Chapter 651: Rekindled Life
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"It's awake! My hamster is awake!" Little Celery exclaimed excitedly.
"Mine's too!"
"Mine moved a little!"
The other hamsters slowly woke up from their hibernation, squirming in the kids' palms, opening their blurry eyes to once again see the world.
Zhang Zian removed all the litter sand from the cages, so now they were filled with wood shavings. He told everyone to place the revived hamsters inside the cage so that he could cover them up with wood shavings.
Everyone's heart ached for the hamsters that just escaped death, they all wanted to hold them a little longer, but Zhang Zian reminded them, "If your palms are sweaty, it's best not to hold them for too long, or else it might make their body temperature go back down."
As the kids were nervous, their palms were all sweaty. As soon as they heard what Zhang Zian said, they quickly placed the hamsters into cage. The hamsters instinctively dug a hole and covered themselves in the wood shavings.
They continued the process, saving hamsters one by one. Near the end, they started a competition of who could save the most hamsters. Watching all the little hamsters come back to life, they all felt happy and proud.
However, there was a sole hamster that remained in temporary hibernation, it was the Djungarian hamster that was in the birdcage. Everyone took turns rubbing their palms together before holding it, desperately puffing hot air on it, but it didn't even flinch, like it was really dead.
"Let me show you!" Wang Yaning pushed the others to the side, and grabbed the hamster confidently.
She had saved the most hamsters, she began to think that her body temperature was higher than the others. However, no matter how long she held the hamster, it didn't move.
"What's going on? This hamster can't really be dead, right?" she asked.
"Store Manager, why is the hamster not waking up?" Little Celery's began to panic.
"That's because the hamster was frozen the most." Zhang Zian pointed at the birdcage that was well ventilated, barely even blocking the cold air.
A hamster's ability to adjust its body temperature was very bad because their environment was supposed to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In the summer, their living space must be well ventilated and sheltered from direct sunlight, while in the winter, their living space must be sheltered from the cold air. The birdcage did nothing to block cold air, it'd be a nice living area for summer.
"Now, what do we do?" Little Celery pulled on her little pigtails. "We don't have anything else, our teacher didn't want us to spend money."
"There's no need to spend money, the solution is actually very simple." Zhang Zian took an empty cardboard box from a corner and covered the birdcage. "As long as you poke a few holes in the box to let air in, you can put in on at night and remove it in the morning. It'll shelter the hamster from the cold, although just raising it in the box would be better. We need to try everything. Do you have a thick towel here?" Zhang Zian asked.
The kids took out their own towels and offered them to Zian.
Zhang Zian got a cup and filled it to the brim with hot water. He covered the top of the cup with a few layers of the towel before placing the unresponsive hamster on the towel, wrapping it tightly.
A hamster's normal body temperature is higher than that of a human. If a human's body temperature couldn't bring it out of its hibernation, then maybe hot water could. When such measures are taken, much care is required. If the temperature wasn't controlled or if there wasn't a towel, the hamsters would easily be injured. However, like Zhang Zian said earlier, they had to try everything.
Zhang Zian couldn't just wait, so he called the two boys to assist him in carrying the shelf to the west window, where there was better sunlight.
There was only one air conditioner in the room, which was quite limited in maintaining the temperature. Zhang Zian heard the kids say that the air conditioner will switch off at night in response to the school's effort in saving electricity. It was no wonder the hamsters went into temporary hibernation last night.
There was nothing Zhang Zian could do about the air conditioner, but the kids could ask the school not to turn off the air conditioner at night. Saving electricity was, of course, a good thing, but it depended on the situation.
Wang Yaning recorded everything into her notebook, so it'd be best if she was the one who contacted the school.
"It moved!"
"Look! It's awake!"
Little Celery and the other girl screamed together, clapping their hands in joy.
The Djungarian hamster that was wrapped in the towel opened its eye. It moved its small head to look around and stuck its nose out to sniff the air. It tried to squirm out of the towel, but Little Celery quickly caught it before its soft paws came into direct contact with the metal lid, stopping it from getting burned.
"That's great! It finally woke up!"
The two boys were also elated. Their four little heads squeezed together to observe the Djungarian hamster. Wang Yaning also wanted to take a closer look, but since she was class president, she suppressed her urge.
"Next time, just be more careful when it comes to the temperature." Zhang Zian let out a sigh of relief. If the hamster lost its life because of their negligence, they'd feel guilty for a long time.
Zhang Zian called the kids over, so that they could see the newly changed wood shavings and litter sand. "Do you guys know what that is?" Zhang Zian pointed at a few soft-looking orange drops.
Little Celery raised her hand. "I know! It's the hamster's poop!"
"That's right." Zhang Zian gave her a look of encouragement. "You know Ling, the hamster in my store? What color is her poop and what's it like?"
Little Celery tried to remember, but her observation skills weren't really that good.
Wang Yaning frowned and said, "I think it was black. They're like small drops."
Yaning had accompanied Little Celery to Zhang Zian's pet store before, but he never expected her memory to be so good. It was no wonder she was a straight-A student.
Zhang Zian nodded. "A hamster's normal poop looks like tiny black drops, but this..." He pointed at the soft orange poop in the litter sand. "The soft poop is a sign that you have to be cautious, if it isn't handled well, it might get diarrhea."
The kids looked at each other.
"What do we do?"
"Does it need an injection?"
"How about medicines?"
All of them started to ask questions, not willing to lose the hamsters they just saved again. All their faces paled at the mention of injections and medicine.
"There's no need for injections or medications. It's winter, so all of you have apples at home, right? We can make some homemade dried apple rings, it's good for treating hamsters with diarrhea," Zhang Zian explained. "Although, it's more convenient to get them online, your teacher told you guys to refrain from spending money. It's not that hard to make them at home."
Zhang Zian told them how to make the dried apple rings.
The method on making dried apple rings was actually very simple. All you had to do was peel the skin, remove the core, and slice them into thin pieces before boiling it in hot water. After you take them out the water, place them on a tray and microwave it for two to three minutes. Make sure to flip them over and do the same for the other side before drying them. If they have a food dehydrator at home, then it'd be much easier.
Zhang Zian reminded them, "Although dried apple rings will help, they can't eat too much of it, if they do, they'll suffer from constipation.
Thank goodness he came over with Little Celery. Even though the hamsters survived temporary hibernation, they'd probably die from diarrhea and dehydration.
While the other kids were listening and asking questions, Wang Yaning was writing everything down in her notebook. She had learned a lot today, and she wanted to show that in their report. At first, she worried that there was nothing much to write about. Now, she knew that taking care of a hamster required a lot of knowledge, it'll be worth taking the time at home to absorb everything she learned today.
After the kids listened to what Zhang Zian said, they knew that raising a hamster wasn't as easy as they thought. In other words, life was fragile and needed to be taken care of and appreciated. Saving a life made them happy, but watching a life slowly slip through their fingers was painful. They learned the value of life way before other kids their age.
Zhang Zian was pleased as he looked at them. He had always believed that kids who loved animals never had violent tendencies. Now, he knew he was right.