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I will get some pictures of my African Soft Furred Rats post haste. These buggies are similar to the 'regular' rat but sized down more to mouse size. They do have a good memory, don't seem as smart as the standard pet rat, but like the standard female rat, maternal instinct is strong. Mine have taken and raised mice pups without problem. My mice have also nursed and raised rat pups; oddly enough, even without handling these mouse-raised rats are far calmer around people, whereas the ones raised by natural rat mom and aunts are insane things that never really calm down. Your mileage may vary.
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Nov 19, 2009 06:11
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All this talk of rodentia makes me want another piggie.  But I think Cartman the evil mousecatching kitten would make its/their life hell! drat cat has already snuck in the mouse room when we're cleaning cages (14 cages, drat) and stole a fuzzy mouse from the bucket. Thankfully we got it back unscathed.For the pregnant mouse, sometimes the litters are small, and sometimes mom makes them smaller. Unless you end up with a male mouse, the four will be fine together (one male mouse plus three females equals a lot of babies and one happy male) overall. Sexing can be done when they're furred and running around, but as stated above, the gonads are pretty drat obvious.
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Jan 6, 2010 04:48
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Fluffy, he should be fine. Just give a little extra paper towels for him because he will pee on and through them! I never had a hamster as a kid, but was recently given/adopted one, a little white robo named Beanie. A fellow fishkeeper was looking for a new home for her (and what is one more cage when our spare room is a mouse breeding room), and what struck me as odd was that her past owner was so worried about her going as snake food. I was open with him: I do keep and breed snakes and breed mice to feed them. What kind of loving MORON would give a snake used to eating mice a hamster? For that matter, why would you use a tiny hamster as food at all? They tend to bite harder than mice do! Anyway, perhaps the logic of this helped get me Beanie. Pics to follow. She is a cute button of a thing and is discovering food outside of bagged seed 'diets.' Like vegetables and small bits of eggs and the like. One day I want to get another piggie or two. The backyard is full of grass and weeds the tortoises are not keeping down fast enough! And we kinda need another few mouths to get rid of some of the excess salad anyway...
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Mar 21, 2010 07:48
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After a few years of no rodents outside of what I feed my snakes, I got Dexter, a rescue guinea pig from up north. Pics to follow. It's been a while since I've kept cavies, and they are pretty straightforward critters, and Dexter is loving awesome because he is the only pig I've ever had who will sit on my lap and fall asleep there. That said, is there really any reason to feed him the standard cavy pellets? He gets a ton of greens because we keep tortoises too, lots of grass, and hay. The pellets are a staple, I know, but does he need them for health or will he be fine with greens and grasses from the backyard?
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May 21, 2012 04:02
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I ended up with a hedgehog over the weekend, by proxy of a farm animal rescue getting him and needing him to go to another rescue. So I have him now. Do we have a hoggie thread?
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Aug 6, 2019 02:33
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What site do we use to upload pics these days? I need to post some of my piggie Penpen; she was dropped off at the humane society last year because of a tumor, and our cat/dog rescue asked if anyone would foster/hospice her. I volunteered, and took Penelope home. She is now called Penpen and barely does the cavy squeals unless I am late with her food. I remember when I first got her, I'd wrap baby salad and cukes in a paper towel and make her tear it up to get it. Oh, she hated having to earn her food! Now she throws a fit if I just toss a handful in, she wants a puzzle, damnit!
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Oct 8, 2019 01:34
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https://imgur.com/a/1VzHXyj I couldn't figure out how to do thumbnails so I hope this works! Meet Urchin my hedgehog.
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Oct 20, 2019 05:19
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Mistake made tonight. Brought Urchin out for evening loves and did not feed him right away. Let him play in hair. Urchin reminded me he always gets food and then hair time because he bit my ear rather badly. Not enough for a piercing, didn't even break the ski. And right where he had nailed me about two weeks ago when we started this system. Ear does not hurt but is red. I suck, Urchin. I am sorry.
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Oct 24, 2019 04:37
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He preens my hair then self-annoints himself. Freaked me out the first time he did it! But yeah it was a hard nibble on my ear. He was curious, meat thing amid his playhair.
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Oct 25, 2019 04:15
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I have often wanted to do that with a hamster, but how insane are the moms about protecting their babies? I am lazy; my mice have been so bred over the years that they don't care if you touch or switch babies out or around. Problem moms get fed out asap. I wonder if a mouse mom could raise baby hammies, and vice versa?
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Nov 28, 2019 22:35
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teenytinymouse posted:A hamster will eat her own babies on a dime if shes stressed, I don't see a baby mouse even registering as anything other than a threat or snackies. They're protecting themselves/the nest not the babies. Please dont try that lol I used to keep african soft furred rats (they're about the size of standard mice) but they were always super wild. The odd thing was, if I had babies and the nursing mom had died, normal mice would raise the pups without issue, but the ones they raised never bred with other soft furred rats.
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Nov 30, 2019 05:55
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I need to get more pics of Urchin. This hoggie is loving awesome as poo poo. Lately I've been scooping him up in the evening, putting him in his sac, wearing it under my shirt for an hour or so before he wakes up from his nap. He snuffles around and lets me know he's ready, so I set him back in his cage, and he runs to the litterbox, then to get his water, some food, then back to bed. Sometimes I wake him during the day to give him a piece of chicken. We have learned chicken, like mealworms, is a special treat. Otherwise he gets a bath, which he always poops in, leading to another bath. And he HATES baths.
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Mar 20, 2020 04:11
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I was really worried about my hoggie for a while; hedgehogs can get a shaking disorder. About the nerves, and there's no cure. So when I saw him walking funny, a bit hunched over, and some quick spasms like he was twerking, I knew it wasn't good. I got Urchin back in August last year with no medical history on him, even an age. A quick Google search showed me the truth, because he is still active and eating and pooping like mad. My little ouch mouse was just masturbating. A lot. Even on my hand.
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Apr 23, 2020 05:00
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I would get lucky trimming piggie nails by holding said pig, letting a foot between my fingers, and having a second person clip. Of course my mom and I clip a lot of cat nails so a piggie is a bit more of a size/squirming issue. I have now had my rescue hedgehog Urchin a full year plus a few days. He is a fat ball of spikes, loves cooked chicken, will sleep in his pouch when I'm at my computer for about an hour before he wakes and pokes me to get him to his litter box, and HATES BATHS and his nails being done. One of the few times he actually bit me, hard, didn't break the skin but left something like a blood blister, was when I was trying to finish a paw and he was done with the clippers. We ended up finishing the next day after a short bath. He doesn't preen/nuzzle/cover himself with his spit after playing with my hair much these days but then if I don't wash my hair for a week, he goes loving bananas and I have to be sure to cover my ears, otherwise in his "everything gets preened" frenzy, he will try to pierce the top of my ear for me.
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Sep 12, 2020 20:20
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Urchin likely has hedgehog wobbly leg syndrome. There's no medicine, there's no cure. At best we have a year, at worst a week or two. He's still eating like mad, but no longer uses his wheel and has problems moving around okay. I've had him barely over a year. No idea on his age. drat he's been cool little huffy mad spikeball.
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Oct 9, 2020 04:07
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Update: Urchin went downhill pretty quick. He couldn't unball all the way, was having issues getting around his cage, and while ravenous for food, he couldn't right himself if on his side. I spent a lot of time this past week watching vids on Youtube of people whose hogs had this, and how long they could survive for, but were clearly in pain. Exotic vets were booked, and the emergency vet said it'd be a good amount to even see him. So I had a tossup: let him stay like this for a few more days, or follow this: http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/ I went with the latter. I figured, since he was under two pounds, it would not be bad to try. I did a few test runs, even found a feeder mouse who had a tumor to do another run on. Everything went smooth. So I got Urchin up, gave him a kiss on his snuffly mad head (I did see he ate the chicken I put in earlier), and my mind was made up more when he couldn't right himself when set down. Into the container with some bedding, and the entire process took just a few minutes. gently caress, it's taken longer to write this because I keep running out of Kleenex. Part of me kept thinking nah, I can wait, I can do this next week, he'll be fine. But do I really want to wait until he's dragging his back legs, or can't get a drink of water, or can't enjoy his wheel? He hasn't been on his wheel in two weeks, and he used to run nonstop, even during the day if the room was dark. He was comfy in his pouch, that I'd wear when at the computer, but sooner or later he wouldn't be able to unball from it. You were a good little hoggie, Urchin.
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Oct 11, 2020 21:02
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Captain Invictus posted:thanks for this. My last hamster had a severe tumor on his neck and having the vet put him down was like $120. It feels weird having a "DIY kill your pet" guide, but it looks to be basically the same as taking him to the vet and having them stick him with a needle, so it's better to have this option. I weighed the options on that: one hand, take him to the vet and stress him out horribly (he's never left my house since I brought him home a year ago), or two, do this at home. I would agree with the site to do a trial run or two, make sure the lid is on safe (I used a gallon ice cream container with a hole cut in, and taped heavily), and to make sure you can control the vinegar in the cup; move too fast and you spill too much and liquid can get in the container. I don't know why he said over 2 pounds doesn't work. Maybe you need a larger setup for that?
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Oct 12, 2020 19:44
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Anyone else notice a huge lack of hamsters in the chain stores lately? I'm wondering if it's covid related or something happened at the hamster mill.
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Jan 18, 2021 02:40
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Our rescue got in another guinea pig, and I offered to foster. Someone else got to him first; this was about a week ago. Then yesterday I get a text asking if I still want Teddy, because he's too much work for the family fostering right now. Sure, I say, I got a cage and everything from our last rescue (RIP Penpen, who had an inoperable tumor and was dropped at the shelter). Then the lady mentions she would have the piggie, but right now she is battling fleas. Oh no, she doesn't have the piggie yet! She's just the contact. I get some more info, because at this point my Hell Yes is slipping to a gently caress NO. I have aquariums and reptiles and fleas would be insane to deal with. So the story goes, after some back and forth, lady X has the piggie. Lady A is the one reaching out to me. A has no contact with the pig. Save she and X will be driving together to meet me. The answer stays at a gently caress No. Too bad, I was looking forward to a piggie!
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Mar 12, 2021 14:14
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Those who drink, please pour one/drink one out for my hedgehog Butter, who died today. Fat thing she was, over five years old, even if I only had her for about 5 months. Rescue animals sometimes come with a ticket punched early.
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Sep 19, 2021 00:30
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Sirotan posted:I did not end up posting about this a couple weeks back because it felt like such a downer, but I finally had to put my sweet Mavis to sleep. She made it to almost 7½ years old and managed to live for another year after a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. She had a couple bad days but 99% of the last year she was doing great, to the point I thought she might just keep going on her meds forever. Rodents don't live long enough. I do remember when Urchin died; my cat Bug kept poking around his cage. She was never super close to him, but did supervise my bed when I had him running around on it. I highly suspect she knew when he was gone, even if I left his cage up. She kept peeking in it, as if looking for him. And some months later, when I brought Butter home, holy poo poo, the cat kept springing all over the place, staring and getting close before leaping away. She KNEW it wasn't the same hoggie, I suspect, but she wasn't entirely sure, even if Butter was twice the size of Urchin, and female. The hoggies, for their parts, never cared about the cat. But I do think Bug misses them both. I'd take the cage down but may as well keep it up, who knows, I might find some hamster who deserves a large cage to run and piss in.
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Oct 28, 2021 04:52
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Another foster in the cat rescue asked if anyone wanted hamsters/could take two. I said sure, I got the room. And was given two dwarf hamsters (they are rather stressed right now so no pics) and two insane metal cages with all the plastic tubes that arch all over the place. I was hoping to put one in Butter's old cage, but the bars are wide enough either can slip through.
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Nov 12, 2021 03:44
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Update on hamsters: I was told the black one was unfriendly and bitey, and the white/caramel one was sweet. Little dwarf ones. Lady was colorblind. Black Forest Ham runs over when I enter the room, and wants to be picked up and walked from hand to hand, and then into his ball. He will tear around the house, and seems to aim to hit into the cats direct. Chicken runs like gently caress any time anyone looks at his cage. Oh, Black Forest Ham also will grab at any cat who dares reach into his cage when I have the lid off. He takes no poo poo.
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Dec 14, 2021 03:13
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mrfart posted:Oof, this is sad news: I did not kiss my hedgehogs for obvious reasons. Or the hamsters, because Black Forest Ham would take it as a challenge to eat my lips. But cavies? They need to be kissed. At this point I probably have all the brain worms from kissing various kittens, snakes, and cavies.
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Jan 19, 2022 03:15
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I need to get some vids of him in his ball, ramming into the cats' legs to make them move. He ain't got time for cats to stand around. So far I have discovered his favorite snack is not lettuce or baby salad, even potato chips; it's kosher crackers. The unsalted ones. The mice refuse them (they prefer tortilla chips, so every once in a while I'll get the Costco bag and crumble up half of it to mix with their usual) but Black Forest will rip any bit from my hand, cram it in his mouth, and chase my fingers for more.
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Feb 26, 2022 07:08
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That is actually a huge fear of mine, bringing in an animal that has fleas or something else. Can you use food grade diatomaceous earth to help alleviate some of their itching?
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Mar 28, 2022 03:51
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Ok Comboomer posted:Yeah do not dust DE on any animal with lungs or eyes or mucosae, like wtf lol I meant in the cage itself, not on the animal direct. I'm also confused about mistaking lice for cysts. I mean, aren't lice visible to the eye?
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Apr 1, 2022 04:51
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About two weeks ago I picked up a piggie from a person in our cat rescue; she works at a pet store, and someone abandoned piggie in a cage there. So we have no real history on Peanut, but she is very quiet for a pig, and while a great eater and pooper, I am worried she has ringworm; her nose was furred, is now patchy bare, and I don't know if there is anything in her cage she can rub fur off on. So I might have ringworm on my chest from when I held her right before I got in the shower. Ah weak. edit: occurs to me she could have brought something far worse in, like fleas. Cowslips Warren fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Apr 29, 2022 |
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Apr 29, 2022 03:01
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Some while ago I ended up moving chicken, the super frantic and running as soon as you look at him dwarf hamster, into one of the mouse rack trays. He lives by himself of course, no mice, but with less visual stimulus around, he seems to be calming down quite a bit. Still can't handle him at all, but that's fine. Compared to Black Forest ham, who is in a cage in my room, anytime I walk by it he races over to that side and starts pawing at the glass because he knows I'll give him a treat or two. If one of the cats happens to look at him, he will try and smack at them through the glass, and then want treats. Treats range from dry cat food, dry cat food treats, bits of oats, bits of wheat bread, all kinds of vegetables and fruits, and once in awhile, a little bit of potato or tortilla chips. He is the most interactive rodent I've ever had. And man, nothing will ever taste is good to me as whatever he's eating at the moment because the look of absolute Bliss on his face while he's eating anything is perfect.
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Jun 21, 2022 23:46
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Rats are like land octopus: super loving smart and amazing and cute and they take a chunk of your heart every year or so when they die.
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Jul 1, 2022 02:06
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Captain Invictus posted:edit: nevermind, he's gone. I held him for a few hours, he did his normal stuff, crawling about a bit, cleaning himself, and then about 20 minutes after putting him away, he crawled into his nest and passed. poor little guy. Most animals hide sickness extremely well. But from the sounds of it, he went without pain.
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Jul 21, 2022 02:27
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Captain Invictus posted:well I removed the post I had about possible at-home euthanasia but suffice to say he was suffering a lot since last night, and none of the nearby vets would take him, the closest one that would(that "handles exotic pets, which is hilarious on the context of a drat hamster) is out of state and charged me like $175 to euthanize the only other hamster I've considered doing that for. and I would have to register as a client for them again, which was stupid paperwork bullshit, and...gently caress it. by the time I would've taken him in and all that, it'd have only been a couple hours before he died on his own, turns out. About 2 years ago I had the difficult choice to put down my hedgehog, and I did not want to stress him out by taking him to an exotic vet where he would be poked and prodded before forced open to get an injection. So I looked online and found it at home euthanasia set up with CO2 that you can make with pretty much anything that you probably have in the house. The person who posted it actually used it on his hamsters for Mercy euthanasia, and I think he specified that the largest you could euthanize this way it was about 2 lb. Baking soda plus vinegar Plus a container with a lid, like an ice cream bucket, and some kind of tubing, and most of all a strong resolution that they won't feel pain anymore, and you got it.
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Jul 21, 2022 06:57
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Not going to lie, I've often thought that I'm sociopathic or the very least psychopathic because when I have a temper or I'm in a rage about something at work or etc, I can see myself killing someone. But when it came to actually came down to putting down urchin, and setting up the device, and running tests on it, I found it very hard to do. I didn't want to do a blind run, so I found an older feeder mouse that was clearly getting on, had a few tumors, and was going to die pretty soon anyway. The CO2 chamber worked pretty quickly, I didn't hear any squeaks or panic sounds from the tote, and there was no distress or blood on the body to indicated she had suffered. I still feel bad about it. And I don't think a few years ago I would have had it in me, but after seeing different animals suffering with different illnesses that there's no cure on, the idea of at home euthanasia sounds a lot better. At least for small mammals, again this only works at the end while I believe is two or three pounds or under. I can't imagine how big a CO2 chamber would have to be if you had anything larger like a rabbit.
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Jul 21, 2022 15:49
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Black Forest Ham died this morning. I was given him about a year ago in one of those horrible plastic death traps. Dude was chill as hell but wanted to see everything I did in my room; he'd sit up and demand attention and would take food from my hand with eagerness. I noticed him not running on his wheel as much the past few weeks, and his black fur was getting gray. So less time in his hamster ball (he'd run all over and run into the cats, on purpose, I think) and wheel. I gave him a chunk of apple last night, and he rolled onto his back with it, just eating away with a look of bliss. Rest well, little hamster. Your sibling/bought at same time and given to me at same time, Chicken, is doing okay.
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Sep 20, 2022 15:08
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Things to keep their teeth down, like baby carrots, apple slices? Melon rinds with a little melon on still?
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Oct 1, 2022 14:38
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poo poo, I'm sorry. I still miss Black Forest Ham. Somehow his frantic sibling Chicken is still kicking around.
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Oct 31, 2022 14:58
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Ok Comboomer posted:I don’t know that I could bear giving a being with such a short natural lifespan as a hamster such a clever name. He and his sib were given to me last year in those horrible plastic cage monstrosities. Chicken freaked out in a 10 gallon aquarium so he went to live in a mouse rack tray, where he sees me barely once a day, and he is a lot calmer with such cover. Black Forest Ham was cool in a 10 gallon and would run over when he saw me and demand a treat every time. The morning he died, I gave him a piece of apple, and he gripped it and crunched down with such love for apple, dude flipped on his back and just lay there eating with a look of bliss on his face.
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Oct 31, 2022 15:09
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I'm sorry. It never does get any easier. But you gave that little fuzzy a really good life.
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Nov 9, 2022 22:21
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poo poo I am so sorry. Piggies are horrible with hiding illness, most animals are, and by the time we see it, it's usually too late. She looks like a great coin swine.
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Dec 27, 2022 00:16
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:08 |
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I have renamed them coin swine because it sounds just better. to be fair I also renamed my piggie Peanut to Cashew, as a friend's cat named peanut died right around the time I got her. Cashew doesn't seem to mind.
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Dec 27, 2022 04:09
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