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TIL: giant guinea pigs exist http://www.exoticpetvet.com/cuy-criollo-giant-guinea-pig.html  
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May 3, 2021 00:51
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:27 |
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lol I knew cuy existed but I didn't realize they got THAT big, jesus
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May 3, 2021 01:32
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Capybaras are just giant, water-loving guinea pigs 
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May 3, 2021 03:45
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Not gonna lie, I did quite a bit of research on those giant pigs last night. Seems like a terrible idea for a pet, unfortunately. I'd love to have my huge guinea pig bring me my shoes so I could take it for a walk around the neighborhood and freak out all of the cats. In other news, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Nooblet a couple weeks ago. Due to being a rescue, we weren't sure of her exact age, but probably around 16-17. She had quite a life: found in a cardboard box behind a strip mall, then spent a year at a rescue, then my fiance got her about 11 years ago. Turns out she was pregnant, and had a son, who died just a couple years ago (and a granddaughter, who is still going strong). In addition to outliving her own son, she outlived two different cagemates. Truly a survivor. Lots of mysteries about this one. She was missing the ends of some of her front toes (didn't seem to bother her though), and had a little bite taken out of one ear. She also seemed to be blind in her left eye, and it would frequently get infected, so eye drops were a regular occurrence for her. With all of that though, she was a fantastic pet. Always happy, well behaved, and docile, never once bit anyone. I think she knew how good she had it. She also tended to have these "fugue states" as we called them, where she'd completely zone out for minutes at a time. She'd come back if touched or startled, but it sure was strange. Here's an example; she stayed like that for a good 5-10 minutes, not moving.  We noticed on a Monday morning that she had some diarrhea, and the vet said they could see her the following day. By Monday night she was super lethargic, and Tuesday morning she was barely hanging on and started convulsing when we moved her to the travel cage. Got her to the vet, who put her on oxygen, but could find only the faintest traces of a pulse, so they put her down. After her health issues last year (a respiratory infection followed by a parasite, most likely giardia) she had lost a lot of weight, but had managed to gain back a good portion of it. Nonetheless, we figured she was on her way out. Hopefully she didn't suffer too much in her last days.   
Capn Jobe fucked around with this message at 21:56 on May 3, 2021 |
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May 3, 2021 21:47
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It sounds like you gave her a great life. RIP Nooblet 
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May 4, 2021 02:49
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RIP lovely little Nooblet it sounds like she was very happy and well loved 
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May 6, 2021 20:00
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Sirotan posted:Sorry you're having to do this. Sounds like he had a great life if he made it past 8. For my old ones I always hope I'll just walk up to the cage one morning and find they've passed away overnight peacefully, but it's been a long long time since I haven't had to PTS a pig. They can be tenacious little buggers. Follow-up: We ended up not putting him down since it's a bitch to get in with the vet right now and we figured he'd go naturally soon anyway. Little fucker's still alive, eating and drinking and taunting us. I don't even know.
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May 7, 2021 23:05
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Kaiser Mazoku posted:Follow-up: We ended up not putting him down since it's a bitch to get in with the vet right now and we figured he'd go naturally soon anyway. I would watch the gently caress out of Guinea Pig Hospice (coming to Netflix in spring of 2022)
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May 8, 2021 00:05
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Kaiser Mazoku posted:Follow-up: We ended up not putting him down since it's a bitch to get in with the vet right now and we figured he'd go naturally soon anyway. That rules, I'm really glad to hear it. And I totally understand what you mean about getting in to see a vet. I had to find a vet today who could look at one of my pigs who was acting like she had something stuck in her mouth. I called my usual vet, and they suggested a couple other practices in town because they were completely booked, or they unhelpfully suggested "well you can always go to the emergency vet". Yeah gently caress that. I ended up getting a cancellation slot at another vet and of course by the time we got in she was fine. Meanwhile, my heart pig is having some difficulty breathing as of yesterday. I've sent a long email to my usual vet, I'm on the cancellation list for another vet, and have a May 19th appointment booked at a third vet. It's so incredibly frustrating right now when you need to see a vet for a semi-urgent but not emergency vet-urgent issue. The last time this happened I did go to the emergency vet and it cost me $$$$$. I thought over a year into the pandemic maybe poo poo had calmed down a bit, but I was wrong!
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May 8, 2021 01:20
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So Rod and Todd were doing fine so far. But the last couple of days Todd has been going to whatever place Rod is sleeping and annoying him until Rod let's him stay, or he leaves (or I break up the fight). They haven't bitten each other, but is this the end, should we just put them in separate cages? i made a little video: https://i.imgur.com/L5tZl1k.mp4
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May 14, 2021 15:44
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mrfart posted:So Rod and Todd were doing fine so far. Looks like dominance/territory fighting to me, this can quickly escalate into actual biting. If they do start biting, seperate them with an object, not your hands or they will transfer their fight to your fingers. And then yea, if biting happens its time for seperate cages since they will otherwise murder each other if it gets to that point.
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May 14, 2021 17:26
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I just completely spaced it, even though it makes total sense, but be careful with your hamsters around ceiling fans. I was walking across the room with chichi in the crook of my arm, when I walked underneath the ceiling fan in my room and she SCREAMED and literally EJECTED herself from my arms, immediately going airborne(I was quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground and cup my hands around her to prevent her flailing to escape, luckily), but I forgot that they see a moving ceiling fan as the flapping of a descending predator's wings(probably) and rightfully freak out. poor baby.
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May 14, 2021 19:32
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Captain Invictus posted:I just completely spaced it, even though it makes total sense, but be careful with your hamsters around ceiling fans. He's definitely not a rodent but this makes my dog LOSE HIS MIND for reasons I don't fully understand
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May 14, 2021 20:16
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mrfart posted:So Rod and Todd were doing fine so far. Separate them immediately and permanently. Take it from someone who's tried, you don't want to be the one who has to clean the cage after a ham murders and eats another ham and then dies of constipation 
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May 14, 2021 20:36
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roborovskis are the most adorable tiny little shits until one (graphic warning) kills the other, hollows it out, and you find it sleeping inside the skin of its cagemate
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May 14, 2021 20:52
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mrfart posted:So Rod and Todd were doing fine so far. Agreeing with the opinion to separate them before the fights escalate. On an unrelated topic, would you happen to have a link for that wooden house they were having a domestic disturbance in? I'm looking for some new hides for Banjo that he can climb on. I've already got him a wooden boat, but one chinese dwarf in a 40 Gallon tank leaves a lot of room to decorate. Banjo is finally becoming more comfortable with us, even though as far as I can tell, he is not food motivated at all. He ignores all treats and will just perch on our shoulders, chill out and wash himself. I feel like it's my duty to find a treat he will go crazy for.
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May 14, 2021 21:14
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-CHA posted:Agreeing with the opinion to separate them before the fights escalate. Sorry, I got that house with a cage I bought at a flee market. It's nice because it has 2 extra self closing exits on the side that double as ramps to get on top. Like I said before, the lady we got them from swore that she never had any problems keeping siblings together because they're pure Campbells (her words). But it's better to err on the side of caution, I guess. I'll get the back-up cage out of the basement.
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May 14, 2021 22:06
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-CHA posted:Banjo is finally becoming more comfortable with us, even though as far as I can tell, he is not food motivated at all. He ignores all treats and will just perch on our shoulders, chill out and wash himself. I feel like it's my duty to find a treat he will go crazy for. Do you mean he doesn't take treats inside or outside the cage? My Chinese hamsters never took food when they were out, and one of them would even spit out everything in her cheek pouches onto my hand if I held her while they were full. Treat wise in the cage, she really liked a cooked kernel of corn, and mealworms.
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May 14, 2021 22:15
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Themata posted:Do you mean he doesn't take treats inside or outside the cage? My Chinese hamsters never took food when they were out, and one of them would even spit out everything in her cheek pouches onto my hand if I held her while they were full. Treat wise in the cage, she really liked a cooked kernel of corn, and mealworms. Pretty much yeah, won't accept food outside of the cage and treats I leave in the cage will mostly go untouched. Wont even eat millet unless i remove it from the sprig first. The little dude is way too picky an eater.
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May 14, 2021 22:32
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mrfart posted:Sorry, I got that house with a cage I bought at a flee market. not to be “that guy” but I always err on the side of “breeders don’t know poo poo, they never know poo poo, and they’ll say and think up anything to 1) sell you an animal 2) make sense of all of the specific operating procedures and habits that they’ve picked up over the years and that ‘work’ by their specific standards and needs, 3) if something sounds too good to be true, species-wise or otherwise, it most certainly is”
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May 15, 2021 01:10
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 Kirby's stupid new obsession is Chanel perfume samples. I don't let him bite or lick them obviously but he will chase me for the magazine so he can get a sniff. His other obsession is licking any human toes on sight so I don't know what his deal is. I love him to death.
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May 28, 2021 17:48
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Pasketti posted:
sounds like you should keep him away from the internet or put him all over the internet and build him a fandom not really sure which
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May 28, 2021 18:29
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Ok Comboomer posted:sounds like you should keep him away from the internet I think it's a salt thing. He has this treat he likes that is a lollipop made of compressed hay and he will take a few bites, run off to go lick my big toe, then come back for a few more bites of the treat, then more toe. He's just using me as seasoning 
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May 29, 2021 16:53
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pig into human feet, so what
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May 29, 2021 17:03
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Already started working on the 4th of July photoshoot with the hams. Dipper is a pro at this.  Banjo could use some more training.  He enjoyed being under the table more than sitting at it. 
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Jun 15, 2021 03:43
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Captain Invictus posted:roborovskis are the most adorable tiny little shits until one (graphic warning) kills the other, hollows it out, and you find it sleeping inside the skin of its cagemate One of my exes gifted me with about 6 of those lil psychos, and yeah they ended up playing "And then there were one" until the only survivor was the mighty Chonko.
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Jun 20, 2021 11:58
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DreadUnknown posted:One of my exes gifted me with about 6 of those lil psychos, and yeah they ended up playing "And then there were one" until the only survivor was the mighty Chonko.  Yeah, they uh, like playing that game.
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Jun 20, 2021 15:10
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 Todd is such a funny character with his one red eye. How many of these mealworms are hams allowed to eat? We sometimes give them as a snack. They absolutely love them, but I guess they can’t have too many of them? Doesn’t make for a balanced diet:) Also, you guys advised against using hay because of breathing issues, but I can’t find anything about that. Our previous ham loved burrowing in that stuff. And they sell ‘hamster safe’ hay everywhere, but maybe that just means it’s pesticide free.
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Jun 27, 2021 00:41
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Too long hay risks pouch puncture, but I'm not sure it's necessarily bad for respiration. Use hemp or paper wadding, regular wood shavings or hay you'd use for rabbits is indeed super bad.
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Jun 27, 2021 10:25
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Tias posted:Too long hay risks pouch puncture, but I'm not sure it's necessarily bad for respiration. The problem with hemp or paper wadding is that they don’t manage to build tunnels, they need some load bearing hay.
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Jun 27, 2021 13:20
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Nah, Boxo brand wadding and the occasional bit of wood for stability is more than enough.
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Jun 27, 2021 14:14
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Just Boxo is working great for Banjo, the dude has a full tunnel system going on with no structural issues. Could be a size difference as banjo is a Chinese dwarf and is more aerodynamic vs other dwarves that are more spherical.
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Jun 27, 2021 15:06
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Had a scary week m, with the AC breaking during 90° weather. My pigs handled it well, I gave them a bag full of ice to cool off, topped their water off constantly, and just kept a close eye in them. Just a bit nerve-wracking 
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Jun 27, 2021 16:26
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Trying to clicker train my hamster. From what I've heard they're kinda dumb but I think I can teach him to run up to me for sunflower seeds.
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Jun 27, 2021 18:14
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Dogwood Fleet posted:Trying to clicker train my hamster. From what I've heard they're kinda dumb but I think I can teach him to run up to me for sunflower seeds. You would be surprised, hamsters are pretty smart little dumb dumbs. It just takes every day training.
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Jun 27, 2021 18:54
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Pants Donkey posted:Had a scary week m, with the AC breaking during 90° weather. My pigs handled it well, I gave them a bag full of ice to cool off, topped their water off constantly, and just kept a close eye in them. Just a bit nerve-wracking When we had the pigs we used to keep a few small metal weight plates in the fridge / freezer and distribute them through the cage as little heat sinks. Probably not very efficient but they seemed happy with them
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Jun 27, 2021 19:07
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Party Boat posted:When we had the pigs we used to keep a few small metal weight plates in the fridge / freezer and distribute them through the cage as little heat sinks. Probably not very efficient but they seemed happy with them I just keep my rabbits air-conditioned  (my ex and I used to keep the trio that we shared/she kept without it, and I will never never never make that mistake again. they're so much less clean in the heat)
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Jun 27, 2021 19:14
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Dogwood Fleet posted:Trying to clicker train my hamster. From what I've heard they're kinda dumb but I think I can teach him to run up to me for sunflower seeds. My hamster knew his name and would come for treats when I called him, so clicker training should work the same I assume.
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Jun 27, 2021 23:51
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-CHA posted:Just Boxo is working great for Banjo, the dude has a full tunnel system going on with no structural issues. Could be a size difference as banjo is a Chinese dwarf and is more aerodynamic vs other dwarves that are more spherical. Oh word, I should specified that advice derives from my dwarf hams, not larger non-spherical rodents
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Jun 28, 2021 08:28
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:27 |
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So Rod had a little crust on his back last week. It got bigger, and then it came off and was red and we decided to go to the vet. The vet removed the remaining crust and cleaned the wound and gave a shot against the itching. Then, to err on the safe side, she checked under the microscope. Here is some free advice, if a vet ever asks you if you want to have a look in the microscope POLITELY DECLINE. it’s mites, he has some aggressive type of mites that were burrowing under his skin. He got another shot and will need another one in 10 days. We threw out everything, cleaned everything. Froze the new stuff first. Etc… But I can still see these little alien monsters when I close my eyes. I feel so bad for him. I’m guessing it came in with the bedding? Or the food? Very hard to say for sure.
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Jul 5, 2021 19:49
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