New Addition

Megan came home from school last week asking if she could get a pet snake. Apparently a boy in her class brought his pet snake to school to show to her class. Neither Seth nor I are big fans of pets, especially snakes. That was an easy “no.” Later in the day she asked if she could get a hamster instead. Initially I said I didn’t think so. Seth said absolutely not. Like I said, we are not pet people. I will admit that I do feel a little bad that my kids haven’t really had the opportunity to take care of any animals just because Seth and I don’t care for them. So the next day…

We started checking the ads on KSL. I figured there were several parents in the same boat who bought hamsters only to turn around and sell them a few months later. We found many, many ads actually, but one in particular sparked Megan’s interest. There was a little black and white dwarf hamster named Speckles. The ad said he never bites and it came with the cage, food, and a bag of wood shavings for his cage all for $20. After a few phone calls and reassurances that he doesn’t bite and won’t stink too much, we gave in and let her get it. We ended up talking the lady down to $15 which I felt was a fair price.

Seth grumbled the whole time and kept saying that I give in too easily. I am not denying that I do, but so far I don’t regret it. Megan has taken on the responsibility and is doing great. She cleans the cage one to two times a week and makes sure he has enough food and water. She holds him a few times a day and checks on him regularly. Speckles seems to be doing really well with the adjustment to his new family. He gets plenty of attention from our six curious kiddos. I am not sure how long before the excitement wears off, but for now we’ll enjoy our newest addition to our home. If, at some point, we feel it isn’t working out I won’t feel too bad selling him to another eager family.

Megan getting Speckles out of his cage.

Katelyn and Claire playing with Speckles