About Cavies: First preparation for having guinea pig

Guinea pig is not from pigs family... It is a rodent! Contrary to the name Guinea pig, This adorable pet is not from Guinea... but South America. Guinea pig is also called as cavy/arkus/marmut. Cavy is still consume as a protein source in South America and kept as a pet in the house.

I just bought 2 guinea pig 2 months ago... I thought having guinea pigs is like having hamsters... BIG MISTAKE for me. Taking care of guinea piggies is like taking care of kitten only harder... they have a very specific diet requirement such as foods that high in vitamin C. If you want to adopt guinea pigs, you will need to prepare its basic needs.

List of basic things to have:

1. Rabbit water bottle

2. Bedding (Fleece and towel)

3. Food container

4. Pellet

5. Cage ( types of cage is optional)

6. Hay

7. Some vegetables (not poisonous for guinea piggies)

Well, this is my cage in case you do not have an idea what kind of cage to have...

But of course there are more type of cage you can choose such as cat cage that you can buy in the pet store... it is just a matter of preference. The only problem is the one you buy at the petstore will cost you a fortune but the space you bought for your cavies is small and the bottom of the cage is build of wire cage. I read many reviews that the wire bottom of the cage will cause harm to your cavy feet.

For those a fan of DIY and fun designing cage, I encourage you to try the C&C cage. The C&C cage build from coroplast and mesh wire rack. I will list down the things and cost for me to build approximately 4.4" x 2.2" cage. These things are all obtainable in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah!

List of things needed for the C&C cage:
1. Coroplast - you can get it in the stationery store such as popular (1Borneo), Kim Siang (1Borneo).(RM6.8-7.80/ PIECE)
2. Mesh wire rack - you can get this in DAISO 1B & Centre point =RM5/piece
3. Connector - DAISO (1B and Centrepoint)= RM5 (12 per set)
OR
4. Cable wire - DAISO (1B and centrepoint) or you can try store that sells hardware and homeware. = RM5 /PACK (170 per pack 2mm cable wire)
5. Old towels
6. Fleece - DAISO (1B and centre point) (1/4 size of normal fleece blanket), SUPERSAVE (small size fleece blanket =rm12.90; big fleece blanket= rm16.90)

If you buy 4 mesh wire rack, you make a square shape cage size 2.2"x 2.2". If you buy 6 mesh wire rack, you can build 4.4"x2.2" cage. These measurement is just approximate measurement. Just follow the perimeter of the cage above to build a rectangle or square cage... the reason I put divider in the cage (picture above) is to slowly introduce my new guinea pigs to my old guinea pigs.

After you build the perimeter of the cage, then you can start adding room to the cage such as kitchen and bedroom. If you want to reduce poops, it is good to build kitchen from basket because they like to poops in there. my piggies like to poops in the basket while they eat and sometimes they will sleep on their on poops but it is just their nature to sleep where they like to eat. To keep your piggies clean, just give them a bath every month. Some owner will prefer weekly or twice weekly bath but only give them bath if they really need it. The bedding for the cage is very important because you can keep your piggies from soaking up their urine.  Some like to use newspaper as bedding but newspaper is not as absorbent as towel. Plus, news paper will stick with the coroplast when it dries up. So, replacing the newspaper everyday is very important to prevent your piggies to soak with their urine and smells. Towel is another option though.. you can replace the bedding every week provided you clear up the poops everyday to prevent smells. The correct way to put towel-fleece bedding is to put a layer of towel under the fleece layer so you will have 2 layer. The towel will act as absorbent, and the fleece as the dry layer to prevent soaked piggies.

Can't Write Thesis?: Its Not The Procrastination...

If you google "cant write thesis" in google, you might end up reading my poor blog. 

Well, I am a Master student looking for a way to beat my laziness (I wont say procrastination anymore). I don't want to say I am beating procrastination because procrastination will not exist without laziness. If I start blaming procrastination for every single thing I cannot accomplish, it become an excuse for me. Procrastination is overated... you cannot eliminate it and you will never beat it until you set a self-boundary. 

Now, how many times do you promise yourself you will write thesis tomorrow, next week, or next month? some will even say I will do my best to finish my thesis next semester... Well, how long are you planning to finish your study? Delaying your thesis will not make it much easier. 

START NOW, even though you cannott think any ideas, start by writing craps about your study. I mean it! do not think too much... just write any craps about your study such as "the water table is getting higher because of the rain..... bla...bla...". When you have your ridiculously crappy idea, elaborate the crappy ideas into a paragraph. When you look back to your many crappy paragraphs, you will pick up some ideas from your tons of crappy ideas... and improvise it... Sometimes, you just need to write your crappy ideas to take a better look at it.

Now, when you write your thesis, you need to force yourself if you do not have the motivation. I know... I know... its hard but it is doable. Tell your family and friends to leave you alone for a week to do your thesis, and go to your burrow, lock the door. If you must glue your seat to your pants, go ahead... push your thoughts out... write like you never write before... any bad, good or stupid ideas jumble up... everything worth to write. Do not say you do not know what to write. It is your research.. so there must be something you can force your head to vomit.

During your war against your laziness, give yourself anything that keeps you writing such as a few plates of cakes, smoking, coffees, etc. I know I get overweight because of this but I sweat the fats off after I finish making progress. Just give yourself anything you crave for a week to get the juice out of your head but remember, after writing thesis, quit the habit. Its not a healthy habit but you judge it...

When you finish 5 pages, 10 pages, 20 pages, etc... give yourself a reward... one week holiday? shopping? one week of movie? etc...

I had not finish my thesis yet but I'm still forcing my head to write until I want to vomit. The problem with motivation is that it never stay the same. Your motivation will sometimes sky roof escalating and sometimes it shows negative value but you might can force that momentum if you willing to try this crappy ideas trick. Do not be afraid if you lose your motivation within a few days after you come out from your burrow... thats just the way it is. You might feel too comfortable with your progress that you begin to enjoy freedom for a few days and after that you have to start from gear 1. Everyone experiencing it... but the difference is those who willing to go gear 2 and so on... Just like driving, everyone will need to start from gear 1, gear 2 and when you comfortable with the speed, go gear 3, 4 and 5. Once you stop, you just need to start the engine and start from gear 1 until you reach gear 5. Its not easy but its not as hard as you think if you know the way. 

Lets do it together and finish up our thesis! Good luck!