Injured Footsies and Daily Chorsies

A few days back when I went to check on Phin in the morning I was shocked to discover that his wheel had a solid track of blood on it. There were also little bloody footprints on his fleece and in his PVC tube tracking his night's route. *This is one of many excellent tips from Hedgehog Central- be sure to use LIGHT colored or WHITE fleece so that if your hedgie is oozing something s/he shouldn't you will know. After freaking out I removed Phin and cleaned his cage and all his accessories. Then I cleaned him, taking special care to gently clean and cleanse his footsies. I found the source of the blood, which was from a cut on one of his back feet. I applied some regular Neosporin (this kind is safe for animals but the kind with analgesic is not) and put him back in to sleep the day away. His eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, and walking was all normal, but I decided to keep the wheel out for two nights just to be on the safe side. I checked with HHC and one of the seasoned site moderators assured me that cuts on hedgehogs' feet were fairly common and not serious. She told me just to keep and eye on it, but that the wheel could go back in. I'm sure Phin wheeled all his pent up rage and energy that night! His cut seems to be healing fine and he remains his same self as always.

School has started up again- which is weird after being in Africa- and after I get home from classes I start my "farm chores". The soft fur rat (D'Artagnan) and the gerbils usually only need a small scattering of seeds and whatever small cardboard boxes or toilet paper tubes are laying around. They are low maintenance, yay! Phinneus needs his wheel cleaned, his water dumped and refilled, and sometimes both dishes need to be scrubbed to remove his poopy paw prints. His food only needs to be refilled every couple of days. Since I returned he and I have been waging a silent war of attrition where he eats everything except his Katz-n-Flocken kibble and refuse to give him fresh food until he at least eats most of it. That means that every 2-3 days he is down to nothing but Katz-n-Flocken and I imagine that leads to some frustrating dining experiences for him. If Phin needs a lot of care, so does Porthos, the half-flemish giant rabbit. Every morning when I wake up and let him out of his cage I give him fresh hay and pellets, as well as refilling his water bottle. His little box gets smelly fast, but I don't mind this very much as it is just such a relief to have an animal besides the cat who is littler trained. Porthos can be a pesk; for example, a moment ago he was nibbling the computer and me and trying to walk across the keyboard. He is too cute and snuggly to stay made at for long though. I think he knows this and uses it to his advantage...

So yeah, I live on a farm. Oh, and Matt takes care of the cat and assorted aquariums.

Here We Are Again, Naturally

Phinneus, Porthos, and I have moved back to the apartment with Matt and everyone is settling back into the routine. Sometimes Phin gets finicky (more than his usual quirks, that it) and decides that for some reason he doesn't want to wheel when he is in the apartment. Last night this appeared not to be a problem, however. He lived with my parents from October till January, which is the longest stint he's had their. It must be something like a 'country estate' for him.

During the four and a half months I was in Africa Phin must have forgotten me/decided I was not coming back because he doesn't respond to me like he used to. He is one big ball of hisses and quills. I think it's going to take a lot of treats and lap time to win him back.