[drowsydreamer]

So I'm posting this under General questions because it doesn't really fit anywhere else, but whatever.

Turbo, myself, and my fiance recently moved. Since the move, I've noticed that Turbo has been a lot less active. I expected this, because we went from living in the middle of nowhere to the middle of a city. Now there is a lot more noise from the street outside, and it never gets 100% dark because of street lights. I do my best to make it dark at night by closing the blinds and Turbo has his own corner of the apartment, but I still only hear him running a few hours a night. For the first 2 nights his wheel wasn't poopy at all. He got carsick on the way here, and I attributed the first day or two to just adjusting and maybe being a little queasy, but now we've lived here for a full week, and he's still barely running. I've been trying to leave him alone and give him time to adjust to the new living situation, but today I had to give him a bath and trim his nails (soooo bad... ugh). Other than the light and noise, the only difference is temperature. It's usually about 75 in our apartment, whereas in our old place it was about 72.

Basically my question is- should I be worried? I understand that under the stress of moving, some changes are expected, but how long do I let him adjust before getting worried about his change in behavior? Does anyone have any advice to ease the transition?

 

[hedgielover]

Quigley my boyfriend and I live in the city too. Quigley has always lived in the city though so there was no adjustment for him in terms of getting used to the noise level and the light. If your window blinds don't block the light completely you could try covering the cage with a heavy dark towel or blanket. I use a towel on Quigley's cage and it helps alot. It covers the top of the cage and the side that faces the window. It blocks much more of the light and he seems more active when the cage has been covered.

I'm not sure I understood what you said about the temperature change. Is your current apartment 75º and your old place was 73º? if so are you sure there are no drafts near the cage that could be bothering him. Or maybe there is a sound in that corner of the apartment that bothers him. Could be something as simple as a neighbour banging around early in the morning or late at night and might not be loud enough to wake you up but loud enough for him to hear.

There is a possibility that he is just adjusting and there is nothing wrong. If the trip was long perhaps he's still getting over the stress from that especially since he was car sick. If there was a time zone change at all he could be adjusting to that. Or even a slight change in schedule since you've been busy moving.

I would start up a schedule and handle him daily, cuddle time treats etc. It might help him adjust. You are one of his constants through this change so I wouldn't handle him any less than he is used to.