I wish I had a camera...

...because these babies are as cute as anything! All their eyes are open now, and they're eating solid foods and drinking from the water bottle. I seperated them from the mother yesterday, and she doesn't seem to care a bit --- I think she's glad to be done with them; in fact, by all accounts I kept them with her for too long. Let me tell you a bit about them (though please note that while I am calling them all "he", I have no idea of their gender):

MARCO - he's a very dark grey (almost black) and the largest of them all. He's nearly twice the size of the smallest one. He looks like a little black bear - he's Paul's favourite.
POLO - he is grey, black and white, with very handsome markings. He and Marco are the most active and adventurous of the bunch.
STUMPY - he is brown, black and white, and has a stump. He's VERY cute.
BLINK - Blink has red eyes, and was the first to open his eyes, hence the name. He is a blondy-brownish-orangy solid colour. He bites, but I think it's because he's yet to distinguish between hands and food.
THE TONY'S - Tony, Tony, and Baby Tony are all the same colour (essentially, blond). The first two Tony's are too difficult to tell apart, but Baby Tony is a tiny bit smaller and has red eyes (while the other two have black eyes). I think Baby Tony is my favourite, because he likes to lay on his side in my hand in the fetal position with all four paws holding a piece of food, so he looks like he's drinking from a bottle.

I put the father in with the babies today, and he FREAKED OUT, terrified. Stupid Shamgar.

So I put the babies into a pink plastic bin with no top; it's just a little smaller than a regular cage. Our cat Emma loves to reach in and paw at them, sometimes putting both her front feet in. She also likes to sit on the love seat above them and just watch. Other Kitty doesn't seem to care about them at all.

I kind of want to keep some of them because of how well socialized I imagine they will be --- I'd like to get rid of Shamgar and keep a breeding pair (though that would be incest, and incest is wrong). However, since Shamgar and Ollie make such cute babies together, I will just breed them every once in awhile and enjoy socializing wonderful pets for OTHER pet owners.

I do worry about Stumpy, though. I've been asking around the church trying to find someone with a heart big enough to take on a "special needs" hamster. He really does get around just fine with his little stump, and it makes him CUTER.

And that's my story.