Big Guy died this morning. I noticed him clamped to the bottom of the cage as they do and removed him to sadly die alone. As time passes it becomes more vague as to when I acquired each of these critters and where they came from but it is all in my journal. Big Guy and Lil Guy came together as siblings and I have been adding neutered boys to them ever since. Big Guy was 10 and a half years old.





The remaining 6 boys will miss him and I now have to watch for dynamics changes in the cage because this is exactly when they can happen.

I hired someone today and treated Nibbler Squirrel to some relax.

In my ongoing experiment in finding a good design for a quick-connect exercise wheel, I landed on a neat one. The concept has been in my mind for some time but it is really difficult and demotivating trying to find cheap off-the-shelf items to use. You have to get really creative and just play with things at the hardware store while everybody looks on wondering how nuts you must be to look at a pvc fitting for hours. It's not like I have catalogs of plastic fittings lying around after all.

This new design uses a flat 2 inch threaded cleanout cover and a 2" threaded outside cap. The wheel itself becomes the nut which you rotate onto the threaded hub. Being plastic fittings, they are designed to seal, so they are very friction oriented and therefore hold the wheel firmly with no risk of detachment. You just grab the hub on the back of the wheel and either turn that, turn the wheel, or turn both until it disconnects.

The only thing left to do on this design concept is to create a tail guard to cover the area over the axle that rotates. This is really easy as you can see in previous designs but I am still trying to find a solution for this that takes up less depth.

Since my focus has been on the bearing and axle assemblies, I have been experimenting with original broken and actively used parts and wheels, so there are stray unrelated holes in these photos as well as things I should have cleaned up first...

This exercise wheel design uses nothing but a Tee Nut to allow it to screw onto the same dual bearing axle assembly. If you screw it on tight against the hub, it deforms the plastic of the wheel just enough to act like a lock washer. So far I have not had this design come disconnected but I still wonder if a larger hub would be better for more surface area to fasten against. A larger tee nut could also be beneficial. Perhaps a non-fingered one could be used with a large fender washer and then glued or riveted against the wheel.

I have been experimenting on various ways to improve exercise wheels and I came up with this one which I think is neat. The entire hub and bearing assembly is fastened together and the wheel becomes quick-connect. This allows it to fit through cage doors where others cannot. I am still working on a best way to fasten the wheel to the axle. Anything works, but the goal would be to not take up much space inside of the running wheel to make it safer. These photos show a knob and another fastener of experiment. I am even pondering building a thin homebrew fastener using my laser engraver.

If you are a fan of the offset "bounce" concept, this design allows you to add a hole that is not centered. 1" is a bit rough so I would shoot for 1/2" off-center for bounce.

So you can take whatever wheel you have and modify. It's easy.





HERE is the playlist for all of the skate bearing videos.











PARTS:

Original smaller R4A-RS bearing for simple replacement.

Two new skate bearings
1/2" PVC Tee to house bearings
1-1/2" to 1/2" PVC Bushing for tail guard
1/2" knockout seal for conduit
One or two CP3540 cover
PVC parts for stand
5/16" bolt, 2-1/2" to 3"
a few 5/16" nuts
1-1/2" fender washer
5/16" hand-knob of some sort (still looking for a best fit)

You can see all of Nibbler Squirrel's videos on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NibblerSquirrel

I captured this today and thought I would share. Crank up the audio and relax while you imagine the beginning of the end of the world.

My favorite sugar glider Crystal died today. She was abandoned to me in the pouch of her mother five years ago. Her notable traits was one ear that never grew and also that she had the sweetest temperament for a sugar glider. She leaves behind a colony now of 5.

I have posted this to show how quickly a sugar glider can show symptoms of sickness and then die. Noticing any difference in behavior along with quick action is the key to saving a life. By the time you notice something strange, they will have already been hiding their sickness for some time. I started taking this video once I realized she was sick. I suspect that I failed her here.

10/30: I notice that 5 year old Crystal is up during the day and also not eating anything I offer her. She is abnormally concentrating on her pouch.
10/31: I see actual blood on her pouch. I take her to the vet. Vet agrees that I caught a pouch infection early and gives me Baytril and Metacam.
11/01: Crystal is deathly docile. I realize that the blood is coming from her mouth and she quickly goes downhill all day. Crystal dies around 6:00 pm. I question that I should have had her euthanized earlier in the day. One always selfishly holds on to the hope that it will turn around, and the animal suffers...

I am keeping a very close eye on her cage mates and am cleaning things daily. I am not doing a necropsy and am just hoping that this was not a transmittable issue.

I'm going to miss this one.

I had a great time today feeding two large carrot packs to the donkeys at Lucky Glider.

   

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kazko
Gender: Male
Occupation:computer geek
Member since: Jan 24, 1997
Posts: 6747 View my pictures!
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My Bio
NUTHOUSE (3) Pican 4/30/2002, died 6/02/2010 Buddy 5/01/2006 Hazel 2/01/2007, rehomed 11/28/2011 Maya 4/25/2007 Pili 4/25/2007 MISFITS (3) Big Guy 9/23/2003, died 1/29/2014 Lil Guy 9/23/2003, died 5/13/2015 Hunter 4/19/2006, died 3/23/2014 JP 8/12/2006 Shikoni 2004 Kioko 2003 Washi 2003, died 5/27/2014 SUGARSHACK (3) Chico 1/15/2006, died 9/14/2011 Cookie 10/15/2005 Kimmie 10/15/2005 Lucky 5/25/2007 Spritz 8/24/2007, died 7/06/2011 Ginger 8/24/2007, died 12/16/2012 Rock 9/09/2007, died 3/23/2013 Crystal 9/09/2007, died 11/01/2012

   

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