Sunday, October 10, 2010

Leaps and bounds.

I made a ton of progress today. Powerdrill? Purchased. Holes? drilled. Tubes? Glued and sealed in place. Heating pad? Soaked in bitter anti-chewing agent (meant for cats and dogs, but works fine on hamsters according to the clerk), then sealed in plastic wrap (so it won't spread a bad odor when activated (but he'll definitely be motivated to stop chewing if he punctures it) I've replaced the normal kitty litter with a fine grain corn-based litter. No 'dust' and it's not dangerous if he ingests some (though he seems to have no interest in it). I've also added an applewood chewing 'log' to satisfy his need to gnaw stuff, and coated every sensitive cable and electronics thingie inside the habitat with the bittering fluid. I saw the hamster try to chew a cable for a split second, then immediately stop and start pawing at his tongue. He hasn't touched it since. Works as advertised.

Here's little Mega-Fucker Supreme posing for a quick photo op (I opened it immediately afterward). Seems to be happily nomming the mixture of sunflower seeds, dried corn kernels and other goodies. He spent a minute or two probing the enclosure for weaknesses then seemed to resign himself to rolling around in the litter and trying to burrow into his food. :3



For housing little Megafucker between missions, I drilled some air holes in the old tuppermaid container that was going to be the bouy way back when and added food/water dishes, plus litter and more chew toys. It also has a little running "saucer" (like a wheel but dish shaped and at an angle) inside that I'm certain will fit in the largest transparent enclosure offered by Lexan (which I can permanently seal with the marine silicone glue to be doubly sure it's watertight at any depth. I would need a little extra money for that enclosure however.) The best news is I'm sure I can cut the holes needed for the tube walkways; this plastic doesn't seem prone to crack, even a little bit. When drilling the holes I found it remarkable how clean they wound up; If one of you felt like gifting me a dremel, I'm certain could easily widen them according to a marker-drawn outline on the wall. Hampture City is looking more viable by the day!

13 comments:

  1. Congradulations! How long until launch?

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  2. It's tentatively scheduled for October 15th. Half a month earlier than prior estimates.

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  4. What will happen to Megafucker if he does not accept the ideals of objectivism? Is there a valve on the enclosure that will flood it with water if the hamster refuses to change his ways?

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  5. Megafucker is already clearly an Objectivist. He bit me when I tried to remove his food dish.

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  6. You should have a countdown, NASA launch style on the blog for when he goes under.

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  7. Again, chiming in on saftey concerns, do you plan on running the enclosure for a little while on land or in a bathtub for a little while, Megafucker included, just to ensure everything is working well?

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  8. Already have Eric, but not with the hamster inside. Just to make sure the seals around the air hoses where they pass through the enclosure wall are solid. I sunk it in the local pool, too, to check for leaks at a greater depth than I'll be sinking it to in the lake. That silicone sealant really did the trick.

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  9. you just got yourseft another fan!
    following every move you make
    good luck to megafucker

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  10. Looking forward to the end of this project. You should have a live camera feed inside it permanently afterwards. Or just between set times.

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  11. Can't do a live feed, but yeah, there's a camera inside the habitat to record the missions. I'll post the footage as a Youtube video afterwards.

    Also, 41 followers? Jesus balls. How did that happen so fast?

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  12. Yeah a live feed is unfeasible right now. Maybe in one of the later projects?

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  13. What if something in the lake wants Megafucker for a snack? Will those tubes n stuff hold up to something outside gnawing on them or trying to get in?

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