I’ve not done much today. The weather has been pretty foul and the Manor occupants have been quietly snoozing – cleaning them all out can wait until tomorrow.  I did move Bella and her two small, furry monsters into a higher (position, not size) cage so Talie and I can interact with them a bit more. Bella’s male kit is 84g today and Leila’s “little” kit is 88g.They are doing well and, although Bella’s kit is definitely not “right” he seems to be coming on ok. He was squeaking at George today who was sitting in the tunnel sniffing the newcomers in his usual gentle way.

Leila’s two monsters are just something else: 120 and 121g of furry mischief. They are bundles of trouble – they have spent the day flinging themselves off the bars of the cage, climbing all over Talie and I or pouncing on their poor mother for food.

Will try and get some photos tomorrow.

His Furriness, the Lord Montague came out for a mooch around his domain earlier. Pudding came out for a run (well, “large bottomed hop” is more accurate really) but unlike Monty, she is more interested in winding up the chins at floor level than anything else. Today Mouse and Bear were the targets of her attention – she sits just out of reach and stares until the two girls go mad in the cage. Then she pokes her nose through the bars until they come to get her and then she jumps back slightly and attempts to spray them. It drives Bear and Mouse absolutelt wild! So Pudding was forceably moved away from Bear and Mouse’s cage into the bathroom with Talie for a run on her own.

Meanwhile, Monty was doing what he does best – pottering about his domain, making sure everything is in order. He never winds any of the other chins up although he often goes to sniff noses with a cage’s occupant(s). Today the lounge was explored, the stairs were explored – he can whizz up the stairs at great speeds when he wants to and it’s quite funny to watch him since he seems to move in slow motion down and then hurtles back up again – he explored my bedroom and then went back into the lounge again. Eventually, when Pudding was returned to the chin room he wandered back in and went back into his cage. He’s a good old boy.

Talie and I are sitting on the sofa watching TV – Talie is doing her teaching blog and I’m on here – we’re both being stared at: it’s most disconcerting!

Otto’s cage is on top of Talie’s boys’ cage and he’s currently sitting in the lower half, boring holes into us with his eyes half closed. We’re not quite sure what we’ve done to deserve being stared at but clearly something is bothering Mr Otto.

It could be that he is not happy with the TV choice this evening – Talie has encouraged him to watch trash TV and apparently he has a liking for Sex & the City. We’re watching Law & Order – Criminal Intent. I wonder if it’s because this episode is a repeat.

Mog (another of Talie’s chins) is also boring holes into me – but for a different reason to Otto – she is waiting for her 2nd lot of syringe food. She does not actually need syringe feeding but she loves it … and I do means loves it! It all started when I was feeding dear Maya – I occasionally give a tiny amount of syringe food (literally a taste) to some of the chins so that they get used to the taste – with the hope that if they ever need it they will already have tried it – but Mog went mad for the stuff. She’d grab the syringe and literally throw herself at the front of the cage. So she got what was left after I had fed Maya – usually about a syringe full.

Now she’s somewhat addicted

Bailey (Talie’s big, soft, beige chinny) is also staring at us – he’s sitting chomping his way through his food bowl at the moment. I guess he’s protecting his interests, just in case we decide to steal his dinner.

So, that’s 3 chins staring at us while we watch TV – it really is most disconcerting, I can tell you. I’m sure they are plotting our downfall. I do wish they could talk!

Chinchilla kits on the whole are very endearing – fluffy, precocious, and full of beans. Some are more “beanified” than others.

Leila’s kits are a hoot! Grenville and Griselda were cheeky from the moment they were born – the triplets are exactly the same. Within 24 hours they were climbing the bars and flinging themselves off backwards with gay abandon. Within 3 days they were mouthing pellets and Readigrass. Within a week they had begun dragging the toys about in the cage. Tonight they’ve been climbing up the humans and attempting to mountaineer up the sofa.

The third kit fostered with Bella is a mini version of her bigger siblings – she is a little quieter but that did not stop her from clambering all over Talie and attempting to disappear between the sofa cushions. She also spent a good few minutes “peeping” at Talie and then Bella’s little male (who was clambering gingerly over me at the time) joined in the communication noises. They sat and “peeped” at each other for ages, even when they were touching noses and then the female decided to use the poor male as a springboard.