Self-made cotton paper was a very important and essential item in the hamster breeding process. The finished product could be bought online. The finished product was a whole piece of raw paper without any artificial dyes. It could be cut into strips of paper the width of a finger. After the hamster gave birth, it would instinctively look for materials to make a nest. If it couldn't find them, it would be very anxious. Although the owner might have prepared a nest for it, it was useless. It could only feel at ease with its own nest.
The cotton paper was given to the children for free by Zhang Zian. A pack was only ten yuan, and he asked the children to cut it into strips.
The children were surprised to see the mother hamster eating the cotton paper strips.
"Is the mother hamster hungry? Why is it eating cotton paper? "Little Celery asked worriedly.
"Yeah, should we feed it something to eat? What if it's hungry and eats little hamsters? "Another child echoed.
"Do you think it's eating? No, it just stores the cotton paper in its cheek pouch so that it's easy to carry and build a nest. The reason why it cut the paper into strips the width of a finger is that it's too wide for its mouth to eat … "
The cotton paper passed through its mouth and became softer after being stained with saliva. Therefore, it couldn't be replaced with ordinary sawdust. Sawdust was too hard for it to eat, and it wasn't suitable for building a nest.
It ate a few pieces of cotton paper into its cheek pouch, then ran back to its baby, spat out the cotton paper, and began to build a nest on its own. Then it ran to the corner to eat the cotton paper.
"Isn't it better to put the cotton paper closer?" a child asked. "It saves it the trouble of running back and forth. It must be hard for it to just give birth, right?"
Zhang Zian nodded. "It's really hard for it, but the production and transportation of the cotton paper will inevitably be stained with human odor. If it eats it and spits it out, it can cover the human odor with its own odor, so we can't put it too close."
The children looked at the busy mother hamster. Obviously, it had just given birth and was physically exhausted, but it was still tirelessly running back and forth again and again to build a nest for the children. They couldn't help but respect it.
Zhang Zian took the opportunity to say, "When your mother gave birth to you, the pain she experienced was much more severe than that of a hamster mother. In order to take care of you as you grew up, she put in more effort than a hamster mother. Not only did she have to take care of your food and clothing, but she also had to run between home and work every day like a hamster mother. She had to earn money in exchange for a bigger and more comfortable house, in exchange for delicious food, fun, and a happier life for you … So you have to be considerate of your mother. Don't always make her angry. Try to help her share some of the housework that you can. This is the best reward for her."
Thinking of their mother's hard work on a daily basis, and that they often made her angry because of their studies and naughtiness, a few boys who were usually naughty lowered their heads in shame, and a few sensitive girls were moved to tears.
If it was just standing on the podium and nagging, it would never have such an effect. It would not allow the children to intuitively understand the hardships of being a mother. They had to see and feel it for themselves in order to leave a deep impression on them. If they could do this, the cost of buying a pet and the hard work of raising a pet would be meaningful.
Whether it was raising pets at home or holding breeding classes at school, the purpose was not simply to let the children play, but to cultivate their love and responsibility in the process of raising a pet. If they could also experience the hardships of a mother during the breeding process, that would be the best.
The children had secretly made up their minds to try to start learning to do housework after returning home today, even if it was to help their mother sweep the floor or wipe the table.
"Little Celery does very well in this area. You have to learn from her," Zhang Zian encouraged.
"I … I haven't done enough …" Little Celery lowered her head in embarrassment.
Wang Yaning was a little embarrassed. She was very good at her studies, and she spent her spare time doing exercises and attending various interest classes. Her mother did not let her do housework.
In the process of whispering, the mother hamster had moved all the paper cotton from the corner over. She dug a shallow hole in the wood shavings, put the babies in it, and then covered it with paper cotton to make a simple and warm nest. After all, newborn hamsters were hairless, and their ability to keep warm was very poor.
"Won't the baby hamsters suffocate to death?" Someone asked worriedly, as they saw that all the baby hamsters had been covered with paper cotton.
"Don't worry, this is the advantage of paper cotton and wood shavings. There are a lot of gaps in the middle, and they can breathe. No problem, "Zhang Zian said, and then took the food bowl that the mother hamster often used. He opened a bag of small steamed buns with sheep's milk and eggs he bought online, put a few inside, and then put them into the cardboard box as food for the mother hamster to replenish its physical strength.
Although he tried to encourage the children to prepare their own pet supplies, baking was too difficult for the children.
The mother hamster was still busy making the nest. Even if he had prepared food, there was no time to eat it. She just hurriedly licked the water when she passed by the water dispenser to replenish the water lost due to giving birth.
"You have an electric kettle here, right? Tomorrow, bring an egg over and boil it in plain water. After it's cooked, break off the egg white the size of a fingernail and feed it to it. Don't feed it too much, and the rest can be fed to other hamsters," Zhang Zian instructed.
"I saw someone feed hamsters with mealworms. Isn't it better to eat live food?" a boy asked.
The girls all wrinkled their faces in disgust and said, "No mealworms, it's disgusting!"
Zhang Zian stood on the girls' side this time and agreed. "It's best not to feed mealworms. For domestic pets, living food is not necessarily good, because living food may carry bacteria, and mealworms themselves have slight toxins."
In the blink of an eye, there was a small bulge where the baby hamster was, and almost no trace of the baby hamster could be seen.
Finally, the successful mother hamster was finally satisfied and got under the cotton paper. If it weren't for the cotton paper that was still slightly wriggling, people might even mistake the cardboard box for being empty.
"How does the mother hamster take care of the baby hamster? I really want to see, "the children said regretfully, but the cotton paper completely blocked their view.
"If you really want to see, there is a way. Aren't there other mother hamsters who are about to give birth? Find an ordinary glass fish tank or a transparent acrylic hamster cage. Spread the sawdust a little thinner so that you can look up from the bottom. Maybe you can see how the mother hamster takes care of the baby. "Zhang Zian gave them an idea.
The children suddenly understood and were full of anticipation for the next delivery process.
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