Paul's page is part of Glenn's Hamster Page by Glenn G. Chappell.
Paul

Paul

Paul

Full name: Paul.
Species: Syrian hamster.
Sex: male.
Appearance: short-haired, brown with a white band.
Adult weight: 170g, 200g when overweight (about 6 and 7 ounces, respectively).
Born: around May 8, 1993.
First adopted: June 19, 1993.
Came to live with us: December 28, 1993.
Died: June 1, 1995.

Click on any picture to see a larger version (most are 20-40K).

Paul was our first hamster, adopted from my friend Ian Chai, when he was about 6 months old (Paul, not Ian). Paul was the second of six hamsters that found their way into Ian's household. These were Barnabas, Paul, Silas, Timothy, Aquila, and Bob. [By the way, Aquila was adopted as one of a pair. The other hamster, who lived with a friend of Ian, was female; guess what her name was -- it's in the Bible.] Anyway, as of late 1993, Barnabas, Paul, and Timothy were living together in a sizable cage. Barney was a teddybear, Paul was a seriously overweight brown-and-white banded, and Timmy was a baby golden. I nicknamed them "Fluffy", "Tubbo", and "Junior".

We now know that adult Syrian hamsters should never be kept in the same cage (it's true -- don't do it!), but we didn't then. We found out the hard way when Tubbo started regularly beating the other two up. For Christmas '93, Ian made us a hamster cage. The original plan was that we would buy a hamster, but then someone had the bright idea of us taking Paul the Fat, thus getting ourselves a hamster and freeing his cage-mates from the reign of terror. So, three days after Christmas, Paul moved in with us.

You can read more about Paul and our other hamsters in The Hamster Chronicles. The section on Paul starts with Part 1.

Paul on sofa Here's Paul standing on our sofa looking around. He doesn't look all that obese, does he? He slimmed down rapidly after going on the Chappell diet plan (no Oreos and very little chicken). When Paul was in a quiet mood, he was fond of sitting on the sofa, sometimes under the blanket (he peed under there several times), sometimes, when he was older, on my lap (he peed there, too).

When he was in an active (i.e., crazy, frantic, maniacal) mood he would either try to jump off the front of the sofa or, better yet, to climb up the back and jump off one of the sides. All our hamsters seem to like jumping from the highest place they can find. Paul was always a little deranged, but even the sensible ones do it. I can't figure out how they would ever survive in the wild.

Paul on sofa This looks like Paul is thinking about diving off the sofa to his death. He is probably sniffing the air first to make sure the moment is just right; you have to do that to ensure a properly done death-dive, you know.

If you look closely, you can see that Paul's right ear is torn. This happened in fights with other hamsters (these being the Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy mentioned above -- all now deceased).

Paul investigating candy house Here Paul has discovered an edible "gingerbread" house. Based on the philosophical proposition that food is meant to be eaten (by him), he is proceeding to demolish the house.


Next, take a look at Percy's page. Or go back to Glenn's Hamster Page.


Paul / Last update: 25 Jan 2001 / Glenn G. Chappell / chappellg@member.ams.org