Worst Guinea Pig carer in the world or the unluckiest?

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:55 am


I had to dis-assemble my cameras because kittens kept knocking them down and chewing on the cords. Chewing problem is solved but not the "knocking down".

We still have to put the tree up to see if we can "teach" them to stay out of it. Last year: ImageSugar and the tree #1 12.29.17

rjespicer

Post   » Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:07 pm


Nala chewed through the cable of the phone power supply yesterday. I suspect the daughter had unplugged it and left it on the floor when they were out for floor time. Nala is a chewer, we had to get new bowls as she was chewing on the rubber non slip ring around the bottom of our old one.

That is partly why I was wary of putting the camera near the cage or down too low.

The house sitter hasn't been in for training yet, but apparently has said she will send us pictures everyday and make sure they are properly looked after. Apparently she still feels guilty about the door incident in July that preceded the respiratory issues they had and is determined to make up for it. She also knows how much the girls mean to me and apparently is more than a little scared of me, cant think why. ;)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:26 pm


That is just so funny, GrannyJu1!

p.s. I hope you have a great trip and am sure your girls will do great.

rjespicer

Post   » Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:12 pm


So I think we are set.
House Sitter has been trained on cleaning and feeding.
Girls were weighed at the weekend
Suzi - 876g
Nala - 1051g
Chunkita - 1150g

Trimmed all of their nails (well the daughter did, she seems to have the knack)

Camera is set up

I think we are good to go . They appear to have been happy and healthy for a good few weeks now (touch wood) but still nervous about leaving them.

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah, or what ever holidays you will be celebrating.

Will try and check in if I can but otherwise will catch up with you all once we are back.

Fingers crossed.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:18 pm


Yay! Be sure to have fun!

rjespicer

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:14 am


So far so good. Not back yet but the girls seem to be doing ok. The camera detected an escape attempt by one of the hamsters, Kali, but we were able to contact the house sitter who returned her to the pen and had taken steps to prevent any further break outs.

Happy New Year

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:27 am


Too funny about the attempt of the jailbreak, but glad she was caught in time. I hope the rest of your trip goes as easily.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:02 am


That is cool that you could alert her! Those cams came in handy!!

rjespicer

Post   » Tue Jan 15, 2019 3:58 pm


Back home now and all 3 girls seem to be doing well. Suzi and Nala put on a bit of weight while we were away (24g and 29g respectively) while Chunky lost a bit , down 28g. So all good.

The two Hamsters appear to be doing well too.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 15, 2019 7:14 pm


Super! So glad they are all healthy! Probably a great relief to your pet sitters to have you home :-)

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:33 pm


Welcome back! I'm sure the critters are happy about your return.

rjespicer

Post   » Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:56 pm


So a little update. No issues at present, touch wood, but some new developments over the last year.

The girls are doing well and have put on quite a bit of weight
Chunkita - 1192g
Nala - 1330g
Suzi - 1030g

Thankfully they appear to have been healthy and clear of the various issues they had in the past. I am pretty impressed with Nala as she is now the biggest of the 3, not bad going considering the vet at one point had told us to consider euthanasia when she was ill in September last year .

Anyway at the end of June this year one of our Hamsters died. A little while after that I came home to find not just another hamster but another Guinea pig (despite having had a long chat with the missus a while back about no more pets and definitely no buying pets from Petsmart). She had been told it was a girl but after a while it became apparent that 'He' wasn't a girl. I wasn't best pleased about her getting another piggy or the fact that she had gotten a boy (I am not entirely convinced it was accidental). We put a divider in the cage to keep him separate unfortunately he was able to get over this so we put him in a separate cage. After a week and a half I came home to find him gone and the missus said she had taken him back to the store, I wasn't particularly happy with that, having already bonded with the little guy, so she went and retrieved him.

The Missus and daughter said they would get him to a vet to get him snipped but for various reasons that didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked. Things came to a head when they put the little boy out for floor time with the girls about 3 weeks ago, just after another of our hamsters died. They were only together briefly as far as I can tell and they said that they were watching them to make sure they didn't get up to any funny business but it was still an unnecessary risk, I wasn't very happy about it.

Anyway Piglet, as we call him, got snipped Tuesday last week and is now recovering. He seems to be OK, still full of beans, and producing lots of beans, and eating well. His weight before the op was 1230g and the day after was 1138g but is now up to 1172g. He hates syringes so it has been a real chore to get him to take the Baytril and meloxicam. He has taken all the Baytril so far but wouldn't take the meloxicam last night (but had reluctantly taken previous doses) but doesn't appear to be in any pain. I have been rinsing his incision (at least I think I have as it is pretty difficult to see it) with a Hibiclens solution and he seems to be making a good recovery eating Pellets, Treats, Veggies and Wheat grass.

His last Baytril dose is tonight so once that is done it will just be a case of monitoring him and checking his incision and ticking of the days until the recommended 6 weeks separation is up so we can put him in with the girls as well as monitoring the girls to make sure there is no sign of him having been able to sow his oats before he got snipped.

Just curious but how long is it before I can stop checking on the incision? Any other tips on after care and monitoring?

Fingers crossed that he makes a full recovery and there are no signs of any of the girls being pregnant. If all goes well, touch wood, I may be able to breathe a sigh of relief around the end of January.

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