To keep Nimbus engaged and create a stronger bond with him, I've started teaching him a new trick.
He's learning to kiss on command through a reward system of Cheerios. The first night (Jan 30) we began training, Nimbus picked up it surprisingly fast. He could clearly see that there was a Cheerio in my hand, but he also noticed that he couldn't have that Cheerio until he completed a specific action. Earlier, he'd been sitting quite still on the couch arm, so I walked up and started pecking him on the lips. When Chris handed me Cheerios, I left my face close to Nimbus's and said "Kiss" repeatedly. It didn't take long before Nimbus put 2 and 2 together to win his favorite treat.
Since then, we've practiced it each night. Here's a video of our progression from this morning. We've also started working on "Up."
He doesn't yet understand performing a kiss without an type of reward before him. However, with the repetition of the word "Kiss," I'm hoping he'll store this word in his memory and learn its meaning. Just like he knows what "Nimbus" means.
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In other news, I'm excited to travel to the western side of Kentucky next week. I've never spent time in Kentucky before, only passed through on other excursions, and am looking forward to checking out the town of Paducah. It seems like a great little spot in the Central time zone. I have a job interview there at a newspaper for their open reporter position. Hopefully, the weather will behave, and I can make it out there safely. It'll be a nice mini vacation as I get to stay the night. However, I hate being away from Nimbus. It'll be his second to last night before his final check-up at the vet. We're counting down the days.
Also, (this may interest some of you), Chris and I are reading up on different animals every day. While I despised homework, I do miss walking into a classroom and learning something new. Whether Chris enjoys it or not, he gets to listen to me read about three different animals a day in alphabetical order. For me, the knowledge is key if I ever change career paths to work with wild animals like the big cats or canines in the future. I also enjoy reading up on mammals, birds, reptiles and so forth to appease my love of nature. If you'd like to keep up with us, here are Wikipedia links to the animals we read about: Aardwolf, African Buffalo, Akita, African Black Crake (bird), Alaskan Malamute, and Albatross. We clearly read more than usual. It's been a relatively slow day.
As always, thank you for reading!!! Nimbus is doing brilliantly well in his recovery, and we're hoping future posts have happy, funny stories instead of medical setbacks and updates.
Hey, everyone! I'm sorry I'm so late with this post. I clearly was not expecting Nimbus to be injured... how can anyone expect that? It's still such a shock to me. I can't figure out what happened, and I grow more frustrated every minute.
Nimbus is doing much better and takes his medicine easier. I think he now expects it, which breaks my heart. I hate holding him down for Chris to shove those hard syringes past his teeth. Luckily, he drinks it down instead of trying to spit it back at Chris. He spends the day sleeping in various spots in his cage and listening to his playlist. Some songs include "Coyotes" by Don Edwards, "Message for the Queen" from 300, "I Remember" by Stephen Sondheim, "Maybe Today" by Carbon Leaf and "Ribs" by Lorde.
I promised you all a post about safe toys for a chinchilla after leaving you hanging with poisonous toys. So here we are at last. I'll try to separate toys from cage accessories, but some go hand-in-hand.
The Oxbow Timothy products are wonderful toys to entertain and chew for chinchillas. Nimbus's first house was a Timothy bungalow. Now, it serves as a toy since he chewed himself a "sun roof." He enjoys sliding into the bungalow then popping his head out of the opening to survey his surroundings. He's like a chinchilla submarine. Try the lounger, the carrot, the play mat, the tunnel and other cool toys that your chin can nibble away at... instead of, you know, your copy of The Hobbit or your suede shoes. Many are considered toss toys and can be used in and outside the cage.
Nimbus's bungalow
Ware Willow Barbell Chew Toys are inexpensive and fun. Two balls of willow are woven together and attached by a willow stick. They come in different sizes to use for chinchillas, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits.
Any type of nesting toy like a chubby nest or lounger should be safe and also offer another chewing product to maintain healthy teeth. Just double check what type of hay is used. Timothy hay is the only hay that should be used in a chinchilla's staple diet. Other hays, like alfalfa, are to be used as treats, not everyday food. If you choose a toy made out a hay other than Timothy, you need to use to sparingly.
One of my favorite toys is the woven play mat by Super Pet. At only $5, the play mat provides your pet with three things. The first is that it's made of Timothy hay for more chewing. Secondly, little wooden stars and hearts are sewn into the mat for a different type of chewing. Finally, it's a great place to sleep. Nimbus loves rolling on his side and taking a nap on his mat. If your chin soils it, the mat is easy to cut. Nimbus's is missing a corner because he used it to pee on it too much. Now, it's safe for him to use again. He's on his second mat because he loves them so much.
Photo from petsmart.com/product
Hanging toys are great for entertainment, keeping those ever growing teeth in check and decorating your cage. Nimbus's favorite hangs down by a wooden hook and boasts one pumice stone and four wooden circles. I dangle it beside the top floor of his cage, so he can bat it around and exercise in order to chew it. The pumice stone is his favorite, which is great because he refuses to eat a regular pumice stone. That boxy rock just sits in his cage. Very annoying! Chinchilla City has some very interesting hanging toys, including the "chinshroom," which is half of a coconut shell and a vine stem, The Carnival, Pumice Wreath and Loop the Loop. TJ's Chinchilla Supplies also has fun, decorative variations. Chins want to do more than chew on a willow stick or nibble on a pumice stone. With hanging toys, they are presented with a challenge, which usually includes different types of chewing material.
The Alien from TJ's Chinchilla Supplies
If you'd like to help out chinchilla adoption agencies and rescues, you can always check your favorite site to see if they have a store. As you all know, I love Forever Feisty Chinchilla Rescue. I just love them! I trust their information, and they have a wonderful little store. For $16, you can get a Purple Pail of Goodies. In this pail you'll find, treats, chewing sticks of different woods, a wreath, a key chain for you, Timothy hay and a pumice stone. They carry lava ledges, Timothy twists, some toss toys, hanging toys like the Cactus Twist, baskets and a large willow cube.
Chinny Buddies!!!! It's fun to say, and they're just adorable! I said in a previous post that Nimbus doesn't enjoy his... well, more for me! I love it! It's just too cute. Pick one of five colors to either match your furry friend or give the cage a splash of of something new. They're the same size as a chinchilla (there are also mini Chinny Buddies), and each one is handmade out of fleece. If you can't purchase a bonding pair, this little playmate can provide company during the day when you're not around. However, Nimbus choose a different kind of companion, but that's a story for another day.
Nimbus and his Chinny Buddy
Then there are playhouses!! Let's bust out the fun outside the cage with mazes, ramps, boxes, cubes, tubes and oh so many places to hide. Twilight Chinchillas has some very innovative playhouses to get that lazy chin moving, chewing and exploring. Hide Cheerios in the tubes or purchase additional ramps from other stores to create your own unique chinchilla castle!!
I hope these products give you ideas and options of fun toys your chinchilla will enjoy. Just because they can't be colorful with a bunch of dyes and plastic doesn't mean you have to settle for colorless, plain wooden woven balls or chew sticks. There is an entire world of chin safe toys and activities to keep both of you entertained and help with bonding. Happy trails and enjoy!!
PLAY TIME! I love picking out toys for my pets. Sadly, my pets are never as excited about the toys as I am (except when it comes to Sparta and his cat nip), but I feel like I'm buying presents for myself. Own up! You love that you get to play with them, too, while spending time with your animals. The other day I came home with a flyer toy for Sparta and Sansa, which has interchangeable ends like the feathers, the streamers and the fuzzy tail. I hope I explained that toy right. I feel like I've only created a vague image. However, it is a fascinating toy as Sansa will do back flips in the air trying to catch the feathers or fuzzy tail. It also helps distract her from Nimbus's cage at night.
For chinchillas, toys have specific regulations for safety reasons. Chinchillas have such sensitive digestive systems that many toys found in Petsmart or other pet stores which have chinchilla images on them are actually very dangerous for them. Chew blocks with dyes and specific treats will more likely hurt them than create fun play time. I'm going to take a random, unnamed super pet store and go through some of their products. This means I cannot post links, but I will post links to safe, entertaining toys from chinchilla specific stores in a future post.
Not to Buy:
No, no, no! Photo from wag.com
Run-around balls - According to Forever Feisty Chinchilla Rescue, these are death traps. Not only are they made of plastic, which if eaten by a chinchilla is a health hazard, but they are suffocating. "I call it the 'Torture Ball', but many in the chinchilla community call
it the 'Death Ball'. Get the picture? These balls do not allow air
flow (despite the slits), and your chin can easily overheat. They are
very unsafe for your chin. Your chin also poops and pees in them, which
means that is getting tossed around as he is moving around. The chin
also has no control when in one of these and can bang into furniture or
fall down stairs. For those of you who have one of these and think your
chin likes it, well -- he doesn't, he is trying to escape from it.
Throw it away and find a better and safer way for your chin to get
exercise." I didn't mean to quote this whole paragraph, but it's beautifully written and 100% true.
All Living Things Rainbow Chews - This goes back to the fact that dyes are dangerous. They are advertised as "non-toxic," but they also boast fruit flavors. Where do the fruit flavors come from? Also, chinchillas don't eat fruit (although some suggest that a seedless apple piece on a rare basis is a cute treat idea).
Super Pet Silent Spinner - I tried to use one of these with my hamster, and she absolutely despised it. With one side of the product blocked off with a wall, the side can rub on the side of the animal. Feisty Chinchilla points out that some buyers reviewed the product poorly due to "the wheels coming off the bearing. These are very poor quality overall
and a safety risk to your chin and a waste of your money. Other unsafe running wheels are: Comfort Wheel by Super Pet and Run-A Rounds Exercise Wheel, which should never be given to your chin."
Specific types of wood - Natural chews are, of course, made from different types of wood. Those types which can hurt a chin include "almond, apricot, beech, black locust, black lotus, blackwood, box elder,
buckthorn, cashew, cedar, cherry, chestnut, china berry, Chinese snake
tree, chokeberry, citrus woods -
orange, lemon, grapefruit,
etc., cypress, ebony, elderberry, eucalyptus, fir, ginkgo, hemlock,
holly, honey, locust, hydrangea, juniper, kumquat, laurel, mahogany,
mango,
manufactured/glued woods
like plywood or fiberboard, maple, mesquite, myrtle," according to TJ's Chinchilla Supplies.
Cardboard from household products - Watching your chin nibble and roll around with a toilet paper tube may be adorable, but it's dangerous for two reasons. First, the cardboard is harmful to their digestive systems. Also, their heads may get caught in the small tubes. How would you get them out? By trying to slide a scissor blade between the chinchilla head and toilet paper roll? Or, take a knife and try not to cut too deep?
Plastic - Igloo homes, colored tubes and the fun constructive activity toys usually made for hamsters and gerbils are pure poison to a chin tummy. That goes for household items, too. Move the broom. Put the remote control on high counter. Ours sit on top of the DVD organizer where he can't reach... well, most of the time. Nimbus once climbed up the DVD organizer by pressing his feet against the DVDs and the wall to shimmy his way to the top. Never underestimate the power of chins! Hide your tennis shoes. Keep electrical cords out of reach with special covers or hidden spots. Our couch blocks the new ethernet cord, and the television cords are bundled together behind the TV. We can easily see if Nimbus pops between the TV and react quickly to get him out. Don't purchase a plastic water bottle. Move your cell phone. Yes, they'll go after everything.
Certain metals/fabrics - Brass, copper and zinc are not to be brought into a chinchilla's play area. Finally, cotton and leather are dangerous as well. So, pick up your sexy thigh-high leather boots. Plus, you don't want chisel teethmarks on the edges of your favorite party shoes. Believe me! I've made that mistake. My favorite work shoes look like I took a dull spoon and dug into the toe.
First off, let me say Merry Christmas Eve! I'm particularly excited this year because it's my first Christmas with Nimbus! We've had a very interesting few weeks, me changing him around the Christmas tree and him nibbling on presents and ornaments. Since I'll be traveling tomorrow, we're present-opening today, and I cannot wait to see Nimbus's reaction to the new treats I picked out for him. Ho, ho, ho!
Last time, we were discussing why a chinchilla. As I was exploring my options for a new pet, I decided another hamster wasn't the way to go. Now, let's look at rabbits and guinea pigs.
Rabbits:
I always felt I had a special connection with rabbits. As a very young child, I loved to read. Even as a toddler, I sat and looked at books. One of those little books had large pictures of different rabbit breeds. I forced my mom through whines and mumbles in my inability to form words yet to read and reread the bunny book. And one day, I looked at a page, pointed my chubby finger at a rabbit and loudly said, "DUTCH!" And sure enough, I was pointing to the black and white Dutch rabbit. Pros -
Rabbits come in all shapes, sizes, colors and temperaments. You can adopt a breed, color or size that fits your lifestyle and your personality. According to rabbitbreeds.org, "the most low maintenance rabbit breeds which weighing no more than 6 1/2 pounds fully grown, are: Mini Rex, Holland Lop, Dutch, Dwarf Hotot, Mini Lop, Mini Satin, Netherlands Dwarf, and Polish." When I was young, my mother kept bunnies. She loved their soft ears and fluffy tails. And, she's right. Bunnies are extremely adorable! I enjoy their hefty size, as I prefer larger animals. At the end of the day, a hamster is too easily squish-able.
Rabbits can also be very entertaining. There are a variety of toys available for them that they can toss, nibble and burrow in for their enjoyment. They can become quite bored in their cages so it's important to stimulate them with activity, like with hamsters, and make sure they have plenty of time out of the cage. To some, this may be a con. If you're someone with little time on your hands due to a hectic schedule, a rabbit isn't for you. Because small mammals live in cages, people with little time, particularly in the evenings, shouldn't own these animals. Cats and dogs need time with their masters, of course, but cats can easily fend for themselves and dogs can be let out to play if there's a fenced backyard on extremely busy days. Rabbits, chinchillas, hamsters and so forth must wait and watch in their cages where they've been boxed in all day to see if their owner will have time for them or not. I make sure to have the time. If I walk in the door after 9:30 p.m. after my long day of college classes, you can bet I'm going to stay up for an hour or even two to make sure Nimbus gets attention and play time and let Sparta know he's loved.
According to exoticpets.about, rabbits can live for over five years. This is definitely a plus for me since I wanted a small pet with a longer life expectancy. If I had adopted a rabbit, Mr. Bunny and I would have had several years of happiness together.
Rabbits, like hamsters, can also be clicker trained. This is important for mental stimulation and for the owner's enjoyment with their pet. It creates a bond, in a way. Cons -
Rabbits are messy. Now, let me set the record straight... chinchillas are messy!!! If I'm not vigilant, my house can become an utter wreck due to Nimbus's droppings, hay and toys. However, there is one amazing aspect of why a chinchilla trumps a rabbit: no smell. The smell of rabbit urine is an overpowering aroma of stench! As explained by critters360, it's also difficult to clean. While your bunny can be trained to use a litter box, those measures only go so far. My cat Sparta uses his litter box diligently, but that doesn't mean that if I don't clean it on a regular basis that it won't stink up the whole house. And, if Sparta's having a stomach problem, as soon as he walks out of the box, you'd think the lions from the zoo just waltzed out of there. Plus, rabbits will chew, tear up carpet and could potentially do some significant damage to your home. That's a huge factor if you're home is a rental...!
There are some diseases that rabbits can transfer to other pets, and my number 1 thought process always rests on the safety of my other pets. At the time, it was Binx and Sparta. Now, it's just Sparta, so I always think of what is best for him. Currently, a little female stray cat is staying in my home during the cold nights and intermittently throughout the day. However, she wasn't allowed near Sparta or to drink/eat before or after him until she was tested for feline leukemia and given a rabies vaccination. If you go in blindsided when picking out a new pet, the pets you already own may experience just as much pain as you do when adjusting to your new playmate. You have to look at all three sides of the issue. How will I adjust to my new pet? How will my current pets react to a new animal in the house? How will the new pet reaction to me and my pets? If one of those questions raises a red flag during your research, you need to reconsider how important it is for a new pet... or look at other options to keep everybody separated and happy. In addition, when looking at rabbits, you may have to adopt two because they love company and can become very lonely without a partner in crime.
My biggest problem with rabbits - and this is going to seem silly - is that they never recognize their owner as their owner. They don't learn their name. They think that any human being is just a human being. Now, looking through the first page of a Google search, there seems to be a discussion of whether or not that's true. For me, I didn't want to take the chance, and with all the other factors, a rabbit and I just aren't cut out for each other - at least, not in this time of my life.
A Black Dutch From dutch-rabbit.co.uk
Guinea pigs:
I owned a guinea pig when I was young. His name was Nibbles, and he had soft shades of brown fur and an adorable squeak. However, it was a tragic experience when 8 days after bringing him home, he died in my arms for some unexplainable reason. I was devastated.
At the time of picking out the new addition to the family, my former boyfriend's opinion was still at play. We had bought Nutmeg together, and we would buy this new pet together. So, when he said he didn't want a guinea pig, I went along with it. While these adorable critters are fun to watch, they're also extremely skittish. They can be quite noisy, and it's important to own more than one because they, too, get lonely. One new pet was all we could handle at the time.
The two videos below show two different opinions on guinea pig care along with their pros and cons. The second video sounds like a teenage girl is narrating, however, she sounds like she's more informed about guinea pig care. The first video shows a woman handling a guinea pig on her lap, which is a rarity. She clearly has the time in order to work with her animals as her occupation is interacting with the animals on her farm. She gives a more fantastical reality of guinea pig ownership.
A different view about guinea pigs and how they interact with their people from the younger girl. She specifically points out their dietary and habitat needs. The video also shows a more fitting home for the little pets instead of the startled herd careening around a very sparse cage in the first flick.
In February, I lost my hamster Nutmeg. I'd had her for a year and a half since she was about 6-months-old. In hamster years, she was 75 when she died. It was a quick process, as are most rodent deaths. One minute, she was completely normal, and the next I was feeding her water every few hours through an eye dropper for three days, sleeping on the floor beside her cage at night. On a Tuesday morning, I pulled up her plastic igloo house for a water feeding to find her gone to a better place. My former boyfriend and I buried her out by the fence in the backyard. I put one of her chew toys in the shoe box with her.
Baby Nutmeg - the day we brought her home
The ache of losing a pet is a difficult one to process. You can't express your goodbyes in a way they understand. Nutmeg probably thought being roused from her exhausted sleep throughout the day for water was torture. So, what can you do? For a hamster, you hope that he or she isn't suffering or in pain and watch them fade away. For dogs and cats, you are usually left staring at them, going back and forth in your mind about how much longer you'll wait before taking them to the vet and saying good bye. This past week, I watched my current boyfriend struggle with that decision when he learned the horrible news: his sweet yellow Labrador Honey at 7-years-old had pancreatic cancer, and there was nothing the vet could do.
Personally, I have a connection with animals shown through a deep respect and love for them. I grew up in a household where Steve Irwin was a hero because of his conservation efforts. Now, his methods were a bit extreme, although entertaining, but his message was clear: Animals are worth protecting. Since I was little, I surrounded myself with wildlife and pets. My mother raised monarch butterflies and saved baby bunnies from the outdoor neighborhood cats. She was my personal Steve Irwin, teaching me about ecology and biology. The family dogs and cats were rescues. Piddy Paws and Remington came from kill shelters. Sanibel needed a home because the neighbors couldn't care for him. Sparta was found under a car at a gas station in the rain. Candy was adopted from a humane society. Only Luca was taken from a pet store after my mother lost her beloved Sanibel to feline leukemia. She always had a soft spot for long-haired cats, and an adorable black and white, long-haired kitten sat in a cage at the pet store where we purchased turtle food. In reality, he, too, was a rescue. The pet store did not purchase puppies and kittens, but sold those brought to them because their owners couldn't care for them.
Like my mother and Luca, I, too, have an urge to fill the hole left by the death of the previous pet. At the time of Nutmeg's passing, my former boyfriend and I owned two cats - Binx, who was abandoned and walked up to our porch one day, and Sparta, who I mentioned earlier. I wanted another pet to add to the family, but my landlord hates dogs and I couldn't handle a third cat. I began researching other small mammals like Nutmeg the hamster. We'll start with just the hamster for this post.
Hamsters: Pros - The joys of having a hamster, for me, fell on the vast variety of food Nutmeg could enjoy. She, of course, had her normal blended hamster diet from the store, but I enjoyed feeding her all the extra goodies she was allowed as well. Carrots. Willow branches. Apple slices. Kiwi. Cucumber. Sweet peppers. Broccoli (her favorite). Corn-on-the-cob. It was a plethora of fun to watch her stuff her cheeks and enjoy her different snacks.
It was also simple to own a hamster with cats. That may sound like a ridiculous notion, but by using a hamster ball, Sparta and Binx took little notice of the giant plastic rolling ball after about a week. In an aquarium tank, Binx and Sparta couldn't get their claws through any holes. Now, I do not suggest putting a hamster in an aquarium unless absolutely necessary (like owning cats with no safe place to keep the cage out of their reach). This is because hamsters need air flow. To fix this problem, I bought a high rise, also known as a "habitat expander." This incredible contraption sits on top of a standard aquarium with two clamps. Press in the clamps, and the high rise (which adds two climbing levels for your little hamster) provides air flow and more play space. The cats learned through the power of the water bottle that Nutmeg should not be touched when in her high rise. During the day when I wasn't home, I took out the ladder that connected the tank to the high rise. This way, Nutmeg couldn't leave the safety of the glass, and I didn't have to remove the high rise and replace the tank lid every day
Finally, hamster care is easy to learn. The hardest part about owning a hamster is cleaning the cage.This takes time to do, and if you use a tank, it means heavy lifting. It needs to be cleaned at least once a week, if not more depending on the cage type. Hamsters love, love, love being clean, and their cage is part of that. And, it must be done in a way that doesn't shock them when they return to a clean cage with all their belongings rearranged. The first task Nutmeg would perform after her cage was cleaned was put her snacks back in their preferred corners and tidy up her igloo. She was very meticulous that way! Otherwise, care is simple. Since hamsters never recognize their owners as playmates, although they can be clicker trained to do simple tricks, there is no need to spend hours interacting with your hamster. In most cases, they don't want to be handled in the first place. Instead, make sure they have a safe place to roll around in their exercise ball, provide them with fun toys and snacks and buy a hamster wheel. A hamster is set to go. Every so often, I'd provide additional exercise and mental stimulation buy building mazes and obstacle courses for Nutmeg out of toilet paper rolls, books, cardboard boxes, her wooden log toys and other safe objects to keep her entertained. Cage boredom is a horrible thing to suffer from. Think of when you were a child stuck inside the house for three days of straight rain. By the time the sun came out, you're ready to run like Forrest Gump. In the same way, sitting in a cage all day and night is not an enjoyable experience, so make sure to stimulate a hamster with both physical and mental activity. Hide their food. Let them crawl across your shoulders. Decorate the high rise with dangling chew toys and fluffy bedding.
Cons - Hamsters live for a short amount of time. I knew that beforehand, but when looking for a new pet, I knew I couldn't handle the trauma of falling in love with a new hamster and losing it after only a year. To me, that's the only con.
If you have children, however, that's a different story. When I was a child, I went through three different hamsters before my mother decided that children weren't meant to handle hamsters. And, she was right. Young children and hamsters do not mix. However, according to Paw Nation, hamsters are known as "starter pets" for kids because they require significantly less work. I would recommend that if you choose to use a hamster as a starter pet, have your child wait until at least 10, 11, 12-years-old. With the right amount of supervision and instruction, your son or daughter will learn the proper and safe way to handle the delicate animal.
If you're not a night owl, then most small mammals are not in your best interest, including hamsters. They are a noctural mammal, and the squeaking of Nutmeg's wheel was enough to drive me mad. I had to vigilantly keep the wheel oiled with vegetable oil in order to get a good night's sleep... and that was when the cage was kept in another room and I had a fan blowing all night. Also, the sound of their sharp teeth grinding against the metal of their water bottle could wake the dead. So, be sure to consider how important your sleep is or if you have a place to keep your cage where you wouldn't be disturbed.
