Hairless hamster keeps cozy in tiny sweater

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Photo: Oregon Humane Society

Everyone is getting ready for sweater weather, including Silky, the hairless hamster.

Silky’s family brought her to the Oregon Humane Society, after they discovered they had to move and were no longer able to keep her.

Even though Silky is hairless by birth due to a genetic mutation, staff members couldn’t help but fall in love with her instantly.

Diana Gabaldon, an OHS staff member says, “While she isn’t fluffy like a normal hamster, she is just as cuddly and playful as any other hamster.

She does need to be kept in a heated environment, especially during the winter, and have a higher protein diet to keep her warm.”

Selene Mejia, an animal care technician at OHS, felt sympathetic to the hamster, who was feeling a little chilly in her cage.

She decided she would take matters into her own crocheting hands, and knit a tiny sweater for Silky.

The cute hamster now wears her sweater on special occasions and is kept very warm by her new adoptive dad, Matthew Sears.

Sears came across the story on BBC News online and he knew he was ready for a hairless addition to the family.

Sears, who also suffers from a lack of hair himself, jokes if Silky could talk then she would have said, “There’s Daddy!” when they first met.

Now Silky is settling into her new home with her care package from the Oregon Humane Society, which includes her habitat and her little sweater.