I like to think we have a pretty cool story. And like many storybooks, the story continues to build chapter by chapter.
Chapter 1: The Very Beginning
It all started when I was in sixth grade and got my first hamster. If any of you were born in the 90s, you might remember there was a book series about a hamster named Freddy that would leave his cage at night and go on adventures. And so, I named my hamster, Freddy!
For many years after, I owned hamsters. Like many people’s beginnings, I too, had a Critter Trail Cage and did all the wrong things. I used a hamster ball, bought cedar bedding from Lowe’s, and gave them so many treats packed with added sugar and “enrichments” coated with honey.
You’d think that’s the worst it could be, but sadly, my sister and I, at the ripe middle school age, thought it would be fun for her to get a male hamster and for me to get a female hamster and to put them together to see the miracle of life...
When I look back now, I am in disbelief at the fact that as a middle schooler, I in fact, was a backyard breeder… Me. I was literally contributing to a problem I had no idea existed.
Chapter 2: The Romance
I continued owning hamsters all the way through grade school. And after my last hamster passed, I had grown quite distracted with dating my now husband, Michael. Many years passed as we dated, engaged and then married.
Then, one Valentine’s Day I found myself asking my husband if we could get a hamster!
Did we finally do it right!? No. Still completely in the dark and ignorant to the fact that we had no idea how wrong everything I did as a child was, we went to the pet store and adopted a hamster. (sigh)
Very soon after, I had learned from social media that a large chunk of things I had done growing up was wrong!
I began to dig deeper and deeper into the hamster community, I learned that there was something called a hybrid species. That the of the five domesticated species of hamsters, two of them have the same number of chromosomes and this has allowed them to interbreed and have offspring that is not only a hybrid, but can continue to reproduce!
I began to dig deeper into the rabbit hole, researching to understand what we could do to stop it. And that is how I found the term ethical breeders.
I learned that you can instead adopt from an ethical breeder who is knowledgeable in genetics and is breeding hamsters responsibly. That the hamsters they breed have pedigrees, so you can more likely ensure you have a healthy hamster.
I immediately told my husband that the next hamster we got needed to be from an ethical breeder. I was no longer going to support pet stores and rodent mills of any kind.
And so my search began. I googled and googled to find an ethical breeder to adopt our next Winter White…only to find out, there were none. No one in all of North America bred Winter White Hamsters.
I was shocked. How could there be such a large world problem, where an entire species could literally go extinct due to the fact that rodent mills are interbreeding the two species together irresponsibly, and no one was even protecting the purebred line!
I immediately turned to my husband and asked him, “Could we do it?”
“Could we import purebred Winter White Hamsters from another country and start breeding them in North America.”
And to my surprise, my husband said yes!
Chapter 3: The Import
I immediately got to work. I studied, researched, learned and read everything I possibly could to give winter whites the best chance at having someone preserve their kind in North America.
I got in contact with one of the European Hamster Clubs in the UK and they connected me with multiple breeders who had lines that were not related to each other.
We got on a plane, and flew to the UK! Collected the hamsters, brought them to vet to make sure they were all fit to fly, and flew to the USA!
In the August of 2022, we successfully imported 8 purebred winter white hamsters into the USA (five females and three males).
Chapter 4: The Final Piece
After the import, I wanted to find a way to financially support the hamstery since the import costs us almost 10k. I also knew the cost of continuing to house, breed and feed these hamsters was going to go cost money.
And so, I started what is called the Hamster and Me Subscription Box. This quarterly box would bring hamster safe supplies directly to the customer’s home four times a year! I'd be a fun way to not only bring safe products to more hamsters homes but also 100% of the profits would help cover the cost of our hamsters!
As the subscription box grew, we had people asking us if they could buy the products individually, as well as, others asking if they could buy the hamster food mix that we would make in-house for our hamstery.
So almost one year later, on June 1, 2023, I launched the Happy Hamstery Shop! And look at where we are today!
We are so thankful to have the opportunity to be trusted by so many to bring safe alternative products to the US. Our goal is to provide everyone with more safe options that also don't break the bank! We want to make proper hamster care more accessible and not out of reach to any who are looking.
The more we can do this, the more we can keep others from compromising and supporting chain pet stores, through buying their unsafe products and perpetuating rodent mills.
Thank you so much for reading our story and for joining us on this mission of bettering the future for all hamsters!
- Our Timeline:
- Feb. 2022 - the idea
- Aug. 2022 - 1st IMPORT
- Nov. 2022 - Sub box
- June 2023 - opened shop!
- may 2025 - 2nd import