinese. We found him dead in his cage on March 19, 2005. A year wasn't nearly enough.

Chiana - deceased One of the first two hamsters that I got. Chiana is active, playful, and much less crazy than she used to be. Though Chiana can still be a little spaz when she wants to be, she's usually sweet and loving now, and she's just fine with being handled. She is cinnamon with a broad white stripe. Named in honor of the Farscape character of the same name because of her high-strung nature. Chiana's kidneys failed, and we had her put to sleep on March 1, 2005. Every day I miss her standing at the cage begging for someone to take her out and play.

Curt - deceased Curt was born on May 16, 2005 to Hedwig. His daddy is Max, but he looks just like Hedwig. He has not yet developed as pleasant a temperment, however, and remains a bit skittish. He is named after Curt Wild from Velvet Goldmine.

Edward "Ed" - deceased Ed is our baby. She is a cream Syrian with black eyes and is amazingly well-behaved. She is very affectionate and completely comfortable with human contact. Plus she's adorable. And she's one of the first two hamsters I ever got. Named after Ed from Cowboy Bebop. On December 1, 2004, Ed got sick. By December 3, it was really bad. We took her to the vet who agreed that she was just in a lot of pain and wasn't going to get better. We had her put to sleep. We already miss our little baby.

Gollum - deceased I only had Gollum for two weeks before she died from wet tail. She was sweet, well-behaved, affectionate, and I wish we'd had more time together. She was a pure black Syrian, known as a "black bear". Named after Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Hedwig - deceased Hedwig was born on April 20, 2004 to Kishi. She looks almost cream-colored in the picture, but she's a beautiful white baby. She's already getting pretty good about being handled, and she's really precious. Named for Harry Potter's owl, though Hedwig and the Angry Inch rocks too. On May 16, 2005, Hedwig gave birth to a litter of six beautiful babies: five girls and a boy. One of the girls died on July 13, 2005. Hedwig passed away on March 22, 2006.

Kishi - deceased The second of the girl's that Rasputina had on February 10, 2004. She's pretty well-behaved though is sometimes a little skittish. She's black with white no her underbelly. Named after Asako Kishi, a food critic and frequent taster on Iron Chef. She has a hole in her left ear for no reason we can determine, and it makes her look like she has a pierced ear with no earring. She had a little of babies on April 20, 2004 and handled them beautifully despite her young age at the time. She died on January 20, 2006 of unknown causes.

Kobe - adopted by Tasha Kobe is sweet and quiet, the runt of his litter. He was born on February 10, 2004 to Rasputina. He's happy and healthy and good with human contact. He is black with a white chest and belly. Named after Iron Chef Italian. Adopted on July 16, 2004. We miss him but know he has found a good home with people who love him.

Mandy - deceased Mandy was also born on May 16, 2005 to Hedwig. Her father is Max, and she looks very much like him. Our dog Otis loves to watch her playing since she is the hamster closest to the floor and, thus, easiest for him to see. They spend a lot of time staring at each other. She is named after Mandy Slade in Velvet Goldmine.

Max - deceased We wanted to make more space and cut down the number of hamsters we owned, possibly get some dwarfs, but I saw Max in Petland and had to buy him. He is white with gray-ticked fur and a satin coat. He is still getting used to being handled, but he is really gorgeous. We purchased him in early or mid October 2004. Max became a daddy on May 16, 2005 when Hedwig gave birth to her litter. He died on February 7th, 2006.

Pip - deceased Pip is cinnamon with a large white stripe. I bought her the same time as Gollum because myself and my boyfriend thought that Ed and Chiana, who had gotten out of their cages, were lost forever. Naturally we found them about two hours after coming home with the new babies. Pip was a hellion when we first got her (she chewed through her carrier box and got hold of my finger on the way home from Petco), but she's mellowed into a sweetie. Named after Chiana from Farscape and, again, because I thought I'd lost Chiana. On the evening of January 4, I noticed that Pip hadn't gotten up for the night and when I opened the cage to check on her, she was dead. She was a little over two judging by our estimate of her age when we adopted her, so she lived a good life, but we still miss her very much.

Rasputina - deceased Rasputina was a beautiful black bear hamster. She was a bit skittish but had finally begun to respond favorably when we held her. She even looked for attention and got excited when we would hold her and take her out of her cage. Unfortunately she was something of an escape artist and during one attempt broke one of her back legs. The vet recommended putting her to sleep, and we agreed. Named after the band of the same moniker.

Sakai - adopted by Christina Another of Rasputina's babies born on February 10, 2004. Sakai is sweet, friendly, and adorable. He is black with a white underbelly like his brothers and sisters. Named for Iron Chef French. Adopted on September 17, 2004 by Christina, who I know will give her a wonderful home!

Scabbers - adopted by Steven Scabbers was born on April 20, 2004 to Kishi. He is a sable with beautiful gray fur that is lighter around his eyes. He is still a little skittish sometimes but is warming up slowly but surely. When he is playing in the sandbox and we put our hands or feet in, he practically trips over his own feet to get over and check them out. Named after Ron's rat in Harry Potter. He was adopted by Steven on October 29, 2004.

Snape - adopted by James The third of the babies that Kishi had on April 20, 2004. He is black and the runt of the litter. His temperment is pretty good, but he still needs a bit of work just to get used to being handled regularly. Named after Severus Snape from Harry Potter. Adopted by James and his mom on October 17, 2004, and I know he's going to have a great time under his new name of Mister.