Bourne Valley Girton (Gertie)

Gertie was a shorthaired black tortoiseshell hamster bred by Bourne Valley Hamstery. She was the first pedigree female to enter the hamstery and was intended as a mate for Sid (Mel-Yel), however Gertie was never keen to stand and matings with both Sid and later with Hugh failed to result in any pregnancies. Gertie was a large, serious hamster who was always in the process of building a massive complex nest structure or foraging for her hoard. When she lived in a bottom-row tank in the stack it was possible to open her sliding door and set up a ladder beneath going down to the floor, and Gertie would then come out down the ladder, forage and fill her pouches with spilled seed and bedding from beneath the cage stacks, and then go nicely back up the ladder to her home of her own accord, ready to be locked in again.

Gertie was put to sleep on 21st August 2013 when internal lymphoma growths along her spine led to losing the use of three of her limbs.