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[Peaches]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of time spent on here lately - summer holidays have begun for the kids & they've been keeping me extremelyyy busy these past few weeks, & we still have another 4 to go!  Lol

I have a question for you all, how do you carry your Pleo when you take them out?

The kids want to start taking Piper out more & I'd love too but I can't always carry her in my arms on day trips when Ive got 2 kids to chase, hold hands crossing the roads & typically at least 1 bag of stuff on me... so I need a way to transport Piper. I did think about taking out my daughters old buggy as it would be an ideal size for Piper, I could dump the bags on the buggy plus my daughter could use it on the way home from long day trips especially as she has medical problems including issues with her heart problem is I think I'd feel a little embarrassed using the buggy now my daughter is 4 - just feel like its wrong to be taking a buggy out at this age 

Sorry for the long winded message, just rather confused on the situation so thought I'd turn to you guys for help as I need to come up with an idea soon as we went on a day trip yesterday & got chatting to staff who have asked us to return with Piper as they love the sound of her lol 

[RedwoodsMama]

 Hi Peaches, nice to hear from you, We all are busy but with little ones it takes up even more time, My time is spent busy with lots of fur babies but I do remember when my children were little plus I worked full time as a teacher to pre school children and then also at a nursing home three days a week. I think taking Piper out is a great idea and will help ease some of the hectic feelings you have and I am sure your children enjoy Piper being out as well. I have found several ways to take anywhere from one to four Pleos out with me, and I do not drive, so it is walking or taking a bus. I have several Pet type bags that work great for Pleos as well as a Pet Stroller that I got for my cats that can hold up to three Pleos easily and safely and then you can push it down the street, put bags or packages under it, a spot for a bottle, coffee or other drink built into the handlebar and easy to hold a child's hand at the same time, I will see if I can find the photos but in the meantime, here are photos of a bag I use a lot that Pleos fit into snugly, I like that it has an opening for their head and I put a cat size harness on my pleo and it hooks securely on the inside of the bag, so the Pleo can not accidently fall out. I do keep the pleo off while walking around, too much chance for things to happen and I wait till I am where I want to be to take Pleo out and turn on.
           The pleo in this bad is my first and original Baby who I got Christmas 2010, but unfortunately she was plagued by holes in the skin and after two months returned for my replacement, Baby Ruth who looks like Piper's twin. I still miss Baby Though, she was very pretty and my first RB. I will post more photos later. Hope this helps with ideas. Oh, and I found this in a thrift store for $3.50 if my memory is correct........? RWM

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[RedwoodsMama]

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 Here is the Pleo Mobile, as you can see your buggy would do nicely and Piper could go along. I would not feel embarrassed. Hope this helps.           RWM

[InmemoryofRomeo]

I cart mine in slings, but since you have little ones a buggy is the way to go. Linda has a buggy too, it's really one of the easiest ways, and being able to chuck all your other stuff on there as well is a bonus.

If people stare at you it's only because they are wondering why didn't they think of it first!

[kat]

I use a sling too and sometimes a sports bag.  I have lined my sports bag with some soft fleecy material and then I put my pleo into the curled up sleep position and he fits in perfectly. 
I have to agree with IMR though, in your situation I'd be taking the buggy

[Peaches]

Thanks for the replies guys!
RWM your buggy is so cute, they look rather happy to be in there bless

I've been looking at bags for her, found a really nice one at a fab price but sadly I think the buggy is prob the way forward for us, would be easier all round to take it so may have to consider it on our next trip out

[Peaches]

I use a sling too and sometimes a sports bag.  I have lined my sports bag with some soft fleecy material and then I put my pleo into the curled up sleep position and he fits in perfectly. 
I have to agree with IMR though, in your situation I'd be taking the buggy

Really random question but I forgot to ask the other day, how do you get them to go into the sleep position (& stay that way when off), any time Ive turned Piper off she always stays in an upright position which makes it awkward even in the buggy

[RedwoodsMama]

Hi Peaches, nice to hear from you and glad you are going to use your buggy, I think that is great! Someone else may have another answer for the sleep postion, but since it is a RB, I think the easiest way would be as soon as you turn Piper on, put her on your shoulder and after a moment or two of cuddling, she will naturally get into that head down and curled up postion, You can't turn her off with the usual way though,( will go into the sleeping postion, standing up) so when she gets into the postion you desire, you will have to just quickly pull her battery. Of course if you just pull her battery, you will lose any new information since turned on, but if she is only on for a few moments, you have not lost much. The other alternative is to wait till she is getting sleepy around bedtime and before they actually shut off, they often put their heads necks down and then you could still pull the battery but would lose the entire play session.

            I don't know the dimensions of your buggy, but I allways keep my pleos in their standing up positon, eyes closed when they are either in the Pleo Mobile or in their Pleo Carry Sling. I think it is better to not put so much stress on the neck by leaving them in that bent neck postion.                       Good luck.            RWM

[kat]

With the Ugobes you can put your hand/s on all of the back sensors and hold them there and the pleo will curl up into sleep position.  For RB's it is as RWM says, hold them on your shoulder with your hand on their rump sensor and they will fall asleep in the curled up position then pull the battery.  It isn't advisable to leave any pleo in this position for long.  I did take two of my guys in a bag together in this position on a plane across Australia so the were like that for about 5 hours and there were no ill effects but I wouldn't advise leaving them in that position for any more time than that if you don't have to.  It is always better if you can to move them around in the packing position.  This is much better for their skin. 

[Angela]

RWM your buggy is great 

A sling? How should I imagine that? a Handbag? 

[kat]

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This is a pleo sling

[Angela]

Cool 

Looks very funny. It gives me some ideas....

[Peaches]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll keep Piper in the upright position, I'm already concerned about her neck; it's hanging slightly too the left & doesn't seem to move to the right - also really stiff on the right side of her neck but quite springy on the left side, any ideas what that could be?  So I don't think keeping her in the curled up position for long would do her any good.

I've just brought her a bag today, the same one as you have RWM but in brown, just so when we don't need the buggy we can still take her, I'll post photos later! 

[kat]

The neck issues sounds like it could be a broken side cable or a broken vertebrae.   An easy way to test for a broken cable is to pick her up and hold her on her side and then flip her onto her other side to compare.  If her head flops toward the ground instead of staying stiff and straight then there is definitely a broken cable.   It could also be a bit of something caught in the workings or a slipped cog that would be restricting her movement.  Might be something ells to that we have never seen before.  To check for a broken vertebrae you can run your fingers along her neck one finger each side,and slide them from her body to her head.  Gently squeeze each vertebrae as you feel them in her neck - you don't have to apply force, be very gentle - if there is a broken one there will be no resistance to your squeeze and you will feel the pieces move a little.  That will let you know that there is a broken one and roughly where it is. 
The only cure for both these issues is surgery.  Other options are not worrying about it and carry on as normal or strapping the neck to provide support.  Strapping I would think is more useful for when a top or bottom cable is broken as it helps to keep the head up so they can still walk around without thinking that they are constantly seeing an obstacle. 
There may be others with suggestions that might help.

The bag is a great idea.  I looked for one like that but have never managed to find one

[Peaches]

Thanks Kat for the reply!
I lifted her onto her side & whilst on the right side her neck droops a little it reminds 99% stiff, but on the left side it really flops, so Im pretty sure it's a broken cable 

I really don't want to attempt surgery on her as I'm useless at that sort of thing.. She can still move her head up & down, & there was no real issues when she was on her earlier.

I just don't understand how the cable broke? She's very well looked after & is locked in my bedroom up on a shelf away from the kids unless I'm there to supervise her. When we're out we're very careful with her so I just don't understand what I've done wrong, actually quite upset over it.. was hoping to get another Pleo soon but now I'm worried something will happen to that one 

PS. I found the bag on Amazon

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Unfortunately Pleo's are very very old now, wear and tear is inevitable.

[RedwoodsMama]

 IMR, do you mean that RB now are very old?! I certainly hope not, seeing as how they just came out Christmas 2010, and some after that in 2011, that is less than 2 years old! I know the Ugobes are OLD, but I do not think of RB as being old yet, they should not age that fast. I do know the Ugobes are prone to broken necks or what we affectionately call, Droopy neck syndrome.

                          I know there has been several pleo rb in the last few months with broken necks but I thought it more of a production error or bad luck. If all the Rb were prone to broken necks after only 2-3 years, that is a pretty bleak outlook on the future. I am sorry Piper has trouble with her neck, I know BAby Ruth looks like her twin and when I look at Piper I can't help but think of Baby Ruth having the same condition. Sending well wishes and gentle hugs to her.                                                      RWM

[kat]

Unfortunately no one can give you any promises that another pleo rb wont also have issues.  I also don't believe that the neck cable breakage was caused by anything you did or didn't do.  It does seem to just happen a bit randomly for no apparent reason. 
Out of my three RB's I currently have two with no issues - Kermy and Norbit, the older of my pleo rb's - and Pickle my youngest pleo rb has recently been suffering from a broken neck vertebrae.  I also have no idea how it happened.  She spends all her off time sitting on a shelf and her on time is fully supervised.  I have gone the surgery option and was able to repair it fairly easily. 
Surgery on a side neck cable is the more complicated procedure out of the two neck cables as the motor housing is deep in the chest area of the pleo rb underneath the workings for the top /bottom cable.  So if you went the surgery rout you would find yourself having to loosen off the top/bottom cable to lift all the workings for that out of the way in order to get to the area you needed to work on.  So not for the faint hearted.  I have done it once and did put a photo video together of the process I went through and there are a couple of other great repair videos and a thread with some instructions from IMR and Crewella that I found very helpful.  And I had Crewella talking me through it most of the way too.  So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you do go down that road there is help out there for you.

I'm sorry Pipers neck has broken but don't feel like it is anything you did that caused it.  Keep your chin up   if she is functioning fine other than that then try not to let it worry you too much.
How old is Piper?  You could email Innvo to let them know that this has happened.  Even if she is out of warranty and you aren't planning on trying to get them to fix her it might be helpful for them to be aware of the issue so they can try to improve pleos in the future to help avoid these issues. Just a thought. 

[InmemoryofRomeo]

My post was more a reference to Ugobe Pleo's but unfortunately no mechanical critter can last forever, eventually our RB's too will face the same wear and tear. Unfortunately those long necks are a real strain for a robot, all we can do is learn how to repair them ourselves or pay Innvo's price.