Nala and Gaz

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O my sooo cute :)
 
ugh... rough day.

it started with Gaz seeming a bit more lackluster than usual, even for mid-to-late morning... laying stretched out (but not the normal dead bunny flop) like maybe her tummy was a little upset/gassy. she does that sometimes, so that alone wasn't enough to worry me. I normally give veggies when I eat lunch, but I had to be at the TNR (trap-neuter-return) class for my stray kitties at lunch time so I gave lunchtime greens early today.

Gaz is normally a veggie vacuum cleaner, but she didn't come down to eat the turnip greens... and didn't even eat them when I put them up in the condo with her. it's been probably almost 2 mos since I've bought turnip greens and I couldn't remember if it was that or collard greens they didn't like (though I'm 90% sure it was collard), so I wasn't sure if it was normal or not for her to shun them. worried and on my way out the door, I captured her and dosed her with simethicone... she gobbled the first half the dose, then suddenly didn't want the other half and I had to force it. she nibbled a bit on the veggies but didn't eat much. over-protective mom that I am, I briefly considered asking my neighbor to bunny-sit for two hours but decided it was unnecessary, as 2h isn't all that long and she was at least eating a tiny bit.

I took the gliders to the class in their pouch... and right as it ended, Trouble came down with fairly bad diarrhea :( (which I suspected might be stress-related (and confirmed as a possibility online), as I was showing them off/explaining to people what had briefly made a funky electric-pencil-sharpener type noise (crabbing) in the middle of class - the gliders suddenly became VERY agitated/upset about that... and then Trouble pooped a really runny poop.)

when I got home, the turnip greens were still almost all there. I put out some cilantro and still didn't get a response from Gaz so I dosed her with metacam and more simethicone. she fought like hell; I think only half the metacam made it in her mouth but I didn't want to give too much with a dose being so small to begin with. she also wanted nothing to do with the simethicone that time. she struggled a lot and bit me a couple times (would've been more like a dozen if I hadn't thwarted most of the attempts by keeping my thumb under her chin)... not hard enough to even come close to breaking the skin, but definitely hard enough to clearly state "knock it the f--- off, mom!". I was relentless, though, and didn't let her go until I was done forcing meds. she ate some cilantro and hay, which made me happy.

I called the breeder I got my gliders from about what to do with Trouble, as she had bad diarrhea again a couple hours after the first incident and I needed to know whether this was a "put down the phone and get the hell to the emergency vet NOW" thing (like baby bunnies) or if it was somewhat common/easily treatable with home remedies. turned out it wasn't an "emergency vet" situation... though it sure as hell made me antsy to agree to treat at home/wait and see at 4 pm on a saturday. (why do things always love to go wrong on saturday nights??)

I had a bad headache from listening to a million freaking dogs barking for two hours (the class was held at an animal shelter and the walls were thin), so I rested up for a bit. Gaz ate and played enough to make me satisfied that either the metacam/simethicone worked or my imagination stopped over-reacting to nothing - she seems back to her normal self.

I "stimulated" Trouble to poop (brushing a kleenex down her tummy/privates to simulate mom licking) before moving her from pouch to nursery cage and it wasn't totally runny, but still wasn't really formed either so I headed to the store for some kaopectate as per the breeder's recommendations. she gobbled down a full dose of it happily. a couple hours later, I tried to stimulate her again and all she did was pee, which I guess is a good sign... went to give her another dose of kaopectate and suddenly she LOATHED it, like Gaz and the yummy/disgusting simethicone. I had to semi-force it by placing a droplet at a time on her lips so that she'd instinctively lick it off (for half a freaking cc)... with her struggling and wriggling the whole time.

on a side note, forcing a glider through a butt-bath is about as fun as it is with a bunny >.>

I really hope Trouble's back to normal by morning - she's got me really worried! I'm thankful, though, that at least Gaz seems back to normal and there's nothing wrong with the hammy babies aside from eyes starting to open seeming to = them thinking my fingers are possibly food.
 
Aw, sorry it's been a rough day Jennifer! Yikes, poor Gaz and Trouble (thats the glider's name, right?) You handled it very well though! I hope your critters get better soon!
BTW, we need to see more pics of hammies!! ;)
 
Sounds like a rough day indeed.
Turnip greens always make Foo gassy. I always have to give her simethicone, syringe feed her pumpkin and water. The same thing happens when she eats kale.
So maybe turnip greens just make her a little gassy. I think its weird because they aren't on the gassy food list(I can never remember the real word for those foods!) but it happens to Foo.

I hope your glider is okay! That seems really scary though, that is such a foreign animal to me!
 
Sorry for the rough day :( I agree that we need more pictures :) What is this simethicone stuff? I have never herd of it.
 
Wow. Been gone for a few days. Glad to hear gaz seems better and the gilder poop thing sounded not fun ;)

So did I miss the names of your gliders? Trouble and..........?
 
Gaz is driving me a little nuts, or maybe my imagination is. when I put out their bedtime hay, they usually come running because they eat all the fluff out of the alfalfa fast and I won't give them more until the next meal time (I refresh hay when I feed other stuff - my breakfast/lunch/dinner/bed times) so they're stuck eating the stick bits they don't like. I put some hay fluff up in the condo with them and only Nala started eating it. I sighed and dosed Gazzles with simethicone (baby gas drops) again - this time she took it eagerly and started eating hay *right* after I gave it... making me think she'd made me waste expensive meds for no reason when I could've just waited another 30 seconds.

they also had pellets left in the bowl this morning, even though it had been like 12h since I gave them their pellets last night - I think they ate less than 1/4c overnight combined and that's really weird. daytime pellets sometimes linger because of the veggies, but night time ones are always gone.

Gaz IS eating and running around playing with Nala and acting mostly normal... I guess what's bugging me is that she suddenly seems to have stopped "boredom" eating and I don't know why. if there's nothing wrong with her, then it's a good thing as she's got weight troubles from constantly eating instead of just munching here and there like Nala. I just worry, because it's not like her to shun food.

it's been just over a month now since their spays, and in retrospect I question if there weren't hormones after all what with the humping that one time and the booty biting and the scuffles. could hormones going away have something to do with her eating habits changing? she's been an over-eater since I got her at 8 weeks old, though, which was pre-hormones...

Trouble's poop is still really runny as of 3-4 hours ago, but not quite as bad as yesterday. I gave her more kaopectate when I first woke up and I'll be checking in on them in a bit now that it's about time for them to be waking up for real. worst part of it is that I thought she was done and set her on my shoulder for a minute so I could free up my hands and she pooped on my collar and I didn't notice at first... ended up with it on my wrist and hand, another part of my shirt, and after I noticed and decided to take my shirt off, my chin. ugh. not as bad as poopy baby diapers (which set off my over-sensitive gag reflex) but very unpleasant and required a thorough scrubbing-up after I put Trouble away.

I talked to the breeder again, she says to keep on keeping an eye on her/giving the kaopectate. if she's not doing significantly better by morning, I'm gonna give the vet a call when they open and see if I can get them in.

I have to confirm that the multi-pet fee covers unlimited numbers of pets even if they're not the same species (I know it would cover taking all 14 hamsters in at once, lol)... if that's the case, then I'm gonna bring Gaz and Nala along as well - if I'm paying $58 bucks in exam fees whether I bring in 2 pets or 4, I may as well bring in all four.

pity this couldn't have waited until the start of next month, though, as I plan to get all the hammy babies checked out but want to wait until they're about a month old. not looking forward to that if I end up not taking the gliders and bunns tomorrow, though, lol - carting 14 hammies (who by then will be in four cages - mom, dad, boy babies and girl babies), 2 gliders AND four bunnies in at once for check-ups...

oh, and my other glider's name is Hurricane :)
 
I put out cilantro and it went untouched for like 10-15 mins, a new record. Gaz sniffed it and walked off without eating any :(

I remembered about probiotics and gave a dose to Gaz... and Nala, because she really wanted some too and I figured it couldn't hurt (they *really* like the benebac paste... I was kinda shocked Nala ate a whole dose and was still looking for more, though - when I dosed them with it pre- and post-spay, Nala would scarf down half a dose and then refuse to eat any more). as SOON as I gave Gaz the probiotic, she started nomming the cilantro. can rabbits get Munchausen syndrome? >.>

Trouble seems to be doing better... she pooped for me again and half of it was normal with the other half only mild diarrhea. she and Hurricane are both still eating well.

I introduced the hammy babies to egg today (scrambled in the microwave since that's faster/easier than hard boiling and still doesn't involve any oil). some loved it, others were disinterested. I put them in one of those plastic pumpkins like kids use to collect halloween candy and played with 'em for a while - they were so cute! about half of the ones that suddenly started/kept biting me yesterday have now learned that I'm not food, and the bitey ones were giving more licks than bites today. I love just sticking my hand in the pile of them... just like back when pet stores let you put your hands in cages, I'd always scoop up a big pile of little tiny mice just to feel them wriggling around in my hands, lol.
 
oh, and pics... lots of new ones of the hammy babies here - http://s1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/mareimbri1/bunnies/hamster/

there are some weird ones in there... to explain, I was trying to figure out the technical terms for all their colorings and learn some of the genetics stuff so I needed to post top, bottom and side (for cheek flashes) pics of mom and dad on the hammy forum so that people had the info they needed to tell me if I was right or wrong. there's also some solo pics of the runt because he's got me confused - he looks like he has two different colorings which are mutually exclusive. I'm hoping to figure him out in the next day or two.

the babies:
4 umbrous golden (3 male/1 female)
1 sable (charcoal color) (F)
3 banded umbrous golden (2M/1F)
2 banded sable (1M/1F)
1 mystery runt (M) - banded yellow-black or late-to-distinguish banded umbrous golden, I think - I'm not quite sure yet. he's the furthest one back in the picture of the banded babies.
1 cream (F)... almost wish it was male so I could line-breed it back to mom and have a 50/50 shot at cream-colored babies, but I suppose I don't need that temptation. (basically, it would allow me to start breeding out the dominant umbrous gene that turns cream into sable - sable is really just "umbrous cream". "umbrous golden" means they have that gray sheen on top of the brown coat.)

if anyone else actually gets excited over learning about the genetics stuff, there's more details about it in my thread on the hammy forum: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=72406

the baby pics are divided into groups... the cream one didn't get to be in the solid group because I used the pics to update my online ads for the babies and the cream one is staying with me!

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Those hammies are getting big! When do they open their eyes?

The glider poop story sounded, well, gross ;) I suppose you'll get used to it before too long since they poop and pee wherever they are. It will be better when the poop isn't runny! Hahaha

I like the names Hurricane and Trouble :)
 
Imbrium wrote:
I love just sticking my hand in the pile of them... just like back when pet stores let you put your hands in cages, I'd always scoop up a big pile of little tiny mice just to feel them wriggling around in my hands, lol.
That made me cringe! I don't really know why. I think they're adorable and they're so smart, but to me they still seem like vermin! I think I would have to own one to get passed it.

I think your hammies are adorable! Oh my. The creamed colored one is so cute! Does the mom not care now that you're touching them? Is it just when they're first born that you can't touch them? I don't know much about hammies, as I'm sure you can tell!

As for Gaz, I don't know if they can have Munchausen syndrome or not. It seems strange that she wants whatever meds before she eats. Maybe you could try to give her something other than the benebac or simethicone. I know they can't hurt, but maybe if she gets the idea that it isn't something good she won't want it anymore before meals. Like maybe just give her some water, that way you won't be using all your good stuff for a bun who is a little nutty!
 
Imbrium wrote:
carting 14 hammies (who by then will be in four cages - mom, dad, boy babies and girl babies), 2 gliders AND four bunnies in at once for check-ups...

Wait since when do you have 4 bunnies???? Good luck with it all :) So do any of the baby hamsters have names?
 
the hammies have been opening their eyes over the last two days :)

you're not supposed to touch them until their eyes are open because some mothers will cannibalize them if you get your scent on them before that. however, I accidentally touched half the babies *right* after they were born because I didn't realize she'd started giving birth already. she didn't kill them... and she didn't show the "normal" signs of aggression when my hand got near the nest or act like she wanted to defend the nest. she just kinda looked at me like "oh, hi there" and went back to what she was doing.

long story short, I've been touching/handling the babies daily since the day they were born with no issues but not all hammy mothers are sweet enough to allow that so I definitely wouldn't recommend it to others. Misty's an extremely docile/submissive hamster.

I really do love sticking my hand in the hammy pile, they're so warm and soft! :p

when I woke up today, the first thing I saw was Gaz eating - yay!! she ate some veggies and some pellets and a bunch of hay :D I think the probiotic did the trick. it says to give two doses, three days apart so I'll still be following up with the second dose.

Trouble is continuing to improve but not as fast as I'd like so I'm thinking vet tomorrow for sure. I was thinking of taking her today, but I needed to take a nap so I could stay up (since I'm mostly nocturnal) and it accidentally turned into a full night's sleep.
 
these are the faces of bad little bunnies!!

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I've been scatterbrained lately and keep forgetting their veggies. I remembered as soon as I set foot in the pen with my own lunch, as usual. I had some crafting supplies sitting out on my bed (air mattress) to work on making glider toys and the bunnies were *very* intrigued. I wisely sat my skettios on the TV tray by the door to the pen so they wouldn't get any ideas about my lunch while I went back to the kitchen to grab some cilantro, but I didn't think anything of tossing the (unopened) package of whole grain club crackers onto the bed because they've never seemed interested in crackers anyway.

I come back - after being gone all of 60 seconds - to find them both utterly fascinated with something on my bed, which prompted an "uhoh" feeling and turned out to be the package of crackers, which they had RIPPED open (in the middle, no less) and were starting to nibble on!

luckily, they only got a few little corners because I got back so quickly.

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Awh bad little bunnies! I'm sure they had good intentions though ;)

How are the gliders adjusting? The hammies are just so precious. Sounds like a big happy household :)
 
Good luck at the vet! Hopefully everything goes well!
What bad little buns you have! They wanted some delicious club crackers, at least they only ate the crackers and didn't eat the plastic or anything that would be really bad for them.

At least they are whole grain!
 

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