To begin Teddy’s second week living here, it was cage full clean out day. Having not done this with him before, I wasn’t sure how well it was going to go with Teddy. But as usual with this boy, I was pleasantly surprised. Once I’d got all the essentials ready for a big clean out, I set Teddy’s indoor playpen up in the front room, with a thick fleece blanket nobody used anymore covering the waterproof base. I was hoping that this would keep the pen dry and make it easier to clean before putting it away later. Then, I put Teddy’s log tunnel plus a large chew tunnel and bundle of wood sticks chew toys we’d chosen the previous week when collecting Guinea pig essentials before his arrival into the pen to hopefully keep him entertained. Next, it was Teddy’s turn to get in the pen. Placing him on the fluffy blanket, I waited to see what he’d do, thinking he’d run straight into the chew tunnel to use it as a hiding place. But when I checked a little later, he’d hidden himself under a layer of the folded blanket and seemed very happy curled up there.
Annoyingly, the cage was harder to clean out than I’d anticipated. After having cleaned out a much bigger cage with the girls, I’d been expecting this smaller cage with a top opening door as well as the front ones to make it a lot less of a struggle. However, the positioning of the front doors makes it very hard to reach all the sides and corners of the inside of the cage; and the top door is so high up that it’s difficult to reach all the way to the floor of the cage. However, after completely removing the platform, litter tray and all the other accessories I’d put in to make Teddy’s life interesting, I somehow managed to get the cage squeaky clean again. I had to wash the platform and litter tray separately with soapy water and the guinea pig safe small animal cage spray I’d bought from amazon. It had quite a nice clean smell which I’m hoping will help keep the odour of a guinea pig down for a little longer during the week. I refilled the litter tray, hay ball and water bowl before placing the half empty food bowl, which I’d refilled completely this morning, back into the cage with all the other accessories Teddy has — log tunnel, hammock and carrot cottage — before adding some new treats, a hay cookie and the wooden chew sticks I’d put in his pen. Sadly, Teddy hadn’t ventured out from his blanket nest when I went in to get him to put him back in the cage. I’m hoping that as he gets used to going in the pen he’ll start to explore like he has his cage. Maybe, though, the blanket is just too comfy to entice him out…
This week, I decided not to do a diary style post like I did last week for 2 Reasons: A. I felt I rambled on far too much; B. I don’t have that much to report. Monday was just an average day with Teddy. I spent the day at home myself so was there if there had been any issues, which there weren’t. I did my general refill of food and water in the morning and got him out of the cage for short cuddles during the day. Then, on Tuesday, I decided to try Teddy in his indoor playpen again. I didn’t need to fully clean out the cage, of course, but I’d heard so many Guinea people talk about how important it is for piggies to have floor time out of their cages so they can run around in a different setting and also for additional human interaction rather than the usual cuddles. This time, I set the pen up on my bedroom floor because that was where I was reading my audiobook. I stretched the blanket out over the base, getting frustrated with the pen’s hexagonal shape which made it difficult for the rectangular blanket to cover everything, even when I folded it in all sorts of different ways. Eventually, I was happy with its positioning and after adding a few chew toys, I put Teddy in. This time, he shot straight into the big chew tube. But as I listened to my book, i heard him scampering about and chewing at some of the toys.
On Wednesday, I was out again so had to quickly refill the essentials in Teddy’s cage in the morning. Obviously, I checked on him when I returned home later but he was fine. Thursday brought another afternoon in the playpen for Teddy. I got thoroughly fed up with the blanket this time and in the end didn’t bother to put it in. Later, when I lifted Teddy out of the pen to return him to his cage, I found that he was soggy underneath. Quickly, I filled a tub with warm water and a squirt of the Guinea pig safe shampoo I’d ordered and very carefully gave him a full bath. He didn’t seem as keen on the experience this time as he had been last week. But I managed to get it done without too much hassle and then had the lengthy task of completely drying him. This really did take some time! However, when I was finished and giving Teddy a little groom with the soft bristle brush that was a part of the grooming set I’d bought, I realised he smelt much fresher. The scent of the shampoo wasn’t overpowering, just enough to tell. He’d been bathed.
Friday and Saturday were days Teddy spent in his cage because I was out. Again, both days I made sure I got him out for cuddles.today, though, is Sunday and full cage clean out again. I put Teddy in his indoor pen, not adding the blanket and hoping he wouldn’t soak himself again but being prepared to wash him afterwards if I needed to. While he explored his pen, which contained the log tunnel and bundle of sticks from his cage and a willow ball and the big chew tube from my box of bits, I had to get on and clean the cage. Thankfully, this week I found it easier than I had last time. I don’t know if it’s because last time was my first attempt or whether I was just more organised and did things in a better order. The only new additions to the cage were a cut to size bath mat to cover the surface of the platform to avoid puddles and a wooden chew ring in the hammock to hopefully catch his attention. Earlier in the week, I’d added a toilet roll tube stuffed with hay as he didn’t seem to be eating much from his hanging hay ball and hay is a vital part of their diet. By today, it didn’t seem like the toilet roll idea had had much success either. So I decided to move it from the platform and put it beside his carrot cottage underneath the platform. Although I’m not particularly looking forward to picking tiny embedded bits of hay out of the vet bedding when I do my daily cleaning, if it means he’s eating hay more then it’ll be worthwhile.
When I put Teddy back in his cage, he seemed thoroughly disappointed to come back to his home that didn’t yet contain fresh food… and he made it known by a lot of noise! It was good to hear him squeaking away, though, good to see more of his personality developing. Quickly, I completed my final task, getting the noisy Teddy’s lunch. In his bowl today he has some cucumber, peppers, celery, curly kale, grated carrot, a little bit of butternut squash, parsley and thyme. It’s my first time giving him butternut squash and thyme so I’ll be interested to see if he eats them. I grated the carrot to ty and encourage him to eat it because he seems to be leaving the carrot in the bowl each time I give him it. Once I’d put all the veg in, I added pellits on top and then put it in the cage; Teddy was very pleased and started munching away. Since I first started putting thepellets in with the veg last week, ive found that no matter what veg he leaves behind, he always eats all the pellets. By this time next week, I’ll be interested to see if the new position of the tube of hay has any impact on how much Teddy eats and whether the new bath mat covering on the platform helps him stay drier. Also, I wonder whether the new additions to his food bowl will go down well and whether he becomes more adventurous in his playpen. Strangely, when I put him back in the cage today, he and the pen were completely dry. One thing I definitely know is that he’s growing lots! The teeny tiny piggy his breeder placed in my arms 2 weeks ago is certainly gone. He’s still little and adorable but he’s grown. He’s becoming braver when held, too, and letting more people stroke him. Sometimes, when I’m holding him he’ll stretch out to his full length to peer around the room rather than staying in a little ball like he used to. Again, I’m happy he’s doing these things because it shows more of his personality. His fur is still totally gorgeous and often I get him out of the cage just for a little snuggle so I can feel that fur. I love having him here and am 100% sure I made the right decision getting a new piggy.
A5Ramblings 