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A Sloth posted:One of my hamsters buries his food and he seems pretty bad at digging it back up. My hamsters always emptied their food bowls and brought it into their little house/nest. Then I would fill their bowl because, y'know, no food in it and then they would shove even more food in the house. Cue the days where I cleaned the cage and gave them new bedding and had to throw out all the food the little shits brought in and never ate. 
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Jun 16, 2013 23:01
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Huge Liability posted:Believe me, I can imagine it. When I got my very first gerbil (which was...about eight years ago? Whoa), I put her in a wire cage for about a month before I realized it was a bad idea. Not only did shavings end up everywhere, but the smart bugger seemed to purposely kick her poop out. Ah! I read 'bars of the cage' as meaning, well, a fully barred cage. I like the tank topper/tank combination, though tank toppers can be difficult to find here. Do you have any pictures of your gerbs? 
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Jun 16, 2013 23:12
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No recent ones, but I'm getting my camera back this weekend, so I'll try to remember to take some pictures next week. 
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Jun 19, 2013 03:02
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My teen made the monumentally bad call to take one of our guinea pigs, Deedee, out for some fresh air yesterday. It was very stupid and she knows that. We've let them run in the yard inside a pen, so she thought he'd really enjoy a visit to the park. He took off into the bushes, and every step she took towards him, the crunching leaves/branches made him dart off again. She called me at work crying so I took off early and spent about 3 hours looking for him. Went home, got some familiar items, shelter, and food, and left them where he was last seen and looked around again with flashlights. She went back out this morning to look, but it was cold last night and there's a lot of predators. I saw a bunny in a park once, obviously an ex-pet. I couldn't catch him. Hopefully Deedee is able to survive out there. I put some postings around and offered a huge reward. Hopefully he'll survive and turn up, but I'm afraid not. I never thought I would have any type of attachment to a rodent - I've always been a dog person. Having guinea pigs for the last 2 years has really opened my eyes. They are so clever and full of personality. Never in a million years would I have guessed I'd find myself crying over a little critter like that. We've got 3 others, but they didn't all get along so they were separated into pairs. Deedee's cagemate already misses him. He was staring at himself in the mirror yesterday, something he'd never done before. That, plus the crying teenager, are very difficult to watch.
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Jun 21, 2013 18:12
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Do you live around the Washington DC area by any chance? If so, I'm willing to help you look for DeeDee. I have two girls and my heart would absolutely shatter if I didn't know where they were. I'm so sorry this happened and I wish you super good luck in finding him.
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Jun 21, 2013 19:11
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Thanks, but we're in California. Unfortunately it is a large area with loads of thick brush. Had a few people email me saying they were going to go take a look for him in the hopes of scoring the reward I offered. We'll see, but I'm trying to not get any hopes up. It's really tragic.
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Jun 21, 2013 19:18
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I just cut a hole in a flower pot and stuck it in the gerbs tank for a sand bath place. Not sure if I'll keep it like that or just fill it completely to the brim with sawdust so they can go utterly crazy with digging.Huge Liability posted:No recent ones, but I'm getting my camera back this weekend, so I'll try to remember to take some pictures next week. t  Tuxedo Gin posted:Thanks, but we're in California. poo poo, that sucks. I hope you get him back.
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Jun 21, 2013 19:23
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Tuxedo Gin posted:Thanks, but we're in California. I would try setting out something that smells like the other pig, with some hay and fresh veggies. Put it in a little shoebox hut so he has a place to hide and doesn't feel the need to run anywhere when he hears a noise. A pigloo would work perfectly for this, with the benefit of already smelling like home. Good luck catching your little dude.
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Jun 21, 2013 19:39
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Thanks. I took a pigloo out there last night with one of their sleeping bags and some hay/poo from their cage. Apparently the veggies we left out last night are still untouched. He could have wandered off anywhere. The park is several acres of dense brush and ponds. Grieving is the hardest part of having a pet. I haven't had a pet since I was 15, so I kind of forgot how bad it is.
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Jun 21, 2013 19:57
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I know of more than one person who has scored a lost pig by taking veggie bags outside and crinkling them.
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Jun 21, 2013 20:03
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Tuxedo Gin posted:Thanks. I took a pigloo out there last night with one of their sleeping bags and some hay/poo from their cage. Apparently the veggies we left out last night are still untouched. He could have wandered off anywhere. The park is several acres of dense brush and ponds. I'm really sorry to hear about Deedee, Tuxedo. Grieving is definitely good/healthy but just to share the tiniest glimmer of hope: My best friend's cousin had a guinea pig named Scooter. Well, Scooter had an outdoor pen for when they were outside to observe him. Somehow, Scooter got out and they couldn't find him. A year went by, and Scooter became a blurry memory. So, spring comes around, and my best friends aunt was outside gardening, and heard a weak if familiar whistle. Turns out, Scooter had somehow survived the winter in the forest around their home. Nothing short of miraculous. Or somebody else lost a guinea pig that year and they ended up with Scooter 2.0.  It's a favourite story in my best friend's family.
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Jun 21, 2013 21:11
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I had a quick question about nests. My Chinese Dwarf has a little circular pod attached to her cage that she's made into a nest. This thing is a god damned fortress. She's had it complete for about 6 months now, but I was wondering if it'll b e necessary to clean it out and give her fresh materials. It has no smell when I clean the cage, and she seems quite happy to sleep in it every day, but I can't see the inside so I'm not quite sure how it's holding up. Any ideas? Oh, and bonus photo of Bean She likes boxes.  
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Jun 22, 2013 01:19
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Guinea pig armour was sold for charity recently for $24,300.00 eBay listing  Queen Gnome posted:I had a quick question about nests. My Chinese Dwarf has a little circular pod attached to her cage that she's made into a nest. I would if I where you. My hamsters pee and poo in their bedding a lot and I clean their beds at least weekly. The smallest one barely has a smell to his mess. Just a very slight popcorn like smell. A Sloth fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Jun 23, 2013 |
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Jun 23, 2013 14:11
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A Sloth posted:Guinea pig armour was sold for charity recently for $24,300.00 I love this image  Little guy just looks so drat noble and majestic in his scale-mail cloak  .
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Jun 23, 2013 14:16
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Did you see this picture in the comments?
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Jun 23, 2013 22:48
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A Sloth posted:Guinea pig armour was sold for charity recently for $24,300.00 I saw this before, I do chainmail so I'm going to recreate it even though I'm pretty sure my pigs will hate me forever
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Jun 24, 2013 05:05
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Dead Inside Darwin posted:I saw this before, I do chainmail so I'm going to recreate it even though I'm pretty sure my pigs will hate me forever If I could sell them at a tenth that price, I'd learn how to chainmail myself, jeez.
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Jun 24, 2013 07:23
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Dead Inside Darwin posted:I saw this before, I do chainmail so I'm going to recreate it even though I'm pretty sure my pigs will hate me forever Make a full plate armor. With squeaky little joints
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Jun 24, 2013 07:59
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Tuxedo Gin posted:Grieving is the hardest part of having a pet. Hopping over from the Bird Crazies to commiserate in full understanding. Last month, thanks to a stupid, awful mistake, the lovebird I had hand-raised from an egg escaped out my window and was swallowed up by the woods. Was it preventable? A thousand times yes in hindsight, but not something that was possible for me to ever predict would happen. Please help your kiddo from being too hard on herself. The day I lost Chiyo was the absolute worst in my life and it is absolutely 100% normal for her to grieve with every fiber of emotion.  And thanks for being the kind of mother that drops everything to help her daughter look for a pet. My mom cancelled every appointment she had that day to spend six hours helping me trying to get Chiyo back. She'll remember that.
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Jun 24, 2013 08:02
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Finally got some new clear pictures. Wulfstan  Guthrum 
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Jun 25, 2013 17:13
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I'm babysitting my friend's guinea pig again this week, starting tomorrow. She remembers me! I went over to their house to get the keys and she starting wheeking and bouncing around. Their spearmint bed resisted their efforts to remove it, so I went out and got her a big stalk of mint leaves. Apparently when presented with delicious herbs, guinea pigs can move faster than light - who knew?
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Jun 25, 2013 17:28
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A Sloth posted:Guinea pig armour was sold for charity recently for $24,300.00 They had to relist it because people are assholes and put in a bunch of fake bids.
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Jun 26, 2013 18:57
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That pig armor auction thing loving sucked, MGPR is awesome and I'm sorry they have to deal with the fallout. I don't know if this goes in the confession thread or not but here goes: I lost my pig Carl on Monday- I heard some pained squeeks from their cage but didn't know who was having trouble until Friday. I stayed home after work instead of going out with my girlfriend and noticed that Carl was making pained squeeks when he was urinating, and nearly nothing came out. I checked his pouch and saw that he had a few long tendril-like stones sticking out. I distracted him with some treats and used some mineral oil and very gently eased the two stones out. He was still having some pain when he peed so I called some emergency vets and they said if he's urinating to bring him in in the morning on the weekend. He could urinate but there was a bit of blood, so I was pretty hopeful he could get taken care of. I took him in on Saturday to the exotic vet to get checked out and he passed 3 of the 4 bladder stones, but the last one was too big for him to pass. He had a UTI we got cultures for and he handled the X-ray like a champ. I booked him for surgery on Monday and got some meticam and antibiotics, which we treated him with over the weekend. He was a total sport (he was a very wise pig) and I was really hopeful he'd recover. My girlfriend took him in on Monday (she had the day off) for surgery to remove the stone, and everything seemed to go well. Tuesday morning the vet called to say he passed away during recovery at about 2am and it just was devastating. He seemed like he wasn't in pain based on the camera footage, but 1) I wish he was with us and our other pigs so he didn't die alone and 2) I don't know why he passed. I forgoed the necropsy because I wanted him to be in a natural state when we got to see him one last time. We took him ourselves to the pet mortuary and are having him cremated, so we can scatter his ashes somewhere that dignifies him. We're just crushed. Carl was only 4.5 and I was hoping to have at least another few years with him. I keep feeling like I did something wrong, like I should have gone against vet orders and kept him to recover at home or noticed the stones sooner. We had some rough times and I sometimes took a day or two longer to clean their cage and swap their fleece. The other pigs just seem confused and depressed, I wish I could have done things differently. Being a pet owner blows sometimes. Good night little piggu, we miss you.  ^^^^ I don't know why it isn't posting his picture 
Bastard Tetris fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 10:48
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I'm so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you did everything you could. Speaking as someone who has had a guinea pig with bladder stones, until you see some symptom of the stone like bleeding or the actual stone itself you're not going to have any idea it's there. As prey animals, guinea pigs just hide their pain too well sometimes, even if you are really familiar with the signs sometimes you'll miss them. You shouldn't blame yourself, 4.5yrs is a great old age for a pig to get to, I'm usually lucky if they make it to 4 or 5.
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Jun 27, 2013 12:21
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I'm really sorry. As someone who's had multiple stones pulled out of guinea pigs, it is a very rough surgery on them. I've almost always felt during recovery that I was on the brink of all the survivors dying. At one point one of the girls I had would only eat one specific kind of leaf from one specific spring mix. I fed her ONLY that for 3 days (in between handfeeding) and I still think it's a miracle she survived.
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Jun 27, 2013 13:59
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Our last video of him is just eating a crapton of spring mix out straight out of the box like a boss. 
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Jun 27, 2013 16:43
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So basically one of the worst things that could happen did, which is to say my cat got ahold of one of my gerbils. Right now I believe her to be in shock, with no visible injuries or bleeding, but my cat was holding on to her pretty tight. So my question is what the ehck do I do. She is just sitting in the aquarium with her eyes closed and basically just breathing while once in a while moving very slighty. Right now I feel like one of the biggest idiots in the world and if I could transfer her pain to me I would in a heartbeat, but I can't. If she died because of this my guilt would be incomprehensible. What should I do in this situation? It is almost 5am and vets aren't open yet. EDIT: 20 min later now and she is actually moving quit a bit and at gerbil speed, but does still look a litle shocked. her eyes are now open. Does this mean anything or is it still common for a gerbil in shock to do that? Zetsubou fucked around with this message at 13:04 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 12:45
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Was she scratched at all? Bacteria from a cat's claws or teeth can cause septicaemia which left untreated can be fatal. If you think she was scratched or bitten anywhere, you're going to want to get her on antibiotics ASAP.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:13
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I cannot see any wounds on her, but I haven't gotten a super close and thurough look yet because I don't know if it would be a good idea to disturb her right now. When the vets open I will definitely see what I can do about getting some antibiotics. EDIT: Like there is definitely no blood on her (besides from mine )
Zetsubou fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 13:18
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Poor gerb  At least if you don't see any blood or limping, that's good. Give her some treats. Knowing gerbil attention span and memory, she'll probably forget being devoured by your rear end in a top hat cat from hell.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:30
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It's been about 10 hours later so here is an update. She seems to be more flexible now, allowing herself to stretch and sleep in a more comfortable position. She is eating as I have given her food (about half of her tablet) and she ate it all. I have yet to se her drink but gerbils can go quite a while without drinking and i haven't been watching 24/7. She has moved around quite a bit and doesn't seem to mind doing so, the only problem is that I think she may have a bit of a limp that may be due to just being sore. She has also been kicking around her bedding every once in a while like how most gerbils do it. So long story short she seems to be getting better with time. She still is in a bit of a shock although I think. EDIT: From further investigation she also seems to be in heat today. Kind of a bad day to pick but whatever. That may explain why she is sleeping a lot and acting/moving kind of funny, which is what she would normally kind of do when in heat. EDIT EDIT: To avoid double posting I'll just make another edit. So lucky me she seems like she's is going to be okay. I took her out for play time today and she can run, jump, climb and all that good stuff. The only difference is that she just seems to be a bit weaker in grip and stuff, which im assuming is because of soreness or bruising. Thanks for eveyone's concern. Zetsubou fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jun 29, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 22:43
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This isn't a recent pic but my 3 female gerbils live happily in this Omlet double Qute. I know not everyone approves of them but the girls love running up and down the tubes and they haven't chewed it yet, plus it is fairly easy to clean out
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Jun 30, 2013 01:16
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So summer has finally showed it's ugly head around here, and it is at least 90+ degrees fahrenheit or 32+ degrees celsius around here. Any of you have any good tips to try and keep some hot gerbs cool? Of course I could just move them to the coolest spot in the house, but I don't necesarily want to lug a huge tank down a three story house and then have them freak out cause they are in a room they have never been in before (not to mention I would have to lug the thing all the way back up too probably in the same day.) Is ice the answer to my prayers?
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Jul 1, 2013 01:02
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I've got four Syrian hamsters and my room is the hottest room in the house, so I just leave the air conditioner on low pretty much all the time for them(and me). It only costs like a hundred bucks tops for the whole summer to run the AC nonstop, so I figure it's worth it to not have cooked hamsters. Is that not an option on your end? Also, looking up Syrian Hamsters on Wikipedia has just taught me that the Arabic name for the Golden Hamster translates to "Mister Saddlebags" due to their huge cheek pouches.
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Jul 1, 2013 01:53
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You can always stick an ice pack (the hard ones probably resist chewing better) in a corner of the cage, and if they're hot they'll go sit near it.
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Jul 1, 2013 02:28
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This is completely ignorant, but do gerbs need to worry about some 90 degree temps? They're little desert dudes, aren't they?
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Jul 1, 2013 02:35
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:This is completely ignorant, but do gerbs need to worry about some 90 degree temps? They're little desert dudes, aren't they? They're primarily nocturnal, so they tend to sleep in burrows during the day where it doesn't get all that hot. They're much more temperature-tolerant than some other rodents, but they might still like someplace to cool off.
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Jul 1, 2013 02:46
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The thing I read when I had hamsters was to get a few ceramic tiles and put them in the freezer, then put one in the cage for them to chill on, and swap them out when they stopped being cold.
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Jul 1, 2013 02:56
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Rodents sleep in burrows underground to escape the heat as well as predators, I'm guessing. Also I think gerbils and hamsters such as Syrians are desert creatures, and so when you put them into a hot AND humid environment, they get hosed. I came home one night when it got much hotter than I had anticipated while I was out and my hamsters were all laying out flat as much as possible to disperse the heat, that's when I chose the air conditioner route. Humidity does not do a hamster good, and I'm guessing it's a similar issue for gerbils.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:37
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Sounds like some good ideas in here. I'll go shopping tomorrow and pick up some of the stuff mentioned here. Also no I do not have any air conditioning. I don't mean to sound like an angsty teen but my dad is literally scrooge and there is no way he would get air conditioning.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:47
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