Three weeks ago it became apparent Sonny was waking up from her hibernation. I could tell because there was a sudden increase in the amount of biscuits being eaten in her 'feeder' box - I KNOW RIGHT??? Yes, she is actually eating! She was also quite busy moving nesting material around and building new tunnels in/out of her nest.
So ........ it was time to get her up and weigh her.......
With some - aka massive, trepidation I gently removed Sonny from her nest. The change in her was immediately apparent - she felt a lot heavier, looked beautiful and when I took her inside and popped her on the scales I couldn't believe my eyes. She weighed an EPIC 860gm which meant she'd put on 152gms in just two weeks. I'm amazed you didn't hear my squeal of delight from your place because I was just over the moon happy and relieved.
The other big change was Sonny's demeanor. She was wriggly, nosey and seemed very content. There wasn't any sign of the growling, hissing, biting and depressed hoggie that I had put back outside in early winter. I gave her a dose of Advocate and popped her back into her nest, shutting the gates of her garden just in case she decided to have a wee tantrum and reject her nest because I had disturbed her - which she did indeed do, but not until that night.
The next morning when I checked in Sonny's feeder box I discovered that Madam had moved herself in and made herself at home. This was just fine with me! I didn't disturb her for a few days and once it was clear that she was going to stay put for a bit I removed the plywood cover from her old nest and installed it over the feeder/bed box to keep the sun and rain off it.
I opened the lid a bit so that the box didn't sweat and piled hay from th eold nest up against the front of the box to help keep the sun off it.
Then I put the ply cover over the top and left Sonny to it. So far she has stayed put even though I open the box every day to top up her food. She seems ok with this and says a quick hello before tucking her head back under her tummy and going back to sleep.
and then ...
Last night at about 10pm I went out to put the rubbish out and spotted Hector out in his run so I grabbed him and weighed him as he's going to be released in a few days so this was a good opportunity to weigh him without disturbing his daytime sleep.
I wondered if Sonny was up so crept over to her box and sure enough she was pottering along her 'hoggie highway'. I quietly scooped her up, weighed her and was delighted to discover that in the last six days she's gained another 52gms and was now 912gms. Her quills are shiny and she's round and plumb - just gorgeous!
So ........ it was time to get her up and weigh her.......
With some - aka massive, trepidation I gently removed Sonny from her nest. The change in her was immediately apparent - she felt a lot heavier, looked beautiful and when I took her inside and popped her on the scales I couldn't believe my eyes. She weighed an EPIC 860gm which meant she'd put on 152gms in just two weeks. I'm amazed you didn't hear my squeal of delight from your place because I was just over the moon happy and relieved.
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| Hi Mum!! How are ya? |
The next morning when I checked in Sonny's feeder box I discovered that Madam had moved herself in and made herself at home. This was just fine with me! I didn't disturb her for a few days and once it was clear that she was going to stay put for a bit I removed the plywood cover from her old nest and installed it over the feeder/bed box to keep the sun and rain off it.
Then I put the ply cover over the top and left Sonny to it. So far she has stayed put even though I open the box every day to top up her food. She seems ok with this and says a quick hello before tucking her head back under her tummy and going back to sleep.
Last night at about 10pm I went out to put the rubbish out and spotted Hector out in his run so I grabbed him and weighed him as he's going to be released in a few days so this was a good opportunity to weigh him without disturbing his daytime sleep.
I wondered if Sonny was up so crept over to her box and sure enough she was pottering along her 'hoggie highway'. I quietly scooped her up, weighed her and was delighted to discover that in the last six days she's gained another 52gms and was now 912gms. Her quills are shiny and she's round and plumb - just gorgeous!
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