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Dear Pet Journal or Adventures in Pet Ownership

15K views 119 replies 13 participants last post by  gracefulchaos01 
#1 ·
March 25, 2014
Dear Pet Journal,
I can't believe it is the end of March and snowing yet again! But there it is, falling softly on the grass. At least it isn't sticking. I'm glad I don't have any outside pets.
Work has been fine. I find myself somewhere between duties and looking up various hedgehog info in any spare time I might have.
The cats are doing well. I think Ping is suffering a touch of jealousy/separation anxiety because of the time Jason and I spend in the office with the hedgies. Closed doors bother him. But at least he doesn't jump against the door trying to open it, like Willow. Or Panama, who just sits right outside the door, waiting for one of us. I think Pan is just hoping we will come out with food. And just because I'm mentioning the rest, I have to say Loki is doing the best. He is presently asleep on the couch. He has never had any kind of anxiety against the hedgies. I remember Jason telling me right after we brought Sebastian home that he went through the process of introductions while I was at work. He said Pan and Willow were nervous of Sebastian, that Ping kept his disinterested distance (that is Emperor Ping for you) and Loki approached Sebastian, looked at her (him at the time) and licked her head and walked away. Seriously? And I was at work?!?! I totally should have seen that.
Sebastian and Co. seem to be adjusting well to their new cages. A day or so shy of 6.5 weeks. Sebastian and Gayle are in one new cage and the boys are all in another.
Everyone seems to love the new fleece liners I put in the cages. Sebastian and Gayle both spend most of their time asleep under the fleece under the igloo. Gabriel and Tiberius are also both under the fleece, but only one under the igloo at a time. Beauregard, my grumpy baby Beau, has spent under fleece time, but seems to prefer to stay cuddled up close to the wheel. On the fleece. But not so much under it. They all seem to be ignoring the carefresh I put down on top of the fleece to make them feel more at home. I guess the carefresh is done for now. Into closet storage!
The new wheels all came in today. Big old chinchilla wheels. We already had one and we had also gotten some "silent spinners" mostly because they were out of chinchilla wheels. But the little slits on the spinners make me nervous. So, just so I would rest easier, we got more wheels.
Chelsea has rats and I think she will like a spinner for her brood. We'll figure out what to do with the other 3.
Oh my gosh! Watching all the babes try to take to the wheels has been just … awesome. They get on it, walk around a bit, turn around, run a little, stop like they are scared, turn around again, walk a little, turn around, run, and do it all again. It's so funny with the boys because one of the boys will get about halfway through this cycle and another boy will get on the wheel and try his own cycle. Except their running/walking/turning cycles of course do not coincide. Every once in a while though they will both get it at the same time and both be running in the same direction. And that makes my heart feel full. But then the third brother wants on too, and for all it's a big wheel, it's just not big enough for three.
Gayle though… Gayle got on her wheel and was off like a rocket! Run run run run, slow down… run run run run! I think the little girl has some serious nervous energy to burn off. I wonder if Sebastian ever gets to use the wheel at night?
Given issues with wheel time I'm thinking that by this upcoming weekend we had best have all 5 of our new cages ready for occupancy. I'm sure Sebastian is ready to be alone again, even though to my knowledge she was only ever alone for the first week we had her. She seemed to enjoy it a lot. And hedgehogs being naturally solitary animals, I'm pretty sure they will do just fine with socialization at designated playtimes.
I'm thinking one of those kiddy pools with the high sides for playtimes, or maybe a play pen like they had when I was a kid. Couple boys sometimes, couple girls sometimes. A wheel, a couple balls with bells, maybe live crickets sometimes just for extra adventure.
It's a random thought.
And pictures! I need a camera and some serious lighting. I NEED to click pictures of these little ones for posterity. And they are just so darned cute! I love the cats, I really do. But they just usually don't take to pictures well. The hedgies? They could be super stars in my home! Besides, I think they are doing good things for Rhiannon. After losing her mom, the hedgie pics I had been taking were the only thing she would even talk about with me. And they have opened a new world for us. <3 hedgehogs! And cats!

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)

 
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#53 ·
I think pork just isn't often mentioned because it's not a common baby food, and due to the higher fat and salt content. Trichinosis isn't really an issue for store-bought ham in the US now, so it'd be fine to feed raw. I know with dogs, sometimes pork is something they can't handle, I think due to the high fat. My dog couldn't handle it, unfortunately, it completely messed up her digestive system when I tried introducing it. She loved it, but we had to stop & start back over with just chicken, sigh.

I see no issues with trying pork, raw or cooked, but just make sure you look at the nutrition label carefully for the sodium content. Pork is a really bad one for having sodium added (even the porkchops, etc.), and even without added, it's pretty high-sodium. Make sure the sodium is under 100mg per 4oz serving.

Also, I'm glad Panama is doing well! Sorry the vet tech was so judgmental though. I hope your wallet is able to recover soon. You need to take care of yourself too!
 
#54 ·
Man my guys love their raw beef! It's the first thing they go for after the bugs or pinkie mice. It's actually the only thing River will eat that isn't her a/d.

I feed Penny ham baby food every now and then and she likes it but it does make her poop a little runnier. Nothing bad, nothing green, just not as firm as it is on nights when I don't feed her it. She is the only one that likes baby food too.
 
#55 ·
Bath times!

just wanted to share a few pics I managed to snap last night of the kids at bath times.

Sebastian and Gayle both desperately seeking escape from the bath tub:





Titan being photogenic:


And Gabriel being... Gabriel.









 
#60 ·
I agree Mel. He does with me too. For all he is a crazy biter who makes me hurt and bleed and has left scars, he is also sweet and gentle and oh so very charming. If he were a person he would be dangerous. But for a hedgehog he is really just complicated and in need of a good ... well... you know. ;)
 
#61 ·
I didn't want to leave out the rest of my array. Heavens forbid they think I play favorites too much :)
Last night we got Tiberius and Beau in a couple of quick shots.

Here is Tiberius about to make a break for it, see his bulgy little eye? He is *not* a cuddler usually.



And here is Beauregard getting some much needed snuggles in a beard right after his little quick had been clipped. Jason was wearing blood, and you can see the cornstarch remains quite clearly.

 
#62 ·
Dear Pet Journal! What a couple of weeks we have been having! Kevin the fish's tank filter blew up when we tried to clean his tank so we had to put him in a smaller tank. He was not a happy fish! When I felt so bad for the sad tings face I loaned my daughter money to go get him a decent set up. $300.00 later things seemed to be going great so we added a catfish and a frog to the mix. All seemed well until 3 days later Kevin the Betta fish ate Gilbert the Guppy! Cue one very sad teenaged daughter. As if that wasn't bad enough Kevin then died! Murder and suicide? My daughter and son set out to replace Kevin and now my son comes home with a Betta fish and a tank as well! His set up is black and very gothic looking and the kids decided the replacement fish would go to my son. My daughter has the orangey-red one. Everybody is happy..........
For about 5 minutes! The orangey red Betta is head butting the catfish, which we were assured were very compatible. Out comes Mr. Fish as fast as you can blink because we don't want a repeat of the last episode! Back to the pet store he goes!
The black Betta fish gets sucked up into the tank filter and is caught there! My son quickly unplugs the tank before Monster face can drown! (Yes that's his name, and apparently Betta Fish are surface breathers, so Yes they CAN drown)
OMG Murder face now goes into Kevin's old tank! That was last night.... Stay tuned for more info
 
#63 ·
Dear Pet Journal,
Tomorrow I have to leave for Vancouver. I'm going with a heavy heart as my family is having a memorial service for my uncle. He passed away 6 weeks ago and the service has finally arrived and I am no longer numb to the pain- my loss has now became a reality. My uncle is not away on a trip. He will not be coming home.
This past week I've dropped out of school, had to spend one night in the emergency room, and cried my eyes out.
But I had Lucy and Gretta to snuggle with. They don't mind when I cry. They will contently sleep on the couch with me when I can't get off the couch.
Tomorrow I must leave my babies for the weekend. I wish I could bring my hedgies, but I can't. I know they will be well cared for while I am away.
Once again, I am reminded of how amazing these little, pokey critters are. Pokey on the outside making them appear hard to love, but soft and sweet when you get beneath that outer shell. Thank you my sweet hedgies for loving me when I am pokey and unlovable.
 
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#67 ·
Dear Pet Journal: I am happy to report that things were nice and quiet over the weekend! The Betas are better (bad pun indeed!), the catfish is happy and the minnows are swimming along swimmingly, although one of the three of them kicked the bucket! Who knew fish were so fin-icky!!!!!
The cat and dog had a great week-end! They both had play dates while the humans spent some well needed quality time together on Saturday.
Penelope the hedgehog didn't even notice as we were home in plenty of time to feed, snuggle and clean her cage! It is, after all, all about HER!
We had a beautiful fall week-end with record breaking temperatures of 29 degrees in Edmonton, Alberta.
All the critters seemed to enjoy the weather! Penny was running like a mad woman on her wheel this morning!
Lets hope the rest of the week holds out like this!
 
#69 ·
The moments. It's all about the moments. Sitting on the couch watching tv, but not really. Watching Beauregard snuggled up on top of his batman snuggle sack trying to sleep under the scrap of Spider-Man fleece we found next to Loki who also wants to be very close to me.
This is a good moment.
 
#70 ·
Grace, I want to thank you for being so vocal about how the fleece training that Nancy told you about has helped with Gabriel's biting issues (and thank Nancy too for suggesting it at all!). I was meeting with some petsitting clients tonight & the woman is a hairdresser. One of her clients has a hedgehog & talks about it. Apparently he's still extremely grumpy (she's had him for over 6 months or a year or something like that), and he likes to bite her a lot. Looks for skin to bite. She still gets him out every night and tries, but obviously that's not fun. I instantly thought of your work with Gabriel and told her to mention it to her client & see if it helps. Fingers crossed that maybe fleece training will help them as well as it has you and Gabe!
 
#72 ·
Grace I totally agree it IS about the moments. Sometimes we tend to forget that. Monday night I had Penny snuggled on my chest and she lets out this sigh like noise and out pokes one little foot from under the blanket. I had to peek! She was lying on her side with her front paws clasped together and her back legs splatted out! Her head was slightly tucked under and she had this look of pure bliss about her. Talk about falling instantly more in love with a pokey thing!
 
#73 ·
Not a contender!

And here we are, Early October. The beginning of the holiday Season. the beginning of Picture Season!
and since I have the cutest kids around, I figures I would enter into one or two of those photo contests that are out right now ;)
Well, the hedgehogs had different feeling about this, so I wanted to share with you all a few of my "non-contenders" photos. Photos that I love love love, but that I'm pretty sure aren't winning any beauty contests, if you know what I mean!

Let's start with Titan. He was not all about this adventure AT ALL! he hates the flash, he hates the camera noise and he hated being woken up in the middle of the day to get half decent light. and I have a bite on my finger to prove that when he was done, he was DONE!

As you can see, he couldn't even be bothered to open his eyes at first:



But then, he decided he was just going to make an escape:



In all honesty, Sebastian wasn't much better. Though she kept her teeth to herself, she wasn't really a willing participant.

Really?



You can't see me...



Gayle was a bit better. But then, she got mealworms...





Her little fat pockets let us know she was getting a tad stressed though and so we took just a couple more shots and put her back to bed.



Tiberius came next, and he actually had a pretty good time even though you can't really tell from these photos. He took a "hide and seek" approach to the adventure.







After Tiberius came Gabriel. Our lovely Gabriel who decided, once he woke up, that this was a grand adventure and he would ham it up for the camera.
So we have waking Gabriel...



you're looking at me? Gabriel:



Acorns smell tasty!



I didn't do nuthin...



I'm a gourd!



And finally, Beauregard's turn for the camera came. He wasn't really all about it at first, but he did enjoy the scenery as it had lots of hidey spots.





I'm a pinecone!









All in all it was a grand time for humans and hedgehogs alike.
 
#78 ·
Oh wow! A long afternoon with a different set for the kids. I'm not as pleased with this set as I was the last one and it shows in the photos. Not as hedgehog friendly as the leaves and gourds. However we did get some great photos that I'll share when it isn't right at bedtime. Another photo shoot scheduled for next weekend as well. The hedgies did a really great job today though and any failing in today's photos are in my set building skills and not in them. They all had great attitudes and were very cooperative models, for hedgehogs.
 
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