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Gerbil point of view here, which are also something I can recommend as first pets since they are not exactly hard to take care of. 1. They're easy. Most effort requiring thing is cleaning their aquarium (don't get a cage if possible). Gerbils are desert creatures and don't piss and smell much, so a decent size aquarium can easily hold even couple weeks between cleaning. With some mini-maintenance, even longer if it's a large aquarium with a thick layer of bedding. 2. I don't have any minimum numbers at hand and don't want to pull them out of my arse, but like I said earlier, I'd recommend aquarium. Bigger the better of course. Height is a good thing here as you can dump a lot of bedding in there to allow them to create their underground empire. 3. You should get at least a pair. If the breeded happens to have 3 sisters or something, go ahead and take them all. 3 gerbs don't really require much more than 2. 4. I've never traveled with mine, but I don't see an issue there. 5. Your gerbs temperament and personality is very much in line with the caretaker. If your daughter is not going to be monstrous towards them, chances are they'll be cool. Some of mine have been bitey when young, but they've always grown out of it.
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Jun 12, 2014 05:39
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What the crap? My cat just swatted at a pig through the cage. We don't even have a top on since she has been completely disinterested (sometimes avoiding them when they've been noisy/out and about) but just now one was going for water and she stuck her paw through to tap the pig. Looks like I'll have to put it on a table and get a top now if the cat is going to start doing this. I've had them nearly 2 years and this is the first time she's gone out of her way to interact in ANY fashion.
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Jun 12, 2014 06:01
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Solution: get rid of the cat, cats are assholes.
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Jun 12, 2014 06:26
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Jedit posted:If you're keeping hamsters in a cage 12" by 6" by 6", you're a cruel bastard who should not be allowed to have pets. A full grown Syrian can be as long as 7" at full stretch - it wouldn't be able to stretch out or stand up. I've never seen a hamster cage that was less than 8" high, 18" long and 12" deep. I pretty much pulled numbers out of my rear end there and should have looked more into it. Last time I had hamsters was around ten to fifteen years ago and I'm probably misremembering how big the actual cage was. (and my dyscalculia doesn't help me remembering it either) Sorry about the misinformation!
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Jun 12, 2014 10:22
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Captain Invictus posted:snag their anus on part of the mesh and ripped part of their intestines out their anus. Thanks - I've read that hamsters should have a wheel that doesn't have gaps. How do you figure out what sized ball/wheel is appropriate? If you get a 'new' hamster which I assume is young do you want to get a smaller ball/wheel and then as they become adult get a larger size of each? Your hamster picking strategy seems solid. Will definitely have to work on her attention span. My daughter's easily distracted. Ishkibibble_Fish posted:They're not extremely fluffy, but you should look into degus. They might handle the travel better than some other rodents, can be very affectionate if socialized (not cuddly, per se, but they'll want to sit on you/ be groomed/petted), are clever, live longer than rats, and are cute and extremely fascinating. They do need a large cage, but height is much better than width. I have two chinchillas now (would NOT recommend those), but drat if I don't miss the personality of my 'goos. Never even heard of Degu until now, though they look adorable. I don't think cuddly is exactly what I meant, I guess more 'likes being around humans'. Their traits sound very interesting. Main problem is I think we'd need to set up a vacation home habitat at the cottage so a little more potential investment there. Will definitely do more research. I had considered a chinchilla so appreciate being warned off. several people posted:Guinea Pig Stuff This was originally my first choice, they seemed perfect. Someone early in this thread posted recommending that a pig have about 7 1/2 square feet of horizontal space in its habitat though which seems pretty prohibitive. Hearing that going out of town on weekends may upset them is also troubling. Fewd posted:Gerbils I was thinking they may be good, they seem to be diurnal and social. I kind of like the idea of there being 2 or 3 that play with each other (you mentioned 3 sisters, seems like most people say get multiple males of rodents as females can be aggressive with each other, are gerbils different?). I suggested it to the wife last night and she wasn't a fan. Too mouse-like I guess, I don't really get it, we'll have to discuss it more. I'm not worried about my daughter's temperament - she's a sweetheart though I guess she could annoy them with her love.
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Jun 12, 2014 14:08
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imbrium posted:I was thinking they may be good, they seem to be diurnal and social. I kind of like the idea of there being 2 or 3 that play with each other (you mentioned 3 sisters, seems like most people say get multiple males of rodents as females can be aggressive with each other, are gerbils different?). I suggested it to the wife last night and she wasn't a fan. Too mouse-like I guess, I don't really get it, we'll have to discuss it more. I'm not worried about my daughter's temperament - she's a sweetheart though I guess she could annoy them with her love. While they are social, note that they are still leaps and bounds more skittish than, lets say rats for example. Some patience and sunflower seeds are needed before The Hand is welcome. Can't speak for other rodents, but gerbil siblings get along famously in most cases. I've had both male and female siblingpiles and they've never fought. And, well... too mouse-like? 
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Jun 12, 2014 15:30
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Fewd posted:While they are social, note that they are still leaps and bounds more skittish than, lets say rats for example. Some patience and sunflower seeds are needed before The Hand is welcome. But you need to get same-gender siblings? And will the store know if they're siblings or not - is it assume all the ones in the same cage are related? Not sure what she's on about. She actually grew up with these sorts of pets (for me it was dogs) so I don't know why she'd be weird about it. The humane society in my city actually has a pretty decent write-up (except it seems to indicate a wheel with rungs is okay when it really seems like it's a terrible idea): http://ottawahumane.ca/your-pets/gerbils.cfm When compared to their hamster writeup it seems to recommend gerbils more for kids than hamsters (http://ottawahumane.ca/your-pets/hamsters.cfm)
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Jun 12, 2014 15:39
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imbrium posted:Thanks - I've read that hamsters should have a wheel that doesn't have gaps. How do you figure out what sized ball/wheel is appropriate? If you get a 'new' hamster which I assume is young do you want to get a smaller ball/wheel and then as they become adult get a larger size of each? And thanks man. 
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Jun 12, 2014 17:22
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imbrium posted:But you need to get same-gender siblings? And will the store know if they're siblings or not - is it assume all the ones in the same cage are related? Absolutely same gender. That is, unless you want to have... many gerbils. Many. You should ask at the store and make sure they are siblings and same gender. If they don't know, do your best imitation of  and walk away.You could also check for any local forums for breeders. That's a good way to get what you want. I'm not sure where you're from but you might be able to find some place where breeders post their litters and let you reserve gerbs for when they are old enough to move into a new home. That's a good thing as a new gerbperson as you can also have a chat with the breeder. Fewd fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 05:55
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Fewd posted:You should ask at the store and make sure they are siblings and same gender. If they don't know, do your best imitation of Typically if they don't know, they won't tell you they don't know. They'll bundle up 2 "girls" and let you discover the fun surprise for yourself. Just FYI.
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Jun 13, 2014 14:48
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Rodent Mortician posted:Typically if they don't know, they won't tell you they don't know. They'll bundle up 2 "girls" and let you discover the fun surprise for yourself. Just FYI. It was a long time ago so details are eluding me, but I was pairing a new ~girl~ gerb (most likely from store) with a younger one whose buddy had died. I'm not a huge fan of unannounced surprise babies entering my life on any level, but there you go. One day there simply were 3-5ish red nuggets in the bedding. Two were still alive  and lived.  It's for the best to learn to sex them yourself to be sure. There's a guide for searching balls over here.
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Jun 13, 2014 15:33
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Just a little update, came down to Gerbil vs. Hamster. In the end we took it to Youtube and played cute videos of both for my daughter and Hamster was the winner. Hard to beat stuffing three baby carrots in your cheeks then climbing up a tube. Ordered gear from amazon which should come next week then we'll head out to the store to find the least bitey one we can. I appreciate all the advice, it helped a ton.
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Jun 14, 2014 18:23
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Say hello to my leetle friend:
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Jun 14, 2014 18:47
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I'd just like to plug a product that I just purchased a new batch of this weekend for the first time in about two years: http://www.papershavings.com/large_animal_bedding.php  It's basically just recycled paper (made with non-toxic vegetable dyes) which has been processed into tiny pieces for use as animal bedding. I think the original intent was to use it for horses, but a couple years back at a pet expo a dealer was giving away free samples of this stuff and I brought it home to use in my guinea pig's hay box. I use fleece for my bedding primarily, but they have a hay box inside the cage filled with bedding (previously Carefresh) that I will empty at least once in between cage cleanings, since they tend to do so much of their business in there while eating. Anyway, the sample was a real hit with my pigs. Very low to no dust and did about as well as Carefresh at reducing that ammonia odor, at least for a couple of days. The best part: two years ago I bought 4 of the 12cu/ft bales for the low low price of ~$7/bale, and I've only just this weekend had to buy more of it. It is so incredibly cheap, I encourage you to check out their website to see if you have any dealers nearby. Buy a bale of it and see how well it works for you, you will save a ton of $$$.
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Jun 16, 2014 01:54
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No PA dealers  I use carefresh but it isn't cheap.
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Jun 16, 2014 12:15
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Chin Strap posted:No PA dealers Check local feed stores if you have any instead of pet stores. Our local theisens sells care fresh for $6 less a bag than our Petco.
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Jun 16, 2014 16:01
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We've finally decided to give our two guinea pigs a bit more room and get them one of the C&C cages, and when it arrives I'm taking the opportunity to try toilet training them. Currently they have woodshavings for bedding, so I'm planning on switching to something else (fleece?) and filling a corner litter tray with woodshavings to encourage them to use it. Has anyone else had success with toilet training pigs? Is this a fool's errand?
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Jun 16, 2014 23:40
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Switching to fleece is a great idea, and having a little corner box filed with bedding to also put your hay in (because it sticks to the fleece and it's hard to get off) is also a great idea, since pigs like to do most of their business where they eat, but they aren't going to start only pooping in that one place all on their own. While I've heard of people who have litter-trained their pigs, I don't know how actually feasible it is and honestly I think it would be more effort than it's worth unless you plan on letting your pigs roam free around your house.
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Jun 17, 2014 00:34
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My chinchilla just poops everywhere but she specifically pees in the two rear corners of the bottom level of her cage so I place folded paper towels there on top of the fleece and change them daily. I'm okay with just scooping the poops by hand but removing pee-soaked towels allows me to monitor urine color and quantity, and keep the smell to a minimum. It also wicks pee away from her fur so her tummy stays nice and fluffy and clean. Sometimes she'll sit in her potty corner and do her lady-business while chewing on an alfalfa cube and/or the corner of the paper towel. It's ridiculously adorable.
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Jun 17, 2014 05:52
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Party Boat posted:We've finally decided to give our two guinea pigs a bit more room and get them one of the C&C cages, and when it arrives I'm taking the opportunity to try toilet training them. Currently they have woodshavings for bedding, so I'm planning on switching to something else (fleece?) and filling a corner litter tray with woodshavings to encourage them to use it. My old pigs seemed to learn on their own that newspaper was the best place to pee on when out during floor time (We'd set up a box they could hide in with some newspaper to sit/pee on), but it's a fool's errand to try stopping them from pooping wherever they want.
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Jun 17, 2014 06:07
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Thanks for the responses! I experimented during floor time tonight and put a few paper towels down underneath their pigloo and sure enough they went back there every 10 minutes or so to wee or poo and chew the towels a bit. Nothing at all ended up outside the pigloo... until they both tried to get in at once and shoved it around a bit.  But I'm really impressed as apparently they're self toilet-trained and I never knew. I just assumed rodents = wee and poo all day err dayWhen the new cage gets here I'll try switching them over to fleece bedding (we use fleece for floor time so it's great that they seem averse to going on it if alternatives are available) and a litter tray, maybe a covered one if that will encourage them to go more.
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Jun 17, 2014 21:08
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We had to put one of my pigs down last night. I was giving them carrots and the smaller one wasn't able to stand on her hind legs, she'd try and fall over. Within 10 minutes (while I was on the phone to set up an appointment) she would only lie down places on her side and sort of stumble over to a different place if she wanted to. By the time we got her to the ER she was lying on her side in the carrier only kicking her back legs over and over. She had a fever of 107, and if they could attempt the full 2 night regime they needed to do (she never regained consciousness so they would have to force feed) they were pretty sure there would be brain damage anyway. We said goodbye there and they did the thing. The other one doesn't seem to have noticed at all since they were technically bonded but never cuddled or slept in the same igloo. I need to find her a friend now I guess.  Oh and they have no idea what happened. They found no obvious sign of infection, and the other one seems perfectly normal. I'm still bringing her to a vet's asap anyway. I was going to bring them both in sometime this week since we just moved and there's one about a block away.
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Jun 18, 2014 14:01
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Had she been eating ok up until that point? If not, it's possible it was something like gut stasis and her stomach had been ruptured, which would explain the infection. Probably the only way to know for sure is to get a necropsy, which even then isn't a guarantee. Sorry for your loss. You may indeed see the other pig begin to grieve for her lost buddy, depending on how you feel about the whole situation getting a new friend sooner rather than later is probably better.
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Jun 18, 2014 14:52
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She had always been skinnier than her sister but was much thinner than usual when feeding her last night. I blame myself a bit for not examining them closely for the past few days. We just moved (i'm sure the stress didn't help) and I wasn't able to give them a lot of attention for a few days. I'll have to see how soon I can get a friend for the remaining pig, I'll be giving her much more attention than normal until then.
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Jun 18, 2014 15:11
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Don't blame yourself for rodent problems. Rodents have a really bad habit of going south incredibly quickly, and while it's good to keep an eye on them, sometimes some things just aren't readily apparent until it's far too late. Sometimes they just have strokes/aneurysms/heart attacks too, or get infections. One of our pigs when we still had them had a foot infection on the bottom of her foot that got really bad really fast because she kept sitting in her own pee right after going, and so it got all gross and weepy. When we noticed she had a limp and found the infection, we took her to the vet but they had to amputate it, but it was too stressful an operation(she was old) and she died shortly after anyways. Sometimes even your best efforts are still not enough, and you have to accept it, as rodents are extremely fragile health-wise and there's very little we can do, most vets I've been to don't even treat small rodents. Please don't beat yourself up over it.
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Jun 18, 2014 21:41
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I need some help with a jerk mouse. I have a pair of female mice. They've been living together for about 2 weeks with no issues. However two days ago, one, Sneakers, started attacking the other, Zee for no discernible reason. At first there was no blood drawn and no visible injuries so I figured they'd work things out. But yesterday I came home to find Zee with two large wounds, one on each shoulder, and some blood on their litter. I immediately separated them and placed Zee in a spare tank we have. I cleaned up her wounds and today she seems to be fine, eating and drinking normally. Mice are social animals though, correct? I'm afraid if I put them back together after Zee's wounds heal they will continue to fight. I'm also worried if I introduce a new mouse to Sneakers she'll beat the crap out of it. Or if a new mouse is introduced to Zee, she'll be injured again. What would be the best course of action?
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Jun 20, 2014 04:04
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So my degus finally figured out after months and months that although the small animal pen I had for them was 12 inches tall, when stretched out they were close to 8, and could climb over it pretty easily in the past two weeks. Even the non trouble maker (Louise) one started to do this every time we had turned our backs. My solution to this was to buy 24 inch tall dog pen, and zip tie the old small animal pen around the outside, with strips of cardboard woven through on top of the white pen, like so:  Thelma figured out she could still climb it and squeeze out through the larger black bars, so I added the other small animal pen around the top, it's the yellow and red bars on top of the white bars. I didn't take a picture of this, but Thelma still was able to climb up and over the top of the two foot pen. So this is starting to piss me off, we kept threatening to make them into soup or trade them in for guinea pigs. Next step was to go to the hardware store and buy a roll of wire mesh, and make a curled over topper, sort of like a tiny maximum security prison.  This seems to be secure, Thelma has tried to climb it and stops at the top, confused before climbing back down in defeat. I'm so happy I have managed t outsmart her, this thing turned into a frustrating two day project with too many escapes and capture attempts. Now we can leave the door open and the ladder in place while people are home and let them have much more room to run around in, and close the door to the cage at night when we go to bed.   NOT SO SMUG NOW HUH?
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Jun 21, 2014 23:44
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That is a god damned palace
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Jun 22, 2014 02:13
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This one is the best picture, you can see her looking up, probably thinking "Goddam it!" I have no kids, so this is where I burn so much money.
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Jun 22, 2014 07:24
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That's amazing. You just need a trained mouse with a rifle in a watchtower. We've constructed the new cage for our pigs, unfortunately the toilet training hasn't gone so well. I got a large corner litter tray and filled it with their old bedding (throwing a few poops in to encourage them) and they pretty much ignored it and went wherever. I'm wondering if all the change was too much for them and have switched it for the paper towel lined poophaus we use during floortime. Hopefully I can use something familiar to get them used to going in a particular spot and then think about switching things up.
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Jun 22, 2014 07:50
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Clone Farmer posted:I'm so happy I have managed t outsmart her The moment you have lived for.
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Jun 22, 2014 08:28
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Truly, we are the pinnacle of the evolutionary intelligence ladder when we feel accomplished for outsmarting eagle food. The left side is an aluminum door screen stapled to wooden planks (studs?) to make a metal scroll over the fridge that sits on a 2" ledge. We can roll the scroll up and keep it in the corner when the chinchilla's not out. Without this barrier she would crawl under the fridge or behind the stove and poop all over and climb on my clean pizza trays in that stove drawer from a gap in the back. The boxes on the right keep her from jumping up to the 3' counter from the floor or hopping over from the table. She learned the garbage can (to the far right, not in view) is not a stable platform only after falling through the swinging lid twice. Fortunately for her I'd recently changed the liner so she didn't fall in anything gross, although she was frazzled and good times were had by all humans laughing at her expense. I have also learned that her main goal for climbing on the counter is to poop behind the microwave or shimmy straight down the gap behind the stove like a tiny fuzzy Jackie Chan. 
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Jun 26, 2014 20:13
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My guinea pigs decided to eat part of a plastic target bag, and I'm panicking Last night It finally was warm enough to move the piggies into our bedroom , which is the only air conditioned room in our apartment, and I must not have been paying attention, because when I got home from work today I noticed they had dragged the torn up bag into their cage. Most of the bag is accounted for but maybe a piece 4"x3" is missing. I'm not sure if it was one or both who decided hay wasn't tasty enough. They won't touch a cucumber, but plastic is ok? Im keeping an eye on them to make sure the poos aren't blocked, but I feel so bad! Anyone have experience with this or know what else to keep an eye on besides eating and poo? They seem fine right now, but I'm not sure if I should call their vet in the morning or just wait a couple of days.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:35
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They are probably just fine. I've had plenty of pigs chew on plastic stuff they should not have, from the old shower curtains I put down underneath towels for floor time (there's a couple big holes in it, from times they've burrowed under the towels before I caught them), to the coroplast hay box in their cage right now. You'll know pretty quick one way or the other, it doesn't take too long for food to go from end to end in a pig. I honestly wouldn't even worry too much, but keep an eye on them, if they are eating and acting ok tomorrow morning then I'd say you are in the clear. I don't think a vet would be able to do much, anyway.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:43
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In my haste to get him back in his cage and go wash my hands/change my shirt after Max the hamster peed in my shirt, I accidentally left his cage door unlatched(it's spring-loaded but I missed the part it locks into and the door just stayed there by force of gravity) and he pushed it open and escaped. I didn't notice until I heard chewing coming from inside the wall, after trying to free him(and only succeeding in getting quite a loud and amusing amount of protesting from him), to keep him from accidentally falling down one of the many gaps in the house framing, I took a pick hammer to the wall. A minute later and he was freed, covered in plaster and insulation, screeching and squeaking and grunting and huffing constantly. I hope he didn't eat anything horrible while he was in there. I gave him a quick bath in the sink, and he hilariously shrunk to 2/3 his normal size as all his fur immediately flattened to his body. It was like giving a dog shower to a Pomeranian. He was also not pleased with this. I'm not sure if he ate any plaster or insulation. Coming into contact with either won't hurt him, will it? He was most definitely chewing on the plaster as he tried to escape from the wall, as he'd managed to squeeze himself in but couldn't get himself back out. I really hope he didn't eat any insulation because that seems like exactly the sort of thing that would kill him dead in short order. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jul 3, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 03:14
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Captain Invictus posted:In my haste to get him back in his cage and go wash my hands/change my shirt after Max the hamster peed in my shirt, I accidentally left his cage door unlatched(it's spring-loaded but I missed the part it locks into and the door just stayed there by force of gravity) and he pushed it open and escaped. I didn't notice until I heard chewing coming from inside the wall, after trying to free him(and only succeeding in getting quite a loud and amusing amount of protesting from him), to keep him from accidentally falling down one of the many gaps in the house framing, I took a pick hammer to the wall. A minute later and he was freed, covered in plaster and insulation, screeching and squeaking and grunting and huffing constantly. I hope he didn't eat anything horrible while he was in there. He'd be okay encountering plaster, assuming he didn't inhale a big lungful of the dust or eat a bunch of it. Coming in contact with insulation is probably not good for him but I doubt he'll be ill after being around it for a short time, also assuming he didn't eat any of it. If it makes you feel any better, I had an elderly hamster take a vacation in our floor for 5 days where some definite attempted-escape-chewing happened, and he went on to live another 7 months with no major issues, to almost 3 years old (and now we have an arm-sized hole in the floor!!). Your lil guy might be a bit "off" for a few days but I suspect he'll be alright.
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Jul 3, 2014 13:48
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Just lost one of my little Russian Dwarf's out of the blue. She suffered from Diabetes, but I was careful with her diet and intake, I think she may of had a stroke in the night, and didn't have the strength to go on. R.I.P Salt, Pepper will miss you
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Jul 8, 2014 23:48
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I'm sorry to hear that, x239marine I have more bad hamster news myself... we've gotta take Princess Hamerella to be put down tomorrow. She's been bleeding daily from her tumor, and her grooming is getting so bad that she's starting to pull at her whiskers. I love you, Ham, even if you are a hateful creature who only understands hunger and fear.
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Jul 9, 2014 01:28
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I really hate talk about this tent but why have you come to this decision? I know she's had it for a few months
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Jul 9, 2014 05:45
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Adult Sword Owner posted:I really hate talk about this tent but why have you come to this decision? I know she's had it for a few months It's always a quality of life issue. Hamsters don't live all that long anyway, so if a fuzzy comes down with something that doesn't take them right away it's possible that they might last a normal lifetime. I had a hamster who got pouch cancer and she lived past two years with just a lump; she would stuff only on one side to avoid hurting. But if it gets really bad like this and yet they still linger on, it's more merciful to spare them a few months of suffering.
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Jul 9, 2014 19:30
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