The GirlAlive Blog

Rodent update

October 7, 2009 on 3:22 pm | In Guinea Pigs and Hamster | 3 Comments

I have had a lot going on lately, but not stuff I really want to talk about here. Short version: I’ve been sick several times. I’m still unemployed. I’m almost out of money. Fun times.

We have been using wood chip bedding for the guinea pigs for a while because the towel bedding we used before was killing our washer and dryer. The piggies seemed to like the wood chips. Especially Fudgie, who likes to burrow and dig and snuggle into the bedding and make a little nest.

Last week, husband and I were both sick and we were out of wood chips. So we put the old towel bedding into the cages just to hold until we could get to the pet store.

A few days later, Fudgie seemed very listless. He sat in a corner with his fur puffed out all day. He barely reacted when I poked and prodded at him. I got very worried that he might be sick, but sometimes the fur puffing is just because it’s cold, and it has been chilly in here (since we can’t afford to turn the heat on).

Husband took Fudgie out of the cage and held him, and he seemed fine. He was burrowing into husband’s elbow and nibbling his arm hair like usual. Totally normal Fudgie behavior. When he went back to the cage, he went straight back to sitting in the corner, refusing to eat any hay and looking depressed.

Fudgie ate his dinner just fine, but didn’t seem to be moving around much. Husband took him out again, and outside of the cage, he was fine again. Then it hit me. Fudgie’s towel. When we had fabric bedding before, we used to keep a loose towel on top of the bedding for Fudgie to play with, and when we changed the bedding we forgot to give him his towel.

We gave Fudgie his towel, and he snapped back to normal immediately. It was like a miracle. He has been eating and playing and acting like himself, as if nothing had been wrong. He just missed his favorite towel. Sometimes he’s so cute I can barely stand it.