The hamster house had been disinfected and placed away in storage, which necessitated a call home for Vance to retrieve all the parts and rinse them down while I was on my way with the new animal.  I had purchased a FRESH TRAVEL UNIT for Brandy and the owner of the pet store placed some wood shavings from the store cage into it, along with one small CRITTER BLOX.  Brandy sat comfortably in the small enclosure, falling fast asleep during the drive.  It took over an hour and a half to reassemble and outfit the cages to make Brandy’s home.  And when introduced to her new environment, she immediately set about exploring every nook and cranny, leaving the wheel to the very end.  She took to the exercise equipment like all the others, but added a new twist - Brandy took a Critter Blox into the wheel with her.  And it makes the most incessant noise!  I purposely keep the S.A.M. unit so that I can use the SPECIAL WHEEL for the hamsters as it sits outside the cage, is the least likely to cause an injury, and is totally silent in operation.  Except for evenly spaced air holes located on the side of the unit, it is completely enclosed with no openings that could catch a little toe or foot.  But if a hamster takes anything into the ball with her, then it rattles around and makes the most annoyingly loud sound.  Given these little animals are quite sensitive to noise, it amazes me that they would even tolerate all that racket.

We spent some time on the bathroom floor, getting acquainted, and she rolled around in her ball for a bit, and then returned to her new home.  Her first night was an extremely busy one.  Brandy must be the reincarnation of an engineer or an interior decorator as when I checked on her first thing the next morning, she had removed all the aspen from the S.A.M. Palace, transferred it all to the Hagen Space Station, taken the toilet paper from what was supposed to be her bed, and made a nest on the bare floor of her cage, immediately outside of her wheel.  Food in wheel, bed/nest next to wheel, some logs to climb on, food dish (empty), water bottle close by – my new baby’s environment, as designed by Brandy.

Brandy has added broccoli to her menu, and of course, like all the others, continues to enjoy her popcorn once or twice a week.  Every morning, before I leave for work, she pokes her head out of her bed and waits for one-half of a Vitakraft Bonbino - a crunchy little treat containing beetroot.  But her main diet consists of the Critter Blox and HAGEN GOURMET SEEDS.  Sweet baby Brandy ... I hope you have a long, healthy, and happy life.