Pip

This is Pip. Pip is short for "Pippen" from the Lord of the Rings stories and also short for Pipsqueak. The Pippen part is for his very hairy toes (just like Hobbits) and the Pipsqueak part is because one morning when he was happy or agitated (hard to tell with a hamster) he was chittering, sort of like a guinea pig crossed with a purring cat. Here Pip is in his playground made from a step stool Mina made at Girl Scout camp~turned upside down. He has a little cube thing that he can climb around in, sleep, or hide from Mina. She also has food, water, and a wheel for him. The outside container in front of him is from the Brie cheese we had New Year's Eve (yum)~only the best cardboard for our pets! He is a cutie, when we got him he was pure white, but he is turning a little gray, due to the low light. His breed comes from the Arctic regions used to long daylight which keeps them white for camouflage. If we exposed his cage to a brighter light he would go back to white. He has also lost weight due to more area to run around in. When we got him we was a lethargic little sausage on feet, but he must be up to five miles a night on his wheel! He has slimmed down, but is enjoying his new environment greatly!
Here I am holding him, a couple days after we got him. He is much calmer and has less bad attitude than Bubbles, though his attention span isn't as long as hers. When running on the wheel, he runs about 3 seconds, hops off to do a lap around the cage and then hops back onto the wheel. It is pretty funny to watch as he does it over and over!

Tomorrow is Sassy's day in the spotlight, she's our other cat.