Floater's diary

We are at home, safe and sound and veeeery tired! I'll take pics once the man has settled in and recovered from his trip. Unfortunately his water bottle had leaked so the bedding in his travel case had gotten moist. The man himself looks dry though and is now sleeping in his familiar cage. The cage is in a worse condition than I originally thought, rusty with badly gnawed at plastic parts. I need to decide if I want to fix the old one or buy a new one.
 
Hope he did keep dry and settles in quickly. Looking forward to those pictures!
 
Llama said:
Hope he did keep dry and settles in quickly. Looking forward to those pictures!
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I've been nonchalantly sitting close to his cage, snacking and sipping beer and occasionally talking to him in a quiet voice. He's been eating hay and pellets, pooping EVERYWHERE and dozing off occasionally. For now this is all I'll do: minimal handling for a week or so, of course I'll kept his cage clean and my man fed and his water bottles full, but the idea is to get him used to my presence as someone who cares for his needs but doesn't demand. Training a prey animal is going to be fascinating. Groundwork has to be done immaculately to allow for trust - and trust doesn't mean he'll be cuddly and he has every right not to be. 🥰
 
Haha it came across my mind to sign hymns for him. Not out of some spiritual emphasis but because hymns tend to be repetitive and provide mr H with a sense of "this 16-storey predator is preoccupied with something my best sense can easily detect any changes in". He seems to like this as he's been out chewing apple tree sticks and climbing and hopping around his cage relaxedly.

He's eating hay as I'm writing this. A VERY good sign. Chinchillas are very prone to stress, it can kill, and a lack of appetite can kill in a day or two. But he seems to think my presence is harmless. Wonderful. He's such a tiny powerhouse of bravery.
 
I feel terrible physically, probably got exposed to AC too much, all my muscles are rock hard and I sniffle and have zero energy. H-man is doing well. I let him out for an expedition around the home earlier and he really enjoyed the balcony. Also he likes to hop on my bed and investigate and nibble on my plushies. Tries to eat my plants but a firm but gentle "no" gets him to stop. He likes to pick up the porous stone/gravel material I use to make the soil in my plant pots lighter and gnaw that into dust. 😂 And he poops worth a village. I'm glad the stuff is dry and odorless because my man's asshole is like a reverse Pac-Man, leaving a trail of poo nuggets wherever he goes. He's very cute so I don't mind the poop but I do need to hoover tomorrow 😅
 
Llama said:
Now I imagine Hegel as having a pageboy haircut and massive pecs :rotflmao:
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He does have massive himbo energy 😂 And sorry, but his nuts are obscene, and he has dragged them across every surface in my home. The time for decorative objects on my windowsills is over because he climbs onto everything and anything with a tipping point WILL tip. But he has given me all the green flags in chilla language: he has winked at me and keeps a steady, quiet "pewpewpew" noise when he moves around which is the sound they make to communicate with their herd in the wild, and I respond to him to my best ability and he seems to like it. And when he climbed into a shelf and I told him to not eat my cosmetics, he swished his tail at me which is what chinchilla males do to attract a female. So probably my man peed all over my stuff (and definitely left nutsack prints all over my glasses) but he's just too adorable. When he climbs so high he feels insecure to jump down, he jumps onto my hand/arm/leg if I offer to help him out. I think this friendship will be amazing. He's cooling off in his cage after another outing, AC on and hungry for hay :)
 
Cate said:
Oh, he does sound amazing! :beating:
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I really wish I could send you a sample of how his tiny feet feel when he steps onto my hand. I swear, for such a delicate and fragile animal you can still tell he's powerful, he's like a live wire rolled within cotton. And his whiskers are amazing! They are so long that he seems to move aside objects on willpower but it's the whiskers sweeping up stuff before him lol. I call him "Baby Yoda" or "Grogu" a lot, based on the Star Wars character, because he hits the same exact spot of being a sweet lil rascal with huge dark eyes and surprising hidden powers... And eats everything too 😂
 
You do very well describing him. I have also looked up chinchillas a few times & I can imagine him. He sounds adorable. He will keep you very busy. Your heart sounds brimming already. Methinks you are smitten :beating:
 
I splurged 30€ on takeout because the last time I ate a warm meal was on Friday. I'm so glad about Hegel but of course my anxiety, depression etc still complicate self care so I think ordering a warm meal was a smart choice, if expensive.
 
I hung up a new hammock in Hegel's cage. Tomorrow I need to thoroughly hoover the cage and wash all the platforms as it's getting veeerrry poopy. But when I put Hegel in his carry case for the duration of hanging up the hammock he got so restless that I decided the deep cleaning can wait until tomorrow.

Food-wise, the takeout helped and I have some left. Appetite still nonexistent. I've got stuff in the fridge that will spoil unless I eat it tonight... Heavy cream is probably gone, so have tortillas, opened pack of feta might be salvageable, and bread cheese will still be edible today. Mango needs to be eaten by tomorrow. Almond milk may or may not be gone. I think that tonight I'll prioritize feeding myself over giving Hegel a long playtime because he may even benefit from a quieter night and I can't go on without proper meals much longer and am also very annoyed about my own wastefulness, however unintentional it is.

Doctor on Wed and let's hope it will work out.
 
I ended up wasting nearly half of each of the meals I took to work today. It happens. Better to sometimes waste a bit than to not have anything there when you need it.
 
Llama said:
I ended up wasting nearly half of each of the meals I took to work today. It happens. Better to sometimes waste a bit than to not have anything there when you need it.
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Thank you Llama, I needed to hear this today. I feel sooooo guilty about wasting anything but sometimes it really can't be avoided <3
 
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