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Death Bear
Apr 1, 2010
My sister just had to rehome her chinchilla Sifl because her new apartment wouldn't allow cage animals. She's allowed to take her cat because she's technically a therapy companion pet, but small caged animals for some reason are out of the question.

I feel so sad for the little guy. I couldn't take him because I live with my dad and he's a huge dick about animals, not to mention I'm hardly home because of him in the first place, so he wouldn't get the attention he needs. She gave Sifl to a girl she went to high school with who had previous care with exotic animals, so it's not like she's ignorant about taking care of him. It's just that she has a five-year-old son who will not leave the poor guy alone. :sigh: He plays with his toys right up on the cage, and she hasn't taken his bigger cage over yet, so his one-story cage is sitting on the floor.

As soon as I move out, whenever that is, I'm going to see if I can end up taking Sifl myself. I hate seeing him in a home where he doesn't get any peace. I really hope he doesn't develop anxiety because of the kid. His mom keeps telling him to be gentle and leave him alone, but he's never been around kids.

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Awesome Kristin
May 9, 2008

yum yum yum
The second chinchilla I adopted to be a companion to the first came from a home with a young kid. He spent the first 3 years of his life in that house and I am his second owner. He bites HARD! I don't know how to break him of it but I figure it's because they didn't handle him much and when he was handled it was probably the kid being rough.

I hope your sister's chin ends up being happy some day.

Penguins Like Pies
May 21, 2007

Thanks! You are awesome!

To be honest, I'm really surprised my boyfriend isn't putting up a fuss about my wanting a chinchilla. He protested nice and loud against a bunny. He said as long as it's going to be in my room and I feed it, it's fine. I did tell him the chinchilla gets to run around in the kitchen.

Can chinchillas run around on a carpeted area? Or will they chew the carpet?

Awesome Kristin
May 9, 2008

yum yum yum

Penguins Like Pies posted:

Can chinchillas run around on a carpeted area? Or will they chew the carpet?

I happen to currently live in a house that has a bathroom with a carpet. I hate it but I can tell you that the chins don't even give any notice to the carpet, just any wood that is jutting out.

Penguins Like Pies
May 21, 2007

Awesome Kristin posted:

I happen to currently live in a house that has a bathroom with a carpet. I hate it but I can tell you that the chins don't even give any notice to the carpet, just any wood that is jutting out.

That's good to hear. I'll remember to save the cardboard boxes we use for moving just to cover up the baseboards.

And a bathroom with carpet sounds gross. I'm sorry. :(

Dr. Arbitrary
Mar 15, 2006

Bleak Gremlin
I just got a pair of mice through unusual circumstances. I need to find a new home for them but they're just so darn cute and sociable.

Cassiope
Jul 7, 2010

Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.
Except for cats.
I read the first few (a while ago) and last few pages more recently but don't seem to have seen it mentioned. What is the best diet for hamsters?

My little cousin is about to be getting a hamster and I want to advise her well. Are those seed mixes okay or are pellets better? Are there particular things you need to make sure to supplement into their diets?

So far my 3 pieces of advice for her are:

1. Use an aquarium for the cage
2. Don't use wood shaving bedding
3. Get a syrian not a dwarf (my personal preference, plus they're more interactive/docile?)

She's ten and a pretty responsible kid, she is insistent on rescuing a hamster and not buying from a petstore. I'm all on board with that attitude but there doesn't seem to be an overabundance of hamsters in rescue here. How bad is it to buy one from a pet store?

Nereid
Sep 17, 2009

I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar

Cassiope posted:

I read the first few (a while ago) and last few pages more recently but don't seem to have seen it mentioned. What is the best diet for hamsters?

My little cousin is about to be getting a hamster and I want to advise her well. Are those seed mixes okay or are pellets better? Are there particular things you need to make sure to supplement into their diets?

So far my 3 pieces of advice for her are:

1. Use an aquarium for the cage
2. Don't use wood shaving bedding
3. Get a syrian not a dwarf (my personal preference, plus they're more interactive/docile?)

She's ten and a pretty responsible kid, she is insistent on rescuing a hamster and not buying from a petstore. I'm all on board with that attitude but there doesn't seem to be an overabundance of hamsters in rescue here. How bad is it to buy one from a pet store?

I would say that using aspen bedding is fine for a hamster, my long haired guy loves to shred it up.

Honestly, you can try to rescue a hamster or get one from a breeder, but the problem with those is that they're more likely to have issues. Like not wanting to be touched or biting problems (or oddly, fear of being picked up, but Rocky was a weird bird.) Even if you rescue, the hamster is probably raised in mills and the females could be pregnant because of incorrect sexing (although how you could do that with giant hamster balls is beyond me) but they're generally healthy and more friendly at pet stores.

My 10-year-old brother also has a hamster and he takes really good care of her. They're a good starter pet. :)

I personally feed my hamster Hazel Hamster or Ecotrition. Both of which have a lot of good stuff in them and not a lot of junk. He gets veggie ends when I cook and loves pretty much everything. You want to look for a food with not a TON of sunflower seeds. Hamsters are picky little shits so you're probably not going to get lucky and get him/her to eat all of their food ever.

Also those mice are DARLING. :swoon:

Rodent Mortician
Mar 17, 2009

SQUEAK.

Nereid posted:

Honestly, you can try to rescue a hamster or get one from a breeder, but the problem with those is that they're more likely to have issues. Like not wanting to be touched or biting problems (or oddly, fear of being picked up, but Rocky was a weird bird.) Even if you rescue, the hamster is probably raised in mills and the females could be pregnant because of incorrect sexing (although how you could do that with giant hamster balls is beyond me) but they're generally healthy and more friendly at pet stores.

It's really very area dependent. Here in NC, the shelters get a metric fuckton of hamsters because they were bought from pet stores, missexed. One of the shelters we cover got about 80 hamsters last year, 60+ of which were either too young to separate from mom or born at the shelter and handled daily by the staff. Most of them got euthanized too, because nobody will adopt a hamster from the shelter, because, yanno, they all "have issues" (like shelters dogs, amirite?)

Pet stores hamsters are, in my experience, equally likely to have ~*~issues~*~, be pregnant, and/or be sick, because they also come from mills but don't have the benefit of having been in a home environment, ever.

KasioDiscoRock
Nov 17, 2000

Are you alive?
I got my hamster from a rescue and she's awesome. She wasn't in a shelter though, she was raised in a foster home for about 3 months before I adopted her.

As for pet store hamsters, my cousin when I was a kid was one of the unlucky ones who purchased an already pregnant female. THAT was interesting.

INeedANewCrayon
Sep 6, 2005

Insert witty saying here
I finally went to get my current guinea pig, Daphne, a friend. I went to an event at a pet store that was being put on by the same shelter that I adopted Daphne from and there was basically a mini-Daphne, named Roo (Short hair, black and white). We plopped Daphne and Roo together to meet and they were happy as clams. No fighting, no dominance behavior, nothing that would indicate any problems. They were together for probably 10-15 minutes before it was just obvious that they were "meant" for each other.

At the recommendation of the woman I adopted Roo from, and against my better judgment, I put them in the same carrier for the ride home. My friend had the carrier in her lap and I'd say about 10 minutes after we left the store they were suddenly fighting. I pulled over as soon as it was safe and they had stopped fighting (after my friend and I basically just yelled and hit the sides of the carrier to try to distract them).

I pulled Daphne out and she had a bloody nose and a small cut on her lip. I cleaned her up as best I could and we separated her from Roo for the rest of the ride home (I had brought a small cardboard box for the new pig).

After we got home I wanted to try to "mend fences" and see if they could get along or what the heck happened. Daphne seemed to want nothing to do with Roo. I'm sure Daphne was stressed from the car ride, pet store, fight, injuries, etc. so I put them each in their respective cages.

Upon further inspection, I don't think it was the guinea pigs that drew blood, but the plastic of the carrier. There are these little window cut outs in the side and when I went to clean the blood off the inside I noticed that those edges are kind of sharp. My best guess is that with the fight and rolling around, she cut herself on the carrier. Roo didn't have a scratch on her and I only found a couple tufts of guinea pig hair in the carrier when I got home.

Should I be worried about Daphne's injuries? She seems unphased, is eating and drinking normally and she doesn't appear to be in pain when I touch the area. Should I talk to a vet and/or get something in case of infection?

Today we tried introducing them again. It was a lot of peeing and teeth chattering and raised neck fur. I left them to their own devices as much as I could but separated them before they became a ball of fur. Interestingly enough, it was Roo that was showing more of the dominance behavior. Daphne chattered her teeth a couple times and then chilled, but Roo kept pushing it.

They are both females. Daphne is about 2 years old and had been living with a neutered male before I adopted her (he had died). Roo is somewhere between 6-8 months old and had her brothers as cage mates for a short time before they were separated for obvious reasons. I guess I'm just feeling disheartened after things went so well when they first met. It was like a big sister/little sister dynamic. Did the car/carrier incident lead them to hating each other? Is there hope of them getting along? How long do you try to introduce them to one another? Should you do it every day? When do you give up?

Before I even adopted another guinea pig, I knew that them not getting along was a possibility and I have the space and resources to keep them in separate C&C cages. That really isn't my worry as much as I really think Daphne wants another friend to pal around with. I know I would never take Roo back to the shelter because she deserves a forever home as much as any other pig.

Maybe this post is premature, but any advice would be appreciated. I've read everything on here http://www.cavyspirit.com/sociallife.htm#Introductions and several other websites and I'm trying to be patient.

Rodent Mortician
Mar 17, 2009

SQUEAK.
What you describe is pretty consistent, typically whenever I do an introduction the pigs spend 20-30 minutes basically palling around on the ground before somebody decides that maybe this isn't just a casual social get together and then the fur yanking and teeth chattering start.

I don't think the carrier did anything but give them the reason to start the poo poo. Commit yourself to a day of pig humping, let them loose together in a kitchen or bathroom (just somewhere big and neutral) and step back unless someone starts bleeding. They'll hump their way to harmony or a bar fight.

kazmeyer
Jul 26, 2001

'Cause we're the good guys.

It's not terribly surprising - when Daphne was at the pet store, she was on neutral ground, and most pigs are too freaked out about new places to really start things. The carrier was Daphne's "turf", and all of a sudden there was a new pig in her house in very close quarters, which triggered the fight. Keep introducing them on as neutral turf as you can manage until they get used to each other, then clean the bejeezus out of whichever cage is going to be their permanent home and make it as different as possible so both pigs will think it's new territory. And yeah, you should only separate them if they start a furball, and for God's sake use gloves or a towel to do so. Anything up to drawing blood is part of the dominance ritual, and you have to let them work it out.

If they keep having issues after several introductions, you can try spraying your hands with a tiny bit of perfume or cologne, rubbing most of it off, and then wiping down their backs to subtly alter their scents. I've done that in a couple difficult introduction cases, and it really made an enormous difference. You just want to add a similar note to their individual scents, so they get confused and think they're related long enough to stop trying to kill each other.

INeedANewCrayon
Sep 6, 2005

Insert witty saying here
Just wanted to update that I'm taking Daphne to the vet tomorrow morning (appt at 8 am). Something is wrong with her ear. It's all swollen and there seems to be a small circular wound/scab. I don't know if it's infected or a hematoma or what. She's eating and drinking normally and hasn't lost any weight. I can touch her ear, but it seems to hurt her at the site of the scab.

The introductions will be on hold for a while until Daphne is all better.

Update: Took Daphne to the vet this morning and confirmed she has an aural hematoma. She going through surgery this afternoon and I will get to pick her up after work. I believe she will also be put on antibiotics (Trimethoprim).

Update 2: Surgery went well. She'll be on antibiotics for 10 days. Back to the vet for a follow up in a week.

INeedANewCrayon fucked around with this message at 04:45 on May 4, 2011

Emergency Squid
Dec 29, 2009
I got my first hamster yesterday, Pancake, and I'm worried that her water bottle is too low for her. I've tried raising the bottle up higher but because of the way the cage is designed it will only go up to about an inch and a half above the bedding and I'm not sure if she'll be able to drink out of it.

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy

Emergency Squid posted:

I got my first hamster yesterday, Pancake, and I'm worried that her water bottle is too low for her. I've tried raising the bottle up higher but because of the way the cage is designed it will only go up to about an inch and a half above the bedding and I'm not sure if she'll be able to drink out of it.

What is your cage setup like? I had one where it was built into the house. Not only was it too low, it was nearly impossible with a spring built in for her to get water out.

I bought a new waterbottle.

Stick a small bowl/lid with some water in it till you buy a new one if she looks like she is having trouble.

Emergency Squid
Dec 29, 2009

TLG James posted:

What is your cage setup like? I had one where it was built into the house. Not only was it too low, it was nearly impossible with a spring built in for her to get water out.

I bought a new waterbottle.

Stick a small bowl/lid with some water in it till you buy a new one if she looks like she is having trouble.

I got the cage secondhand from a friend, it has kinda domed plastic top half and a wire lid at the top of the cage. The water bottle it originally came with had been destroyed long ago so I got one that looked like it would work with the wire top. The bottle I got doesn't have a spring and it easily gives water, I'm just worried about her being able to use it.

HappyKitty
Jul 11, 2005

My fiancée and I just got two degus (Jacob and Wilhelm). I know that they tend to nibble on your fingers, but Jacob especially takes it too far. He starts off with light nibbles, but then starts to nibble harder and harder. He's drawn blood from my fiancée's roommate. Is that something that can be discouraged?

Also, it seems like their previous owner didn't know much about taking care of them; I don't think she ever gave them a dust bath. They don't really know what to do with the dust when we give it to them. They will roll around on the floor when we take them out to run around, but they won't roll in the dust. I'm worried that they will end up with bad skin if they don't learn :ohdear:

Rodent Mortician
Mar 17, 2009

SQUEAK.

HappyKitty posted:

My fiancée and I just got two degus (Jacob and Wilhelm). I know that they tend to nibble on your fingers, but Jacob especially takes it too far. He starts off with light nibbles, but then starts to nibble harder and harder. He's drawn blood from my fiancée's roommate. Is that something that can be discouraged?

Also, it seems like their previous owner didn't know much about taking care of them; I don't think she ever gave them a dust bath. They don't really know what to do with the dust when we give it to them. They will roll around on the floor when we take them out to run around, but they won't roll in the dust. I'm worried that they will end up with bad skin if they don't learn :ohdear:

When he starts nibbling, move your fingers? :downs:

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug
Going to get a pair of piggies when I move in a month and will have the space for a proper C&C cage. What do I do about floor time? I want to let them run around, but I'm afraid they will chew poo poo they shouldn't and piss on the floor.

Also, I'm kind of waffling back and forth between building the cage on the floor or building a table to put it on. Table has the benefit of having pigs at eye level and being easier to get at to clean, but downside is I'd have to build the drat table in the first place.


Finally, fleece. Who likes it? What do you as an underbedding under the fleece? The cavy cage forums seem to rave about it, and it does seem like it would be easier to keep clean. I'm mainly interested in whatever bedding is safe and comfy for the piggies, while being easy to keep smell free with a little daily maintenance.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Chin Strap posted:

Going to get a pair of piggies when I move in a month and will have the space for a proper C&C cage. What do I do about floor time? I want to let them run around, but I'm afraid they will chew poo poo they shouldn't and piss on the floor.

Buy two of these, skip the cover/mat: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+10431+17948&pcatid=17948 They double as a great way to keep pigs penned in when you take them outside to eat grass. Also when I use these inside I put a plastic sheet down on my floor then cover it with towels, then put the corrals on top. Works perfectly. Get three if you want a ton of space.

quote:

Also, I'm kind of waffling back and forth between building the cage on the floor or building a table to put it on. Table has the benefit of having pigs at eye level and being easier to get at to clean, but downside is I'd have to build the drat table in the first place.

Milk crates and a piece of plywood. If you wanna be fancy, sew a cover with flaps so you can't see any of it. Also doubles as an excellent place to store food, hay, toys or anything else.

quote:

Finally, fleece. Who likes it? What do you as an underbedding under the fleece? The cavy cage forums seem to rave about it, and it does seem like it would be easier to keep clean. I'm mainly interested in whatever bedding is safe and comfy for the piggies, while being easy to keep smell free with a little daily maintenance.

I swear by towels and fleece. When I made a new cage the last time I was thinking of making a huge step-by-step thread on how to make a C&C cage and fleece bedding but I never got around to it.

When I first did fleece I sewed two towels plus a fleece layer together, but I found that its a lot harder for the dryer to dry something three layers thick. Now I have two sets of two layers. The top is a layer of fleece sewn to a towel. The bottom layer is two layers of towels sewn together. So essentially its four layers of bedding, but separated into two sets. If this is confusing let me know and I'll post some pictures when I get home.

My pigs love the fleece, and I love it too. Easy to clean, no dust, it never stinks, and I can pick out crazy fun patterns and make matching sets. The downsides to fleece are its a bigger investment upfront, and if you sew all the layers together like I do, is a bit of work to get them put together. You will spend more time/money doing laundry as well. Because of my apartment I may or may not be saving any money by using fleece.

Protips if you switch to fleece:

-You MUST buy a hand vacuum. I have one that was $25 that I use every morning to sweep up all the poop. Trying to scoop it up by hand isn't worth the aggravation and money savings.
-Have a haybox that you fill with a bedding you can toss, like CareFresh. Pigs do most of their business where they eat, which is going to be where they are eating hay. I have a haybox that I change the bedding in 2x a week, it REALLY cuts down on the smell, and I don't have to worry about getting the hay off the fleece (it sticks to it really well)

Sirotan fucked around with this message at 17:53 on May 10, 2011

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug
Thanks sirotan!

Fleece does sound really good then. I'll be keeping the cage in the dining room most likely so that they are in a common space where they get lots of loving, so I want a bedding that I can keep clean and smell reduced so that when I do have people over to dine they aren't thrown off by the pig smell. Also in the apartment I'm moving to I have a private washer/dryer so at least I'll save on quarters.

I'm thinking instead of milk crates I'll get two small bookcases or plastic drawer things for even more storage.

Other questions:

How fast would 2 pigs go through hay and pellets?

If I can't find good hay in person, is buying online from somewhere like KMS Hayloft really feasible for the long term?

What sort of towels do you use? Just normal bath towels? How does it not start smelling like pee really fast? How often do you have to vacuum the poo and how often do you replace the fleece and towels?

Thanks again! I've had a cat for a while, but no room for piggies before. I'm really looking forward to the move so I can build a cage and get some.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Chin Strap posted:

If I can't find good hay in person, is buying online from somewhere like KMS Hayloft really feasible for the long term?

Thats what I did with my last batch of hay since it was out of season for the farms in town. I want to say I ordered 60lbs it 3-4 months ago and have at least half the box left, and that's with three pigs. I really can't comment on the pellets, I honestly don't keep track of it. I got some from KMS recently though when one of my pigs developed a bladder stone.

Chin Strap posted:

What sort of towels do you use? Just normal bath towels? How does it not start smelling like pee really fast? How often do you have to vacuum the poo and how often do you replace the fleece and towels?

The cheapest towels I could find, usually something from Target, they don't need to be fancy. I also try to get white towels, because if a pig has any kind of weird colored discharge or is bleeding, it would be easier to see it with white towels. That may be something to think about too when buying fleece. If you buy something that is really dark with a busy pattern, it may be more difficult to monitor their output. However, do not buy white fleece. It will look really really grody after a couple of days.

I vacuum their poops once every morning, and every once in a blue moon I'll do it later in the evening if they've been getting a lot of snacks. But I have three pigs so you would need to do it less. I clean their entire cage including changing the bedding once every 6 or 7 days. The hay box is cleaned out once every 3 days.

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug
Thanks again Siro. I'm sure I'll have more questions once I adopt some pigs.

INeedANewCrayon
Sep 6, 2005

Insert witty saying here
I also use fleece and I love it. My pig has seemed so much happier since I started using it. Before she would kick all the bedding out of her house and sleep on the floor of the (C&C) cage.

I found a great deal at Walmart for fleece. They have these kits that are supposed to be used to make fleece blankets, but I use them to line the cage (as far as I know the craft police aren't going to come and take me away). They fit perfectly in a 2 x 3 without cutting and it comes with one patterned and one plain piece for about $13. I hang mine over the sides of the base and use binder clips to secure them. Daphne is a digger/burrower, so I didn't want to just tuck the sides under and find a pig under layers of towels and fleece when I got home.

For pellets I use the Oxbow Cavy Cuisine and with one pig it took me a few months to go through it. I have 2 now, but it's only been two weeks, so I can't really gauge.

kazmeyer
Jul 26, 2001

'Cause we're the good guys.

Yeah, KM's works out to be a pretty decent deal compared to pet store hay, although you can probably beat the prices if you've got feed stores or farms in your area. Pretty much since she opened her doors, all my hay has come FedEx from Idaho. :)

Bastard Tetris
Apr 27, 2005

L-Shaped


Nap Ghost
Our pigs are so happy with fleece but they are messy as hell. Hay and three sizes of poops all over. Is it possible to get the pigs to poop in a raised litter box with the hay rack on one side? Or are they too old for potty training?

Edit: Oh yeah the cage cubes at Bed Bath and Beyond are the proper size, if Target doesn't have it.

Bastard Tetris fucked around with this message at 05:45 on May 11, 2011

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug

Sirotan posted:

Thats what I did with my last batch of hay since it was out of season for the farms in town.

Tell me about this please. It seems like if you do it right and in season this would be by far the cheapest way to get good hay. But how do you find a hay vendor that has quality hay that is good for guinea pigs? Or if I have a local pet store that has the super premium cat and dog foods, will I be able to find some good hay there too? The KMS stuff looks good, but the shipping to Pittsburgh is almost double the actual cost of the hay. But if I have to do that for good piggies I can.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Chin Strap posted:

Tell me about this please. It seems like if you do it right and in season this would be by far the cheapest way to get good hay. But how do you find a hay vendor that has quality hay that is good for guinea pigs? Or if I have a local pet store that has the super premium cat and dog foods, will I be able to find some good hay there too? The KMS stuff looks good, but the shipping to Pittsburgh is almost double the actual cost of the hay. But if I have to do that for good piggies I can.

It really a matter of preference but I like to get second cut timothy if I can, and that's in season around July/August. Last year I got a bale of it from an older gentleman with a farm and it was like $5. Lasted me almost an entire year, but I ran out before it was in season again. Before I bought some from KMS several months back I basically scoured Craigslist and called a few farm feed stores around where I live but no one had bales that were exclusively Timothy (it was late in the season).

If you can get a bale locally its definitely the way to go. The most I've ever paid for one was $6 and took 8 months to go through. As long as you can be sure what you are getting doesn't contain any alfalfa I think it will be good for pigs. Certainly you can read online about the different types of hay and how the first/second/third cuttings vary. You can use the term "horse-quality" hay to search/give people an idea of what you are looking for. Just do a visual inspection before you buy it. Make sure its still green, doesn't look dried out, no mold etc. Really I think that would be sufficient.

Edit: Here's a good resource - http://www.guineapigcages.com/hay.htm

Sirotan fucked around with this message at 20:35 on May 11, 2011

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Double posting because my bestest pig ever turned 6 today! :toot: :toot:


I made her a birthday 'cake':


My mom got her a card :3:


Cucumbers yum yum yum:


:toot:

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy

HappyKitty posted:

My fiancée and I just got two degus (Jacob and Wilhelm). I know that they tend to nibble on your fingers, but Jacob especially takes it too far. He starts off with light nibbles, but then starts to nibble harder and harder. He's drawn blood from my fiancée's roommate. Is that something that can be discouraged?

Also, it seems like their previous owner didn't know much about taking care of them; I don't think she ever gave them a dust bath. They don't really know what to do with the dust when we give it to them. They will roll around on the floor when we take them out to run around, but they won't roll in the dust. I'm worried that they will end up with bad skin if they don't learn :ohdear:

Degus pics please??

I think I would try with some larger dust containers and put them inside.

Rocket Wizard
Jun 9, 2007
The thing that went "parp" went "parp".
I have two chinchillas one is 7 (Kilala) and one is 6 years old (Ruby). They've been in sort of long term foster with a friend for a year since my somewhat temporary apartment won't let me have pets. I've seen them and been checking on them while they were there. All of a sudden Kilala dropped a bunch of weight, from 650g or so down to 570g. I took her to the vet and he checked her teeth and did a fecal and we determined there wasn't anything obvious going on. The person taking care of her said they got a bad batch of hay and she quit eating it for a week or so before they noticed and bought more. The other chin is fine, huge in fact at 780g.

I took them to the vet again today after giving Kilala critical care for a few weeks (I was out of town for some of it but she was supposedly eating the CC with no trouble). She's actually lost more weight, down to 530g. I took her home with me to be more controlling about the feedings, I actually have both of them with me since she tends to get upset when she's alone and bites cage bars and stuff. The vet said she might have a stomach problem or it could be cancer or her teeth and he just can't get the scope in her mouth far enough to see (she was jerking around a lot) and wants me to bring her in tomorrow to get x-rays under sedation. I saw her eating pellets and she ate half a batch of CC in one sitting, with some pain meds just in case, so I'm not sure how she still lost weight.

Anyway, has anyone else had a problem like this. I'm terrified since the vet used the C-word as a possibility because of her age. Has anyone had a situation like this where they seem to be eating but aren't gaining/keeping weight?

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug

Sirotan posted:

:toot:

That is awesome you are awesome. Thanks again for all the advice Siro I'll be sure to post pics when we get some. There is an awesome rescue about 20 minutes away we will probably go to. But can't do it until we move, which is 3 weeks away :(

INeedANewCrayon
Sep 6, 2005

Insert witty saying here
Happy Birthday Sirotan's Pig! :toot:

On a slightly unrelated note. Is there a hand vac that anyone would recommend that I buy (or one to stay away from) to use to clean the guinea pig cage? I have been sweeping up the mess, but it's a pain with the fleece and the actual vaccuum scares the pigs.

Awesome Kristin
May 9, 2008

yum yum yum

Rocket Wizard posted:

Anyway, has anyone else had a problem like this. I'm terrified since the vet used the C-word as a possibility because of her age. Has anyone had a situation like this where they seem to be eating but aren't gaining/keeping weight?

Do a search or post in this forum: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/index.php

Sometimes they can be a bit blunt if you're doing something wrong but these people are experts and really care about chinchillas.

Good luck.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


INeedANewCrayon posted:

Happy Birthday Sirotan's Pig! :toot:

On a slightly unrelated note. Is there a hand vac that anyone would recommend that I buy (or one to stay away from) to use to clean the guinea pig cage? I have been sweeping up the mess, but it's a pain with the fleece and the actual vaccuum scares the pigs.

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Devil-BD10050RED-Scorpion-Cordless/dp/B002D47XOC/ref=sr_1_106?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1305218631&sr=1-106

It was like $25 at a local store, this is actually the second one I've bought. It works perfect for me and isn't so strong that it tries to suck up the fleece. The only downside is after a while the battery starts to lose its charge, so I got the new one recently to replace my first that I had for a couple of years. Worth the $25 though.

Do not buy this one, it is poo poo: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-4-8-Volt-Cordless-CHV4800/dp/B0007XOHI6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1305218539&sr=8-5

Rocket Wizard
Jun 9, 2007
The thing that went "parp" went "parp".
Well I just heard back from the vet and her teeth are perfect and there's nothing wrong with her. The next step is to separate them to see if Ruby's food bullying so maybe Kilala will put weight back on if they're fed separately. It's both a huge relief and kinda bad news, but I did just buy them a Ferret Nation so they can be separated if necessary. They just like cuddling so much :(

Bastard Tetris
Apr 27, 2005

L-Shaped


Nap Ghost

INeedANewCrayon posted:

Happy Birthday Sirotan's Pig! :toot:

On a slightly unrelated note. Is there a hand vac that anyone would recommend that I buy (or one to stay away from) to use to clean the guinea pig cage? I have been sweeping up the mess, but it's a pain with the fleece and the actual vaccuum scares the pigs.

I just got some shitbox bagless, you mainly want a weak one that's not loud and won't suck up the fleece.

Diogines
Dec 22, 2007

Beaky the Tortoise says, click here to join our choose Your Own Adventure Game!

Paradise Lost: Clash of the Heavens!

Any tips to tell if my guinea pig is happy, tolerating something, or too terrified to even cry out? My guinea pigs never really like "lap" top, so I tried the burrito roll some have suggested. They SEEM calm, but I can't really judge. When I put her back in her enclosure and unwrapped the towel she RAN, seemingly panicking for a moment.

Was she adjusting to getting out, afraid of being exposed, or unhappy in the towel?

Diogines fucked around with this message at 04:02 on May 13, 2011

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cat with hands
Mar 14, 2006

When I shit I like to scream "WORSHIP THE GOD EMPEROR ON HIS GOLDEN THRONE." Mom hates it.

Diogines posted:

Any tips to tell if my guinea pig is happy, tolerating something, or too terrified to even cry out? My guinea pigs never really like "lap" top, so I tried the burrito roll some have suggested. They SEEM calm, but I can't really judge. When I put her back in her enclosure and unwrapped the towel she RAN, seemingly panicking for a moment.

Was she adjusting to getting out, afraid of being exposed, or unhappy in the towel?

A tense guinea pig put a lot of weight on the tip of the paws, ready to scramble. Try making the roll again but make it thin in the bottom so you can feel if your pigs feet. It might take several minutes but the feeling when the pig relaxes and puts more weight on the lags and belly is very distinct.

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