Rodent shuffling
Thursday night, the hamsters were fighting. They've always fought a little. It would usually be a little squeaky girlfight, and then they'd run to separate corners of the cage and it would be over. But Thursday they just kept going after each other. We left them overnight and in the morning, they were still fighting. Or more accurately, Dru was chasing and attacking Fred. I examined Fred and found that her tail had been chewed to bits and there was a fresh wound inside one ear, and there was evidence of a few bites and chomps on her sides and back. Time to separate the hamsters.
Neil has Friday afternoons off, so I took Fred out of the cage and put her in the carrier with a makeshift food and water bowl. Then I met Neil at the pet store in the town center and got a small plastic aquarium, wheel, and food bowl and water bottle, and I set up a second hamster cage for Dru. Since Dru was being mean, she gets the smaller cage. Fred is happily stuffing her cheek pouches in the big cage, while her wounds heal.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the living room Spike was a bit quiet and depressed since Homer died. We decided to put Elvis in Spike's cage to see if they can get along. Fudge is okay on his own because he spends all his time humping and terrorizing Elvis anyway.
So far Spike and Elvis are doing better than expected. Elvis has spent all morning humping Spike, but there haven't been any fights yet. And at least Spike is getting more exercise, as he's being chased around the cage by Elvis.
In the other cage, Fudge is lonely. And he won't let us forget it. He's been squeaking for attention ever since Elvis left. Fudge is a little like a kid with ADHD, constantly squeaking "Lookitmelookitmelookitme!"
Ah, the joys of rodent ownership.
Alana
