Hamster Care

The other night, the Dad of No and I were standing in the kitchen having parent chat, and the Son of Never Stops Eating walked in the kitchen with his hamster in one hand and his toothbrush in the other.  He then proceeded to begin brushing the hamster with his toothbrush.

Yes, let me repeat that last sentence: my son was grooming a domesticated rodent.  With his toothbrush.

At this point in this narrative, people who don't have kids are going "Ewwww!". People who do have kids are absolutely cracking up, unless you are a germaphobe first time parent of a 3 month old and you still sterilize pacifiers. Don't fret, your time will come.  Yes, go ahead, you know you want to laugh.

What are you doing?  I asked him.  I'm grooming my hamster, he replies. I read about it in a book.  My first thought was hallelujah! he was reading a book! Voluntarily! My second thought is, I suppose it's time for new toothbrushes.   And then later, I thought, who grooms a hamster?  Part of the appeal of owning a pet hamster is that they are supposed to groom themselves.  You don't have to bathe them or brush them.  Except for the fact that they can easily escape and chew drywall or furniture and they run around in their wheels all night long making noise, they're supposed to be low-maintenance pets.

I was curious, so I checked online.  Apparently, yes, people DO groom their hamsters with toothbrushes, although hopefully not the same toothbrushes they use to brush their teeth.   We are on hamster #4 and I honestly had no idea that grooming a hamster with a toothbrush is something that people did.  I also found other sites that said no, hamsters don't need to be groomed, they can take care of that themselves. I was relieved to have that verified; I'd hate to think that I'd been a bad hamster owner.

Fortunately we have a stash of new, clean, un-hamstered toothbrushes, so the kids were provided with new toothbrushes and it was clarified that if the hamster needed grooming it should be done with an old toothbrush. 

Meanwhile, I am still internally laughing.  These are the parenting moments I live for.  Part of the fun and joy of parenting is acquiring a collection of family stories which become the tales that you tell on road trips, or that you save for the graduation party or the wedding toast, or that you might even tell the grandchildren one day when they want to know what their mom or dad was like as a kid.  I know this story is going in the family anthology.  I can already hear myself telling it again sometime in the future. I remember when your father (or your uncle) groomed a hamster with his toothbrush.

True story.