Yesterday I saw someone giving away a mini fridge on Facebook. How cool! I thought. I could have my own fridge/freezer for pet food! I grabbed my daughter and we ran out to pick it up before someone else claimed it.
We got home, and I had to pause for a second and wonder if it was a bit too much that I had my own fridge/freezer for the pets. I decided it wasn’t too much, it’s practical! Now the rest of the family doesn’t have to worry about accidentally treating themselves a nice bowl of glider mush, or eating the arugula that I’m saving for the dragon.
The little freezer part is stuffed full: fruits and veggies for the gliders, spare food mix for Hector D. Byrd, and a batch of glider slop. The fridge isn’t as full yet. It’s got an open can of dog food, some wellness herbs for Hector, and a jar of Hector’s food, oh and some meal worms! I forgot to grab the pea shoots and arugula from our regular fridge since those are for the lizard. Does this officially make me the crazy pet lady?
The husband was a little surprised when he came home from work and saw the fridge. Of course I had to rearrange the computer room a bit to fit it in. I guess for most people, what we call the computer room would be their dining room. For us, it has a couple of desks, including my desk I use every day. It also has the glider cage, the lizard tank, and Hector’s cage sits in the open space between the kitchen table and the computer room. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but I guess this room should be renamed The Zoo!
The husband wasn’t sure about the new fridge. I told him there would be room for a couple of beers or seltzers if he liked since he usually keeps those in the garage fridge. Maybe if he has a use for the fridge he will hate it a little less!
The gliders are getting settled. We still have a ways to go before I would say that they like me, but they haven’t tried to bite me, well only once, and they didn’t bite hard, and I was sticking my hand in their sleep pouch so I probably deserved it. The end of last week got busy and I didn’t get to take them out as much as i would have liked, but I did get them out a bit every day. Today I’m going to try to take them out in our stall shower. If I take their pouch away, maybe they will interact with me a bit more.
I’m not perfect at telling them apart, but I’m getting better. One is MUCH bigger than the others, and one is tiny. Last night when I checked on them, The biggest one, Eenie, was stuffing his face in the food bowl. Tiny little Miney was running a marathon on the exercise wheel! No wonder one is a bit chunky and one is tiny!
A couple of nights ago we were all watching TV in the other room, and we started hearing this really strange noise, almost like a small dog’s yippy bark. When I checked on the gliders, one was hanging off the side of the cage where the food bowls usually are making a racket! I’ve been feeding them really late so that their food is as fresh as possible, and apparently he wasn’t happy the food hadn’t arrived yet! As soon as I fed them, no more noise. I guess it isn’t taking them long to train me!
The cats continue to enjoy squirrel “hunting.” I’ve learned that squirrels do NOT eat cranberries, strange because they eat just about everything else I throw out for them!
All three cats went to the vet for their annual checkups last week. It was a really strange thing to have the vet come out to the car to get them. I miss that interaction with the vet! Bean weighed in at almost 16 lbs, Puck is still tiny, not quite 7 lbs. I was worried that Logan was gaining too much weight, but she had only gained a pound. She’s up to 13 lbs, and the vet said she looked great. The only possible concern is that Logan has a small hole in a back tooth. The vet wasn’t too worried about it, but did say we should keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t have any trouble eating.
The dragon is still brumating. I wake her up about once a week and give her a bath to make sure she doesn’t get dehydrated. She’s not eating much, but she usually does eat a few bugs when I wake her up. I was curious about the difference between hibernation and brumation so I did a bit of research. Apparently the biggest difference is that a hibernating animal shuts down. They don’t need food or water, they go into a deep sleep. With brumation, it’s a lighter sleep. They don’t need to eat, their systems slow down, but they still need water.
Cali is a bit exhausted today. We took her for a hike yesterday, and then she needed a bath afterwards, tired girl! She’s usually really good off leash, but yesterday she couldn’t help herself and went to greet another dog on the trail. She wasn’t very happy that I kept her on her leash for the rest of the walk. I guess I need to bring some extra treats on our next hike to practice recall with her again. She also needs a haircut, but I hate clipping her in winter. She looks kind of terrible right now, but it isn’t long enough that it is getting matted so I’ll let it go for another couple of weeks.
Last but never least, my friend Hector. Hector thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled for her birthday last week. She has started getting more demanding about asking for treats when we are eating dinner at the table. I don’t mind sharing healthy treats with her, but it is hard when we are eating things that she can’t have. I always try to save some plain, unseasoned veggies for her when I cook. I also always have some almonds nearby. Bananas, apples, and sweet potatoes are her favorites!
A friend of mine that teaches kindergarten has asked me to be a virtual guest in her class to introduce all my animals! I’m so excited. Kindergarten is my favorite age, and we all know how much I love pets! I’m not sure when we are going to chat, but I’m looking forward to it.
So does anyone else have a fridge dedicated to their pets?
