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I will never loving understand how it makes any sense from an evolutionary standpoint for pigs to have the vocal capabilities that they do. 
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Oct 7, 2014 13:18
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| # ? May 21, 2024 11:11 |
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dj_clawson posted:Basically I bought the biggest, most see-through bin Home Depot had, and the top doesn't snap on well, so I usually put something heavy on it if I'm going out, but otherwise I don't worry too much. I've left it open and watched her, and she cannot get up there when it's open. I did a horrible job on the walls, so I'd rather not mesh anything else. Also how would meshing the lid help? I think normally you'd mesh the lid for better ventilation but looking again your bin looks really well ventilated anyway so yeah you probably wouldn't need to. The walls look fine to me, I don't know how some people manage to get theirs so neat if you're supposed to be able to do it with just like a boxcutter. I usually just let Butts hop into her ball if she's coming out of her cage, she isn't great with being scooped up and has a bad habit of leaping for freedom so its just easier and less stressful for everyone to use the ball instead. She can come out of she wants or not bother and she can hop back into it when she's finished exploring too. Everything is very much on her terms 
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Oct 7, 2014 14:24
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Xoidanor posted:I will never loving understand how it makes any sense from an evolutionary standpoint for pigs to have the vocal capabilities that they do. I've always assumed that their ability to breed as fast as tribbles means that any other selective pressure on pigs gets hosed into irrelevancy.
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Oct 7, 2014 16:11
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Party Boat posted:I've always assumed that their ability to breed as fast as tribbles means that any other selective pressure on pigs gets hosed into irrelevancy. They breed as fast as tribbles and their babies are quite capable of eating regular food almost immediately, so mom is expendable almost as soon as she pops them out. They have survived through quantity over quality.
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Oct 7, 2014 16:32
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Shannonmcn posted:I think normally you'd mesh the lid for better ventilation but looking again your bin looks really well ventilated anyway so yeah you probably wouldn't need to. The walls look fine to me, I don't know how some people manage to get theirs so neat if you're supposed to be able to do it with just like a boxcutter. Yes I have two walls open. Maybe it's a little TOO ventilated, because I can smell when she takes a wee. I'm thinking of switching to alpine wood shavings instead of Carefresh. I have a very small room in a very small apartment and I forgot that my previous hamster had pine bedding because this was before everyone on the internet started proclaiming as loudly as possible that giving your hamster pine bedding is like the moral equivalent of dumping them on a toxic waste site. I'll try to toilet train her, but one thing at a time. So far I've gotten her to come onto my hand if it's filled with sunflower seeds. 
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Oct 7, 2014 21:29
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Haha, you're probably gonna smell that no matter what kind of cage you have. I didn't notice much of a difference when I switched from shavings to carefresh but I only really notice a smell when she's in heat anyway. Both my previous hams were on pine bedding with no issues but I switched when I read about the oils or whatever. There's still a little bit in her cage atm since I clean sections rather than doing a whole cage clean but I'm not too worried about it since her bed and burrowing areas are all carefresh. Don't tell the Hammummies tho. Ask I'm glad she's coming on really well, you've only had her for 5 minutes! 
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Oct 7, 2014 22:47
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Shannonmcn posted:Ask I'm glad she's coming on really well, you've only had her for 5 minutes! It is a little easier nowadays when I can just rush online for every little question and ErinHamster will have answered it.
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Oct 7, 2014 22:52
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Man baby hamsters are adorable but gently caress their needle teeth are the worst
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Oct 8, 2014 00:21
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 I updated my cage again since I had her old one in a cupboard (top right) and it was bugging me that it was going to waste. She was up exploring straight away but got a bit agitated, I thought maybe she couldn't find her way back down because she is stupid so I let her into her ball to put her back "downstairs" to chill out and she bit the poo poo out of my thumb. Rude little bastard, it's not my fault you're an imbecile  She's straight back up having another mini freak-out while I sit and nurse my bleeding thumb. I'd kinda forgotten how deep they can get their teeth in there.
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Oct 8, 2014 03:32
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So somehow - SOMEHOW - Zara managed to run on her wheel with such force that it knocked the entire cage over in the middle of the night. Fortunately I wasn't sleeping. She was pretty upset about the experience, and ran in her wheel for a solid hour as soon as I got it back up to run off the tension. After that she just plopped down on the ground, not even curled up, looking super depressed. I took her out and stroked her and gave her lots of sunflower seeds. Now she won't go near the mosque and has built a new nest in the water bottle corner. Tonight she'll get carrots or chicken and maybe a dust bath. I really hope there are no internal injuries.
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Oct 8, 2014 18:39
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They're hardier then they look, if she's running and eating then she'll probably be fine. I hear stories of them falling 5 feet from cages and barely even noticing. Is the cage sitting on something that it fell off or did it literally just tip over?
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Oct 8, 2014 19:41
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So long as they don't land on their head/neck/back awkwardly, hamsters can fall from significant heights without serious injury. I've had one jump from the top of his cage, at the time about six feet off the ground, and only be slightly stunned before booking it along the floor.
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Oct 8, 2014 20:00
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Rodents seem surprisingly resilient when it comes to falls. There was one time when the latch on the cage broke and both of my gerbils escaped. One of them managed to descend a curved, un-carpeted flight of stairs without injury. Those gerbils passed away within a few months of each other last winter, and I haven't been able to get another pair since then. So I've been enjoying all of the cute critter pics and stories in this thread. Some really great cage set-ups have been posted lately, I'll have to use them as inspiration when I'm able to have gerbs again.
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Oct 8, 2014 21:02
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Shannonmcn posted:They're hardier then they look, if she's running and eating then she'll probably be fine. I hear stories of them falling 5 feet from cages and barely even noticing. Is the cage sitting on something that it fell off or did it literally just tip over? It tipped over. It was on a stand, and it is NOT on it anymore. She's still pretty pissed at me. She bit me harder than she's ever bit when I picked her up for her dust bath, though honestly that may just have been be being overconfident in my abilities and her being a hamster.
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Oct 8, 2014 21:45
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dj_clawson posted:It tipped over. It was on a stand, and it is NOT on it anymore. She's still pretty pissed at me. She bit me harder than she's ever bit when I picked her up for her dust bath, though honestly that may just have been be being overconfident in my abilities and her being a hamster. She is a tiny rodent who is pretty much at the solid bottom of the food chain. Her home was just tipped over and she got roughed up, then something much bigger than her picked her up while she was still in "fight or flight" mode. Really, just think of it from the point of view of an animal who is prey to anything and everything bigger than her. She will settle down once she realizes she isn't gonna be dinner.
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Oct 8, 2014 21:54
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Apart from my nice new fresh bite from last night the only other time I got properly bitten was the day after a fall. She might just be a bit sore.
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Oct 8, 2014 22:12
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Khisanth Magus posted:She is a tiny rodent who is pretty much at the solid bottom of the food chain. Her home was just tipped over and she got roughed up, then something much bigger than her picked her up while she was still in "fight or flight" mode. Really, just think of it from the point of view of an animal who is prey to anything and everything bigger than her. She will settle down once she realizes she isn't gonna be dinner. Let me check my recipe book and get back to you on that. On the plus side, her coat is looking much better after the bath, probably just because she preened herself to get all the dust off.
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Oct 8, 2014 22:13
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Sam hasn't stopped sneezing since we got her. Although I'm not sure exactly if it's sneezing or just some form of squeaking(it's like...a squeaky puff, through her nose maybe), she does it CONSTANTLY. Especially when held. How long do they normally stay sick before getting better?
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Oct 10, 2014 01:51
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Captain Invictus posted:Sam hasn't stopped sneezing since we got her. Although I'm not sure exactly if it's sneezing or just some form of squeaking(it's like...a squeaky puff, through her nose maybe), she does it CONSTANTLY. Especially when held. How long do they normally stay sick before getting better? Might it have something to do with her bedding, or what's on your hands? I know my guinea pig sneezed a lot when I got him because I was using Carefresh, but stopped as soon as I switched to fleece. Never had a problem with a sneezy ham, but it might be related, you never know. I hope she gets better soon if she IS sick.
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Oct 10, 2014 13:09
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When my pig gets comfortable on a towel she starts ripping up the loops one by one. I use just regular bath towels which have loops. What's another good material to use? I need to put one down because she'll just piss on me if I don't.
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Oct 10, 2014 14:10
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Adult Sword Owner posted:When my pig gets comfortable on a towel she starts ripping up the loops one by one. I use just regular bath towels which have loops. What's another good material to use? I need to put one down because she'll just piss on me if I don't. Try putting some fleece over the towel. There's nothing they can really get a purchase on with fleece.
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Oct 10, 2014 15:49
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Sirotan posted:Try putting some fleece over the towel. There's nothing they can really get a purchase on with fleece. If she still gets fussy while in your lap, it's generally your pig's way of politely saying "I need to go take a piss now!"
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Oct 10, 2014 16:02
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I mean I've gotten pretty good and its usually when she climbs up my chest and starts biting me, but sometimes shell just do it anyway or I don't notice in time
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Oct 10, 2014 16:08
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My wife and I are planning on adding guinea pigs to our current caviomorph collection (3 degus one chinchilla), but we were wondering how feasible it is to keep them in a cage with an open top. We're used to our rodents being escape-prone (our degus in particular are adorable little Houdinis who never stop looking for a way to get free whenever we take them out), so having some rodents that are bit more, um... docile... is something we're looking forward to. So how high do the walls of a guinea pig enclosure have to be to ensure that they can't get out?
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Oct 10, 2014 16:22
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A foot at the most, pigs can't climb or jump very well at all. e: also the one time we left our old pig cage open one of them managed to clamber over the 4 inch high wall, discovered he was somewhere strange with nowhere to hide and no hay or vegetables, and promptly tried to get back in basically pigs are like this 
Party Boat fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 16:45
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Party Boat posted:A foot at the most, pigs can't climb or jump very well at all. But boy can they cram their fat little asses through tiny holes you wouldn't expect. Make sure there aren't any small passages they might be able to wriggle into or under before letting them out for Floor Time.
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Oct 10, 2014 16:48
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Adult Sword Owner posted:I mean I've gotten pretty good and its usually when she climbs up my chest and starts biting me, but sometimes shell just do it anyway or I don't notice in time You'll get better, I developed a sixth sense to it eventually but then I'd already cared for pigs fore more then 4 years.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:32
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A Scary Little Dog posted:Might it have something to do with her bedding, or what's on your hands? I know my guinea pig sneezed a lot when I got him because I was using Carefresh, but stopped as soon as I switched to fleece. Never had a problem with a sneezy ham, but it might be related, you never know. She was doing it when we got her in the store, which had cedar shavings. I hope she is just sick since I'm allergic to wood shavings and have to use carefresh. 
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Oct 10, 2014 17:45
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I've knocked into my pigs cage before and not noticed, and the wall unhinges and opens wide. She is so not interested in not being in that cageXoidanor posted:You'll get better, I developed a sixth sense to it eventually but then I'd already cared for pigs fore more then 4 years. I've had her approaching 3 years and I had pigs before. I'm just not good at noticing because I'm usually watching TV or playing a game when were hanging out
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Oct 10, 2014 19:08
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Captain Invictus posted:She was doing it when we got her in the store, which had cedar shavings. I hope she is just sick since I'm allergic to wood shavings and have to use carefresh. Aww, poor precious baby. Hopefully it's just a cold but it could also be a respiratory infection, so...yeah.
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Oct 11, 2014 16:18
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She seems to be doing better, she's still doing it but less so, and tends to do it when pushing against things, so maybe it's more a thing with pressing her nose into things and less allergies/infection. She also seems to have gotten a lot fatter. I hope we don't have another pregnant one on our hands, as fun as it was watching the babies grow up, I want to have some space in my room!
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Oct 11, 2014 16:53
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So my hammy Zara runs on her wheel all the time, but kinda derpy-like. Despite it being an 8.5 inch Kaytee comfort wheel, which is more than enough in size and width for her, she runs counter-clockwise and zags slightly to the left, causing her to need to pause and reset herself every minute or less or she'll ride right off the wheel. She doesn't favor a side when she's out of the wheel, so I don't know if this is just her thing or what.
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Oct 12, 2014 06:03
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I can't tell if Sam is pregnant or just got fat. :/
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Oct 13, 2014 18:25
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Is that her belly or haunch at the top?
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Oct 13, 2014 18:39
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Captain Invictus posted:I can't tell if Sam is pregnant or just got fat. :/ Does she still look that shape when she's moving? I have no idea if she is or not but I'd be suspicious as well. You got her on like the 5th or 6th right so she'd be due in about a week?
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Oct 13, 2014 18:40
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Party Boat posted:Is that her belly or haunch at the top? I guess we'll find out in the next day or two! Shannonmcn posted:Does she still look that shape when she's moving? I have no idea if she is or not but I'd be suspicious as well. You got her on like the 5th or 6th right so she'd be due in about a week?
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Oct 13, 2014 18:43
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Its kind of hard to tell because of the way she is twisted, but she does look a bit like our chinchillas when they are about a week or two until they pop. They start looking kind of gourd-shaped when they get close to term, but I'm not sure if it would get that pronounced in other rodents as they give birth to their young a lot less developed.
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Oct 13, 2014 18:49
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Congrats on your free rodents
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Oct 13, 2014 19:24
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At least if she is up the duff it's not your first time Invictus! I just looked at your post history. You poor unlucky bastard.
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Oct 13, 2014 19:31
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| # ? May 21, 2024 11:11 |
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Provided she doesn't give birth to over five babies, I have enough places to keep them, at least until I find homes for them. And hamsters are way lower maintenance than, say, dogs or cats.
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Oct 13, 2014 19:37
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