Latte’s not eating hay as much as he usually would. I found out why when cleaning his cage. He was stressed out by baby cockroaches. Ew! I found a dead one in his litter box under his hay rack. No wonder the hay that was put up in the morning was reduced by very little in the evening. There was another live baby cockroach that was in his usual hiding box.
When the roach was caught and thrown away, he popcorned in the box a lot. Thank goodness it wasn’t me who found it. I would have freaked out. Screamed the house down even. Looks like I have to check his cage more often. Maybe clean it more for the next few days to see how. Ants can be seen but it doesn’t bother him that much.
I added a small slice of carrot and orange for Latte. He spurned them, turning away, as if he was still angry by the noise made by the kids. Not my fault since they haven’t been coming to my place for a long time since they started studying. My parents missed them because my mum had looked after the eldest for a long time.
I placed both into the small bowl and hoped that he would try them. I’m starting to feel that he’s a picky eater. He spurned the apple that I placed a second time. I guess he’ll need a buddy who loves to try new food to spurn him into eating all sorts of food. However, I’m afraid that I won’t have the space to enlarge the cage space.
I placed some old T-shirts as new bedding to absorb his pee. It’s not much but better than the newspaper being soaked. Photos would be lacking for a while here till I get a new camera.
The toilet training still continues. Poop is less seen in the rest of the cage but the newspapers seemed to attract his chewing. I guess I need to put more chewy toys for Latte. I decided to recycle the old cage base as the litter box and created a cardboard step to make it easier for him to get to the hay rack. Hopefully he will pee in there too. See the newly cleaned cage below.
[via Webshots]
Latte made some sounds though I’m not sure if he was happy but I guess he was because he popcorned twice under the hay rack. Gee, he could have done it outside and wouldn’t hurt his head. Anyway, he laid down after a while and it was the perfect moment to take a photo of him relaxing.
[via Webshots]
I hope to be able to stroke him without him running away from me every time. The best thing about the large cage is that I can clean it even when he’s in it. He doesn’t seemed bothered by the vinegar smell though. While laying out the newspapers, he kept running under which I had to pat down so he would move away. Time to check out which sort of bedding suits him as boars tend to mark their territory.
Note to self, must spend more bonding time with Latte. He keeps running away and hidding in the small corners where he feels safe. I can’t even stroke him! The toilet training continues. Below is what I imagine him to think for yesterday’s adventure with a giant me.
[via Webshots]
I love my new hayrack. I have more hay now! Yes! I don’t understand why that giant is always disturbing me. I like hiding in there. It’s safe! I get to poop and pee. She has decided that I shouldn’t pee anywhere but I like that nice corner, no one can touch me but something is moving. No! She is attempting to touch me! I like it but she is huge! I’m scared. Must find corner. Must run fast. She stops. I stop.
I’m looking for a hiding place. Ah, my hay. I can burrow myself. No, something is moving on top, the light! She moves my hay away! No, I must hide! This thing can be lifted, I discovered yesterday, good. I hide. She talks to me. Asking me something. I don’t understand her but she has always been talking to me, sometimes, she sounded angry.
[via Webshots]
She keeps spraying something on my pee. She has started moving my poop towards where I’m hiding. Is she going to bury me with it? No, wait, she’s not. She dumps them somewhere near me. Why does she always do that? I do as I please.
The cage is done. After 2 hours of struggling with the measurements and re-cutting. The provided coroplasts sold in Popular is too small. I decided to buy 3 large pieces instead of 2. Thank goodness. It wasn’t easy because the coroplasts refused to bend even when I slit them halfway.
My hands hurt. My neck is stiff. And finally, with all the struggles and cutting and perspiration and perserverence, it paid off. Sort of. At least it’s large and Latte loves running in it except when he’s scared. He’d hide under the hay rack. You can see below.
[via Flickr]
He feels safe under it. At least he’s eating. I’m still trying to toilet train him. It takes quite some time but with the new cage, I hope he learns and adapt faster since there’s a lot of space for him to run now. Except my dad says it’s too big. But he’ll grow bigger ma. Here’s the photo of the new cage.
[via Flickr]
I’m looking at hay racks. A lot of different ways to design a hay rack. One way is to put it above the litter box, provided the guinea pig is litter-trained. I’m still in the process. Apparently, I should change my method. Not working so far. Let’s see how tonight goes.
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
The innovative idea is using a bird food holder.
[via Cavy Cages Forum]
Cool idea, no?
[via Cavy cages Forum]
I think the above is one of the cheapest way to do the hay rack and I can buy it in NTUC. 
I have managed to put Latte in a temporary box while I cleaned his cage. Serious, he loves to escape from my grasp. Took quite a while and this time, I decided that the smell had to go. There is no way the cage should smell. I grabbed him firmly and placed him in the box with his food bowl.
Asked my youngest brother to help me look after him while I washed the cage and prepare some things. As the dish bowl that my friend had bought for me was large enough for him to sit in (for now), I placed some of his poop as a start to toilet training him. I used a smaller bowl for his food and another for the hay. Stole those bowls from my sister as she used to own hamsters.
Last night, he jumped in his cage once. I think it’s called popcorning. Cool.
Was thinking about getting a hay ball so he could exercise while eating the hay. Besides giving him a treat for letting me carry him, anyone is able to suggest other methods?
