Jasmine's Story
This year, we are sharing the story of each of our 2024 charity calendar stars each month so you can learn more about the hamster behind each photo. Jasmine is our featured hamster for the month of March. Jasmine, an adorable Chinese dwarf hamster, was the first (and so far the only) Chinese hamster rescued by Hamster Info Ireland.
In August 2023 we received a message from someone who was moving house and was unable to take their hamster with them. They heard about Hamster Info Ireland through a friend and reached out to us for help. We were quite surprised to see it was a Chinese hamster that was to be surrendered to us, so we made arrangements to collect her.
On collection it was clear the owner had received the usual pet shop advice that we see time and time again. A so called “large” barred enclosure with three floors, unsuitable food, bedding and accessories too. The owner tried their best but just fell into the usual pet shop pitfalls.
Our charity trustee Steph had always wanted to own a Chinese hamster. Although she didn’t collect the hamster with a view to adopting it, the other trustees knew she would not be able to part with the new arrival. (Steph has a record of keeping every hamster she fosters!!) Funnily enough, Jasmine’s previous name was the same as Steph’s other hamster, so to avoid any confusion she was renamed Jasmine.
Jasmine spent 2 weeks in a quarantine enclosure as a precaution for new intakes, and was then moved into a larger enclosure. Jasmine seemed very happy in her new home. She created very impressive tunnel systems throughout her entire enclosure, and it was very entertaining to watch her racing through her underground system, popping from one place to the next as if by magic. Despite being very fast and agile, she had a gentle nature.
Two months after being adopted Jasmine was transferred back to a temporary cage due to a grain mite outbreak. A few nights later she was discovered in her forever sleep. There were no previous signs of any illness or injury, and she had been acting normally, so her passing came as a huge shock. We don’t know exactly how old she was when she was rescued, or if she may have suffered from a genetic issue or an unseen internal problem. The stress of switching enclosures may have had an impact too as Chinese hamsters are known to be very sensitive, however this was unfortunately unavoidable and unforeseen. Despite only having a short time with us we know Jasmine at least knew happiness in her life. Fly high little one. If you’d like to support our rescue work you can purchase a calendar or make a donation here.
Next month, learn about Eros, from our Valentine litter.
