A Helping Paw

Why is it that whenever you want to do something, the cat has to sit on it.

This was the second mat I was trying to make. Kashka had already sat on the first one, so I moved it out of the way, then spread the fabric to cut for the second one, and lo and behold...she sat on it while I was cutting.

And if I dared complain, she looks up all innocent, but I got my revenge. She moved pretty quickly once the sewing machine was running!

It didn't stop her trying to help with my knitting later though!

We've moved

Well this week seems to be the week for animals moving home. We found last week, with the direction the weather was coming from, that the wind was blowing the rain straight into the rabbit and guinea pig cages. This made for a very soggy home and with the winter coming we needed to move them.

It was all made a little bit easier as our landlord moved his bike out of the garage last weekend so we had some more space.

Yesterday afternoon, J and I sorted a space just inside the back of the garage and got rid of some more rubbish-where does it all come from? Once that was done, we were able to move the hutches.

The back of the garage is open, so this means the rabbit and guinea pigs will get plenty of fresh air, but they are protected from the wind and rain by the side of the house. Best of both worlds.

The Dusty had a lovely couple of hours hopping around the garden, and Lucy and Megan enjoyed a bit of indoor time whilst the hutches were cleaned out and fresh bedding put down. I think they are all happy back in their clean and dry homes.

Now every time I open the back door I can see them, and the guinea pigs take great delight in squeaking at me. They boys are happier too, they won't get wet when they have to go out to feed them.

Awkward Tarantula

Leaving Nipper to move home on his own didn't work. I had to help him on his way this morning. I'm not sure who was more frightened, him or me. I hate spiders and this one is big and can move very quickly.

Armed with a small paintbrush and a piece of paper I was ready to begin. The paper was used to stop Nipper from returning to his old home and I used the paintbrush to move him in the right direction. I am sure if I had been using my fingers, I would have felt his fangs.

With a little encouragement we managed to get him out and quickly took out the old tank and replaced the lid on the new tank.

By the time I had finished, my hands were shaking and I was well in need of a cup of tea which J made for me. It was a great relief that he hadn't escaped like he did the last time he moved home.

Here you can see Nipper in his new surroundings with plenty of room to grow. By this evening he had webbed behind his "rock" so he seems as happy as a spider can be.

Nipper has a new home

Last week we bought Nipper a new tank, but the reptile shop didn't have the compost we needed. We went back Wednesday and bought the compost, a resin rock for Nipper to hide in, and some crickets.

D soaked the peat block in water. Once all the water had been soaked up, he crumbled up the peat and spread it over to cover the base of the tank.

Nipper was so tied up in his web, we decided we would let him crawl from one tank to another himself. After putting in some fresh crickets, we placed the smaller tank inside the larger one and then replaced the lid.
We left Nipper overnight to make the move. Generally he is more active at night so we are hoping he will explore the new surroundings on his own. We will then take out the smaller tank.