Goodnight Melon

Last night on April 23rd, 2012, I found my baby in a corner of her cage. She was not breathing. Melon has passed away at the age of 2 1/2 years. She was a beautiful hamster and a perfect companion. Our time together was amazing and I couldn't have asked for anything else.

I have not posted here in so long. I was actually planning a post this week but evidently did not get to it. This was mostly due to the drastic changes my health kept going through. I was not in a good state and still am not but I'm getting there. I couldn't take care of Melon like I used to and my brother had to do most of the cleaning and feeding. I suspect it was my lack of involvement that caused this. I really am sorry to Melon and to everyone. I am doing my best to get better. Though Melon's recent departure has caused some significant drops in my state, it's to be expected. 

She will be missed and I will always remember her.

I love you Melon.

One Direction For Us~

Hey everyone! How's the year been treating ya? Melon has been getting better (she had a bit of hair loss going on). Her bum is nice and furry again. She's sleeping now. These days I've been feeling very 'mushy' as my SW calls it. Everytime I look Melon I can't help but thank my Lord that I have her, even if only for 3 little years.

Such a cutie~

You know, Melon doesn't yawn that much. I've only seen her do so about 4 times in all the time I've had her. I thought she was going to yawn so I took a picture but by the time my iPad ended it's show-off-ish thingy it does when it takes a picture the yawn was over -.-

So all I got was her starting the yawn~

Oh well.

Recently she stayed in my hand for quite a bit and I must say I was VERY happy. Also, in regard to the title of this post, I've been obsessed with One Direction. I live in New York so I didn't see X Factor UK but my cousins, who DO live there, were so crazy about them I had to go on Youtube and check them out. Now I'm in love XD

The reason I bring this up is because Melon seems to (at least) enjoy their music. In total honesty, she never really comes out during the day let alone when I have music playing. But everytime I play any of their songs she's always either munching on a sunflower seed or just staring out into space. Maybe she's daydreaming about them? LOL, I don't know but I find that pretty interesting. Also, I love their name (One Direction) and I think it's very inspirational. Especially since I'm studying Japanese and when you're learning something like a language because YOU want to you need plenty of enthusiasm. 

And so, the direction Melon and I are headed... Well, I like to call it JOY but that's a bit too mushy and cheesy for a 14 year old. All I know is we're heading Forward.

Have a nice day everyone, I hope you didn't mind my weird little 'rant?' there.

~

Happy New Year!!

Hey everyone! Happy New Years!!! I hope you had an awesome holiday season. Though I love the holidays I'm so glad 2011 is finally over! This year was just... Not the best, to say the least. I never liked the number eleven anyways-it's my bad luck number. And like my Godmother said on New Year's Eve, 'God may have taken what we loved most last year, but we still have each-other and things can only get better'. So, as she said, 2012 has started out so well! Melon is nice and healthy, I'm getting better as well, and everything's just been good.

I'm planning on going to Petco soon to get Melon's late presents. I need to get her birthday, Christmas, and New Year's presents. Also, a "I'm sorry I'm late" gift. I know it seems like a lot but that's what we always do in my family. If we're late for something we give a sorry present as well. I enjoy it because I'm a very girly person when it comes to shopping; no matter who it's for, I LOVE shopping. So I'm really excited, plus, it gives me an excuse to get all these new things for Melon :)

The Gifts;

Carefresh bedding (the aspen is irritating her)

Yogurt Drops

Krunch-A-Rounds (She loves them)

Super Pet Puzzle Playground

Petco 2-Story Hamster House

Super Pet Crittertrail Discovery Deluxe Habitat

So yeah, this is the list. Thanks for reading~

A tad low Christmas

It's been a while! I'm sorry I haven't been posting since the last time. I've really just been so down lately. Melon is well though she is a bit mellow these days. I've been a bit concerned about her because I see that she's been hunching over when she walks and her legs look so bare-ish. She also has a little patch on her back that lost fur. I don't know what to do, really. Maybe it's because of aging? She's two years old now so that might be it. Either way, if I can't find a concrete reason for this I'll take her to the vet. So many things have been happening lately that I really just feel so overwhelmed.

After my grandmother passed I haven't really been too motivated to do anything. School was going fine I guess, but I didn't really know how to cope at home. I started slacking for a bit and even forgot to clean Melon's cage one week! I felt so bad that I started cleaning it straight away the other day. That's when I noticed the patch of skin on her back. She seems a bit down but she still runs a lot and eats and drinks.

On top of that, I got a toe injury and had to go to my hospital for treatment. They said it was to infected to do anything that day so they prescribed some antibiotics and gave me some stuff to keep it clean. Now, I was supposed to go today for the operation but I had to reschedule. If I had gone today then tomorrow I'd be in bed until it healed and that would mean missing a lot of things that have been already planned. Already, the doctors prohibited any gym or physical practices for two weeks. And so, I'll have to get the operation on Monday. I've been having some trouble cleaning Melon's cage because of my toe and it's really worrying me what I'll do after I come out of the hospital. Will I have to get someone to take care of her? This really sucks...

Anyways, with Christmas literally around the corner, I feel a bit disappointed. There's not going to be a white Christmas again this year, I haven't been able to get Melon her present yet, and everything is so gloomy! Oh well, let's make the best of it I guess. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

Drive safely and careful with that eggnog!

Another video! Compilation of pics of Melon~

Hey people, I know I posted a video yesterday of Melon on YouTube (and here too) but I can't get enough of Sony Vegas! I love it, I can do SO many things! So as I was checking out all the effects and transitions and stuff I somehow ended up making a short compilation of (most) of the pictures I have of Melon.

I had actually been cleaning out and sorting my pictures and I found that I had a LOT of pics of her stacked up. I decided to add all the good ones to my project to have some material to use. I then got the idea to make it sort of like an intro or opening sequence for all of Melon's future videos and this is what I ended up with 

~Enjoy~

Hello! ~We've got a video on youtube! Finally :)

Hello, everyone. It sure has been a while. So sorry about that. Quite a bit has happened since my last post and, unfortunately, not all those things are good. First, I'll start off with a Happy Thanksgiving! I know in the UK it is not celebrated but here in the US it's a big big big thing! I know it's late because Woah~ It's December 1st! But anyway, here's what's been going on.

My birthday came and went quickly (November 20th) and sadly I was sick so all I did was sleep >.> Melon's birthday was supposed to be celebrated the 26th as usual but a whole lot of things happened in that week that really turned our world upside down. 

On November 24th we (my family and I) all went to my Godmother's house as usual for Thanksgiving. Our family is outrageously large so we started cooking right away (two turkeys and two chickens as well). While decorating cupcakes we received a call. My sister had called to inform us my grandmother was sick. She's been sick for a while now with cancer and, by the looks of it, she only had hours left. Our family is strong, especially in numbers but this was just the fall of our world. 

On November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving, at approximately 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time my grandmother, and our Sun, Modesta Peña passed away. 

Melon's birthday was not celebrated. No one's tears were unseen. And our life was just... practically over...

For the first few days I couldn't do anything but sob. I screamed at night. I banged my head against the wall, hoping to wake up from this nightmare. I didn't go to school for a few days, and when I finally got up and headed out to class I ended up crying into the nurse's arms for who knows how long. 

It really is an awful thing. I still can't go a day without sobbing hysterically.

And so I decided~I'll savor every moment of my life with my loved ones. I'll take pictures, videos, I'll thank them as if it was Thanksgiving everyday, I'll APPRECIATE my family before they go as well...

And I really didn't want to rant but I really felt it was important. And so after all this happened I decided to make a video, at least one, of Melon~The teeny little furball that helped me through this. I'm definetly not healed yet, I don't think any of us are, but I know I'm getting better. And I know that my Grandmother would want me to keep going, to live on. And so I will. With Melon, and with any other hammie that falls into my grasp.

 Thank you for reading~Please, love and appreciate what you have before it's too late. My grandmother had more love from all of us than I can even comprehend and I know she is at peace.

Now here's your video :)

Melon Was Lost! *Happy Halloween*

Hey people, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy and all but also I just didn't have a lot to say. Other than all the crap I had going on with school I didn't have much going on with Melon. I was sort of itching to update because of certain things that happened in my regular *human* interaction filled life but then that would turn this blog about me and not Melon. And we don't want the crazy mummy to take Melon's spotlight now do we?

So, on with today's post (I almost said "lesson" instead of  "post" 'cause that's what my teacher always says o.o), on Friday we (cousins an I) went to my cousin's house for a party they were having. All that was fun especially since we went to the Bayville Scream Park and had an awesome night. Anyway, back to the point, I had Melon with me because I was staying the weekend and I don't trust my cat alone with her. So today, when I get back to the house to grab my stuff to go home I notice someone had stupidly let one of their blanket's corner fall into melon's cage which I had *stupidly* forgotten to put the lid on. I, being the completely paranoid person I am, immediately ran over and checked to make sure she was in there and hadn't climbed out. 

Igloo: Empty

Tube: Empty

Under the bedding: Zilch

Inside toilet roll tube: EMPTY

Melon Was Nowhere To Be Seen.

The park was scary enough and I had even discovered my scream is actually VERY high-pitched but THIS. This was definetly the most frightening scenario I was going to experience this October. I swear, I broke down sobbing, I couldn't stop. I thought for sure she was suffocating under the bed or ate some weird plastic or chewed through a wire or dug through the wall or went out of the room. If she had left the room I don't think I would've been able to Ever find her. 

After I calmed down enough to think straight I started looking. I checked the pillow cases, under the rug, the covers, the drawers, my shoes, the closet, the air vents, EVERYTHING. I couldn't find her anywhere. I started to pray like crazy, begging God that at least let me know she wasn't in any pain, expecting the worst. 

Then, in the silence, I heard the sound of little paws frantically trying to dig. I swear I almost jumped through the roof! I was so desperate to find her that I almost didn't realize that the sound was coming from right next to me.

Melon was trying to dig her way through the plastic of her cage to get in! When I saw her I just started sobbing again, scooped her up, and put her in her cage. I still feel so stupid for being so careless as to forget to cover the top. I tell you, the only time I've ever been this scared (for a pet) was when my previous hamster Nunnalie was dieing. 

And now in front (?) of all of you (or just me) I promise that I will NEVER be so careless as long as I live. 

It's amazing how Melon is such a handful even when she's smaller than half my hand!

An old pic I found of Melon. isn't she cute!

Thanks for reading, and please, don't lose your hammies ;)

Breaking News!--Finally a video on youtube? & Melon's Royalty?!

Hey everyone, greetings from melon and I! We're home and I'm so happy we're back. As I was laying in bed the other day (I caught a summer cold) I thought about something interesting (at least to me it is). To me, Melon is the Queen of my life (though of course its just playing because Her Highness is the real queen [UK]) so I thought of making a sort of little monarchy of hamsters. I know, it's weird but I tend to come up with the weirdest ideas while I'm bored. My thought process went like this: "Melon is the Queen! her children would be Princess's and Prince's..So when I get the Teddy Bear hamster she would sort of be a princess.. and when Melon moves out she would become Queen.."and yada yada yada..

And therefore now I'm on the verge of making a whole ordeal with this. Then, I thought of the fact that even though I've had a youtube account for years I've never put a video up! Well, there was one of my previous hamster, Nunnalie, but that doesn't count since that was years ago and she's no longer with us. So I started thinking of ideas and I figured, Well, I might aswell do a video now before I become lazy again and then I'm not in the mood. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't take advantage of the time she's awake during the day/evening but then again I see a bunch of videos of hamsters on youtube and they seem fine. I guess you can expect a video in the next month or so.

I also thought of making her a castle and a crown, maybe even a throne! Lol, I think I might go overboard but I'm probably going to end up just making a cardboard castle to put in her playpen. Plus, even if I made her a crown she's so hyper she probably wont wear it and will just end up leaving it on the floor or chew it up! I feel like I'm ranting but I wanted to post something and since this just happened I decided to put it up. I was debating whether or not to post this because its so short but then I decided I'll just add some pictures and be done with it.

 "Yuh have cheese?"

I love her expression here. ;)

Melon travels the world! And urgent warning!

I'm so sorry! I don't really know if anyone actually reads these but I'm still sorry. I've been so lazy! I'm not going to say I've been busy because, trust me, THAT is something I've definitely not been. Melon and I are traveling together for the first time and it's amazing! You won't believe the things we've been through in just this month. If you'd like to know what's been going on please read on.
So Melon and I have had such a journey! First, we had to drive for a while so I didn't get her a carrier. The main reason for that was because we've never travelled anywhere so I didn't want her to be stressed especially in a tiny carrier with no wheel, no water, no food bowl. Melon was initially going to sleep in my room, as I've always had her next to me on the end table in my own room back home, but the room got So hot at night I was only getting three hours of sleep. Just a side note: I'm very overprotective and paranoid when it come to Melon so when I felt how hot it got at night I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking "is it too hot?, is the water warm?, is the wheel too much exercise? is she ok?"...and so on.
So what I did is that I had to put her cage in the second living room (it's like a more formal dining area and lounge but we only use it for formal reunions) so that I could calm down. I would have liked her to stay with me but she was much better there. Plus, to prove my point even more, when I would check on her at night she was fine but when I checked on her when she was in the room she was spread out flat and almost always drinking water.
Everything was going perfect until the housekeeper got there. Let me tell you a bit of the situation we have. She has taken the role of the boss. By that I mean that after a few months of her working here she started ordering US around and refusing to clean after children and visitors. She gets into huge fights with my cousins and she hates our pets.
One day I was going to clean Melon's cage and as I was walking to the cage I notice half of it is dissassembled! I was already into a state of panic thinking "did she get out? Did the dog attack the cage?" and so on. Melon was fine, she was sleeping in the igloo. But as I examined the scene future I noticed the following:
1) the part of the cage that was not where it was supposed to be was so misplaced that it would have been impossible for just someone bumping into it to cause it. It was done purposely.
2) there was a hill of SALT on her wheel! I say a hill because it was a little hill like when you pour it directly from the container (not spreading it, just in one spot). I know you're not supposed to 'taste unknown substances' (words from my sixth grade science teacher) but I was in a state of panic! I would give my life for this hamster!
I immediately took her out and into her ball so I could clean the cage. As I took the cage outside(after disassembling it) I passed the housekeeper and she asked "what is that?" and I said "my hamster's cage" and she suddenly looked surprised and said "that's Yours?"(emphasis on the "yours") and then I knew, she had something to do with it. I asked around the house and it was just obvious who the culprit was. To sum up what happened next- we got her to confess (everyone breaks under pressure >:]) and she's getting fired. We haven't done it yet because she needs to get another job, if it were up to me I would have called the ASPCA and fired her on the spot!
**Please install cameras and be careful and Never trust your nannies or housekeepers!!!**
The next days after the incident I was on my toes, constantly checking to make sure she was ok and bursting into tears more that once when I concluded she was fine. Melon is perfectly healthy now and she's still travelling with her mommy. :)
I've taken some pictures of her today but they're a bit blurry because I had to use the iPad camera due to my digital camera being out of battery and my own laziness to charge it. I uploaded them to flickr so if you want to see them just click the link below.
http://www.flickr.com/people/bacio_criceto/
Thanks for reading my rant, and bye from Melon and her crazy owner.:)

I'm Back! W/Melon

Hey Everyone, I'm sorry for not posting anything in such a long time. Things have been pretty hectic with Finals and stuff so I didn't really have time. Now that I'm on Summer vacation (finally!) I'll try to get more posts in my blog. So what have I been doing? Well, Me not that much but Melon has had several new improvements. 

I don't know if I've ever talked about this in my posts but I have had two hamster cages lying around for a while. One of them is my Pink Crittertrail cage which had some problems since the beginning. The wheel had to go and the bars were a bit bent from the packaging but it was fine. Eventually it was just aggravating to have it because of the wheel and other issues that came up. I was going to just buy a new wheel but them I saw the S.A.M cage (the second cage that's lying around) and I thought might as well buy it. So after a while of having Melon in her S.A.M cage the wheel started to squeak and it was WAY too loud. I had to temporarily put her in a 10 gal. fish tank but to do this I needed a wheel. I had to buy a wire wheel (these are awful! do not try them!) because the store did not have other wheels so I had to order it online. So then Flying Saucer wheel was finally here. 

Since I'll be staying at my godmother's house I need to take Melon with me. The tank is way to heavy plus it's harder to clean. Since I had two cages just waiting to be used I decided to improvise. (Plus this was a chance to get Melon into a new cage). So my brother and I fixed the bars on the pink cage and took out the wheel. The water bottle was just thrown out as it wasn't a good one at all. We took out the plastic food bowl and attached Melon's PETCO water bottle onto the outside of the bars. For the opening that the water bottle was supposed to be in we took the long tube with the top compartment from the S.A.M cage and attached it there. The wheel was long gone so we just put the flying saucer wheel and her food bowl inside. Now she has  her pink cage (safe this time!) with more space than before and more toys plus a better wheel and bottle. Plus her food bowl is a ceramic bowl from PETCO which is perfect so she doesn't tip it over or chew on it.

I think it's a lot better than her past homes because it gives her more hideaways and space. Plus it's a lot lighter and easier to clean. So that's what's been going on lately. I haven't taken any pictures of her lately which I should start now. And with that being said, I'll bid you farewell.

Bye :)

New Pictures! & Mini Update

Hey Everyone, before I get into the pics I took today I need to sort of update on something. I know I said in my last post that I was going to get my Teddy Bear Hamster after summer vacation but things have sort of changed. I'll try to make it as simple as possible because, honestly, I tend to make things a bit more complicated in my head. 

So-The thing is that when I got home from school yesterday my mother told me that I would be staying in NY for the month my she goes to the Caribbean. Originally I was going to go for half of the summer with her but now we'll just cancel my flight and I'll stay here in NY. I really wanted to go but then again, I go every summer. So now I can adopt the Teddy Bear Hamster now instead of in the middle of summer vacation. I'm not sure when I'll adopt her but you can expect a post on a Teddy soon.

Now For the pictures! I really like the ones I took today. Here they are:

BTW:These are unedited so they might not be the best.

 She was in her tube eating her stash.

Bye Everyone!

Melon, My Hamster & Related

Hello everyone, I decided to start a blogger mainly because of one of my favorite Youtube channels, RoboHamsterify. Honestly, I am much better at writing than making vlogs so I don't have any videos on my Youtube channel at the time. I do write a lot on my free time so I thought, "Why not just make a blog?" I guess I just never really got to making the actual thing.

Well, anyways, this blog is pretty much my intro and at the same time telling you about my Roborovski (Robo) hamster, Melon. I know, it's a weird name but I like it. She is one year, six months, and sixteen days old at the moment. She is actually my third (second?) hamster that I've ever had. The first hamster I met was a hamster (shorthaired I believe) that I found outside my church on a rainy day when I was five. We took it home because no one else could. I didn't know what it was at that time but we kept it in a cat carrier because my cat would kill it if we left it somewhere else. My mother eventually gave it to the pet store. My REAL first hamster as a pet was a shorthaired hamster named Nunnalie. She wasn't tame at all and since I was only eleven, I didn't really think of taming her. She bit me a few times but I loved her. She died at about two years old. I don't know what she had but it was a quick death. 

My present day hamster, Melon, is a gentle little one. She is really active at night (of course) but she is actually really calm compared to other Robos. I've had her for almost a year now. I adopt all my hamsters at PETCO. About seven months after I lost Nunnalie I decided I was ready for another furry companion and I went to PETCO and as I was trying to decide my mother said "Look how small!" or something along those lines. Let me tell you, the way I choose pets is a bit weird. I first examine all of them to make sure they have no health issues. Then, to put it in a simple way, I pretty much look for "Love at first sight". I saw the smallest little hamster and I literally got a sudden urge to just hold it. To be perfectly honest, at first I only got her to bug my mother who thought a Robo was too small and could easily get hurt but not even a month after I had her I couldn't even think of replacing her.

I've taken some time off to tame her but with school I don't really have the energy. Though she's really accustomed to me by now. She let's me give her food and treats and she even lets me pet her.

A few days ago I went to PETCO to buy the usual bedding and food refill when I saw the most beautiful Teddy Bear Hamster I've ever seen. I spent about an hour just contemplating whether I should get her and calculating how much it would come out (the total $). There's a really long explanation to exactly what my thoughts and mental math was so I'll just sum it up as much as I can;

I found a HUMONGOUS package of Aspen bedding (plus it was the new Planet PETCO) and a package of food twice the size of the usual one I buy. The bedding package had to be at least ten times the regular size with the price of two of the smaller ones! I added the cost of a wheel (I had three extras but they are too small) and the cost of a new (and bigger) igloo sleeper and found that even though this one trip would cost a bit more than my monthly trip the trips from then on would cost less than the next trips. I know it's a bit confusing but the end result is if I adopt her (the Teddy Bear Hamster) then I would need to buy bigger  amounts of food and bedding but the bigger packages end up costing less so by buying her I would also save money. The money isn't really a problem but it helps when convincing your parents.

My brother already said he would buy her for me so I just have to wait until I come back from my summer vacation. I really want to get her now but since my pets are staying with him (my brother) I don't want to give him more responsibilities, especially since Teddy Bear Hamsters need frequent grooming. Oh well, I'll adopt her in time, probably not the same one I saw that day but a lovely one nonetheless.

Bye Everyone!