That 'Pets: Wild At Heart' hamster who filled his cheeks? I fell in love and kept him as my own

When we first researched ideas for the series Pets: Wild at Heart, we never seriously considered the hamster - our thoughts were mainly on the larger, more popular pets. It was only when I visited the local pet store that things changed.

While looking at the hamsters, one particular fur ball stood out from the crowd. He was stuffing his cheeks in great haste as his cheeks stretched down the side of his body. He doubled in size before my eyes. The behaviour was visually funny and intriguing, so immediately I wanted to learn more about how those cheeks worked. His audition was a success.

We spent several weeks observing and filming him in the comforts of a typical home – my own. He was a joy. So intelligent, gentle and inquisitive. The original idea was to find a suitable home for the hamster after filming, but there was no need. After spending so long with him we were now the best of buddies and I became the proud owner of a hamster.

At home we also have a German Shepherd called Cooper. In fact he too features in the documentary. We filmed him running on a beach using high speed cameras and thermal imagery to show how dogs use their tongue to lose excess body heat.

He was once a police dog but lacked the credentials needed to fight crime. Cooper gets on very well with Hampy, they often sniff each other’s noses in friendly recognition of each other.

Our hamster was an instant hit at home. My two boys (aged seven and six) named him Hampy. They love to build tunnels for him and hide food treats for him in their playroom. So Hampy is given all sorts of missions, he's a great problem solver and always sniffs out the hidden food.

In filming, we used special lenses and high-speed cameras to capture Hampy’s behaviour in detail. We also used a technique called fluoroscopy which produces moving X-ray images. This was done at a veterinary hospital using very low dose X-rays.

Hamsters are also well known for escaping, so we gave him the opportunity to explore under the watchful eyes of our cameras. He quickly discovered the bathroom, and went straight for the toilet roll.

I was quite alarmed when he started eating the paper. Huge mouthfuls disappeared into his cheeks. I was worried he was going to swallow it, but then I thought better of Hampy: there must be a good reason why he was doing this. Then, with cheeks full, he followed his nose back to his cage and unloaded his cheeks, furnishing his nest with soft dry tissue paper. That was surprising!

Philip Dalton is the series producer of Pets: Wild At Heart.

Pets: Wild At Heart continues at 8pm on Wednesday, 28 January on BBC One and BBC One HD. For further programme availability please see the episode guide.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.