Day 15 - December 8

Fifteen days old—the babies are sharing a snack of peas and broccoli.

Today, I decide that it is time to clean out the cage. The tunnels need to be cleaned twice a day now since the babies use them for a bathroom. Now the whole cage could use a good cleaning. I put wood chips and food in an empty cage and put Pikachu inside. Then I pick each baby up by the scruff of its neck and put it in the new cage. The babies are not bothered at all by the change. After all, they have mommy and food in the new place, along with a strange new wheel. However, Pikachu is not too pleased with this new situation. She runs in the wheel a little and then starts hoarding some food.

Two of the babies decide to investigate the short tunnel that leads to the wheel. Wow! They actually can make it run, that is, as long as they are going in the same direction. Uh oh! Pikachu comes in the wheel too. She starts to run with the babies under her. They were not too happy about that. Fortunately, Pikachu decides to leave the wheel. One baby leaves too, but the other baby can not get out. It goes to sleep.

After the cage is cleaned, I put Pikachu and the babies back in. I have to rescue the sleeping baby that was stuck in the wheel. He lies still in my hand, but runs back to the nest when I put him in the clean cage. Pikachu is very upset about the changes in the cage. I saved the nesting material, but it's not exactly in the same place. Pikachu spends the next hour acting a bit strangely. Finally she settles down with the babies and goes to sleep.