Hamster My Pet and Me

-I'm Fern.

-And I'm Rory. We love animals.

Some animals make brilliant pets.

We like meeting you and your pets.

That reminds me, I'm off to meet some new friends today.

I'll be back later.

-Would you like to come with me? See you.

-See you.

-Come on!

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Down every street are pets to meet

# Some big, some small, some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

# Some quack, some bark, some purr, some moo

# Some grunt, some squawk, some cock-a-doodle-doo!

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Have you met my pet and me? #

Today, we're in Canvey Island in Essex to meet Maggie and her pet.

I'm so excited. Shall we go see what it is? Come on!

-Hi, you must be Maggie.

-Hi, Fern.

-Hello, and your mum.

-Hello.

I hear you've got someone you'd like me to meet.

-Yes, come inside.

-Brilliant.

Where is your pet?

-Hello! This is Mickey.

-Yes.

-And what is he?

He is a Russian dwarf hamster.

-He's quite small, isn't he?

-Yes. He's nocturnal.

He's nocturnal? What does that mean?

He stays up all night and he goes to sleep in the day.

-Sometimes he wakes up during the day.

-Does he come to say hello?

-Yes.

-He's very cute. Should we get him out for a cuddle?

-Yes.

-OK.

You have to be so gentle with hamsters, don't you? Here he comes.

I love his red eyes. Except one of his eyes is a bit white.

-He needs eye drops.

-Did you get eye drops from the vet?

-Yeah, we went to the vet.

-Good. He'll be better soon, won't he?

-Yes.

-He wants to move.

-He does, he loves moving.

Russian dwarf hamsters are a lot smaller than regular hamsters.

-What are these at the end of his nose?

-They're whiskers.

-Do you know why he needs whiskers?

-So he can touch things.

-That's right.

Hamsters use their whiskers to feel around so they know how close

they are to things. They are very useful, aren't they?

Hamsters are happy to live by themselves,

but it is good to take them out and have a cuddle. Keep them happy.

Rory, can you tell us some more furry facts about our friend here?

Of course, Fern. One - hamsters store their food in their cheeks.

This is called hoarding.

Two -

they have special eyes, which are really big,

to help them see better when it's dark. Three -

in the wild, hamsters live in burrows deep under the ground.

Four -

baby hamsters are called pups.

Pups are born with no fur, and their eyes closed.

Hamsters need lots of looking after, just like most other pets.

-So, what do we have to do to look after Mickey?

-Clean his cage out.

-That sounds good. Shall we do that?

-Yes. First we have to get Mickey.

-Put him in there?

-Yes.

-OK. Come on, Mickey.

Shall we take the cage apart to clean it?

I'll take this off.

It's important to get rid of all the old, smelly sawdust.

Hamsters like a nice, clean cage. I will empty it in here.

-Is that all right?

-Yes.

-Shall I give you these?

-Yes.

-Now, give it a quick spray.

I think we should put the sawdust in here.

It's important to have a good, thick layer of wood chips,

because they love to bury in it.

-Do you ever see him digging around in the sawdust?

-Yes.

Make sure when you find lumps you have to flatten them.

-Otherwise it could be a bit uncomfortable, couldn't it?

-Yeah.

We can put that back on.

-Great job. And then we need sawdust.

-Yes. Very important.

-Shall we take out his little house?

-Yes.

-And empty it.

It's important to leave a little bit of his old bedding,

because it has his smell on it, so it helps him feel more secure.

Let's give his bedroom a quick wipe clean,

and put some new bedding on top of the old.

-I think we should do his bowl next.

-His food bowl?

-Yes.

-OK.

-Is that enough?

-Yes.

Hamsters need a good balanced diet, and this hamster food is perfect,

because it contains all the nutrients they need.

You can also give them some grains, some nuts and some washed fruit

and vegetables. This looks great. What do we do next?

-We fill his water up.

-OK, let's do that.

Shall we put him back?

-He's really enjoying his food, isn't he?

-Yes.

I think he's very happy in his nice clean home.

-It's playtime, hurray! What's this?

-It's his flying saucer.

-Does he love it?

-Yes.

-It's good, because he can get a good run.

And this tube is great.

He can hide in it, but he can also chew it,

so it keeps his teeth nice and healthy. Now, who are we missing?

-We are missing Mickey.

-Yeah! Shall we get him? Come on, Mickey.

Hello. Look!

Mickey has lots of toys in his cage, which is brilliant,

but it's also good for hamsters to get out and get a good run around.

We made this area safe, so it's kind of like a playpen for him.

He's having a good sniff, you can see his whiskers twitching, can't you?

Shall we see if he likes his tube?

Come on. There.

Oh, he loves his tube.

Come on!

I have a little surprise for Mickey.

This is a sand bath. It's perfect.

It's got nice, clean, special sand to help clean his coat,

and he can dig around in it. Come on, Mickey, it's bath-time.

Come on, Mickey, look, look at your bath.

-He's having a good sniff.

-He likes it, I think.

-I've got something new for Mickey.

-Is that it there?

-Yes!

These tubes are amazing. Look, Mickey. Oh, he's so lucky.

-Shall we put it on his cage?

-Yes!

-Done.

-This looks fantastic, doesn't it?

-Look at your new home.

-Shall we put him in and see if he likes it?

-Yes.

-Come on, Mickey.

You're going on an adventure.

He's so fast.

-Brilliant.

-I bet Mickey likes that.

-I think he does.

Wow. What a fantastic tea party. Lovely. Who is our waitress?

-This is my sister, Cara.

-Hello, Cara.

-Hi, Fern.

-So, where is the hamster?

-He's inside asleep in his little house.

I'm not surprised, he must be tired.

-He was on lots of adventures today, wasn't he?

-Yes.

So if Mickey could go on any adventure in the entire world,

-what would he do?

-Hmm...

If my pet Mickey could do anything, he would go snowboarding.

He would wear a green outfit, blue helmet and colourful goggles.

He would go up the mountain on a chairlift

and go "wheeeeeeeeeee" all the way down.

As you know, Mickey is nocturnal, so he's fast asleep now.

Lots of animals are nocturnal for different reasons.

Hamsters in the wild are nocturnal to hide from their predators -

animals that want to eat them!

Also, their eyesight isn't the best during the day,

and it's better when it's a bit dark, or during the night-time.

It's almost your bedtime, and he's going to be awake soon.

-I wonder what he does when we're sleeping.

-I have a really good idea.

How about we stay up past bedtime and we can make a den?

-Yes, let's use chairs and blankets.

-Sounds good.

It's going to be brilliant.

Quick, let's get our binoculars to get a closer look.

-He's going in his tubes.

-Yes.

-He's very fast, isn't he?

He's coming down the blue tube.

He does a lot more in the night-time than he does in the day, doesn't he?

-Yes.

-Do you think he's going to go in his flying saucer?

-Yes.

Come on, Mickey.

Oh, he's going round and round and round on his flying saucer.

He might go in the sand bath.

-That's right, he liked that earlier, didn't he?

-Yes.

OK, binoculars down. I think we should have some of our feast.

-Yes.

-Would you like some milk?

-Yes, please.

-And a cookie.

-It's hard work, watching busy hamsters.

-Yes.

-Yummy.

-Would you like to use the telescope to have a look?

-Yes.

-This is a great view.

-It is, isn't it? I think it's the best one.

I've never seen a hamster at night before. It's amazing.

Thank you so much for inviting me to meet Mickey.

I really, really enjoyed it.

-CHILDREN:

-My pet and me!

-Hi, Rory.

-How you doing? How was your day?

-Oh, it was so amazing.

Let me tell you all about it.

Today, we met Maggie and her pet hamster Mickey.

Together, we cleaned out Mickey's cage and gave him food

and fresh water. We then let Mickey explore his flying saucer

and try out a new sand bath we made.

Maggie gave Mickey a lovely present of a new tube for his cage.

It looked brilliant. Later, we built a den,

and stayed up past bedtime to watch Mickey exploring at night.

Wow, that sounds amazing. You made some great new friends, too.

I did, it was wonderful.

But remember to ask the owner's permission

-before you touch any pets.

-That's right.

One pet you definitely can play with is ours.

Go to the CBeebies website

-and play the My Pet And Me game.

-It is brilliant.

We just love meeting you and your pets. I've had such a wonderful day.

# Today we met A lovely pet

-# We see how much you care for them

-Thank you so much for sharing them!

# Time for us to Just remind you

# After you've played with your pet, wash your hands, don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pet you've got

# You might have one, you might not

# It's still fun finding out what having a pet is all about

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Come back and see my pet and me! # Bye!