Rat-A-Rama 2009

The trip and show were TOTALLY AWESOME! Rattie friends united in Boise, Idaho this past weekend on June 20th for Rat-A-Rama 2009.

The start of my journey was taking the Max to NE 82nd Street to meet some friends for breakfast..the gathering for the exchange. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the bestest (yes I know) company of friends, fellow rat enthusiasts!

Then it was off to Jantzen Beach to meet the fellow travelers from Vancouver, BC with stops in the greater Seattle area to us (in Portland, Oregon). In the parking lot at Target you saw a mad exchange, me for some ratties. lol

Bungeeed into the "POS" van (as termed by our fearless leader on this trek), we were off. I actually didn't know them very well but had met them before. But we are a group of people with a love for rats and the drive to Boise, Idaho was fast (at least to me). Little fuzzies all around and I probably talked everyones' ears off. lol

We were taken in by another fellow rat enthusiast and we mobbed her house, we had joked on the way there saying we were descending upon our hosts. Pretty much, "Hi, where do we put our ratties? Where is the bathroom? When do we eat? Can we see the ratties? Where are we sleeping? Oh and by the way, how are you? In the end it sort of worked out that way. lol Our hosts were very lovely. They had awesome pets too!

Those showing their ratties bathed them and I got to dry some of them. They were all so cute!

As we buttoned down for the night, rattie pairings were occurring. I asked my new friends if we had to listen to rat porn tonight. lol Frankly I was too tired to hear anything and passed out. This ended Friday night.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early. Showered, the van was loaded with ratties going to the show and supplies for tables. I wasn't showing ratties and didn't feel I helped very much, but I did iron the Rosette Award Ribbons. It was me against the satin! Resistance was futile! I had the iron. ;-)

Eventually we piled into the van and off to the show we went! I wasn't quite sure what to do so Little Mischief Rescue had me set up the table. I was sitting next to the Breakfast Bunch Rattery's table and babysat the table and made some sales. The judges gave me a job to run the calculations. Made a few mistakes but finally got it going at the end there. I eventually moved to the judges table to help with the calculations and asked a few questions while they judged. It was all very interesting. And of course the ratties were all very cute.

Of course I took a break a few times and ate some food from the wonderful vendor outside. Turns out they were from Hillsboro, Oregon. They were very nice. I ate way too much...yum Hawaiian Shaved Ice... I was interviewed by the Idaho Press Tribune. I ordered a copy of the paper today (turns out a co-worker had his father save it as well).

As the show winded down, the raffle was announced. I won a wooden hut and treats and a plushy toy to add to my collection at my desk at work. And then it was over.

We cleaned up after a very long few days and left for sanctuary.

We ended up at the Golden Corral for dinner. We see the commercials in here Oregon but have never been. It was VERY good. I think they could rival many casino buffets. I don't know if I could eat at Hometown Buffet again. To top it off, it was only a few dollars more than Hometown Buffet (because our drinks are separate), but they also refill them for you.

Then we headed back to the house and while rats were reorganized in preparation for the trip, I went into a food coma. I guess I talked a bit when I became semi-conscious at times, but I was very tired. lol

Then I woke up in time to go to bed. Again, more rattie porn occurred. And again we were too tired to hear them anyway. (Does this all just make you think Barry White should have been playing in the background. lol)

The next morning was kind of sad because we had to leave so soon. Although by this time I'm sure our hosts wanted their house back. lol We ferried stuff and ratties back out the van and the master packer packed them up again. We had breakfast and then went to the car rental place to add another driver so another could drive. Then we were off.

The trip back was fast too! Before I knew it we were at my house. We loaded up the food and supplies that I had picked up for them (some they purchased and other was donation) to head back up to Canada. And away they went. I walked in the door and pretty much passed out.

So that was the trip. I had so much fun and hope we can do it again next year! If you get the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. It inspired me to train to become a judge.

I want to thank everyone that made the trip so enjoyable and the organizers that put the show on.

small note: You may all notice I never really identify anyone in this blog, if you happen to email me and say you don't mind, I do go through and change the story, but I feel there is enough invasion of privacy without adding to it here. :)

Revolution For Rats

Disclaimer: This is what I do for dosing my babies. Please consult a qualified vet before administering medication to your fuzzy babies.

Having so many fuzzy babies, administering Revolution can be expensive. I found that according to the product insert, the inactive ingredient is 70% Isopropyl alcohol aka rubbing alcohol. The dosing for rats shown on most sites is based on strength of medication given to kittens, which is 60mg/ml (15mg is in the package because it is 0.25ml).

Of course with the tubes that have 120mg/ml, you can just cut the dose in half, but I find the smaller ticks harder to read and since I have so many ratties, I like the fact that I can just use one tube to get through 2, possibly 3 administrations for all of my little ones.

Click on the image below to see the chart.



I store this in an Amber Boston Round Glass Bottle 1/2 oz w/cap. I found these bottles at a store based in Seattle, Washington, Specialty Bottles. I label the bottle, along with the medications expiration date and store it out of the light and in the temperature suggested by the packaging.

Note:  You need to call Specialty Bottles to order the bottle and ask for a poly seal cap so that the contents do not evaporate, the cap they sell with it on the website is NOT a poly seal cap.

Rat Guide information on dosing rats: http://ratguide.com/meds/anti-infectives/selamectin_revolution.php

References:
Efficacy and Safety of Selamectin
(Stronghold®/Revolution™) Used
Off-Label in Exotic Pets - http://jarvm.com/articles/Vol5Iss3/Beck%2087-96.pdf
Insert in Revolution package
Dosing Information - http://www.revolution4cats.com/docs/pdf/FullInfill.pdf
Additional Revolution Information provided by Pfizer. http://www.revolution4dogs.com/PAHimages/compliance_pdfs/US_EN_RV_compliance.pdf

A hamster, a mouse, and 2 wheels

Oreo is tooling around her new cage like nobody's business. She was running in her wheel. I think she likes it all! She has 3 balconies and a full floor on the bottom. She has a wheel, several cardboard tunnels and different "terrain" for her enjoyment. Good Mews to draw up the mousy smell, Ultra Care Fresh for softness (I don't normally buy this, it was given to me with O-Ren.) And Eco Paper bedding for burrowing. I put in her slice of cheese house and her tunnels and she is in her element. I've attached the two huge water bottles. A bit overkill, but the water bottles I use are easier to clean. I always put 2 in the event one fails.

O-Ren is mistress of all she surveys. I believe hamsters are rather short-sighted. lol She's already taken her wheel for a spin. And when I walked in the room she was running up and down her cage and balconies. Mine....all....mine....

Oreo Makes the Move to Vermin Village

Oreo is an old girlie mouse. She is of course, black and white. She lived in a classroom and now that school is over she needed a retirement home. Vermin Village has empty mouse cages so I contacted her current guardian about bringing her here.

She is a delightful little girl. I went to the storage unit to pull out the cage and will be moving her in it when the new water bottle hardware is attached.

I met the person at Quality Cages and spoke to QC about making me some custom mice cages. I have a good idea of what I would like and I want it as easy as possible to make. :)

I ended up taking Oreo to Home Depot with me because I couldn't find my staple gun staples. What a dork! lol But my husband needed stuff to smoke some brisket--hickory chips, mesquite chips and charcoal. Yum...brisket. People kept doing double takes on seeing a little white and black thing moving around the carrier I placed her in. Hey--she had places to go and people to see!

Welcome home Oreo!

O-Ren Relocates to the Village

Vermin Village has never had a hamster resident and this one was looking to need a new home. She needs more socialization. I picked her up for the first time just now and she was incredibly scared. She is incredibly soft!

I've renamed her O-Ren after one of the female assassin in Kill Bill. At her original home, she had originally been housed with her sister and she ended up killing her sister. :( The pet store had sold them to live together, knowing they were going to be living in the same cage. :(

She is hanging out in a smaller cage while her new cage is being prepared for her. She'll move in tonight. She is a very active little girl. My husband purchased a wheel for her so she'll probably be happy to get that.

I've prepared a cage 3 times the size of the cage she is in now. Lots of toilet paper rolls and lots of hides and treats. I use Good Mews on the bottom to draw any wetness and shredded newspaper on the top for her to tunnel through. I'm sure she'll have a great time.