Mimi and Junior

I've decided that Mimi and Junior should do very well together. Mimi was acquired through my friend LR. She picked her up with the hopes she'd do well with her neutered boy. Mimi didn't. I took Mimi. Oh, she is such a kissy girl!

Anyway, I've been unable to find someone to bond with Mimi. She does not like other girls. I did have her spayed because I wanted to double her chances of finding a friend for her.

Enter Junior. Junior was saved by CR. He needed some extra special work so he came here. He is doing WONDERFUL.

Anyway, their cages have been side by side for the past several weeks. And they've been playing outside their cages together. I will be changing their cages to one cage with a divider and hopefully, within a few weeks, they will be residing together in rattie happiness.

Chupachup, Harold, Rutherford, and Billy Arrive

Chupachup and Harold are both big agouti boys and Rutherford is black and white, and Billy is tan/blonde and white. They are all sweet boys! Chupachup and Harold are 6 months old and Rutherford and Billy are 9 months old. They were adopted from a rat board member when her family developed allergies. I've not integrated them into any other group of rats because they get along so well together.

Cages and Vet Care News

Ok. I couldn't wait to post, but I am charging the camera. The new cages are UP and they are freaking awesome! I'm still missing 3 cages so I have 3 old ones still in use but the rest are up and OMG. Pull out trays, lots of space, removable ramps, full floors on each level, ability to separate levels, each level pulls apart with a spring clip for easy cleaning. There are no balconies with wire to worry about. It is just so awesome.

As for vet care, a well qualified rat vet will be coming to my home to provide general health care from now on. I'm so excited. For advanced care, they'll continue to go to the vet's office (surgeries, et cetera). This is such an awesome option. I'm so glad! Less stressful for the little guys for the general health checks.

So all in all, it has been a fruitful week.

Joey Redecorates...and the others

Well, Joey is doing pretty good today. He has rearranged his cage. He's moved his box around (he is using a box instead of an igloo since he has his collar on. He has pushed ALL of his blankets over and he does all of this while wearing his collar. lol Little hoodlum.

Anyway, he seems to be responding really well to his treatment. So I hope Dr. S will be pleased with his progress when she sees him on Saturday. Again, I'm going to bring him in every Saturday until he is healed to make sure nothing else goes wrong.

As for the other critters, they are all anxiously awaiting their new cages. Tomorrow....

Joey's Woes

Poor Joey. He has taken a beating with his immune system. He got an abscess in the fatty tissue after his neuter surgery, while he was on antibiotics. So now he has to take antibiotics for another month minimum and he has to have his incision flushed and packed twice a day. I'll be bringing him to the vet every Saturday until it has healed up to make sure the infection goes bye bye! He has to wear a collar, but right now he is sitting on my shoulder while I wait for his pain medication to take effect so that I can flush and pack his wound.

He's such a sweet little guy. He took his antibiotics like a trooper. It's a lot. .3ml of cefa and .24ml of baytril, then his pain medication. He's groomed himself so he doesn't look so raggy. We'll be flushing shortly. ::sigh::

My husband's company Christmas Party

Well, why in the world would I put this on my rat blog? Well, because it is my blog and because I can. lol We went to my husband's company party. We played a get to know you bingo game and the residents of Vermin Village were on it! "has more than 15 rodents" That was us!

Cage Update

Well, went to pick up my new cages yesterday. Turns out that my stackables have a snafu so those will be a bit more. It is a relatively small issue so it will be fixed shortly. BUT BOY ARE THEY AWESOME! I know I will be more than pleased when I do get them.

I haven't paid for the full order yet so I am picking up the other cages that are ready. I have two here now. These are BC-6 with large doors. I ordered 3 of these cages to use and when I start taking in more, these will be the quarantine cages used as they are super easy to clean and they fit in my car easily. Right now I'm using them as hospital cages so they are downstairs.

Sprite, my 190 gram girl, is on medication and I'm still trying to pull her out of her respiratory slump. Pixie, she is separated from Sprite (the cage has both a solid or wire removable dividers). If I get Sprite well enough, I was going to try to introduce these two girls. Pixie is the late Pinkie's sister. So right now I'm giving Sprite medication. She'll have to be on it the rest of her life, but I want her to also put on some weight.

Now Joey - - he was neutered the Friday before Thanksgiving. They also found an abscess on him after they shaved him. He went in to have that removed today. But I noticed that the incision site had an issue. They aspirated it and it was infection. So he is now on two antibiotics and will be going in Monday for a surgery when both Dr. B and Dr. S can work on him together. Poor little guy. But he is a trooper and hopefully this will clear up his little problem. I'm keeping Potter, his cage mate, separate from him so that he leaves his wound alone. They are in one of the new divided cages.

Butterfly the Butterball of a Hammie

Well, today we took the remains of some of our critters that have passed within the last month to OHS for private cremation. They are wrapped in a clean blanket and placed in a freezer appropriate container and then in the freezer until my husband can bring me to the shelter. Anyway, someone was looking out for a pudgy hammie girl named Butterfly. As I was getting helped by the staff at OHS, a woman walked in with a cage. A former roommate left their hammie with her family. After caring for her for a while, they decided it would be best to bring her to find a new home as their kitties had tried to get at her already. It was all in the timing. We got to OHS later than we wanted to due to me doing some cleaning in the rattie room. OHS said they couldn't take the little hammie at that time and I mentioned I might have a friend that might take her. :-) I called my friend and now the hammie has a new place. I don't have much experience with hammies but I must say she was a friendly little girl. She let me pick her up and she ran all around her cage. Anyway, it was fortuitous that we happened to be there at that time. I'm so glad Butterfly has a wonderful new home. She is a very lucky little....er...not so little :-), hammie! It is also rather ironic since today was the day we were to participate in the rattie train which in the end did not need us as none were coming into Oregon this trip, so we had our own little hammie train!

Pinkie's Trial and Peace

Pinkie was put to sleep today. I had intended to bring her in last night but they refused to follow the procedures I set out. As long as the rats in my care meet the criteria, which Pixie did, I want them in my arms when they pass. Most of the rats in my care were "throw away" pets, some don't even like to be held. They deserve to be loved, even if they are cranky. Pinkie was such a girl. She loved her sister Pixie, but not much else.

When they first to came to Vermin Village, they were frightened little girls. They were both adopted from the Oregon Humane Society. They were 1 years old at the time. Thankfully, they had taken them in. They originally had a huge cage to start with, but Pinkie bit me and Pixie was terrified. So I got them an aquarium and they felt safer. Eventually I went to Quality Cages and got a topper for the aquarium and eventually they graduated to the cages. Both were avid wheel runners.

As time passed, they took food from my hands and didn't run in terror when I opened the cages but they still needed a blanket to pick them up because they did NOT like being held. They also were terrified during free range attempts so I always made sure their cages were BIG and full of stuff for them to mess around with. It must have been good because as of this month they turned 26 months old.

Pinkie is survived by her sister Pixie. I held Pinkie while they administered the sedative and after she was completely relaxed, they injected the medication into her abdomen, and I held her then too. She peacefully went to sleep. She is awaiting transport to OHS tomorrow for private cremation.

The whole trial of the situation was I had arranged an appointment last night with Rock Creek Veterinary Hospital. Every time I have been in previously they performed the procedure exactly as I wanted. This time, they refused. (Different doctor.) I left. They said it was too traumatic to watch. Um, if you don't know what you're doing, just say so. What really irritated me was that I specifically asked for the procedure to be performed in the specific manner when I made the appointment. To add insult to injury, when I called Dove Lewis, the attitude was, we don't give sedatives to rats. Well, we won't be going there either. It is all very disappointing. I wish there was a way to get the communities that should respect all animals to read up on taking care of animals that are pets. Rats do deserve respect, even if you don't like them. In Columbia, the same species of rats we have as pets, they use for clearing land mine fields. (The ones in Africa are a different animal, but they do the same.) And for the sacrifice of their lives for humans for research, they damn well deserve to be treated humanely.

Rest in peace little one. Now you don't have to put up with crappy people any more. I'll look after your sister for you, and when it is time for her, you will be reunited again with your playmate.

Cage Condensing

Well, I'm going to be condensing cages today. They won't have the extreme spaciousness they have now as all of the 3 level cages will become 2 level and all of the 2 levels will become one level and the 4 level will become a 3 level. This is in preparation for the new cages to arrive. I need to sell some of the current cages off to make room otherwise the new cages will have nowhere to go. 5 extensions and up to 2 top portions are being donated to Little Mischief Rescue. These will allow them a 3 level, and 2 2 levels (expanding a Large Deluxe Rat cage already sent up). The new cages should arrive at QC this or next week so the next cleaning I do of my current cages will be to retire them.

These are wonderful cages that I have now, but due to the shear number of ratties I have, while they cut down cage cleaning time HUGELY, the newer ones will cut down even more. They should, they were quite a bit more...and will be worth EVERY penny.

Peace!

Sherman and Joey Status Update

Well, they got their antibiotics and pain medicine again this morning. Sherman also had his wound flushed and packed again. They are both good boys. Both indulged in a little "nervous" bruxxing. However I held Sherman for quite some time after, since his treatment is a bit more traumatic, and he contentedly bruxxed and boggled for me the whole time. He is such a big love bug.

They'll get their meds and treatment for the next couple of weeks. Joey has a hard lump on his abdomen that I have to monitor. This is unrelated to the surgery but something the doctor noticed after he had his abdominopelvic region shaved for surgery.

0410 Hours, Ruthie Departs

I usually sleep downstairs in my recliner due to my back and acid reflux. When I have sick ratties, they also sleep in the cage right next to me. At about 0333 hours, I woke up to a noise of crying. I looked in the cage. Sprite, another little sick girl, was dancing around the cage, clearly agitated. I located Ruthie on the other side of the igloo. Her eyes looking sadly back at me. My heart started to cry. I picked her up and cuddled her close in a blanket. I told her how happy I was she came into my life and that I hope her friends had made her happy. The nearest 24 hour vet is at least 20 minutes away. And like Mr. Chuckles, I would rather she have me hold her than be scared in a car with no one holding her. So here we sat. She passed at 0410 hours.

Ruthie came to me in a round-a-bout way. A woman had contacted Quality Cage asking about rat information and they referred her to me. I spoke with her and eventually she asked that I take Ruthie. Ruthie didn't get on very well in my one cage of girls, so I made her boss of another cage. She lived with Tweek and Sprite. Eventually Zelda joined them when her cage mate passed.

So Ruthie will await private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society. I refused to take a picture of Ruthie after she became sick because she never held still long enough for me to take shots when she was healthy.

The only shot I have is with her in her cage after her and her cage mates decided to make a tent with their first hammock. They eventually learned that snuggling in the hammock was a lot more fun than making a tent. She is tucked in there right next to the "tent."

Rest in peace little Ruthie. I'm sure you'll get as many sunflower seeds as you want now.

Junior

A new little boy has come to Vermin Village. He's a black and white hooded rattie. He is very shy, but I am going to be working with him on this. I'll set up a neuter appointment for him as well. He doesn't bite but I'm hoping it will calm him down. He'll be living in our bathroom in his own cage for a while. He has a very sweet face. Hopefully it will all go well. After he gets neutered, I'll move him to the downstairs cage.

He was adopted from a wonderful family that has several rats but also a small child and it was hard to work with him in a "calm" manner. This family took him in from a HORRIBLE situation so I'm so grateful they gave him a chance. His previous owner dumped him and 2 hamsters in their apartment after vacating it. The 3 rodents were left running around loose. Dumb ass people. The people that run the apartments were trying to rehome them and while my friend called about the hammies she found out about the rat. After asking what they intended to do with him--bring him to the Vancouver Humane Society that said they would euthanize him OR the woman's boyfriend would feed him to his alligator.

So he is safe and sound here and I'm sure he'll be just fine.

Joey and Sherman's Day at the Vet

I had to bring 2 boys in to SWAH today. I was getting Joey neutered and Sherman was getting an abscess taken care of. Both came through just fine.

During Sherman's appointment, I mentioned meeting a "Hermaphrodite" rat and seeing one at the show with extra fingers. Dr. Surrency was going to be doing the neuter on my little boy later that day.

She called me after it was done. Turns out Joey had smaller than normal testicles and he had 3. They had to make an extra long incision so he is getting antibiotics but I thought that was odd and kind of ironic that we were talking about abnormalities...um uniqueness such as this earlier.

While Joey was getting neutered, his cage mate Potter got to come with me today. We stopped by my office and visited people. And we freaked out our HR department. I brought him down to meet the VP of HR but she wasn't there and one of the supervisors was asking if I wanted to
leave a message. And just as I was about to answer, Potter poked his head out of my sweatshirt (he was on my shoulder between my shirt and sweatshirt). She jumped, and yelped..."OMG Kimber". Of course others were there to laugh at her--and she laughed at herself too. :-)
Potter just twitched his whiskers and then ducked back out of sight.

Ah well, everywhere else we went he was hugged and pet and cuddled.

We even popped into Quality Cages to make a payment on my order so he got more cuddles there too. He was so polite, he only peed on me.

Sherman and Joey

Well, Sherman and Joey have to go to the vet this Friday. Joey is scheduled to be neutered and Sherman has developed an abscess on his back during his tussles with his cage mate Luke.

I hope this all goes well. Next Friday's appointment is not so sanguine. More on that after that happens.

Sherman and his buddy Luke love the cube and hammock. Although Luke has "rearranged" the cube. He sleeps between the fleece and the flannel. Little bum. Sherman, on the other hand, sleeps on TOP of the cube.

My Name is Mr. Pants and I'm a Cowboy at Ratapalooza

Ratapalooza 2008 was awesome! I rode up with two fellow Oregonians, Emily and Morgan. I had a great time in our carpool despite the fact my "condition" got in the way on the way home. I had a wonderful time all around!

There was lots of informative materials around the hall and lots of wonderful items for sale! And of course, ratties!

I got to meet Wonkie, the one eyed wonder rattie. He is too cute for words.

I got to meet Thelma and Louise, R's new babies. Also little sweetie pies. The two WSU girls, Carla and Ashley. If I only had room. :-( I love my little PEWS!

I got to meet the Breakfast Bunch Ratties! Oh, little cherubs all...okay maybe some were not so little. hehehe

Emily had some awesome jewelry for sale. I got a lovely blazed pendent. From LMR I got a cube and 2 hammocks and a spider kitty toy. I kind of dumped all of my Canadian money on them. heheh I got a lovely hat from Lynn and some rattie finger puppets. I got a rattie pendent from BLRRFH and some vegetarian dog food that tastes like rice cakes from Hillary. They were not half bad...get some hummas from Trader Joe's and I'd be set. I said no one would ever know if I put them in a dish on a coffee table. (I wouldn't do that. LOL)

I won two raffle prizes, an animated Remmy toy that talks. And a plush rattie puppet. They will be decorating my desk at work.

Oh yeah, and I got a cupcake in the cake walk.

Morgan also allowed me to hold Mr. Pants, the cowboy, in the costume contest at Ratapalooza. He reluctantly kept his hat and scarf on. He reminds me of my Luciano, a little neutered dumbo boy I have.

"I'm Mr. Pants and I'm a cowboy."

Chester, The Agouti Big Guy

Chester passed early this morning. He was about 18 months old. His cage mate Drape stayed with him and pretty much alerted me that something was wrong when I walked in. Chester is survived by his cage mates Eddie, Diego and Drape.

Chester was a big guy. Gentle but with a very strong personality. He liked to be pet and held but he also liked to be left alone to explore. He was bonded most closely with Drape as he and Drape were single rats adopted from separate people. Eddie was originally Dumbo's cage mate and Diego was originally Hades cage mate. My poor bachelor group is getting smaller.

I adopted Chester from someone on Craigslist when he was six months old. She got him from someone that raised feeders. :-(

His remains are being saved for private cremation.

Brixton and Sammie

Brixton and Sammie have fully bonded. They actually did a couple of days ago but they were inside the hammock so I couldn't get a picture of them. Today I did get a few pictures.

Brixton is a 1 1/2 year old PEW. She was taken in from someone that was going hitchhiking cross-country. She is a pretty quiet little girl.

Sammie is a gregarious little girl that also was adopted from someone that lost their housing situation along with her cage. She is a pretty kissy little girl. When they were first put in the cage together, Brixton slept in the blankets below and Sammie in the hammock. It was just this past week that they have started snuggling together.

Brixton was originally housed in Tickle Tower with the other girls. However she did not bond with any of the girls and she just didn't do well. She is now doing wonderfully with her friend.

Here is their cage. They live in a Quality Cage PC-1822. I added 2 small balconies to it--Corner Lookouts. I have 2 such cages. These are great for housing active female ratties. The door is big enough to fit the Wobust Wheel through it. It also features a slide out tray. (There is no wire floor.) The girls really seem to like it. The water bottle is a Lixit GB-KIT-S. I am using a Snapple bottle. I zip-tied the spring loaded "seed" cups as this cage is actually a bird cage. It is 18" wide x 18" deep x 22" high.

Zoey and Olivia Have A New Home

LMR found Zoey and Olivia a new forever home! This is such good news. They already got an update and Zoey and Olivia have taken to their new cage mate, a little girl that lost her cage mate. All three were in the hammock together. This is so nice to hear. I'm so glad LMR was able to take them to find them new homes. I will be forever grateful for that.

Cages

Well, I ordered my new cages a few weeks ago. I'll be selling all of my current cages. I'm so excited because the new room design will give me more room and make in-between cage cleaning a lot easier. I'll be posting pics as soon as the room is done. Finally. Right now I've really thinned out the room and will be sorting through stuff later tonight. I have a bit more cage cleaning to do now as I will be in Canada next week at Madonna's concert. I'll also, hopefully, get to meet the folks at LMR. Yeah!

Sammie and Brixton

No pics yet but after thinking Mimi, aka Marshmellow, would bond with Samie, I decided that might not be a good mix. When I was feeding the babies this morning, I noticed Brixton still had not really bonded well with the other girls in the Tower. So, I decided this morning that she should see if her and Samie hit it off. I put her and Samie together and so far, so good! So hopefully it goes well. I'll see about pics this weekend after I get my homework done. They are living in a quality cage PC-1822, white powder coated, with added balconies. I also have a Wobust Wodent Wheel in there and a hammock along with some other toys.

Mando's Eye and Health Update

Poor little Mando. His right eye had been pulled back into it's socket. I took him to the doctor 10 days ago and he has eye drops and oral medication. He went back yesterday and now he has different drops. Poor little guy. Anyway, he has also been started on blood pressure medication for heart issues. He is just under 8 months old. His brothers will be going in a couple of weeks for their heart checks with Dr. P.

Dr. S said his eye is reactive, so he can still see out of it. She is hopeful that they won't have to remove the eye.

Little Mando is a real sweetie, but very squirmy. Once you have him in your arms, he calms down and loves getting scritches.

Lil' Bit

Lil' Bit found a home while at the Port Orchard, WA show. It's so exciting. I'm so glad to hear that she has found a wonderful home. A great thanks to the wonderful folks at Little Mischief Rescue!

Oh No I Broke a Glass Water Bottle....it's not a problem :-)

I broke one of my new glass water bottles....oh no!!! But no worries. I use the Lixit GB-Kit S (Recycles Beverage Bottles) Small Tube water bottle kits. They seem spendy, but they are WELL worth the money. I bumped the table and poof. Well, I just went over to my cabinet and pulled out another. Totally cool. This is also a great bottle if you have trouble opening the screw top bottles, which I have trouble with. Once you attach the hardware onto the cage, you don't remove it. Just scrub it when you scrub the cage. It is also easy to keep lots of bottles in reserve. I use Snapple bottles I get from the recycle bin at my work lunchroom--other bottles work as well. I remove the labels using a hair dryer and then I scrub the bottle, then I put it in boiling water and then run it through the dishwasher sans soap (I don't want soap residue in the bottle).

Even better, you can purchase additional stoppers with tubes so when you clean your bottles, you can have standbys readily available. And you are contributing to sustainability.

There are various places this can be purchased, but it is primarily listed under BIRD water bottles as it is marketed as a bird water water bottle.

Transport, Cages and Ratties Oh My!

Today was a rat filled day. I had to drop one of my boys, Mando with his brother Alex at the vet today. (Alex went for moral support.) And who should I see? Debbie! :-) She was so nice and was going to give up some of her appointment time since my appointment was not on the schedule but it all worked out with the "drop off" as my boy got seen and that was what was important. Turns out he has two heart problems and I brought him in for his EYE. So he has to take eye drops and medicine and get rechecked in another week or so for his eye. And I got to meet two of Debbie's lovely ratties.

I had to meet someone else in a few hours and needed to be rat free....so I could transport a little rattie boy from Woodburn to Portland where I was met by a friend that was adopting him but could not get to Woodburn. So off I went. Don't you all kind of feel like the people running organs to get to the patient on time or if it is dark and stormy...a drug runner? lol Shhhh! The rat is in the cage. Here's his stuff. Ugh. The young man that had Popcorn was very nice and he himself had rescued Popcorn.

Popcorn. I have to say, Popcorn is an absolutely amazing rat. He was the one I was transporting. He is going to a great home too! 4 mamas (mother and 3 daughters) and a very understanding dad, that love ratties and have 2 boys. They bought my 3-level cage too. So 3 rats have a HUGE cage to run around in.

I got to Quality Cages and their showroom was empty. I about had a heart attack! Then they told me that they were shampooing the carpet because of the bird festival. Phew. A lady came in and turns out she has rattie kids that are grandkids of ratties from 13 Moons Rattery. :-)

Well, the family got there and Popcorn took to them immediately. I'm sure it is a perfect match and I was happy to help Popcorn find a new, loving home. Good luck to the person that originally rescued Popcorn.

After running all over looking at the cages, Mr Cage Designer extraordinaire, Guy, patiently listened to me describe my new design. God Bless him, he is so patient. People, I'm telling you, support our local manufacturers! There is nothing quite like going in and seeing the process. Besides, it supports our LOCAL economy.

Charles and Edward aka Cody and Zach

Cody and Zach found a new home together and live in a Martins R-680. The girls are still waiting in foster care for a new home. I'm so glad the boys have a new home!

The Rattie Train and Chow Train

The picture above from left to right is Cody and Zach. This picture was taken the night before their big trip north. They are about to become international travelers.



The picture above from left to right is Olivia and Little Bit. Their cage mate, Zoey is in the bottom picture, again with Little Bit. Zoey is also Cody's sister.




Well, the rattie train went off without a hitch. We transported 5 rats to Seattle on the first leg of their trip to Vancouver, BC and hopefully on to their forever homes when they are adopted. I so hope everything goes off without a hitch. I do miss seeing them on my kitchen table, but 56 ratties is enough to care for!



We stopped at Burger King on the way and got them some Apple Fries! Zoey and Little Bit sure love them!



They were handed to the next volunteer for the second leg of their trip, to Bellingham, WA.

There, they would be met by one of the main rescue people for their trip across the border. Our last update was that they were settled in their foster home in Vancouver, BC. Our thanks to Little Mischief Rescue and the volunteers that helped them get there!

But our trip was two-fold. We brought ratties up and lots of food back down. 759 pounds of rat food, 40 pounds of paper pellets. It all fit in our little 2007 Chevy Aveo. And the pictures prove it.

The other side looks just as full!



Yes, it all fits!


And believe it or not, we got to Seattle and back on about $40 gas! Sweet!

Then of course we stopped in Rainier, OR to see my wayward brother and bring him and his amigos some food! It was a nice visit. We got home about 7 and I don't remember much after that as I was sooooo sleepy.

Well, signing off now. We don't have to make a food trip for 6 months, which is a good thing! And the 5 ratties are in a better place to get a great and loving home!

Falafels and Ratties

I got some falafels today. I didn't really care for these particular ones. But no worries. I've got little fuzzies that might like them just fine. So I brought them home and cut them up. Mosco and Worth snagged some right off! Sitting holding their falafels and discussing the odd weather we are having. They occasionally nodded to each other as if to say "cultural food is so yummy." And "Did you see that damn cat licking spaghetti sauce off of papa's plate at about 2am? When did cats start liking tomatoes?" "What about that thunder and lightening yesterday?"

After listening to them chew the fat while consuming their falafel snack I walked over to the foster kids, Olivia, Little Bit, Zoey, Zach and Cody with the rest of the falafel bits. Zach and Cody INSISTED on being served in bed (their hammock) while Zoey, Little Bit, and Olivia politely took pieces of their falafel and Zoey promptly jumped in their hammock to eat her falafel part.

So, one stop on the world tour of food. My little guys don't get a lot of this kind of stuff. In fact, I think this is the first time I have ever fed them anything fried other than the occasional beef liver. (And no, I absolutely, positively do NOT eat that. Icky.)

Rattie Updates

Right now I'm taking care of 60 ratties, 5 will be making their way to Canada before the end of this month as we will be going to pick up our food order. The other 55 are with me. I have many senior ratties. I have 5 over the age of 2, and 2 of these are about 2 months. Then my ratties will hit the 2 year mark in rapid waves. Such a bummer. I'm hoping they stay with me a long time. But...

I still have 4 ratties living on their own. Mimi, she is very bossy and thinks she is a person, but she has NOT bonded with any other rat. Popeetka still is the grumpiest rattie boy and he has chronic respiratory illness! His dad, Mr. Snuggles lives on his own because he has chronic respiratory illness and the other rats chase him around. Sprite also is on her own because she has chronic respiratory illness and gets too winded when other ratties chase her around.

I've got 15 on 2 medicines twice daily. This is to help keep their chronic issues under control. They aren't too pleased with it but it keeps them healthy!

Tonight I have to reweigh the ratties their Revolution doses. Ewww. I should only have to give 2 more treatments until they are eradicated because the bedding now used is fleece.

Anyway, I've got to get back to work!

Larry the Mouse

Larry, one of the 3 mice brothers, died sometime last night. His brothers partially ate some of his body to try and get rid of it. Gruesome, but a defense mechanism. You can't have decomp smell as it attracts predators. I've taken apart their cage and will be cleaning and resetting it.

His brothers, Curly and Moe, are seniors, about a year and 4 months. Poor little guys. They just don't live very long. These 2 mice and my 1 gerbil are the last non-rattie rodents I will keep.

Big Squishy Belly

---as sung by Worth to his brother Mosco as he dances around his cage

Oh do not make fun of my squishy part
It just means I have a very big heart
I want to be kissed by all who see me
I want to be kissed on my big squishy belly

Daddy says my mommy's a freak
For actually writing about something so unique
I only have one thing to say to any who see me
I want to be kissed on my big squishy belly

I do not want a raspberry kiss
Those vibrations I do not miss
Please would you very much mind me
I want to be kissed on my big squishy belly

Do you think they'd make a pop song
It is not that it would be so very wrong
I would love the chorus refrain to be
I want to be kissed on my big squishy belly

A kiss on my head is all very fine
And no don't even consider my behind
Just flip me over on my back please
I want to be kissed on my big squishy belly

Now if you think my poetry is bad
I am not so very sad
Every day my mommy sees me
She gives me kisses on my big squishy belly

Dumbo

It is with great sadness I announce the passing of Dumbo. The other Peacemaker. I'm glad that Eddie, his cage mate, is now bonded with the three other cage mates, Chester, Drape, and Diego.

Whatever Hades had, it appeared that Dumbo had the same symptoms which to me means it wasn't cardiac, but something else. None of the other ratties in the cage even appear ill. I am hoping it stays that way.

Dumbo was such a sweet boy. He was a little more reserved than his cage mate, Eddie, but he soon came out of his shell and loved nothing more than being picked up and cuddled.

I'm so upset as he was just with his rattie friends when he passed today.

His remains are now awaiting transportation to OHS for private cremation.

Goodbye my little Dumbo, your cheerful personality will be sorely missed.

Hades

Hades earned the nickname the Peacemaker a few weeks ago. Between him and Dumbo, their calm and loving personalities made the introduction of all 6 boys, Hades, his cage mate Diego, Drape and his cage mate Chester, and Dumbo and his cage mate Eddie go real smooth. Every time something started, either Dumbo or Hades was there to break it up.

Hades was a pink-eyed, white (PEW). He was over a year old (as he was adopted, I'm never sure of their ages).

It is with great sadness that I had to put Hades to sleep this evening. He and his brother Diego came here this fall. He and Diego were just introduced to Dumbo, Eddie, Chester and Drape. They had just moved into their new house, Tickle Terrace. Two days ago I noticed Hades looked lethargic as he reclined in one of the hammocks. Pulling him out I felt he would be best if I kept a real close eye on him so he came downstairs...so I could see which way the wind was blowing with him. He didn't really seem sick, he just seemed a bit "off." But they are so damn good at masking things. I got home today and I knew exactly what was wrong although I tried to deny it. I made an appointment to see if anything would help.

Apparently he had suffered some type of cardiac event. I had a few options but he looked so miserable and I swore after Mr. Chuckles death, in the middle of the night, I would never make them stay around just to make me feel better. I knew when I went to the hospital how he might come home.

I had the wonderful folks at Rock Creek Veterinary Hospital follow Debbie D's recommendation for putting ratties to sleep and he passed peacefully. I wrapped him in his blue blanket and brought him home. His remains will be taken for private cremation at OHS.

Before he passed, I whispered in his ear...that he would see his family that has already passed and friends at the bridge that were former residents would be waiting to play with him. I would take good care of his brother until he too needed to make the journey. He sighed.

Jack the Gerbil Left for the Bridge

Jack the Gerbil has passed. I don't always get to see him as he is very bad about coming out when I call him and he bites. So when I went to go and really stir him up, he didn't come out. I started take apart the cage and found he had passed. I wrapped him up and he is in the freezer awaiting cremation. Poor little guy. He was about to get moved to a really nice cage, although he probably preferred the one he was in because he had LOTS of tunneling.

At least he had a comfortable life. He was sorely neglected in his original home. He lived in one of those damn critter trails and was not carefully monitored. He had a section of his tail missing.

Goodbye Jack the Gerbil. Hopefully you are enjoying sand baths at the bridge.

New Site and New Water Bottles

Well, the site is underway. The new water bottles are working out well too! These are the Lixit Water Bottle Kits. I sterilized the Snapple bottles and the first one is in use. It is totally awesome. I have enough for everyone to have one bottle but I will be ordering more so every cage can have one for every level. These are totally awesome. I highly recommend them.

Looking forward to finishing the site and taking pictures for the site.

What Now?

Well 8 in St. Helens and 2 in Portland. They await in foster care for my village to get the bulk of the caging system. Next weekend I'll go pick them up and my new water bottle kits (so I can use recycled Snapple bottles instead of plastic bottles). I am going to add one more customization to my cages. I have 19 cage extensions after I get the rest of my order. This means I need to get 19 drop pans to sit inside the extensions. They'll have a hole for the ramp but be powder coated metal. I will get special metal balcony covers made too. This means the ONLY wire the ratties will walk on are the ramps. Yeah! I am going to have special inserts made for the pans so that when I want to block the hole off so I can separate a rattie if needed. This is so exciting! This also means my need to save milk jugs will be over...thank goodness! This also means wipe downs will be easier.

Payless Shoe Source called today. They are now saving shoe boxes for me. I use the shoe boxes for houses for the little guys. I have 44 and I have 10 waiting to come in. With this many rats, I wanted to limit the amount of stuff I have to wash. Therefore the cardboard houses. (One can ONLY use so much facial tissue. lol)

The Harlan food order dates are somewhat set. I go and pick up my 20 bags the first or second week of June. Yeah! Then my September order will keep me set for the winter. Then I only have to go up twice a year. This works out SOOOO well.

ABM litter. The wood pellet litter is working VERY well. The rats are really good about it and I give them plenty of newspaper for nesting material and they have their hammocks of course. Coastal Farm and Ranch carries the stuff locally for me. I'll be picking up my monthly supply today.

Wobust Wodent Wheels. I hopefully will get to place my order for 15 of these next week so I can pick it up with the food. I'll be getting rid of all of my other wheel types as when I do cage cleanings I do it on a rotation since all of my rats will have exactly the same set up except for number of levels.

That's all for now.

Mr. Beans and Me

He's sitting on my shoulder
Tucking his body tight against my neck

Moving his head from side to side
Taking it all in.

Little, agouti, dumbo boy.
He's laid in partially dried white paint.

Whiskers on my cheek
Bruxxing in my ear.

I know I am home now.
My Mr. Beans is here.

Angel Baxter Has Gone Home

I can't believe this. I thought they were responding to the treatment. I was wrong. Baxter passed this morning, about 2am. I had just finished giving him his medicine. I just am so upset. He was Rico's brother. He is survived by his brothers and cagemates Worth and Mosco. They too are ill.

I just don't have the words.

A Positive Day for St. Helen's Ratties

Answering an ad on Craigslist, I offered to bring the baby rats to the Oregon Humane Society. In the end, I went to St. Helens to see what I could do. I left a cage to house the ratties. The boys were placed in the top portion (the ramp locks up) and the girls were placed in the bottom portion. I took one of the little girls to another family in Beaverton as they were adopting her. I will take the baby boys in a month or so. When this illness has passed. I am bringing her food next week along with the second bag of bedding. This is to go towards the care of the little ones until I can take them. The little popcorn boys are so cute! :-) Hopefully I'll get pictures next time!

Owen, Rico and Knack

Owen came with his cage mate Luke from a family in SE Portland. He was an older gentleman, but still young at heart. He passed away due to complications of respiratory illness. It came on suddenly. I did their morning feed and check and that night when I went in to play with them...I could hear him gasping. I grabbed him and ran him into the bathroom and turned on the steam. I gave him some medicine to start him off. He passed in the wee hours of the morning of April 21st, 2008, just under the age of 2. I don't have pictures of him. He was a black and white rattie with a super personality. He loved his hammock and stashing his blocks for the day he might not get any. He is survived by his cage mate Luke. Luke is battling his illness. Until tonight, I thought I would not lose any more to this...cautiously optimistic.



Rico was one of 4 brothers, Rico, Baxter, Worth and Mosco. He was a gregarious rat and loved his hammock, good food and his brothers. They would all sleep in a pile on a paper plate when they had one. The little bums would drag pieces of newspapers around to lay on the cage and plop themselves anywhere. Now his brothers are left to plop on their own. He too passed from complications of respiratory illness. He passed, Wednesday, April 23, 2008. He was 8 months old. He was originally adopted from a woman in Clackamas that adopted 2 female rats from OHS and both delivered litters. She brought the female babies back to OHS for them to find homes. The boys, she worked on finding homes, and I adopted the 4.


Knack. I love all my ratties, but sometimes one just really tugs you. Knick and Knack were the second pair of brothers I adopted from the Oregon Humane Society. These were my husband's babies. They were the youngest rats adopted, maybe 6 weeks old. (I've since adopted younger ones.) But they were like little peas in a pod and they continued that way this entire time. A few weeks ago I introduced Knick and Knack to Tank and Remi because they seemed to get along ok. I'm glad I did so Knick will NOT be alone. I found Knack this morning at about 3am. He had passed. He was about 11 months old. Like all the others I wrapped him in his hammock and placed him in a container awaiting my next trip to take them for cremation. Like all the others I cried.

I am really kind of numb as I write this. I lost three loving babies and I know this isn't over. My last trip to the grocery store, I purchased the containers I store them in until they are taken to be cremated. Precious is still really battling and the fact that Knack actually did not appear ill makes me concerned that others may be sicker than they appear.

As for the rest of the babies, I'm giving them lysine and their antibiotics. Tomorrow I intend to make as many medicine boxes as I can this week. These will be used to plop them in to take their medicine. I'd much rather give them their medicine in their food rather than in a syringe. I'll have to see how it goes. Right now I give the lysine in a 3 oz paper cup. They seem to enjoy that.

Anyway, I have more to tell about yesterday, but I'm so upset and too tired now and this is not the time for me to explain how everything is going to work.

Three of the angels have returned to heaven, I know more will be coming soon. My heart is still open, but this has been very hard.
A saddened Rat Slave

Sadness and Sickness Sweeps Vermin Village

I'm so upset. Respiratory illness is sweeping through Vermin Village. I stopped using CareFresh, too dusty. I switched to Aspen. Also too dusty. So now I'm switching to kiln dried pine (yes I know) litter made by ABM. The Rat Guide lists it as an acceptable bedding and I have to do something. So we are trying that.

All of the fur kids are on lysine and antibiotics. It is a very long time. I noticed early on that Rico had BUGS ON HIM. What the hell? So despite the warnings, I had to treat everyone with Revolution. You aren't supposed to treat sick kids but they are NOT candidates for a bath AND the bugs work against them too.

Owen, one of the older boys adopted from a family in SE Portland, passed away around 2am Monday, April 21st. I was up all night with him, my rat Rico, and Precious. Rico and Precious continued to remain in the bathroom with humidifier and steam treatments as well as their other medication. Rico was also really bad. He passed away around 3am today, April 24th. He was not even a year old. I will write about both of them on another post as all of the babies deserve their own memorial on the blog. I just have to think of what to say since I've lost 2 and have the potential to lose a lot more, so close together.

Precious is still fighting. She is just a year old, hairless little girl. I hope she was caught early enough.

Others that have been sneezing and the ones they are caged with (so every rat in the room) is on lysine and antibiotics. I'll give them all lysine the rest of their lives and antibiotics twice a day for 6 weeks, which means I'm very busy.

I did get two boys, Mr. Beans and Boo from CL. They were offered as pets or snake food and after hemming and hawing due to the illness, I went and got them. I'll make a separate entry for that experience later. Right now I've got to go and medicate and clean a cage or two before I go to work.

Vermin Village Update

Well, the room is FINALLY coming together. I have to clean some more cages and do some more shifting and it will be DONE. I will be so happy when I can say it is DONE. But it won't really be done.

The set up will be done, but then I want to add some plastic coverings to the walls because the cages rest up the walls and well, the little guys pee. I know some ratteries use shower curtains. I am going to see if something at JoAnn fabrics has something I might like.

Water bottles. Well, I ordered 2 cases of the water bottle kits to use with Snapple glass bottles. They were $8 per kit. I could have gotten a glass water bottle set for $2 less, but to order replacement bottles, it would have been too much to get the bottles so I'd end up buying a whole new set up. This way if I break the bottle, I go to the store (or the recycle bin at work in our lunchroom) and grab a new Snapple bottle. Today I hit pay dirt at work and got 26 bottles. So I will sterilize them and they will be ready to go.

Cages...I ordered 6 more custom parts and 3 modified Large Deluxe Rat cages. The modification for the Large Deluxe Rat cages will have no balcony and no ramp. This is for my senior ratties that can't have multiple stories. BUT it will still mesh with the rest of the cages when I don't have senior ratties. It will probably be ready sometime in May. (Great timing since our tax refund should be back by then.)

I'm looking to sell 3 of my custom cages of a different style, all of my Critter Trail stuff, a long 20 gallon aquarium (not manufactured for water worthiness), and a 10 gallon cage with topper, and a small cage that works as a carrier ( I would never house any animal in it for long term). I hope to put this towards my new purchases.

The 2 boys that live downstairs will be placed in the "senior" cages. Sherman will also move to a senior cage.

Temporarily, I will connect two of the large carriers together, one set for Popeetka and one set for Mr. Snuggles. They will move to the senior deluxe cages when they get here. Popeetka's current cage will go to Sherman to use.

The 6 custom extensions will be divided. The Rico Act will get an extension, Dumbo and Eddie will get an extension, Diego and Hades will get a section, Pip, Patches and Spot will also get an extension, as will Ruthie, Tweek, Zelda and Sprite. The last section will probably go for the girls Shäst, Precious, Lucy, Nona and the three new girls Isabella, Starlight, and Mocha. Eventually, they will be joined by Smudge. But as Smudge needs more socialization, she will remain in the bathroom cage until she is very socialized.

That is all the news for now. :-)

Tank, Remi, Knick and Knack

I put these 2 sets of brothers in the same cage a few weeks ago when I noticed they seemed to hit it off well and when they took naps in their cages, they slept on the sides next to each other. (The two cages were side by side.) So one day after playtime I put them back in one clean cage. They didn't fight but they didn't immediately like the idea. Tank and Remi are a bit younger than Knick and Knack, but Tank and Remi are bigger than Knick and Knack. Tank and Remi got the hammock, Knick and Knack took the igloo.

Today, for the first time that I know of, I was looking for them in their cage. I saw Tank and Remi in between the layers of their hammock. Then I looked in the igloo...no one was there. All of a sudden Tank and Remi stretched out of the hammock...and Knick and Knack followed them. They had all slept in a pile. awwww. And damned if my camera was downstairs!!! At least I know they all like being together.

Isabella, Starlight, and Mocha

I adopted three new little rattie girls. They were born December 1st 2007. They are all very pretty and very sweet. I just picked them up today so right now they are relaxing in the bathroom until tomorrow when I put them in with their new cage mates. I felt they needed a break until being introduced since they had to get used to traveling all over the Portland metro area today. :-)

Zeb and Nemo Life In Reverse

Zeb (left) and Nemo (right) on 04/06/2008. We went visiting their first rattie parent. She took this picture of them viewing life in reverse. After peeing on me and the couch and dropping rattie raisins everywhere, they conked out on the way home.

Samantha

A few weeks ago, I'd rearranged the cages in Vermin Village because Samantha was going to have to be put to sleep (PTS), I wanted to help Zelda, her very nervous sister, become used to the other girls so she could move in with them, but I didn't want Sam stressed having to deal with introductions, so cages were placed side-by-side.

This past Thursday Sam seemed a little worse, so I made an appointment for today for her to be PTS. I removed her from the cage with her sister because dealing with Zelda become too much of a trial for Sam. Friday Sam appeared to rally, but Saturday morning she was looking very ill. I had class today so when I got home, we went to her appointment. On the way there we went to Burger King to get her a small order of french fries. Her last meal. She munched on the fries while resting in the carrier in the car.

For the past 2 nights, Sam had been sleeping in the chair with me after she had her nightly dish of ice cream. Today, I took her to Burger King to get her a small order of french fries as a treat.

It is with great sadness that I had to put Sam down today. She was just over a year old. She is survived by her sister, Zelda. And despite my feeding her ice cream and french fries, which she agreed with me that they are yummy, her diet was very healthy until the end when we both felt that she didn't have to worry about maintaining her girlish figure.

Samantha and Zelda were adopted from the Oregon Humane Society in August 2007 at 6 months of age. Zelda is going to be introduced to new cage mates today so she can work on making new friends.

An active little girl, Sam developed cancer that I noticed just before the March 2008 Rat Show. Her leg just looked slightly misaligned. I made an appointment for her and by the time her appointment came, the slight misalignment was an understatement and a mass started to show and was finally palpable. Eventually, her entire leg was enlarged and she lost use of it. While she could have gone through a leg amputation, the doctor felt she had an aggressive form of cancer and since the tumor had tentacles wrapping around the leg, the chances were great that it was in the body as well. And that proved to be the case.

Unfortunately I was never able to get a real good picture of Samantha, she was just too busy. So much to do in so little time. The one above is her mug shot from OHS.

And the angel could hold her breath no more.

A saddened Rat Slave.

Ratties and Food

Well Hades and Diego are big boys, half brothers about 8 months of age. They are getting accustomed to their new digs. They were in a home without other rats and were not ill ever so they got to go right in the room. Both are big boys. I will post a picture as soon as the camera is charged!

Sam is doing ok. She greets me at the door of her cage for her food. Every time I think she is starting to move slower she shocks me and runs around!

I found out that Harlan has the 2018 diet available commercially as Native Earth through PetFoodDirect.com. That isn't the diet I really wanted, but it is good that there is one. I'll have to place an order for May/June to last until the September show when I'll run up to Seattle to get some more. (Sounds like a jaunt rather than a 180+ mile drive. :-)

Well, gotta go and get cracking on cleaning the last 2 cage parts and dismantle the shelves. After almost getting the room done I decided the shelving was going to have to be scrapped as it takes up too much room. Total bummer.

Samantha and Tweek News

Well, Tweek gave us quite a scare on Monday. Doctor called and said he was prepping her for surgery and after he shaved her, she stopped breathing. He brought her back and said he wanted her on heart medication for a few days and then they would try the surgery again. Her tumor was a damned if you do and damned if you don't tumor as it was already getting very large and it would kill her sooner than her heart would. I gave her medication, Lasix and Enapril. Diuretic and a blood pressure medication. She had her surgery rescheduled for Thursday. I asked if they could see Sam then (Sam's appointment was made for Saturday). They moved her to Thursday too.

I was anxious at work while I knew Tweek was going under. After lunch I just couldn't wait any longer so I called them. Tweek had made it through surgery and was waking up. Phew. Doctor was examining Sam.

Doctor called about 10 minutes later. Tweek was waking up fine and was still a bit groggy. But Sam was the bad news. Her tumor was really bad news.

I originally noticed a slight oddness in her walk and in the alignment of her leg. When I made Tweek's surgical appointment, before the Mercer Island, Washington rat show, I tried to get Sam in to be seen that same day but no openings. But I was able to get her in when Tweek went in for her second attempt. By the time she got into the vet (2 days before her original appointment), the "oddness" with her leg had gotten bigger and worse. The news from the doctor was grim.

At the very least he would have to amputate the leg. But he was certain he couldn't get all of it and he was really certain it was one of 2 cancers, possibly three. The tumor was very deep and so wrapped around the leg he was certain it was already in the body as well. He said he'd do the surgery, but he couldn't promise anything. I asked how long she had without the surgery. He said possibly 2 months. So we made the choice to give her hospice. I want her last bit of time on earth to be happy with her sister and helping her sister adjust to getting used to new ratties so when Sam has to leave, Zelda would be ok.

So here it is, late Saturday night, and I'm rearranging the rattie room to accommodate this tragedy. The upside is that I'm glad Sam and Zelda have been with me since 6 months of age. I originally adopted them from the Oregon Humane Society and we got off to a rocky start but they're wonderful little girls. They are now only 13 months old.

By rocky start I mean I didn't take the cage with them when I adopted them from the Humane Society. That was a mistake. Zelda pouted for 18 hours. As long as it took me to get her home and in her new cage until the next evening when I got home from work and went in to check on her to see if she was still pouting as she was that morning. I broke down and went to Petco and found the same cage only bigger. After putting her in that, she stopped pouting. Now she is completely out of that cage, but has a similar wheel--that's how she keeps her girlish figure. Of course Sam usually runs on it with her. Now Sam doesn't run on the wheel, but she does get on it and walk.

I hope Zelda is okay when Sam has to go. I think this time will allow Sam to prepare Zelda. I think they know.

I've lost one mouse by walking in and finding that he had passed. I lost my very first rat, Pokey, in 1994, when I walked in and she had died at 9 months of age. I've lost 2 senior boys adopted this past July. One passed in my arms at home, the other at the vets when I had him PTS. I honestly can't say it is easy, but I do prefer being there when they pass so they know they aren't alone.

I wish this was a happier post. I thought I would be happy about getting the room done this weekend, but it isn't as exciting with the knowledge that Sam won't really get to play in it for very long.

One saddened Rat Slave says goodnight.

Smudge It

Ok. I was NOT going to get another rat any time soon but I'm a sucker for hard luck cases.

Ad on CL - 30-40 day rattie girl, may go for food or pet. Was bought for food, snake not interested and I'm not interested in another pet rat. Then some pictures were posted.

So, I called John...take money out of the bank, get at least 5 one dollar bills. Go to this address. Give them $3...

He went and got her. She is a little button of a girl. She is black and white, but her tail is all white except for the end real close to her body, it is black, like the paintbrush was dipped too far up the handle.

Right now she is in quarantine, but eventually she'll probably move in with Shäst, Precious, Lucy, and Nona or be spayed and move in with Pip, Spot, and Patches. We shall see.

Vermin Village

Well, the room is shaping up nicely. I am getting a cupboard/shelf set up in it for the miscellaneous stuff. I'm also cleaning the cages. I have to find a home for the 8 bags of food and 4 more bags of bedding. The full play area will be back up by the end of next weekend. Yeah!

Tumors Suck

I'm so bummed. I found a tumor on Tweek and she is having surgery on Monday, March 17th. Today, while doing the weekly check on Sam, I found a tumor on her back leg. I'm so bummed. Sam will go for her pre-op appointment on next Saturday. Poor little girl. I feel bad because her cage mate, Zelda, will be by herself. I'm thinking I should introduce her to the other two girls so she can start bonding with them and then introduce Sam and Tweek to the three of them. That would be good for all of them to have so many companions of varying ages. We shall see how it goes. Tumors suck. I don't care if they are benign or not, they suck.

Veggie vs. Rattie First Strike

The six pack brothers started the wave - Tip, Top, Brick, Braque, Crinkle and Mr. Wiggles surveyed the scenery. They moved.

The first wave of ratties shot forth. They entered the Parsley Forest determinedly. Parsley parts flew around the cage. They clutched it in their mouths, they hauled it up and down the 4 stories. One even took it for a ride in the Wodent Wheel! It was a parsley massacre.

The brothers spotted little round red bodies originally hidden in the Parsley Forest. An army of grape tomatoes stared unblinkingly back at the 6 pairs of rattie eyes. The war was lost before it began. The ratties moved in for a second strike. The poor tomato soldiers never had a chance. No trace evidence of their existence remains here.

Then the ratties spotted a limp foe. Cooked green beans. Shivering on what was previously the Parsley Forest floor. The beans huddled in a pile. The ratties didn't bother to hide their superiority. They sauntered over and walked by the forest remains as if to say..."you aren't worth eating...believe you are safe." Then one by one, the ratties promptly snatched an unsuspecting bean. There was no resistance.

This was repeated in 16 battles. In only one did the tomato prevail...albeit a bit wounded. Pip, just like her human papa, does not like tomatoes. One bite and the medical brigade came and removed the injured soldiers from the battlefield.

Tomorrow...kale, bananas and celery intend to enter the fray. Will they return?

Reporting from the battlefield, this is the Rat Slave. I have to go and peel some potatoes.

The image to the left is actually the brothers Rico, Baxter, Worth and Mosco. They have a hammock, a house, and other stuff in their cage. What do they sleep on? The Parsley Forest floor!

Tweek's Weekly Exam

I did Tweek's weekly exam last night and found a lump on her shoulder. :-( It is very soft. She is scheduled on Monday for a check of it. Hopefully it will be something minor. She is running all around and playing so she appears to be dealing with it ok.

Tickle's Time & Legacy

Tickle, the rattie on the left side, joined his brother, Mr. Chuckles, at the Rainbow Bridge on March 1, 2008. He was 2 years and 1 month old. They were both adopted from the Oregon Humane Society in July 2007.

Tickle was an outgoing rattie, more so than his brother Mr. Chuckles. Tickle loved doing pirouettes on my shoulders, bruxxing and boggling all the time. As he got older, he loved to snooze in his hammock and while he was in it keeping himself covered with a paper plate or a large piece of paper.

After his brother's passing, he would not bond with other ratties so he lived alone. I made sure to spend more time with him.

Thursday night he seemed a bit "off" to me, but was still active and playful, eating and drinking. Friday night he took a turn for the worse. He'd have periods of his normal self and other times where he appeared to be having seizures. He also had trouble keeping himself clean so I had to do it for him. I spent the night holding him. Saturday showed no change and his playfulness was lessening and he was showing very little interest in food. He was starting to feel cold, even with the heating pad. I knew it was time to let him go.

My husband made the call and we brought him to Rock Creek Veterinary Hospital. I was so upset that I started bawling before we even got in the car. When we got there, I balked and said they had to check him first to make sure that I wasn't imagining anything. No, we were supposed to bring him, his sounds were really bad. The doctor was really nice to our little guy and I got to stay with Tickle and hold him.

After he passed, I wrapped him in the last hammock I made for him from green polar fleece that he didn't actually use. I brought his remains home and placed him in the freezer to await transport to the Oregon Humane Society on Monday for private cremation.

Tickle and Mr. Chuckles may not have been with our family long, but their legacy will live on here. They were such good ambassadors that they charged us to stepping in for 37 of the 39 ratties that currently live with us. (2 are from a breeder so are not rescues.) Each rattie is special and has a story, some good, some not so good, and a few downright harrowing.

Tickle and Mr. Chuckles will never be forgotten. I take solace in the fact you are together again. I know I will eventually stop crying but right now...

Rest in peace my gentle little giants, the Founders of Vermin Village.

Tickle (1/2006-03/01/2008) and Mr. Chuckles (1/2006-11/15/2007)

Tank and Remi

I've had Tank and Remi for some time, but wanted to get a picture up here. They're hanging out in their hammock. They were about 12 weeks old in this photo.

Pip aka Heaven, and Spot aka Johnny

Here are some shots for a family I adopted some ratties from.

Pip is a sweet little girl rattie. Currently she is in a 20 gallon long aquarium recovering from a minor tail amputation. She was wearing a collar for the first 3 days, but she looked so miserable I couldn't stand it anymore. She has been a good girl and left her tail bandage alone. She will be spayed in a month or two so she can move in with her brother, Spot and his room mate Patches.


















Spot is a little boy rattie that is more reserved than his sister. He doesn't much care for my husband because he's bitten him twice...enough to hurt, not enough to break the skin. He has been fine with me. :-) He really seems to love his hammock and he is bonding with Patches, an older male rattie that has moved in with him. Spot misses his sister but is happy to make new friends.

Sherman, Nona, and Patches aka Ace

I'm just posting some shots for families that I got some of my ratties from. Sherman, Nona and Patches all came from the same family. Sherman hasn't bonded with any ratties. Patches has bonded with new rattie Spot and Nona has bonded with her cage mates some time ago.

Sherman is peeking out to check out why I opened the door. He moved too fast because he was sleeping in his hammock!

Patches, is checking out to see if any good food is bring brought in since I opened the door. He is bonding with his new room mate Spot. He's a playful little guy that likes to play tag. He had mites when I got him. I treated him with Revolution and he has been doing great! Mites are common and rats may live their whole life with them and never give off any real indication.

He also had frequent loose stool, but now that he has been put on a pretty restrictive diet, he has been doing great. Rattie IBS. :-) I have a cat that suffers from something similar and he is on a restrictive diet as well.

When Spot's sister Pip is spayed, she'll be moving in with them. That will be in another month or so. Meanwhile, she is recovering from a partial tail amputation due to a degloving incident prior to my acquiring her.


Here is Nona with her room mates--kind of reminds me of the more bars campaign from the ATT commercial. From left to right, Precious (hairless), Nona, Shäst, and Lucy. Open the door Mom!

Remembering Mr. Chuckles

It has been 3 months since my beloved Mr. Chuckles passed away from congestive heart failure. I miss him every day and every rattie in my house is loved every day because of him...

My post on another site on 11/15/2007:
Mr. Chuckles, age 1 year and 9 months, passed 12:59 am this morning. 4 gasps, and it was over. I have spent the last week sleeping in my recliner with him in my lap to keep him company. He seemed to be doing so well, his edema was way down and he appeared to get around easier and his breathing was relaxing. I went and picked up a heating pad for him this evening for our evening sit. Just after midnight, I could hear the rattle start in his chest. Damn it all to hell. Closest 24 hour vet is over 30 minutes away. Stress him out to die in the car or just sit with him where we've sat for almost 2 weeks working on getting him better.

Afterwards, I brought him to his brother so Tickle could say goodbye. Tickle touched his brother sniffing and nudging. Tickle then kept kissing my hand.

His body is wrapped in clean tissue and is prepared for me to take to OHS for a private cremation. I'll drive to work tomorrow and bring him in. I have to say this officially sucks. I've only had him since July, but he was so sweet, my little gentle giant...and that would make sense if you knew him.

May Mr. Chuckles be roaming in open spaces with as many sunflower seeds and grapes and bananas he can wish for.

Peace all.

Jack the Gerbil and Kashi GoLean Twigs

Jack the gerbil loves Kashi cereal. I get the GoLean kind with 13% protein. They actually have a piece in it they call "twigs". I look up as I am feeding the ratties right into Jack's big eyes. He is staring at me as he consumes a Kashi "twig." I should take a picture and send it to them and say they have an appreciative customer. :-)

Cheers!

Critter and Room Updates

I sold off all of the other cages I no longer wanted to use. A rescue bought the one Pip and Spot came in and the one I had. Worked out well, they drove to Wilsonville from Salem to get it and I knocked some more money off to help out. Plus I didn't have to go anywhere as my husband works in Wilsonville and the person came to his work so I didn't have to pay to take it anywhere. It all works out in the end. I'm glad someone will get good use out of the cages.

I sold the 2 standard 20 gallon aquariums. It worked out, a kid was looking for tanks for his fish and I was selling them cheap. I told him if they didn't hold water to call me back and I'd give him his money back. They worked so he called and said he'd be keeping them. Cool. I got stuck with the long 20 gallon tank, but that is okay. I decided it makes a good hospital habitat. Pip is in it now recovering from surgery and she is in a collar so it is perfect for her. It has more floor space than a regular 20 gallon tank and it will keep her warmer since she can't really burrow in the bedding easily with the collar on. Anyway, I decided to keep this tank.

What, you ask, is on the bottom of my cage toppers then? Well, I have 3 cage toppers from Quality Cages. I love them, but hated the aquariums. They were too heavy. So I asked QC if they'd make me cages to go on the bottom of the cage toppers in place of the aquariums. Best damn money I ever spent. They are so cool. The ratties that have those cages took to them just fine. I prefer my other cage style over the toppers and faux aquariums, but the toppers are great quality and cost some decent dough, so I wanted to keep them. Besides, for the pets that are in this style, I need that lift opening as those ratties respond better when the whole lid is open, rather than just a door. The cool things about the aquarium replacements is that they have a door in them.

The room is in progress. I'm sick with a cold now so that has kind of put a damper on things. My head hurts too much when I bend down so no moving junk around this weekend. :-( I'll just try to go through my other junk.

We did get a fridge, but it is bigger than the one I thought we'd get so it isn't going on a dresser. That is okay though, it is a very nice fridge and we got it at a very good price. It was posted on CL 10 minutes before I found it and it was just a few streets up from where we live so that worked out great!

Decided not to get the boys neutered. Instead, I am going to get the little sister of Spot, Pip, spayed when she is old enough. After she recovers from her surgery she'll move in a cage I actually made for the late Pepé. She'll enjoy it since she is spidey rat. I'll set her cage right next to her brother's cage so she and Spot can visit and Patches can get to know her. Then in a month or two, when she has been spayed, she can move in with them.

Pepé, my senior mouse, passed away a few days ago. It was not unexpected, he started to look peaked. I spoke with the vet and since Pepé appeared to be eating, drinking and running around, there wasn't much they could really do for the fellow. Pepé was over a year and half old, which is pretty good for a little mouse. He had a hernia, but that doesn't appear to be what caused his death. It was either liver or kidney issues. He didn't seem in any pain and was very active until the day he died. He is in my freezer awaiting cremation. I take my babies to the Oregon Humane Society for private cremations. They are reasonable and considerate.

I think that is about it for now.

Cheers!

Update: Final Results!

Mr. Snuggles

Mr. Snuggles didn't have a picture until now. I still need to get a picture of his son Popeetka, but Popeetka is a cranky rat, so unlike his father Mr. Snuggles. Mr. Snuggles and Popeetka live separately from the rest of Vermin Village as both ratties suffer from respiratory illness and must be medicated twice daily. These were the little guys someone had kept outside in a small cage with 6 other ratties of mixed genders. I won't go into that here. But thankfully, someone with a real love for animals took them in and found them homes.

Broccoli Ticks

Ok. The list of forbidden foods say do not feed wild insects. I am so lucky I was cutting the broccoli for the ratties and not me though. I cut it very fine for them otherwise they argue over the pieces if they are too big. (If I was cutting it for human consumption...I would have not seen the bugs.) As I was cutting, I noticed a bug here or there. I kind of expect that, it's organic. Then I really started looking. Up right under and into the florets these big bugs that I think were grayish/black that clung to the floret as if they were ticks! I could not rinse or spray them off, I had to use my nail and scrap them off. If I had a sandblaster I might have gotten them off of course the broccoli would have been gone too. :-) After looking at how many there were, I packed it up and brought it back--the store is really good and gave me my money back..the guy was really horrified. The babies got something easier to clean tonight in its place...baby bok choy.

Has anyone been seeing a lot of this? This is the second time I found stuff on my broccoli within two months. I swear I'm going to frozen. :-( Really irritates me too...what self-respecting native Californian transplanted to Oregon likes to eat out of rigor broccoli? Yuck!

Although...I guess it is better than broccoli and friends. ;-)

Neutering, Pictures, Zeb, Tweek, and Cage Arrangements

It has been very busy here. The room will be completely done and photos taken by mid February. I'm so excited. I'm taking 3 rats to get neutered on 2/6/2008 so they can live with some of my ladies. Sherman who is already here and 2 boys I will be picking up on Friday. 1 already had a pass here because he is from the same family as Sherman and Nona. The other two get a pass because they are up on the list for pet/breeder or food and it is a 5 week old pair, 1 boy and 1 girl. It is this third boy that will be neutered so he can continue to live with his current cage mate with the larger groups of rats.

Zeb had surgery to remove lumps from his body. Turns out the lumps were lumps of infection, e. coli, and something else. He has to take 3 weeks of two different kinds of antibiotics. Poor little guys.

Tweek, rejected snake food, has settled in with her two new roomies, Sprite and Ruthie. It is to this cage I will attempt to introduce Sherman, and the two new boys and the little girl to. The cage would then be expanded to a 4 level + a balcony cage. I will have 3 such cages set up. The freed up large deluxe cage will be used to house the 2 babies that have to live downstairs and the cage they are in will be sold to offset the cost of getting some of the babies fixed. (The cage is a different caging system I don't really care for.) The two baby ratties that are coming Friday also come in that same caging system, and that cage will be sold as it is unneeded and will be used to offset the cost of fixing the little boy.

Saturday I sold one of the "other" cages and used the proceeds to buy some supplies for the mice cages and the new gerbil cage. I made the mice real cages instead of that Critter Trail crap. They love it. I also made a more gerbil friendly one for the new gerbil we adopted at OHS. Poor little guy has had a hard life. So now he is having fun in his new home. Gerbils are VERY low maintenance pets and are fun to watch.

On Friday I hope to get a mini-fridge to keep medications in so that I don't have to keep going downstairs to get it and then bring it back down. I intend to bring one of my dressers in the room to use there as a place to weigh the little ones and sit the fridge on it.

Other than this, been busy at work and in class.

A brief update on the gang...

Well, I've been very bad about keeping up with this thing. Ruthie came through her surgery just fine. She is ready to be introduced to two other girls, Sprite and Tweek.

Right now, Sherman is on my shoulder, bruxing away. He is a single cage fellow. I've yet to find him a cage mate he will tolerate. I tried to introduce him and Tickle, but Tickle is too set in his ways. So they both live alone.

I found a lump on Zeb's abdomen. He has an appointment on Monday to get checked out. I'm hoping it is just a hernia and not a tumor. We shall find out.

Other than that, we might get a new gerbil tomorrow. Depends on if I can get around and make him a cage tonight. We do have room for a gerbil and he is NOT a socialized little guy so he would do okay here since I provide gerbils with sanctuary more than anything. I have a little girl named Cocoa. I provide lots of card board tubes, toys, a huge habitat, a sand bath, and fun stuff to dig through. Gerbils are low maintenance and very cool to watch.

I have to get back to cleaning, just wanted to pop a note on here.

Cheers!