Our Rainbow Hamsters 🌈
At RoseLark, our hamsters are at the heart of everything we create.
Some of the designs you see today were shaped by the tiny companions who helped us test, refine, and truly understand what enrichment should look like.
This page is dedicated to the hamsters who are no longer with us, but who played a part in shaping RoseLark.
They were deeply loved, carefully cared for, and will always remain part of our story.
In Loving Memory
Princess Lilica
Species: Chinese Hamster
Personality: Agile, quick, and quietly adventurous
Favourite Feature: Elevated routes and stable hide roofs
Speciality: Climbing safety and structural stability testing
Princess Lilica is small, slender, and incredibly agile. Chinese hamsters are known for their longer bodies, mouse-like features, and slightly longer tails — traits that give them impressive balance and confidence when exploring height within an enclosure.
She naturally investigates elevated surfaces, testing hide roofs, accessory tops, and layered layouts with careful precision. Because of her light weight and climbing ability, she plays an important role in assessing structural stability and safety when products are explored from above.
We observe:
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Roof strength and load-bearing stability
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Grip and surface texture
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Secure edges and smooth finishes
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The stability of stacked or layered layouts
Princess Lilica helps ensure our hides and accessories remain stable, secure, and safe — even when used in ways only an agile Chinese hamster would think to try.
Rice
Forever in the heart of @littlepumpkin.andpoppy_
Species: Russian Dwarf Hamster
Personality: Calm, gentle, and quietly affectionate
Favourite Feature: Large, open sand bath with a hide to sit in between bathing
Speciality: Deep burrowing and tunnel network creation
Rice is an extremely calm and unfazed boy. He loves inspecting his space and will check out any new items to make sure they meet his standards. He enjoys sleeping most of the time, but will create magnificent burrows overnight, while still finding time during the day to pop up, say hello, and get his daily kisses.
He’s an affectionate little one who enjoys eating breakfast beside his wheel before sneaking back off to bed. He prefers layouts with multiple hides and is a big fan of open-bottom chambers, allowing him to burrow deeply into his bedding and build extensive tunnel systems.
Through Rice, we observe how sand bath size, open access, and nearby shelter influence grooming behaviour, as well as how deep bedding and open-base designs support complex burrowing and natural tunnel networks.
Muddy
Species: Roborovski Hamster
Personality: Tiny, lightning-fast, and naturally cautious
Favourite Feature: Dense coverage and low-profile entrances
Speciality: Coverage, sand bath, and dig box accessibility
Muddy may be small, but she moves with impressive speed and precision. As a Roborovski hamster, she prefers environments with layered coverage and immediate access to safe retreat spaces.
We observe how she navigates hide placement, transitions between zones, and accesses substrate dig boxes and sand baths. Entrance height, internal depth, and stability are especially important for a species that relies on speed and security.
Muddy helps ensure our designs support the fast, ground-hugging nature of Roborovskis — where feeling protected makes all the difference.
GusGus
Forever in the heart of @TreasuredPaws.
Species: Syrian Hamster
Personality: Gentle, cautious, delightfully dramatic
Favourite Feature: Wide entrances and stable layouts
Speciality: Accessibility testing
Affectionately named after the little fat mouse from Cinderella, GusGus is bursting with gentle charm. He startles first and asks questions never, often making a dramatic dash for cover at top, three-legged, speed. But offer him a treat and you win his affection, and maybe an accidental nibble of the finger in all the excitement. Cute, chaotic and irresistibly squishy, GusGus will steal any heart.
GusGus is a male Syrian hamster who recently underwent a leg amputation following an injury. His mobility may be slightly different now, but his spirit certainly isn’t.
Because of this, he plays an especially important role in helping us assess accessibility within our designs. We observe how easily he navigates entrances, turning space, hide interiors and transitions between areas within an enclosure. Products must feel secure, stable, and effortless to move through — not restrictive or awkward.
GusGus reminds us that thoughtful, welfare-led design should work for every hamster, including those with additional needs.
Jesse Pinkham
Species: Long-Haired Syrian Hamster
Personality: Shy, gentle, quietly observant
Favourite Feature: Spacious hides with generous internal room
Speciality: Thoroughly inspecting hide entrances and turning space
Jesse is a very late riser and prefers the calm of quiet evenings before emerging to explore. A beautiful long-haired male Syrian, he was rescued as part of a mass overbreeding situation and has always been a sensitive, cautious soul.
He has never fully learned to trust humans — and that’s okay. At RoseLark, we design around who animals are, not who we expect them to be.
Jesse consistently chooses hides with the most generous internal space and comfortable turning room. He is particularly observant when it comes to entrance sizing and will immediately reject anything that feels restrictive or exposed.
His quiet preferences have helped refine internal dimensions, entrance widths, and overall hide security — ensuring our designs truly prioritise comfort and behavioural safety.
Waffles
Waffles is proudly cared for by @thefluffymindspace
Species: Syrian Hamster
Personality: Gentle, affectionate, and people-oriented
Favourite Feature: Enrichment-led enclosure layouts
Speciality: Exploration and engagement testing
Waffles is our rescue boy and the gentlest little soul you could meet. He absolutely thrives on human interaction and is happiest when he’s out spending time with us or exploring a brand new enclosure design.
His sweet nature makes him a joy to be around and to create enriching spaces for — he truly appreciates every little detail.
Waffles’ gentle, inquisitive nature allows us to observe how new layouts and enrichment pieces are explored at a relaxed pace. His engagement helps us assess whether spaces feel inviting, easy to navigate, and comfortable for longer periods of time.
And replacing his final line with something more balanced and aligned:
Waffles helps ensure our designs feel enriching, accessible, and thoughtfully arranged — not just functional.
Why This Matters
Every hamster featured here helped shape the way we design today — with welfare, space, and natural behaviour at the centre.
Their impact lives on in every enclosure we help create.
Everything we design is tested in real, enrichment-focused setups — not just for appearance, but for how it supports natural behaviours like burrowing, foraging, and nesting.
This page is a quiet reminder of why that matters.