Easy-to-clean, smell reduced C&C cage with or without fleece

Does anyone have the same opinion that C&C cage with fleece is troublesome and consume a lot of time to clean?

Well, In my opinion C&C cage is too much work, take a lot of my time during weekend as I usually change the bedding once a week but I remove the poo twice a day, It stinks in 3 days after I change a new fleece, AND I found the mites multiply faster when I use fleece. I don't know if anyone experience the same but I just want to share my experience. 

I have 3 C&C cages in my pet room and it takes a lot of my time washing, disinfecting used bedding and mopping the floor every week. I use 2 layer of towel with 1 fleece for each cage. washing 6 towels and 3 fleece using hand is no fun. It is very time consuming and tiring. I don't think anyone would enjoy washing towels and fleece full of pee and poo poo...

Pic 1: C&C cage with net bottom

Pic 1 is the net bottom C&C cage (I had not prepare the proper tray for this cage). My guinea pigs did not display any discomfort during in the cage but the net must be secure well and no sharp edges around the cage. The net can be slippery because it was made from plastic net so things like plastic bowl can move easily in the cage. Paper clips can be used to secure the food bowl and igloo.

Pic 2: Base of the cage and the floor space

As you can see from pic 2, there are space between the floor and the cage bottom. This will prevent the piggies to wet their fur if they sleep on the place they pee. Coroplast can be used as a tray under the cage. If you are using newspaper as the absorbent, then you will have to replace the newspaper everyday. my friend is using cat litter as absorbent. this type of cage is suitable to use cat litter because the piggies does not have direct contact with it. just make sure to use safe cat litter without fragrance (guinea pig nose is very sensitive) and the sand type is not good neither because your piggies might inhale the sand.

If you couldn't shake the thoughts of your piggies leg will stuck in the net hole, just add a layer of fleece on top of the net! any liquid spills on the fleece will fall directly to the newspaper and prevent your piggies to soak in their own pee. Some of the poo will also fall to the newspaper and some big poo cant get through the net. Once a day sweeping is all it takes to clean the cage.

I will make a new post in this blog soon on how to make net bottom C&C cage and how to secure fleece on the cage.

the objective of this cage:
1. Improve cleanliness of the cage
2. Reduce bad smell in C&C cage
3. Easy to clean

My Himalayan guinea pig with abbysinian rosettes!

Abbysinian - Himalayan color

 Pic 1: Front

 Pic 2: Left

Pic 3: Right

Pic 1 until Pic 3 was taken when Darwin was 2 months old. The color of its nose, ears, and legs is very dark and after spending a lot of time searching for its color, i was informed by a breeder that it is himalayan colour with abbysinian coat. Pure Himalayan breed is very rare in Malaysia but it makes sense if abbysinian was  cross-breed with himalayan, the dominant abbysinian gene of rosettes will show while smooth short hair of himalayan breed would not show because it is recessive. The color on the other hand is different story... Himalayan color will still have a chance to come out. Himalayan breed refers to the breed of guinea pig with brown/black spot on the nose, both ears, and every legs... (Pic 4-6) and short sleek hair. but nowadays, it can also be referred to as Himalayan color because of the mix breed.

 Pic 4: Himalayan Guinea pig pure breed

 Pic 5: Satin Silky Himalayan

Pic 6: Himalayan guinea pig

The intensity of the colour is depends on the climate. The black spots will fade if the climate is hot or in bright sunlight... So, tropical climate is not a good place to display Himalayan breed/color... (kidding). Well, I can prove that the statement by http://www.omlet.co.uk/breeds/guinea+pigs/himalayan/

 Pic 7: can you see the ears? Its Darwin 5 months old...

Pic 8: The black spot fading

Pic 7 until Pic 8 is my guinea pig. In picture 7 you can see the color of the ears has faded compare to his picture 2 months old... Picture 8 shows a bit faded black nose... If you just judge it from the rosettes, you would only see him as regular abbysinian guinea pig but if you look from the colour it shows the ancestor of this guinea pig once from Himalayan breed... then cross-breed with Abbysinian. I do not have the pedigree of this guinea pig because I bet the breeder wouldnt know about his pedigree either because he is not too keen in his cavies. I guess the black spot would not fade completely but only the shade will remain. 

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!

Cheap table lamp effect

I bought the lamp very cheap in Familia store for RM12... i saw Kaison also sell cheap table lamp for RM15.90... I realize it makes my room more warm and inviting. I always had been scared to the dark so this lamp help me to sleep in dim. haha : D Some picture to share...

My new toy: Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S

It has been a few months since i wrote a new entry.... :)

I just want to share my new obsession with my new toy Fijufilm Instax 7S. Actually my boyfriend gave it to me a few days ago for my birthday present. I wanted this camera since I was little. I never thought I will actually own it... well, its because of the film is very expensive. last time I went to a store to see this camera, I saw the shop sell RM30 per pack of 10 film. It means RM3.00 for one photo!!! But... since I have this camera as a gift I am so grateful to have a chance to play with it.

Its a basic camera with four mode... (and have to change manually...)

1) indoor - night
2) cloudy
3) fair
4) very sunny - bright

There are no other mode available because this camera is design to be basic, fun and easy to play with. The material for this camera is plastic-ky and comes with a few colour but the one available in the shop that I went to buy the film is blue, white and pink. The only downside i can think of using this camera is the film very expensive!!! online shop sell about RM25-RM30. Lazada.com sell the film for RM25 with free shipping but I never tried it before. Maybe I will try the website when i used up all my film. : ) so, the expenses for having this camera is a burden especially when you want to take a lot of picture... say... you want to take picture on your sister's wedding, you definitely want to take more than 10 film with you! 10 film is just not enough to take picture at the wedding church, wedding hall, wedding car etc... LOL.

So this is a few of my picture i had taken from this camera.... its credit card size... : )

If you wan to take A LOT of picture during special events, I suggest you bring small digital camera for a back up. besides, there are always people asking for you to snap their pictures using instax camera during special events and you might feel wasting it if you giving away too many films!

I went to 1Borneo yesterday to buy more film for my work trip to Terengganu... the film cost RM30/ pack but if you buy 2 packs, they will give you discount RM2 for each film so one pack cost RM28. If you buy 5 packs, they will give you RM3 discount for each pack so your cost for 5 packs is RM135. They also sell the casing for the camera... quite pricey but i like the design of the Gariz bag.

In a nutshell, It is an amazing camera to have fun with especially during short vacation, girls out, and give the picture as momento... and etc... but dont expect DSLR effect on the picture... : )

This camera might not be a suitable camera to take every picture during vacation so bring back up such as your little digital camera... Its all about capturing the right moment because if you snap everything you will used up all your film for nothing and feel guilty spending so much for unnecessary photos...

How i lose my 15kg and now trying to go back to that size!

Like all people, i have trouble with to start my work out regime when i had too long holidays. I have to start from gear 1. I had keep up my work out routine when i was 18 years old until i finish my bachelor degree. i lost 15kg over the year but gain back 6kg. my weight is 62kg when i was 18 years old. I took care of my grandmother while she was in hospital for 6 months. While in hospital with her, i share food with her because she want me to accompany her to eat. She eat about 1/4 of the food while i am the garbage can for the food. I spent my time sitting almost 10 hours beside her bed watching TV in the hospital without working out. That is how i weigh 62kg after secondary school. After i went to college, someone took over my job at the hospital. At college, my friend always invite me to walk with her about 1 hour every evening. i did not realize how much it change my life. I lose 5kg after a year. I dont realize that i lose 5kg until i finish my college. i weight about 57kg that time. My sister is a bit bigger than me. she weight about 80kg. After i finish college, she frequently ask me to accompany her to go for morning walk which is about 1 hour walk. Seriously, i dont mind being 57kg that time but i go along with her plan anyway. I lose 3kg in 2 months. Soon, i went to University for 3 years. over the 3 years, my weight drop to 47kg. I walk a lot while in university. I dont intent to lose that much weight but i am happy that i lose it.

Now, i weight 53kg... after 3 years of inconsistent work out, i gain weight. what i discover through this experience is right amount of exercise and consistency to exercise really work! Another tips that i get from my aunt and I believe it helped me during losing weight is have your dinner before 5pm and have it lightly without carb. Make a salad or take fruits. My typical breakfast is 6 pieces of oatmeal biscuits and a cup of coffee and then for lunch I ate 3/4 bowl of rice with vege and fish/meat. I do watch what i eat even though i am not so strict with my diet. I try to satisfied myself by eating something that i crave but in small amount and try to reduce my craving by gradually decreasing the amount i take the food.

I find that working out in the morning is more enjoyable for me than working out in the afternoon so now i started my daily workout routine by walking for minimum 30min 4-5 days a week and keeping my diet. I hope this is gonna work for me. I will post my progress in February *finger crossed*

If you have better idea on working out I invite you to comment to this post. :)

P/S: sorry for my bad english.