Gethenian
Junior Guinea Pig
My wife and daughter are on vacation all week! YAY! So we're all staying at my place and have brought over my daughter's pet...
...Lily the hamster.
This afternoon, an electronics emergency gave them an opportunity to meet! Namely... the air conditioning in the attic (my "apartment") has gone out, and the animals have had to be moved downstairs. This is the new setup I've built for Kindle:
It's a dog pen, the kind you put in the yard for a small dog to run about in. I lined the floor with puppy pads and some fuzzy mats. The setup is a lot less "secure" than the enclosure I built for Kindle out of shelving pieces, which has much closer-together bars and a roof, but here's the really interesting thing--
Kindle seems so much happier in this enclosure. She doesn't get nervous when being lifted in and out of it, and she is spending a LOT more time hanging around and even playing out in the open, rather than staying constantly under her hidey-shelf except when she comes out for food or water.
And I'm sure everyone is wondering how the piggy and hamster got along. They got on FAMOUSLY. Within about 15 minutes of being together, they'd invented a game where they took turns chasing each other into that little corner. Neither animal showed any sign of aggression or fear. Although no, we have not let them meet with the hamster OUTSIDE the ball and don't really plan to.
And here is one final change in Kindle's behavior that I found absolutely the most adorable thing in the world. Notice the cat hutch I've put in there for Kin to hide in? She loves it, because the inside is cushioned, but more than that... there is a poofball with a bell on it hanging right in the doorway, and...
These aren't the greatest photos in the world, but these are pictures of my guinea pig sitting up and batting at the jingly ball to play with it just like a cat would:
Kin has always liked to play with tiny bells and cat toys that jingle, but I have never seen her stand up and bat at anything! She's always just picked things up with her teeth and tossed it about or sometimes nudged it around with her nose to "play" with it.
...Lily the hamster.
This afternoon, an electronics emergency gave them an opportunity to meet! Namely... the air conditioning in the attic (my "apartment") has gone out, and the animals have had to be moved downstairs. This is the new setup I've built for Kindle:
It's a dog pen, the kind you put in the yard for a small dog to run about in. I lined the floor with puppy pads and some fuzzy mats. The setup is a lot less "secure" than the enclosure I built for Kindle out of shelving pieces, which has much closer-together bars and a roof, but here's the really interesting thing--
Kindle seems so much happier in this enclosure. She doesn't get nervous when being lifted in and out of it, and she is spending a LOT more time hanging around and even playing out in the open, rather than staying constantly under her hidey-shelf except when she comes out for food or water.
And I'm sure everyone is wondering how the piggy and hamster got along. They got on FAMOUSLY. Within about 15 minutes of being together, they'd invented a game where they took turns chasing each other into that little corner. Neither animal showed any sign of aggression or fear. Although no, we have not let them meet with the hamster OUTSIDE the ball and don't really plan to.
And here is one final change in Kindle's behavior that I found absolutely the most adorable thing in the world. Notice the cat hutch I've put in there for Kin to hide in? She loves it, because the inside is cushioned, but more than that... there is a poofball with a bell on it hanging right in the doorway, and...
These aren't the greatest photos in the world, but these are pictures of my guinea pig sitting up and batting at the jingly ball to play with it just like a cat would:
Kin has always liked to play with tiny bells and cat toys that jingle, but I have never seen her stand up and bat at anything! She's always just picked things up with her teeth and tossed it about or sometimes nudged it around with her nose to "play" with it.
