Post by pinky on Jun 26, 2011 14:27:35 GMT -4
Wow, it's been three months since I've posted about critters! Time to do this. . .
So The Boyz are doing well.
Frasier (aka Mr. Scruffy) these days:
His back is lighter-colored than it used to be.
He's now 21 months old and slowing down some--doesn't run much on the wheel, and not very fast. But he still likes to crawl all over me. Every other week we visit Dr. Applegate for the ritual tooth trim. Three incisors don't grow at all, and the fourth grows and grows. He is very used to the clipping by now and it takes no time at all. And he has a fan club at the vet office.
His other health issues are under control. The fluid pouch in his chest is just there. It seems that the high ketones in his urine have diminished somewhat and are not off the chart. Now that that's happened I can probably trust the test strip's glucose result, and it indicates that he is NOT diabetic. He has been fed a diabetic diet all along, though. He does put out a ton of urine, though, but fortunately he pees in a jar and so housekeeping is a breeze. He defends his cage with a vengeance, batting my hand and trying to chew on my fingers, though he is unable to break the skin since his teeth don't come together.
Because of his teeth he gets chopped and hydrated Hazel Hamster with tiny pieces of peanut thrown in, along with shredded broccoli, and either oatmeal or crumbled shredded wheat as "breakfast." This diet keeps him stable at 50 grams, and healthy, so we don't mess with success!
Ping (aka "The Pingster") is also doing well. These photos are a few months old.
The second one is just weird, since he usually runs crazily on the wheel and is flung out. Remember that video called Hamster Spin Cycle where the Robo went around 12 times before falling out? Ping has gone around 4 times. . . . it looks painful to fall out, but he just gets up and climbs back on!
I have made lots of progress with him in terms of taming. He doesn't like to be held, and still does the slippery-bar-of-soap imitation whenever possible, but he tolerates it, and the other day I was actually able to scruff him and look at his teeth (they are beautiful, thank God!). I do not hold him outside the cage, though--too risky. He pees in paper towel tubes and in his wheel, so cleanup is easy. He eats a normal ham diet, and he too likes his "breakfast."
As for Frasier's deceased sister Ethel, I finally buried her today.
I thought I'd wait and bury the two together, but then I realized that that implied that I was expecting Frasier to pass soon, and there is no sign that that is going to be the case. So she got a proper interment (fyi to DF: yes, two feet down) in the hamster cemetery, where she lies with Pinky, Fuzz, Mal, and Jayde. Rest peacefully, pretty girl.
Taken days before she passed:
So that's the update, y'all!
So The Boyz are doing well.
Frasier (aka Mr. Scruffy) these days:
His back is lighter-colored than it used to be.
He's now 21 months old and slowing down some--doesn't run much on the wheel, and not very fast. But he still likes to crawl all over me. Every other week we visit Dr. Applegate for the ritual tooth trim. Three incisors don't grow at all, and the fourth grows and grows. He is very used to the clipping by now and it takes no time at all. And he has a fan club at the vet office.
His other health issues are under control. The fluid pouch in his chest is just there. It seems that the high ketones in his urine have diminished somewhat and are not off the chart. Now that that's happened I can probably trust the test strip's glucose result, and it indicates that he is NOT diabetic. He has been fed a diabetic diet all along, though. He does put out a ton of urine, though, but fortunately he pees in a jar and so housekeeping is a breeze. He defends his cage with a vengeance, batting my hand and trying to chew on my fingers, though he is unable to break the skin since his teeth don't come together.
Because of his teeth he gets chopped and hydrated Hazel Hamster with tiny pieces of peanut thrown in, along with shredded broccoli, and either oatmeal or crumbled shredded wheat as "breakfast." This diet keeps him stable at 50 grams, and healthy, so we don't mess with success!
Ping (aka "The Pingster") is also doing well. These photos are a few months old.
The second one is just weird, since he usually runs crazily on the wheel and is flung out. Remember that video called Hamster Spin Cycle where the Robo went around 12 times before falling out? Ping has gone around 4 times. . . . it looks painful to fall out, but he just gets up and climbs back on!
I have made lots of progress with him in terms of taming. He doesn't like to be held, and still does the slippery-bar-of-soap imitation whenever possible, but he tolerates it, and the other day I was actually able to scruff him and look at his teeth (they are beautiful, thank God!). I do not hold him outside the cage, though--too risky. He pees in paper towel tubes and in his wheel, so cleanup is easy. He eats a normal ham diet, and he too likes his "breakfast."
As for Frasier's deceased sister Ethel, I finally buried her today.
I thought I'd wait and bury the two together, but then I realized that that implied that I was expecting Frasier to pass soon, and there is no sign that that is going to be the case. So she got a proper interment (fyi to DF: yes, two feet down) in the hamster cemetery, where she lies with Pinky, Fuzz, Mal, and Jayde. Rest peacefully, pretty girl.Taken days before she passed:
So that's the update, y'all!
