The whole family is happy with our new family member. Pelucita, or Pel to her friends, is a super friendly hamster and has completely adapted to her new environment. She lives in Alan’s room and runs laps in her wheel every night. Every day, Alan picks her up and pets her, and often activities are organized for her. Huge mazes, vertical climbing challenges, and puzzles that must be solved for a peanut or a sunflower seed.

Her enclosure is about three times larger than the one she had in the pet store, where she lived with seven siblings. We built the entire setup ourselves, except for the running wheel. It consists of a large plastic bin, a food dish, and a water supply. There are a few tree trunks where she can hide, a wooden house with a slanted roof, and half a coconut with a convenient entrance. The floor is covered with a generous layer of paper for digging, along with a container of dried grass. She also has quite a few toilet paper roll puzzles, where we occasionally hide some food.

Not only is Pel an incredibly sweet housemate, but she is also very photogenic. So, we held a little photo session at home.