Re: Imogene (or Clare or Rhonda or Giselle) is Here!

by MouseLover Sat 15 Oct 2016, 10:45 am

Oh she so cute!

by MesaMouse Sat 15 Oct 2016, 1:17 pm

scaredymouse wrote:Oooh, I like her a lot! Try kale, that seems to be the favorite.

Cauliflower will probably be the next veggie offered as I always have broccoli and cauliflower in the house (my two faves) but am out of kale until tomorrow's trip to Fry's. Bell pepper held no interest last night but cucumber was a big hit Clap

! I held a small wedge out to Imogene and she leaned waaaay forward to sniff wildly before deciding to taste it. The first bite convinced her that this was a very, very good thing! It was so cute to watch her eat: she held the cucumber wedge and rested her paws atop my fingers but when she was getting to the bottom of the piece, I gently removed my hand as I didn't want a nip if she thought there was still more to eat. So far, her favorite foods are the Mazuri lab blocks (I add two to her bowl daily) and sunflower seeds. Cheerios are OK but not the "Gimme, gimme, gimme" mice exhibit over them.

Imogene seems to be settling in, choosing a cozy sleeping spot (under the back of the platform), picking a designated "pee" spot in the diagonally opposite corner (Thank you, thank you little ham) and setting up two eating spots: the lab blocks go into the acorn to eat and smaller foods end up under front of the platform. She also tends to move all of the bedding from the corner under the water bottle and the corner diagonally across from it, behind the wheel, her apparent grooming spot. Strange and amusing girl, this Imogene.

What she hasn't adjusted to yet is light vs dark/semi-dark. In PetSmart, lights are on in the tanks for at least 12 hours a day (I doubt the tanks are kept lit when the store is closed). When I saw her in the store, it was 7:30pm and she was wide awake and energetic. Imogene's tank is in the front bedroom with a large window on the wall to the left of her tank table. As that window faces out on the front walkway, the vertical blinds are always kept closed but the room is still quite light during the day. Around 4pm, I click on a small LED light mounted on the wall above her tank, providing a small pool of light in the room. Overnight, I click on a little night light mounted near the floor on the far end of the wall to the right of her table, again just to give a bit of a glow to the room. I only put on the bright ceiling light when I'm going in to sit with her and that's predicated by when I see she's up. I check on her every few hours during the day/evening when I go in to spot clean poop, change water, etc, and see evidence that she's been awake and eating (or adding more poop) but she doesn't seem to stir until around 9pm. Last night I sat with her, offering her different foods, talking and singing to her ("Sweet Imogene" to the tune of my favorite Neil Diamond tune, Sweet Caroline) for about an hour. She indicated that she'd had enough of my presence by going into the corner behind the wheel to groom and doze. Any suggestions, scaredymouse, on how to get her back to an earlier routine? Perhaps turning on the overhead light earlier to simulate pet store conditions? I have other questions re wheels, etc, but will PM you on those.

by MesaMouse Sat 15 Oct 2016, 1:19 pm

CallaLily wrote:Her face! She's looks like a kid that's just been told to at least try it.

That is exactly the face she was making! She made an even more "Are you kidding me?!" face when I offered her bell pepper last night.

by scaredymouse Sat 15 Oct 2016, 6:20 pm

I think she might just be trying to catch up on sleep, honestly. Being at the pet store is such an overly stimulating place... she might just be taking a little vacation. I keep a small light on in the critter room at all times, so I can check on them without turning the big light on. Oftentimes though, if I go in there to see one critter. After a couple of minutes of me rooting around and talking, everyone is up ham/mouse alike. They like hanging out with momma and want to see what's going on. So I think after she has a chance to catch up on some Zzzzz's, she's hear you and want to see what's going on.

And I know you aren't supposed to wake them up... and I would never just stick my hand in there and poker her or something... that's rude! But I will rustle the bedding nearby and call her name, so she knows I'm there and she can come see me if she wants. Side note: you will meet b***ch face every time though. It's the best. The face they make, not unlike people, is hilarious when they first wake up.

I'm so glad you got a hamster. I can tell you are already having a ton of fun. Mice are awesome, but so very different from hamsters. Hamsters are goofy, make dumb faces, they are clumsy.... they are like toddlers. Anyway, enjoy Imogene! And PM me about anything you want. I'm super excited for you!

by MesaMouse Mon 17 Oct 2016, 1:29 pm

Imogene is starting to find me interesting and actually woke up and came out from under the platform while I was spot-cleaning and talking to her mid-day yesterday! She was still very sleepy but happily accepted a pumpkin seed to eat before going back to bed.

Well, the big food hit yesterday was meal worms! None of my mice ever liked them but I always have some on hand to grind up for my hermit crabs' dry mix so I figured I'd offer Imogene one. She snatched it from my fingers, crunched it up in a matter of seconds and looked at me for more! She also decided that broccoli was tasty after all (but still not as good as cucumber). Got to see her do her first cheek pouch stuffing when I handed her a tiny dog treat (grain-, additive- and preservative-free Nutro brand Mixed Berries): popped it into her left pouch and scuttled into the corner behind the wheel to drop it off for later.

The best purchase for Imogene thus far is this: http://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/toys-habitat-accessories/all-living-things-barrel-roller-small-animal-toy-zid36-21878/cat-36-catid-600014?var_id=36-21878&_t=pfm%3Dcategory
As soon as I put it into the tank, she was all over it, trying to get to the little ball in the middle. Absolutely hilarious to see her try to squish her blunt hammy nose between the bars! When I left her last night, she had rolled it into the corner behind the wheel and was lying across it, eyes half-closed, thinking up her next plan of attack to reach that ball.

by scaredymouse Mon 17 Oct 2016, 2:11 pm

I am enjoying your stories of Imogene Smile

by MouseLover Mon 17 Oct 2016, 2:55 pm

Ooh that toy looks fun! I had something quite similar for the mice once, but they were small enough to squeeze inside to bite the ball Laughing

As for mealworms - Archie is MAD for them! Like your Imogene, he crunches them up super quick and searches my fingers for more. I think he'd eat them all day if I let him Laughing

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