Chinchilla Nation

When It’s Hot ..

2nd July 2009

This is what the chinchillas do:

Tubby cooling on tile Tubby cooling himself off during playtime by lying flat on the terracotta tiles

Winnie cooling on cage bars Winnie cooling himself off after playtime by lying flat against the cool cage bars
Winnie’s ears turn bright pink whenever he’s hot

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Mornings ..

22nd June 2009

.. in the chinchilla room:

Winnie hammock

Winnie in his hammock

Tubby tube

Tubby in his tube

O how so quiet (compared to how they are at night: jumping up & down, cage bar chewing ..)

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How Many (2nd Try)

14th June 2009

robos can you spot?

How many 3

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I’m heartbroken to announce that Dee Dee passed away last night. It’s 2 days shy from a month since she was ill. Yesterday, she showed the same symptoms that she displayed when she was first sick: difficulty breathing, mucus coming out of her mouth, lethargic, etc .. BUT this time her body felt cold. I was honestly scared .. I started her on the same antibiotic again. Towards the end of the night, it became more & more painful for me to observe her .. I feared for the worst. She did pass away peacefully & quickly. I was upset, thinking that she had a good chance of living to a super ripe old age, but that was selfish of me .. it was time for her to go. I buried her in my garden, underneath my begonia flowers.

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How Many (1st Try)

1st June 2009

robos can you spot?

How many robos

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The Destroyer #2

25th May 2009

We have another destroyer!

Look what happens when you let a hammie out & he gets into the laundry basket:

Destroyer 2

That’s Daddy Hamster’s doing, alright! Good thing it is only a house shirt.

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Better

21st May 2009

Yes, Dee Dee is recovering much faster than I thought she would

Here she is running on her wheel after having been lethargic for awhile:

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Recovery

13th May 2009

YYyaaaayyy!!!! I’m so happy to see both Dee Dee & Brain are doing much much better!

Brain already seemed better after a day of antibiotic. Now she lives on her own & is already her old self, running on the wheel & climbing the cage bars. The reason why she’s alone is because when I tried to put her back with her sister, Pinky, after a 24-hour separation, I guess Pinky doesn’t remember her anymore? Pinky kept picking fights with Brain even after I’ve continually stopped Pinky.

I can see the improvement with Dee Dee after a day of antibiotic, too! It’s amazing what these antibiotic can do, huh? Whenever I try to give her the antibiotic though, she always struggles, I guess that shows the old girly still has long ways to go No more clicking noises when she’s breathing & I can see that she can breathe a lot easier now (before, I could see her back going up & down rapidly as she was trying to inhale). She doesn’t like me syringe feeding her with drinks & food, but I don’t mind because Dee Dee is eating & drinking on her own.

I think they will all be okay, thanks to the wonderful wonderful vets & all of the best wishes.

Another interesting thing, I bought some baby food, pureed carrots & pureed peas, all of the hamsters love them! Except for Dee Dee. I guess Dee Dee is like one of those old ladies who is set in her ways I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but she’s my favorite Russian Campbell.

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Dee’s Vet Visit

11th May 2009

Quick update on Dee Dee: took her to the vet today and vet diagnosed her with pneumonia. She is on a 7-day course of antibiotic. Good thing is that the inside of her mouth is still pink, which means that the pneumonia hasn’t progressed too far for the lungs to be deprived of oxygen. And she likes the taste of the antibiotic When the vet took a look at Dee Dee, he thinks that she’s a much older hamster (from the lack of fur on her limbs & she has completely silvered) and concluded that she caught the pneumonia probably due to her weak immune system. The vet suggested that I feed her pureed baby food, so I’ll go buy that tonight.

*sigh* I still has so much to learn about aging in hamsters, I wish I had been more prepared. Any suggestions or comments on what to expect from aging hamsters are welcomed.

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Bad Weekend

9th May 2009

For my hamsters & me .. After finding out that Brain was sick, now Dee Dee ..

Today I found Dee Dee laying down on the mezzanine floor sleeping. At first I thought she was sleeping normally, until I realized that the area around her mouth is wet & she was making clicking noises (as if she was hiccuping). I looked up the symptoms online & she might be experiencing some respiratory problems. I don’t know what causes it, but she still seemed to be able to find food & go up to the second floor, even though at a much slower pace. As a precautionary measure, I changed the bedding from aspen (even though it already doesn’t have aromatic oils) to Carefresh. When I stroked her, she just ignored me, which is unusual because she would normally try to bite my finger.

*sigh* I don’t know what else I can do at this point for Dee Dee. I just hope that it’s a sign of aging (after all, I wouldn’t know what aging signs are, since I’ve never had hamsters before).

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