Comet007
Well-known member
Day 30 today! All the hay eating and playing with it is over for her - this morning we went out and found a really well constructed nest! No fur yet, and only Velma has built hers so far. Daphne put all the hay she didn't eat or drop through the floor of the cage down into the nest box, but she hasn't constructed the nest as yet.
We were so busy with the garden this last month that we forgot to figure out a box to slide into the Sani-nests! When we realized that this morning I started looking around the house for ideas - I have a bunch of rectangular bamboo (I think) boxes (baskets, really) with lids, and the largest of them were almost the perfect size to fit inside the nest box! The baskets were too tall, so DH cut the top off to shorten, then it was a pretty great fit inside the cardboard layer in the nest box. They are just a bit short, so to keep them from sliding around we put a 2x4 between the end of the box and the little door that drops down. We very carefully moved Velma's nest into the basket and then replaced it in the Sani-nest.
Funny that Velma built hers first, since we bred Daphne in the morning and Velma in the evening, so Daph should be about 8 hours ahead of Velma. I guess they do things in their own time! There are some more cecals under both cages, and neither doe ate much of their pellets last night, but they also didn't dig any out that we can see. They didn't dive right into their grain mix last night either, so it appears they have the characteristic drop in appetite as well, though maybe they will still finish their pellets before feeding time this evening.
Velma @ 30 days
This is her nest before we meddled with it - looks like she did a great job for a first timer!
We carefully slid out the cardboard liner with the nest - I'm so glad we had put this in before she made the nest
This is the basket that I already had - I don't know if we will be able to disinfect these later, but they are 9 years old so I think I got my money out of them -
DH did a good job transferring the nest, I think. I really hope that it doesn't disturb her that we messed with her nest!
We went ahead and put the cardboard lining back in too, though I think it's probably overkill as far as insulation. It did seem like it made the basket fit just a bit better, with no space for a kit to fall in between. I think a kit who got out might have fallen between the basket and wire nest otherwise should it be able to get out of the nest.
We were so busy with the garden this last month that we forgot to figure out a box to slide into the Sani-nests! When we realized that this morning I started looking around the house for ideas - I have a bunch of rectangular bamboo (I think) boxes (baskets, really) with lids, and the largest of them were almost the perfect size to fit inside the nest box! The baskets were too tall, so DH cut the top off to shorten, then it was a pretty great fit inside the cardboard layer in the nest box. They are just a bit short, so to keep them from sliding around we put a 2x4 between the end of the box and the little door that drops down. We very carefully moved Velma's nest into the basket and then replaced it in the Sani-nest.
Funny that Velma built hers first, since we bred Daphne in the morning and Velma in the evening, so Daph should be about 8 hours ahead of Velma. I guess they do things in their own time! There are some more cecals under both cages, and neither doe ate much of their pellets last night, but they also didn't dig any out that we can see. They didn't dive right into their grain mix last night either, so it appears they have the characteristic drop in appetite as well, though maybe they will still finish their pellets before feeding time this evening.
Velma @ 30 days
This is her nest before we meddled with it - looks like she did a great job for a first timer!
We carefully slid out the cardboard liner with the nest - I'm so glad we had put this in before she made the nest
This is the basket that I already had - I don't know if we will be able to disinfect these later, but they are 9 years old so I think I got my money out of them -
DH did a good job transferring the nest, I think. I really hope that it doesn't disturb her that we messed with her nest!
We went ahead and put the cardboard lining back in too, though I think it's probably overkill as far as insulation. It did seem like it made the basket fit just a bit better, with no space for a kit to fall in between. I think a kit who got out might have fallen between the basket and wire nest otherwise should it be able to get out of the nest.
