# sleep well, sweet Lily



## SnowyShiloh (Dec 6, 2007)

Tonight I noticed that Lily, my 22 month old dwarf hamster, hadn't squirreled the food I'd given her last night away, and I hadn't seen her on her wheel since the night before. I was immediately concerned and tapped on her house to see if she was just sleeping, but no response. When I picked her house up, her little body fell out.

Lily had lots of personality. I got her and her friend Emmy for myself as a birthday present almost two years ago. Petco had just opened and they were the first place that sold dwarf hamsters! I had had one a few years ago, Leonie, who was an amazing pet and was excited to have a pair this time. Lily was such a tiny little girl and so cute! Emmy was quite a bit larger than her and always would be. I still remember her and Emmy venturing out of their cardboard Petco box for the first time. In the beginning, she worried me by picking up the Carefresh and munching on it, when I'd take it away she'd just grab another piece and real food sometimes distracted her. Thankfully, she got over her bedding eating phase. She and Emmy were very good together, sometimes they squabbled but mostly they snuggled. We lost Emmy that summer (birthing complication, long story) and after that Lily lived alone. 

Lily was an especially active hamster and was always trying to escape her cage. One morning a "chikka chikka" sound woke me up and she and Emmy had escaped and were playing in a plastic bag! Luckily, I rounded them up very quickly and re-inforced their cage so they couldn't escape. She still tried, though. To keep her busy, I bought her lots of toys and little hamster jungle gyms, which she always liked. And even as an old lady, she ran on her Silent Spinner more than any other hamster I've known. When she wasn't roving around her cage or on her wheel, she slept in a cute mushroom house that she insisted on flipping over. At first I would turn it right side up, but she always changed it back so I stopped messing with it!

Over time, Lily's coloring changed. When I got her, she looked like a regular dwarf hamster with a tiny white spot on her back. She had ruby eyes but you could only tell in bright light. As she got older, her coat got lighter and for the past few months she was absolutely snow white. She always stayed itty bitty and was so darned cute! Because of her extreme cuteness and babyish looks, people wanted to hold her, but Lily wasn't very friendly with most people and bit everyone but me. We loved her quirky little personality anyway though and always imagined her as the scary old lady who lived in the weird house and chased little kids off her lawn when she wasn't running marathons.

Just this past Sunday I bought her a little bitty red Christmas stocking and wrote her name on it with gold paint. It's on the wall with a candy cane in it with all my other pets' little stockings. Next year and every year after this I will hang her stocking on our tree to remember her by. I don't know what to do with her body because the ground is frozen already.

I'm sorry Lily isn't with us anymore, but I think she had a good life, hopefully died in her sleep and has been reunited with Emmy in heaven and is running around having a great time.

I love you Lilligator and will miss you, you were such a great little girl and it won't be the same without you and your wheel lulling me to sleep every night:cry4:.


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## Flashy (Dec 6, 2007)

Aw, I'm really sorry  She sounds like such a cutie.

RIP Lily


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## Thumpers_Mom (Dec 6, 2007)

Awe Shiloh! I'm sorry for your loss. :tears2:What great memories. :hug:


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## timetowaste (Dec 6, 2007)

r i p little lily girl 

:rainbow:


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## Phinnsmommy (Dec 6, 2007)

So sorry Shiloh. She was so adorable.

May she rest in peace :rainbow:


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## tundrakatiebean (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm so sorry Shiloh :hug:



ink iris:Goodbye Lily


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## killertheturtle (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm sorry to hear about Lily.
It sounds like she had a nice, long life.


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## AngelnSnuffy (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm very sorry about Lily. She did have a nice life though.

RIP little Lily:rainbow:


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## SnowyShiloh (Dec 8, 2007)

Hi guys! Thank you for your kind thoughts, it means a lot to me. To a lot of people, a hamster is like, "so what?!" but all my pets are special to me. I decided to put Lily in the freezer until the ground thaws, then I'm going to bury her next to Emmy by the lake. Today we're going to the pet store to get some stuff and we might bring home a new hammy if one (or two girl dwarves) call out to me. I don't think of it as replacing Lily, just this time around I think a new hammy could help fill the hole.


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## SnowyShiloh (Dec 10, 2007)

Well, no new hammy came home with me the other day! The pet store had lots of cute ones, but one had wet tail and I was concerned. The lady didn't even wash her hands after touching the sick one. She said he'll be seeing the vet ASAP though, poor baby! She also said they'd been getting a lot of hamsters in lately with wet tail, which concerns me too...


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## Thumpers_Mom (Dec 12, 2007)

:shockoor things...Better safe than sorry.


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