RIP itchy

Itchy the Chipmunk died on Friday:(
He was very old at 9 years which is good inning for a chipmunk. His friend Scratchy died about 2 years ago.
He had been clearly struggling since the hot weather, often not even having the energy to go to his nest box and just slept on the cage floor. So we have some comfort that he is no longer suffering.

 

Thank you Woo and Shiney

 

Sorry to hear this

 

Sorry to hear about Itchy, Alison, they are great liitle animals, I remember watching them on holiday a couple of years ago in the States. Will you replace him?

 

So sorry, Alison. It's always very sad when a much-loved pet dies.

 

Thank you for all your kind words.
We probably won't be replacing him just yet, although they are great fun to watch they do take up a lot of space, the cage he lived in was in fact a large aviary/ parrot cage

 

thanks Marley.
Its hard to explain to the children, but I think something they should be aware of and learn to cope with.

 

So sorry to read about itchy, but 9years is a good long life for a chipmunk. I used to have 2 as well mine were called Scampi & Chips!! one lived to 6 yrs and the other to 8yrs. As you say their cage takes up a lot of room if they are properly housed.

Val

 

Thanks Gemini, I hope you enjoyed watching yours, we certainly got a lot of pleasure from Itchy and Scratchy.
Their house took up an entire wall of our extension floor to ceiling, the dismantled cage now almost half fills our garage!!! I would love more, but I would probably invest in an outdoor walk in aviary, we often discussed it but never got round to building it. The trouble with having them outside is that they hibernate for 4-5 months, so its a lot of time not to see them.
Thanks for your kind words

 

WOW!!! what a lovely big house they had!! I agree that they are better kept indoors, easier to watch out for predators!! My cage was 4' x 3' and we kept it in the conservatory, and yes I used to love watching them scampering all over the cage and taking stuff back to their boxes, I sometimes wondered if they would breed but they never did which is just as well because I am not very good at parting with 'babies'!!!

Val