Nails Nails Nails

I was cruising Craigslist in the pet section, per usual (Looking for some Beta tapes? I am selling some on CL right now. There, that's my shameless plug) when I saw an ad from a woman looking for a young person, preferably female, to trim her guinea pig's nails. Voila, that's me! I have raised four guinea pigs and a hedgehog. Nails, I can do nails. But...it took me a long time to get comfortable trimming my pets' toenails; everyone is afraid of cutting the quick and making them bleed. It happens to everyone at some point, and let's face it, it happens more than once, but it still makes you feel like a horrible animal abuser when it happens. In order to help spread the word about responsible and painless nail trimming I am writing about it here. If you've been following this blog you will have read about my trials and tribulations concerning Phin's nails. Here is what I have learned about hedgehogs and trimmings.

First, you might want to know when it is time to trim you hedgie's nails. Every critter will have a different interval for trimmings, so just keep an eye on their feet. Determining just when is the right time to cut is a judgement call- definitely make sure your hedgie doesn't end up like the one in the photo below. The second photo is a less extreme example, but still, don't let the nails go for too long. A hedgehog's nails are an opaque sort of white and you can see the pink quick. There shouldn't be too much white nails extending beyond the quick. Sometimes you hedgehog will let you know when her nails are too long by ceasing to wheel or to run around. It becomes painful for her to walk on long nails, so she becomes sedentary.

Okay, so now it's nail trimming time. You have either your cat nail cutters or a human set and your hedgehog. When I do it, I make sure to have plenty of light and a fleece blanket to hold Phin in. He does NOT like having his feet pulling out and held one by one, so it helps to pull out the foot and trap his body between my arm and the blanket. Then I trim carefully but speedily. Some people find that it helps to trim nails during bath time as it is harder for your hedgie to scamper away. Below is a diagram of how far to cut into the nail.

I got this diagram and some helpful hints from Hedgehog Central under their Health Forum. There is a search box where you can type in whatever you are looking for. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the people at HHC are wonderful resources full of helpful information! Thanks HHC!

Long Time No Post

It's been a while since I posted...yeah...but look at what is happening a mile or two away from me:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/wisconsin-protests-madison-scott-walker_n_825080.html !!! CNN and BBC, to name a few, have gotten in on this action and the rest of the country (and Europe) are all watching closely as Wisconsin fights to throw out a bill by Scott Walker which has been characterized as "anti-union". Without getting into too much detail, in my opinion letting Scott Walker get away with this is the equivalent of letting Voldemort take over Hogwarts and rule with an iron wand.

But getting back to hedgehogs, Phin-Master 3000 is being such a little cuddle monster these days. As I have said time and time again, hedgehogs are so moody; one moment they are spiky curmudgeons and the next they are the cutest little snuggle muffins.

A Tribute to Yossarian E. Guinea Pigg

On Saturday February 5th my guinea pig Yossi (short for Yossarian) passed away after being ill for quite some time. I put off writing this tribute because let's face it, who wants to write one of these to begin with?

Yossi was my very first pet guinea pig and I got him from a pet shop when he was six months old. Apparently he had been dropped off their by his original owners who were "moving to Europe". Yossi was always a pretty sweet little character. He never put up a great fuss about anything. Not long after bringing him home I decided that he needed a friend seeing as guinea pigs are extrememly sociable critters and do best in pairs or groups. Lu

ckily at that time my mother spotted an add for a guinea pig who was Critter of the Week in the local humane society section. We went and picked her up a day or so later and I named her Scout.

Now Scout, you must understand, was the complete opposite of Yossi. She was a spicey, sassey, whirlwind of a pig. Her nickname was WWII. In order for Scout and Yossi to be playmates Yossi had to bite the bullet and go in to be neutered. Unfortunately the vet operating on him wasn't quite with the game and ended up leaving a seuter in where he shouldn't have and poor Yossi ended up with a golf ball sized swelling full of pus- yikes! The new vet we took him to turned out to be brilliant and a very good hand with small animals. He had Yossi healed and ready to go in no time! Since then he is the only vet I trust my piggies with, and he even took care of Phinneus :)

Now there were two...but I had the guinea pig bug and while I was delving full throttle in pigg research and care tips I remembered another little cavy at the pet store where I had aquired Yossi. She was aproximately the same age as him, but had been in the store for a while. She was all white, except for her dark ears, dark paws, and dark nose.

She had pretty pink eyes and seemed like just the perfect little lady. It should be no surprise

that I brought her home and name her Calpurnia, or Cal for short.

Cal is a cheeky lady with a great appetite! She remained Yossi's constant companion until the end, even snuggling with him in the last few hours.

After Cal I was quite sure that three piggies would be the limit. My parents were too. After all I was a junior in high school so my time at home was limited to a few years anyway (apart from summers and all that). It was best not to settle myself in with too many critters that would need caring for when I was away. That was the official decision.

Then I went to the pet store, and as it always happens, I wasn't looking to get another guinea pig, but I saw Lily (and heard her sad back story) and then and there it was decided to amend the three pig rule and make it a four pig rule. After all, how much of a difference could just one more make? Three might as well be four. As it turned out Lily was a wonderful little pig! She was feisty and sweet all at once, cheerful and curious; always the first one out to eat and inspect visitors. She chirpped away about her day as you held her and was rediculously adorable.

Four pigs were the limit and so I stopped there and worked on

building a guinea pig kingdom. I took outside for play dates on the grass, I gave them baths, I fed them the best food I could find. In short, life was good for the pigs. When I went to college my dad graciously volunteered to take over caring for them.

In the first summer after college I lost not only my baby dog Hershey but also Lily. She had reached old age for a guinea pig and died peacefully, but it was terribly sad to loose such a special little lady. The rest of the summer and then the first semester of the next school year passed without incident. Yossi started to become a little thin, but not overly so.

In January of last year Scout was the next to go. She too was older and also died peacefully of old age. I was away at school when it happened, so my parents took care of the burial and all. Then there were just the two younger pigs, Cal and Yossi. Yossi continued to become fatter while Cal got plumper. She was the picture of health while Yossi was rapidly becoming nothing but fur covered bones. His eyes remained bright, however, and his appetite and attitude remained healthy. The vet treated him repeatedly for nasty foot infections and discove

red a heart murmur. When I was home I gave him weekly baths and foot treatments. My parents lavished ointment, Vitamin C tablets, and treats on the piggies to keep them healthy and happy. They loved the delicious vegetables from out garden.

Yossi chugged along for more than a year, but eventually passed away. This time I was able to be home and spend time with him before he died. It's very odd to think that he IS gone because he was my first guinea pig, so as far as I am concerned the guinea pig world has never existed without him in it. Now there's just Cal and I'm a little worried about her being lonely. She spent her whole life so far with other pigs and now they're all gone. My plan is to open up the room she is in to get more traffic from the rest of the house. We are going to install a radio so that she can hear other "beings" in the room with her. Cal has health problems of her own, besides now being a lonely pig. She went to vet to have a big lump looked at and I am hoping it isn't cancer.

For now though, Cal can enjoy having all the treats and cuddles lavished upon herself. She is Queen Guinea Pig.

Hedgehog Day!

Happy Hedgehog Day! This day, February 2, is the halfway point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. What does this mean? It's means that not only is it a good day to start thinking about the end of winter, but also that this day has had special meaning for far longer than the groundhog in Pennsylvania has been popular. In ancient times the Celts, for example, called February 2 Inbolc, while the Romans celebrated Lupercalia. It was known as the festival of lights because it celebrated the return of the sun and the lengthening of days. Sometimes the weather was predicted by bears and wolves emerging from their dens to test the air. When Constantine made everyone Christian he simply adopted the holiday and put a Christian spin on it; Now Imbolc was Candlemas day, and the day in which Jesus was presented to the temple. February 2 is 40 days after Christmas, the appropriate amount of time in between birth and when a baby can brought to Temple in the Jewish tradition. Now you are probably wondering where the candles come into this (unless you are my mother and knew all this already). Christians used candles to celebrate Jesus being the light of the world. Lots of candles for lots of light, hence Candlemas.

Now then, on to the part where animals enter into the story. The good ole' German farmers on the their hardy German farms used to notice that the hedgehogs would come out of hibernation just long enough to peer around and take stock of the world. A farmer would watch the little critter carefully and try to deduce the forecast based on the hedgehog's reaction. It became a tradition known as Hedgehog Day. Isn't that fabulous? These same German farmers ended up emigrating to Pennsylvania (I guess the hardy German farms weren't hardy enough for the farmers) where lo and behold there were no hedgehogs! Tragedy! No really, how awful would it be to grow up with hedgehogs scurry around your house and then go somewhere where they simply don't exist? Anyway, the German farmers did notice that there was another rodent running around plentifully in their fields. This was of course the groundhog (or Marmot, if you're in Sarah Palin's Alaska). Today everyone knows Punxsutawney Phil as the Seer of Seers, and so forth. So from Imbolc, to Candlemas, to Hedgehog, to Groundhog Day, February 2 has a lot of history, and maybe isn't such a dull holiday after all. Want to know more about the religious aspect of this day? Click here. Want to know more about groundhogs/marmots? Click here. Want to see Phil's prediction? Go here.