Part 6: In which I do not run a hamster ranch

The hamster run was rodent Disney world. The small wheel was a D-ticket ride. Baby hamsters seem to have a single mind: "I think I'll go run in the wheel." "Me, too!" "Me, too!" "Me, too!" It was possible for two to coordinate their movements and make the wheel go around (once they were able to agree upon a direction), but any more and they just tumbled over one another like socks in a dryer. I bought a third wheel. (I added a pink spinner that looked like a satellite dish but they disregarded it as if it were an educational exhibit.)

Frequently a hamster tried to climb into a wheel while another hamster was spinning it. Sometimes one could get his paws in the entry hole and hang on long enough to be carried around and dropped on his nose. Ted interpreted, "Mo-om! Billy won't get out of the whee-el and let me have my turn!"

I also learned from the web site that hamsters like sand baths. I filled a small bowl with sand, and before long the hamsters were wriggling around in it, moaning, "Oh, god, yes..."