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Old 01-26-2020, 11:50 AM   #51
Engel
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Default Re: Percy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Moi? Innocent little me biting fingers? I'm after the mealworm, honest.
How can you say no to that lil face. Don't worry Percy all is forgiven
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Old 01-26-2020, 12:25 PM   #52
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Default Re: Percy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Moi? Innocent little me biting fingers? I'm after the mealworm, honest.
How can you say no to that lil face. Don't worry Percy all is forgiven
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Old 02-17-2020, 11:12 AM   #53
Ria P
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Default Re: Percy

I just sat on the futon with Percy running all over me and i even stroked him a few times!

I never thought that this would ever be possible with Percy, the adopted dwarf who was so crazy and unhappy when i first got him last September. He attacked everything in sight and bit every chance he got. He used to throw himself on his back when he saw a hand and would jump and shake me off when i gently tried to touch him with one finger.

Slowly, slowly he became calmer and eventually he came to his window to ask for a mealworm. I was happy just to let him be a hamster and didn't expect anything of him but kept talking to him and both myself and my other half spent time with him every day. He started to go in his mug to come out and then he started to respond to his name. Percy didn't like the panel playpen much but the long Xmas tree playpen box was a big hit with him right from the start. I think he doesn't like big or open spaces and feels more comfortable in a smaller, enclosed space. He became so relaxed in the playpen that he would have a nap in there after playing.

I am so happy that this little hamster seems to be enjoying his hamster life now and that's all i wanted for him, to give him a better life.
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Old 02-17-2020, 11:39 AM   #54
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Default Re: Percy

Ahhh RiaP that is such lovely news!

Well done to you for persevering and also for being patient enough not to push him until he was ready for more contact. What a lovely outcome!
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Old 02-18-2020, 01:16 AM   #55
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Default Re: Percy

That is great, enjoy it to the fullest.
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Old 04-09-2020, 07:09 AM   #56
Ria P
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I check and spot clean Percy's cage much more often than the others because of his diabetes and usually do one half of his cage at a time so he won't get too upset.

Yesterday i took out a little damp substrate from the bottom of his bin cage on the right side while he was in the playpen box but was surprised that most of that area was dry.

I then checked his house on the left side which was also mostly dry so kept checking and got a huge fright!

I was totally shocked to find a very damp patch next to and behind his sand tub with black mould growing on the white Kaytee C&C substrate. I was horrrified because i'm aware of the dangers of mould and the harmful bacteria it can grow. To top it all off i saw what looke like a fruit fly taking off.

I immediately washed out the whole bin cage and its contents with soap and hot water.

Everything in Percy's cage is plastic or ceramic because i had a mould problem before with bamboo wood caused by his sugary diabetic pee but i didn't expect mould to grow on substrate. My theory is that he buried a piece of cucumber which got mouldy hence the fruit fly combined with his pee and warm spell of weather recently causing the mould.

Percy went back in his cage and walked around with his eyes shut so i suspected an eye infection caused by the bacteria and was just about to look up the number of the emergency vet but wanted to test his sense of smell first.
I held a mealworm through the mesh window and Percy walked over with eyes wide open to get the mealworm and his eyes looked fine. Phew!

From now on i will cut his cucumber even smaller and check the whole cage even more often to avoid this from happening again. I put a layer of wood chips on the base and then Kaytee on top instead of Kaytee only to see if it stops him from burying food so deep and then peeing on it.
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Old 04-09-2020, 07:51 AM   #57
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Default Re: Percy

Wow Ria P, that is not a nice discovery to have made. I'm very glad he's ok.

I will from now on check my hamsters' substrate more closely as I also use Kaytee so thank you for sharing your experience.
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Old 04-09-2020, 08:02 AM   #58
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Default Re: Percy

Yikes.. that's not nice at all! I'm glad you take such good care of him though <3
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Old 04-09-2020, 08:22 AM   #59
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Vierville, even if you used a different substrate you'd need to keep an eye out for any even slightly off fresh foods. It doesn't matter what substrate you use as this could happen with any substrate - we all need to be mindful of our fresh foods and not letting them go off at all inside the cage or anywhere else. This is a practice we've known to do for a long time and is one we should all be doing regardless of if our hamsters are diabetic and/or diabetes prone or not.

Perhaps feeding fresh foods outside the cage could work for some people even if it does still give hamsters the option of pouching. Mold does have the ability to grow on the overwhelming majority of surfaces though, and we cannot reasonably exclude all those surfaces from any hamster cage. It would mean having to go without substrate entirely as a start, which is obviously not an option!

Also it is incredibly important to keep in mind that plastic is hardly impossible for mold to grow on either. It is possible for mold to grow on plastic, and it can happen very fast(24-48 hours) so the amount of washing one would have to do to keep plastics absolutely mold free would be incredibly stressful to hamsters. Moisture is one contributing factor in this, and we know that plastics hold moisture and do not breathe at all.
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Old 05-13-2020, 09:12 AM   #60
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Percy is dying. He was hamstering about yesterday but has looked bloated for the last couple of days which is a bad sign for a dwarf suffering from diabetes. He was in his hut in the playpen box when i went to bed last night but this morning his cucumber was still in his dish. Percy always eats his cucumber so i knew that something was wrong and went looking for him.
I found him in the right front corner of his main cage next to the window where he sometimes sleeps.
He looked asleep with his eyes shut and breathing but was unresponsive to me calling and touching him.
I went to work while my OH was at home checking on him but when i returned he hadn't moved and his breathing seems a bit more laboured. His eyes are closed and he seems unconscious which is a blessing because he's not suffering. If i thought for a second that he'd be suffering i'd take him to an emergency vet to have him put to sleep.
He may have had a stroke but its more likely that he has kidney or heart failure caused by his diabetes and it would take a miracle to come back from that.
I'm sitting by his cage feeling incredibly sad and hoping that his journey to the rainbow bridge will be a short one.
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