This Dad’s Texts Went Viral after a Hamster-Related Meltdown

Daniel Veerman is one devoted dad. The 53-year-old single dad was given a very special job when his 19-year-old daughter Steph went away to college—caring for the teenager’s pet hamster.

Daniel fell into a weekly routine of cleaning Chester the hamster’s cage every Sunday. When the dad/hamster caregiver took Chester out of his cage for the weekly cleaning, he’d put Chester into a clear play ball. Chester got the chance to roam (in safety), and Daniel got the chance to clean without worrying about the pint-sized pet. That is, until one Sunday when Chester made an unexpected getaway.

my dad took over my hamster once i went back to college and ended up getting really attached and today he escaped and this goes to prove how truly pure my father is pic.twitter.com/JmTJl6jFBI

— Steph Veerman (@stephyj725) November 25, 2019

What happened next resulted in a text conversation hilarious enough to go viral. Daniel called his daughter ASAP and according to Steph, in an interview with BuzzFeed, her devastated dad was “blubbering” and “couldn’t get out sentences.”

Chester taking it all in!! Thanks so much for all the love!! pic.twitter.com/AS640e45aG

— Steph Veerman (@stephyj725) November 27, 2019

“I was having a freaking heart attack,” Daniel told Buzzfeed. The dad’s distress was palpable in the texts he sent his daughter—which Steph posted on Twitter (after Chester was found safe and sound). At one point Daniel texted his daughter, “If I can’t find him today I’m not going to work tomorrow so I can keep looking.” Steph replied to her dad, “Dad—he’s just a hamster I don’t blame you at ALL. You shouldn’t skip work you are a lawyer and he is a hamster.”

told him he had a lot of people on twitter who loved him so he did his hair and posed for this pic i’m dead i love him so much pic.twitter.com/urR2WMmeDE

— Steph Veerman (@stephyj725) November 27, 2019

The distraught dad devised a crafty plan to lure Chester back with peanut butter and treats and scatter flour on the floor (to track teeny-tiny footprints). As it turns out Daniel’s plan worked! By that night Chester made a triumphant return.

—Erica Loop

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