Hedgehog Signaling

My illustrious father attended some kind of class pertaining to work this past weekend (he works for Aurora Healthcare) and learned an interesting fact. Apparently there are something like 63 genes that need to switch on and off in order to create pancreatic cancer (ugh!) and this syndrome of gene switching is called "hedgehog signalling". What the heck science?! Trying to pin such a nasty disease on an innocent little animal?! Not to mention the fact that I don't understand what they mean by "signalling". Do hedgehogs signal? Is it the way they raise and lower their quills. I am at a loss. And frankly, I would much rather name the syndrome after a much less pleasant creature, like chimpanzees or baboons.

*Sigh* After Spring Break

Well now it's Sunday night and spring break is drawing to a close. The week before I was sick, so really, I have been out of the game for two weeks. Eesh! I regret that Phinneus has not gotten as much of a regular schedule of care and attention as usual, but he is definitely not lacking anything. While I was sick it was harder to put at much energy into cuddles and cleaning, so while his cage was kept clean, he had less lap and floor time. Over break my mother and I made up for that! He settled into living at the house again (it's his country estate, we joked) with ease and wheeled every night except for one; that night his wheeling must have startled me awake because I just barely remember jumping up all of a sudden. This, in turn, must have scared the wits out of him because he scuttled back to bed and didn't wheel at all. Apart from that, he was fine. My mother and I found excuses to drag him out of bed multiple times for cuddles and exploration. Unfortunately this led to a disgusting new development: Phinneus now takes muck and anoints it onto his quills. He did this with a piece of dog kibble we had given him. After his initial struggle to break it into manageable pieces his smeared all over his rump and rear. Great. Now we're back in School-Town and he's all settled in in his fleecey villa-of-a-tub, ready to continue his life of permanent spring break.

Oh yeah, and did I mention I'm going to Africa in a few months?

Happy Birthday Phinneus!

Since it is now 12.10 am, YESTERDAY (the 12th) was Phin's 1st birthday! My little hedgie is growing up fast. Matt and I celebrated with a dinner party and tasty desert for both Phin and us. In the photo you can see our cheesecake, but behind my hand is the can of mealworms that I let Phin dig in. Today he weighs around 330 grams, wheels regularly, loves to explore, and snuggles into his hedgie hut with glee. He has mellowed into a sweet tempered little man. Sure he't got poop boots from time to time, but he's basically as clean as the next hedgehog, and what's more he doesn't smear himself with filth like some. I feel I've lucked out with Phin Phin.

Gerbil Pups- Raven and Renn

Yesterday Matt and I brought home our two new little gerbil pups. They are stunningly gorgeous girls whom we have named Raven and Renn. Renn is the German word for run, and also part of the German word for gerbil, which is 'rennmaus'. It is also (spelled w-r-e-n) a type of bird, so Matt picked Raven to go with it. Their pretty names go with their pretty selves! I posted a video on Phin's YouTube channel (yes, he can share) and you should check it. I mean, they are pretty darn cute, so why not? It might even lower your blood pressure or something. Here is a link to the video, or you can click the link at the bottom of the blog, which will play it in a little box at the top of the page.

I got really sick this weekend; luckily we snagged the gerbies and did the errands before the fever set in, so I spent the night hopped up on Excedrin, watching Raven and Renn explore their new home. We even had a precious bonding moment when I placed my hand in the tank and they came over to investigate. Their fur is extremely soft and honey colored, and their long whiskers tickle.

Bookie

Well guess who's going to be in a book? Phinneus is! Awkward Family Pet Photos to be exact. I submitted a photo of him (the big one at the top of this page, actually) to the website hoping it would be selected to appear on the page. A day later I got an email from the AFPP people asking if they could use my photo in their upcoming book! Random House is the publisher and this is the follow up book to Awkward Family Photos the Book. The website, if you don't know it already, is absolutely hilarious and I usually tune in every couple of days to see what's new. It's basically a collected of submitted photos and stories of awkward family moments. We all have them. Now everyone can see them. Awkward Family Pet Photos is the sister site which is all about the family pets. Both are delightful! Be sure to check them out and look for Phinneus!

Some New Clips At Last

I finally got around to filming Phinneus being Phinneus and put them on YouTube. Check them out here OR follow the link at the bottom of the page. Or both!

Gerbil Town

This weekend Matt and I are going over to a friends house to pick out some ickle baby gerbils! We had talked about getting gerbils way back even before we had Phinneus or Pherb. Matt's never had them (I had a few when I was younger) but we both like their energetic and cheerful nature. Plus they are just too cute to miss. After going through a pet population explosion- hedgehog, guinea pigs, hamsters, cat, fish tank, newts- we both agreed that we would need to wait before adding gerbils to our bunch. Well, we've waited, and unfortunately we've lost some of our critters, but now the time is ripe for the gerbies. The 10 gallon tank Andromeda (my newt who passed away last week after crawling out of her tank and then becoming mummified under the refrigerator) used to live in is perfect. Last weekend Matt and I went to Animart, which is a favorite activity, and purchased the necessary supplies.

My friend Sarah has been telling me about her gerbil farm for months. She has a lot of adolescents on her hands right now, so it's the perfect opportunity for us to scoop some up. Two to be exact, and of the same gender. No gerbil farm for us! Me being me, of course I am all excited to set up a fantastical microcosm for them...and to name them of course! Well, only one of them. Matt gets to name the other one. It will sort of be like "his and hers". I was thinking of naming mine Aloysius if he's a boy.

Saturday can't come soon enough! P.S. That's also the day I have my first nail cutting session with guinea pig I wrote about earlier.