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 dosconcerting!

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 apparenty 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’s most disconcerting, I can tell you. I’m sure they are plotting our downfall. I do wish they could talk!

It’s not easy being a chinchilla. Life can be tough ………….. there’s all that important snoozing for a start.

Comfort is important - just cross your legs at the right angle…….

Then there’s the hammock dilemma……….. just how does one get comfy?

Sometimes its nice to sleep in your dustbath

And finally ………. what happens when your favourite hammock is either taken away for washing or you just can’t be bothered to hop up to it?

This pillow’s a bit hard!

Hammock? Nah, too much effort - teddy will do!

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So how much of a hard life do your chins endure?

My usual routine first thing in the morning is to pop into the chin room when I get up to check on all the chinchillas, make sure they are all ok, have water, and have not misbehaved too much during the night.

This morning when I wandered into the room I stopped dead and chuckled ………. Barney lived with Harry for 8 years and when I sadly had to have Harry put to sleep with tooth problems I thought Barney would really miss his little pal. I gave Barney a new cage (for a change of scenery) and a square of fleece to snuggle up to. He loves his fleece and can often be found snuggled under it in the bottom of the cage. Last night though, he had a dustbath in his cage and he had obviously been a busy boy. He’d decided to be very clever and creative…………

This is what I saw when I went into the chin room this morning

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Bear in mind that the “duvet” piece of fleece is quite large in comparison to Barney and it is completely tucked into the dust bath - clever little furry

The twins are now almost weaned. Thistle is now living on his own and still using a bottle of formula but he’s basically weaned himself off it for the most part. He was separated from both of his mothers when he decided to start play mounting them - a bit of dominance is not usually too much of a problem but he was quite insistent and both of this mothers were getting annoyed by him. Play mounting is a sign of increasing maturity and in Thistle’s case, stupidity! I lost count of the number of times he got paw swiped and kacked at by his mother when I was feeding them the other evening so he was separated there and then; much to his disgust and his mother’s relief I think.
He is a real live wire character and is growing up fast. He does not want to be handled much at the moment but that’s more his independent streak than anything else I think. Once he’s caught he sits quite happily and lets me stroke and chat to him - then he gets bored and pings off back into his cage. Trying to take his photo is nigh-on impossible and I have loads of pictures of empty space where he had been, blurred tail shots, and the occasional grey smudge as he hurtled past the camera lense.

Teazel remains with her mother and is happily snuggled up with her as I type this. It is much easier to keep females with their mothers and these two will stay together as long as possible. For now they are content with each other’s company and it is lovely to see them sharing a cage. Teazel is the more gentle and calm of the twins and has a sweet nature too. She is a little coy as opposed to her manically “pinging” brother and is a delight to hold and stroke.

If I decide to show the twins it will be interesting grooming them both - such different personalities often are manifest on the show bench and in grooming. Some chins sit still and let you groom them easily but others are little monsters, bouncing about and being stroppy (kacking) when attempting to use the needle sharp comb on their fur. Most of the work for showing takes place beforehand and it is only the finishing touch through the very tips of the fur which is needed at the show hall. Chins which refuse to sit still can be a challenge all through the preparation grooming sessions so it is worth starting when kits are young, just getting them used to being held and having their fur touched all over with the back of the comb, building up to full grooming over a period of time.
On the show bench some chins simply snooze the time away (some crash out on their sides, much to the amusement of those watching them and the horror of the owner who has spent time grooming their fur to perfection!) and some show off, never sitting still so they “ruin” their outline and still others just have that “I’m perfect and I know it” pose which makes them stand out from the crowd.
What’s the betting Thistle is a pure show off?

Life here continues apace. Thug and his siblings are growing rapidly, are nibbling pellets and hay and are developing their individual characters. They are spending some time in the cage next to their mother drinking formula from the bottle and then they are rotated again. Thug loves spending time with his Mum - I think he’s a bit of a whimp really.
Here is Thug looking angelic.