Fipsy’s Dustbath

Normally, I’m a good-natured little guy, which is quite normal for a chinchilla. I put up with the Monkey People’s loud and color-flashing box quite easily, although I find myself having to run on my wheel just to hear myself think (or ponder, as it may be). I even tolerate the Mean Babysitter! Well, sometimes.

But these last few weeks have just been too much. Mommy and the Guy Who Lets Me Out took in some other, nice chinchillas, who didn’t have their own Monkey People to do their bidding. It started out all right, but then one of them affected a cough and sneeze and got the Monkey People to keep her. They even bought her a big cage like mine, and an even nicer wheel! How rude can one be?
I suppose it’ll be all right, though. I mean, she is a girl, and I do happen to be the most eligible bachelor chinchilla in town…

Mommy and the Guy Who Lets Me Out pulled a fast one on me today. As a good-natured rodent, I hardly suspected that their offer of a ride in the “new car” would end up at the vet’s office. But that’s exactly what happened.

They told the vet in Monkey People Talk that they were worried that I kept rubbing my jaw. She looked in my mouth and told them that my teeth weren’t quite right, and were cutting my chinny chin chin (pun intended). Over my protestations, they let her take me in for dentistry.

After getting home and recovering from the Monkey People’s Happy Gas, I got on the InterRodent and looked up what happened. I was a little worried that they couldn’t keep “fixing” my molars, so what would happen if they kept taking me back to the vet’s dungeon? I felt better after seeing an NIH (the Monkey People’s Vet Association) article on chinchilla teeth. It turns out that, once again, chinchillas (along with our big buddies, the capybaras and a few others), are an inherently superior race: our molars keep growing!

o dustbath, that dusty little bath,

such fun, it is a delight,

so happy to be a li’l rodent,
morning, day, and night!

This morning, mommy and the monkey boy try to give me a raisin as a treat. I mean, just because I have been begging for raisins every day for the last two weeks doesn’t mean that I want one today. Oh well, what to expect from the monkey people?

And mommy vacuumed today, which is really annoying. Again, the monkey people have it all wrong - vacuum cleaners are for chewing on, not making a bunch of noise! Especially during the middle of the day when I’m trying to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, it’s still light out. Back to the box!

Just because I have big ears and am fuzzy does not mean that I’m a rabbit!  Rabbits are mere lagomorphs, whereas I belong to that exclusive club, known as Rodentia.

Besides us chinchillas, other, lesser known, rodents are mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, Guinea pigs, and even the scary hamsters.
So if someday you happen to see a rare chipmunk setting up shop under your front porch, say hello to him from his cousin Fipsy!

Blogging makes me hungry, so give me a treat!  Especially if it’s a raisin, or a piece of prune or apricot.  No Shredded Wheat, though - they smell kinda healthy.