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He grows and learns so fast!
Last weekend Bundor learned to recognize when I am filling his manger. He gets ridiculously excited and bounces all around when I pick up the manger or the hay bag.
This week he has FINALLY started learning about giving the cats personal space. He used to get so excited whenever he saw them, that he would run up to them really fast. If they walked away, he would follow them. To the cats, especially Opal, this is scary. So we started holding him back or putting a hand or foot between him and them. This week he has learned to approach them slowly and NOT follow when they walk away. Several times this week he and Serena have sniffed faces and then either stood quietly or walked in opposite directions. That's really good!
Tonight he was running around the living room and Opal was on the floor. She was totally chill for the most part. She didn't like it when he sniffed her back while she was sleeping, but after that he left her alone and she was fine. He did NOT try to groom her tail like he did the last time he was that close to her, a few weeks ago.
Serena has actually been going into Bundor's pen pretty often. Speaking of the pen, he has grown so much that I think we need to expand it a little. Eventually he will have a 3'x11' pen in the third room, but for right now he's in my room so I am going to add only a few more square feet and see how he handles it.
Another cognitive leap: tonight he was very easy to get back into his pen. I think he's learning that if I have something in my hand that he wants, he can get it by following me.
He remains less-enthusiastic about grass hay, so this week I started giving him mostly grass hay with a few handfuls of alfalfa mixed in. And, I don't fill the manger until it is almost empty. Sunday and today (Monday) he had almost no greens because I want him to eat more hay. Today it worked, his poop looked more healthy. I've slowly been introducing more/new vegetables to him. So far the only thing that seems to disagree with him is mustard greens. The day after he was introduced to mustard greens, he wasn't very active and his poop was too small. He just didn't feel well. So no more mustard for him.
A few weeks ago I made a new manger for him. Before he had a loaf pan, and he often turned it over and wasted a lot of hay. He doesn't like a wall-mounted hay feeder, he ate a lot less hay when he had one of those. He likes to get his front legs into his hay and dig around. So I bought one of these and cut two large oval holes in the lid. He can get his front legs in there and dig, and he can get his face WAY down in there like he likes, but he can't turn it over and spill all the hay, and the holes are small enough that he can't sit in either of them and pee/poo in the manger.
We really don't want him to develop a sweet tooth. So he doesn't get much sweets; he has never tasted fresh fruit. I tried feeding him some freeze-dried apple and he wasn't interested. I got some freeze-dried strawberries on Sunday, though, and he does like those. I broke them into tiny pieces to use as training treats. I also bought some really nutritious treats called Forest Sticks and Garden Sticks. He LOVES them! I only give him half a stick at a time because he's really small and they are large. I plan to give him a half-stick every night when he returns to his pen.
Last weekend Bundor learned to recognize when I am filling his manger. He gets ridiculously excited and bounces all around when I pick up the manger or the hay bag.
This week he has FINALLY started learning about giving the cats personal space. He used to get so excited whenever he saw them, that he would run up to them really fast. If they walked away, he would follow them. To the cats, especially Opal, this is scary. So we started holding him back or putting a hand or foot between him and them. This week he has learned to approach them slowly and NOT follow when they walk away. Several times this week he and Serena have sniffed faces and then either stood quietly or walked in opposite directions. That's really good!
Tonight he was running around the living room and Opal was on the floor. She was totally chill for the most part. She didn't like it when he sniffed her back while she was sleeping, but after that he left her alone and she was fine. He did NOT try to groom her tail like he did the last time he was that close to her, a few weeks ago.
Serena has actually been going into Bundor's pen pretty often. Speaking of the pen, he has grown so much that I think we need to expand it a little. Eventually he will have a 3'x11' pen in the third room, but for right now he's in my room so I am going to add only a few more square feet and see how he handles it.
Another cognitive leap: tonight he was very easy to get back into his pen. I think he's learning that if I have something in my hand that he wants, he can get it by following me.
He remains less-enthusiastic about grass hay, so this week I started giving him mostly grass hay with a few handfuls of alfalfa mixed in. And, I don't fill the manger until it is almost empty. Sunday and today (Monday) he had almost no greens because I want him to eat more hay. Today it worked, his poop looked more healthy. I've slowly been introducing more/new vegetables to him. So far the only thing that seems to disagree with him is mustard greens. The day after he was introduced to mustard greens, he wasn't very active and his poop was too small. He just didn't feel well. So no more mustard for him.
A few weeks ago I made a new manger for him. Before he had a loaf pan, and he often turned it over and wasted a lot of hay. He doesn't like a wall-mounted hay feeder, he ate a lot less hay when he had one of those. He likes to get his front legs into his hay and dig around. So I bought one of these and cut two large oval holes in the lid. He can get his front legs in there and dig, and he can get his face WAY down in there like he likes, but he can't turn it over and spill all the hay, and the holes are small enough that he can't sit in either of them and pee/poo in the manger.
We really don't want him to develop a sweet tooth. So he doesn't get much sweets; he has never tasted fresh fruit. I tried feeding him some freeze-dried apple and he wasn't interested. I got some freeze-dried strawberries on Sunday, though, and he does like those. I broke them into tiny pieces to use as training treats. I also bought some really nutritious treats called Forest Sticks and Garden Sticks. He LOVES them! I only give him half a stick at a time because he's really small and they are large. I plan to give him a half-stick every night when he returns to his pen.
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