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Old 11-25-2016, 05:30 PM   #1
chesca_27
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Exclamation Missing me or a cause for concern?

Recently, I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time as I would like to with Jasper. Oreo (my guinea pig) has been very ill (although he's getting better) and because of his meds, I can't leave him overnight to stay at my dad's with Larry-Jasper.

Tonight has been the first time I've seen him since last Wednesday and I feel really guilty about it. I can only care for one pet at a time as Jasper can't live with my mum full time and Oreo can't live with my dad full time.

I don't know if he's been missing me or if it's something else, but he was very energetic when I went to see him. I know that's sounds good but I mean way more active than usual. He kept trying to escape his cage and jumping up at the glass. Jasper has never tried to escape before. Thank god he doesn't live in a barred cage. One of the problems is, if he escaped, there is only a few centimetre overhang from the table his cage is on, so it is about 1 metre drop, if he did escape.

When I opened the cage, he jumped up on top of his puzzle playground and lolly stick house, and kept jumping up at the glass. The problem with the cage is that there is a small gap between the lid and the glass (too small to escape through) that he hangs from and chews at the glass. He actually managed to jump out, when it was open, but luckily it was just onto my hand. He did this a few times.

I have now switched his toys around and replaced them for tunnels, so he can't jump at the glass anymore.

I don't know if maybe he was just desperate to see me and really really missed me, because he didn't even do that when I got back from holiday. He wasn't aggressive to me at all, either. No attempts to bite.

I don't know if I need to think about upgrading his cage or taking him to the vet. I was planning on in a few weeks anyway, because his claws are getting very long. Larry-Jasper doesn't weigh as much as he was a couple of months ago, but his weight hasn't changed since I weighed him two weeks ago. I would do a weekly weigh, but I only have one set of pet scales, which Oreo has been using since he has weight related issues.

I guess I'm just looking for advice on what the best thing to do would be. A few suggestions or something?
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Old 11-25-2016, 07:49 PM   #2
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Default Re: Missing me or a cause for concern?

I think you should DEFINITELY see if you could find more time for Jasper, but it sounds like this hasn't happened too often before. So I think Jasper's just trying to escape to find you and cuddle
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Old 11-25-2016, 10:17 PM   #3
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Default Re: Missing me or a cause for concern?

It does sound as though Jasper may be getting a bit bored in his cage & need more to do & maybe more space, I can't remember what tank you have or what your set up's like, do you have any photos that might help us make suggestions?
Does Jasper get any out of cage time with your Dad when you're not there? If not then I think it's definitely worth considering changing his cage & set up with plenty to do, lots of enrichment & maybe more space than he has now.
Nothing you said really indicates any reason for health concerns as far as I can tell.
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Old 11-26-2016, 03:38 AM   #4
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Default Re: Missing me or a cause for concern?

Normally with Jasper, I stay at my dad's twice a week and am able to get Jasper out in the mornings and evenings, plus every two weeks I stay the weekend at my dads. This has worked well for me, as there is not enough space at my mum's for a long term cage, plus it's too stressful and not fair on Jasper to take him with me.

This has only happened the last few weeks, while Oreo has been ill.

He has an IKEA Billy cage. I don't have any photos of his current set up, because I change it around quite often, which he likes.

My dad won't pick him up at all, although he will give him a couple of seeds.

I don't know if I can upgrade his cage because there's no other place for him to go really, apart from my room, which he's not allowed in. If I could upgrade, it would probably be a Christmas present and so he would have to wait.
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Old 11-26-2016, 04:48 AM   #5
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Default Re: Missing me or a cause for concern?

The Billy cage should be ok for him so maybe just try to think of things that will keep him occupied while you can't spend so much time with him.
Make his set up as interesting as you can & maybe you could do something like make a few cardboard treat toys & hide portions of his food in them so your dad could pop one in the cage every couple of days or something or your dad could hide food around the cage for him, maybe when Jasper's asleep if he doesn't want to handle him at all.

Glad to hear Oreo is getting better btw.
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Old 11-29-2016, 05:41 PM   #6
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Default Re: Missing me or a cause for concern?

I did a full cage clean on Sunday. I rearranged everything and he seemed quite happy with that. He's used to have cage changes and being driven around a lot (so used to stressful situations) so I think when everything is normal and I try not to stress him out, he just gets bored and destructive.

I made sure that there aren't any toys near the front of the cage that he can jump off of to reach the gap between the glass and the lid.

I will try to add some new photos tomorrow of his new set up. Basically, I have crammed as many toys in as possible .
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cage, time, glass, escape, live, jasper, oreo, weeks, jumping, small, jump, missing, full, larry-jasper, weight, ago, weigh, pet, thing, tunnels, replaced, missed, weekly, advice, desperate

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