All change again - and Charlie's 'playpen'
Oct 4, 2020 16:07:31 GMT
Marianne Marlow, Hezz, and 3 more like this
Post by birdguhl on Oct 4, 2020 16:07:31 GMT
After 36 hours in the big cage up top (out of reach of the mice), it was obvious that Charlie was miserable. He hardly moved from his mirror perch and by last night I was really worried about him.
So today there has been a lot more change. Whilst concerned about further stressing him with all the upheaval I think we now have a better arrangement.
The piece of furniture most of the set up is on is an old cheese press with shelves which can be repositioned by moving pegs between holes in the uprights at the sides. I have had it for a few years but because the big cage was always occupying the main space I never used the spare shelves and until this morning they were under the sofa still in their delivery packaging.
But staring at the hole left when I put the big cage up top led my mind to think, hmmm - maybe we can finally put those spare shelves to good use.
Hopefully this pic will help all this to make some sense!
Okay, so I decided that Charlie had to come back to his old cage - and I put in one of the shelves so that he is not so high up but still ok re mice. So far so good.
But the thought of him being shut in there all the time filled me with sadness for him, for Tony and for me.
He was immediately happier being back in the small cage, but he kept coming to the door as if to say "This is where you let me out - remember?"
So I started to think, could I put the other smaller cage next to his and then create some structure that would allow him to come out and move between them and interact directly with Tony but would stop him from falling?
And so is born the playpen ! It is made out of offcuts of mounting board which is folded and reinforced with strong adhesive tape to make it robust enough in itself and firmly attached to the shelf and side of cheese rack at the right. Not a thing of beauty exactly but hopefully serviceable and it just might be the first iteration on the way to something more aesthetically pleasing.
Charlie watched me making this, and when it was fitted I opened his door thinking it would take him a while to venture forth into this new world.
He was out within 30 seconds and is now perching on the bendy perch at the far right after having a preen!
This will be strictly an under supervision arrangement but I think it might be able to extend the time Charlie can have good quality of life with Tony. Here's hoping.
So today there has been a lot more change. Whilst concerned about further stressing him with all the upheaval I think we now have a better arrangement.
The piece of furniture most of the set up is on is an old cheese press with shelves which can be repositioned by moving pegs between holes in the uprights at the sides. I have had it for a few years but because the big cage was always occupying the main space I never used the spare shelves and until this morning they were under the sofa still in their delivery packaging.
But staring at the hole left when I put the big cage up top led my mind to think, hmmm - maybe we can finally put those spare shelves to good use.
Hopefully this pic will help all this to make some sense!
Okay, so I decided that Charlie had to come back to his old cage - and I put in one of the shelves so that he is not so high up but still ok re mice. So far so good.
But the thought of him being shut in there all the time filled me with sadness for him, for Tony and for me.
He was immediately happier being back in the small cage, but he kept coming to the door as if to say "This is where you let me out - remember?"
So I started to think, could I put the other smaller cage next to his and then create some structure that would allow him to come out and move between them and interact directly with Tony but would stop him from falling?
And so is born the playpen ! It is made out of offcuts of mounting board which is folded and reinforced with strong adhesive tape to make it robust enough in itself and firmly attached to the shelf and side of cheese rack at the right. Not a thing of beauty exactly but hopefully serviceable and it just might be the first iteration on the way to something more aesthetically pleasing.
Charlie watched me making this, and when it was fitted I opened his door thinking it would take him a while to venture forth into this new world.
He was out within 30 seconds and is now perching on the bendy perch at the far right after having a preen!
This will be strictly an under supervision arrangement but I think it might be able to extend the time Charlie can have good quality of life with Tony. Here's hoping.
