Tina and Pip Say Goodnight

Tina e is survived by 6 of her brothers and her mother. She was preceded in death by one brother. She was a spunky little girl that liked to pretend she was boss. She was adopted along with her mother and 7 brothers from a nice lady in St. Helens, Oregon that was given a rattie of the opposite gender to the one she had.

Pip passed too early for me. She was just over a year old. She was a beige self that was rescued with her brother. I had her spayed so she could continue to live with her brother. She is survived by her brother, Spot.

Both have been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.

Rest in peace little ones.

Mr. Snuggles Helped to the Bridge

Mr. Snuggles was helped to the bridge tonight. He was a platinum colored dumbo. He was such a timid squishy but usually relaxed once you had him in your lap. He is survived by his next door neighbor and son, Popeetka.

Be healthy and free Mr. Snuggles!

Versatile Large Deluxe Rat Cage

Why the Large Deluxe Rat Cage from Quality Cages (www.qualitycage.com)?

Please note:  They do carry fully powder coated versions of these collapsible cages in both black and white.

I use the Large Deluxe Rat Cage from Quality Cages because they are the most versatile cage. I use the powder coated ones for rats, I use the collapsible one with a powder coated shelf, ramp and tray for hamsters, gerbils and with some modification dwarf hamsters and mice, and of course rats.

This cage also has extension pieces that you can purchase to make it bigger. I suggest no more than 3 extension pieces unless you are exceptionally tall. :) For a pair of rats, you can just use the top piece as that does meet the size requirements for a pair of rats. If you are indeed worried about the initial cost, you can purchase one piece at a time.

You've seen how many people decorate their cage for rats. For these cages, I put a Wobust Wodent Wheel to the left of the cage. I then put a hammock up and put cardboard tunnels and hides all over.

When I set it up for other animals, I do it completely different. For any other animals I might house in this cage at different times, gerbils, a Syrian hamster, mice or a dwarf hamster. I pretty much set it up the same way.

As the base pan on this particular Large Deluxe Rat Cage is 3" deep, I put Good Mews in the base of the pan. This draws the moisture out of the paper AND it controls odors. Then I use Eco Bedding (or in my case 1/4" strip shredded newspaper since I have a commercial shredder)

I use this cage for my Syrian hamsters hamsters (they each have their own of coures. The base pan is 3 inches deep. I use eco bedding (which is great for burrowing) or strip shredded newspaper (1/4" strips). I put Good Mews (paper pelleted litter) on the bottom, cover with folded newspaper and then put the hides and cardboard tunnels (you can get tubes free from fabric stores that sell home decorating fabric). Then I cover all of that with shredded paper or eco bedding. On the balcony, I put their food, access to water bottles and their wheel. They love the cage and it is easy for me to clean. I put a chinchilla dust container in every week or so for them to "bathe."

The cage wire is galvanized (the pan balcony and ramp is powder coated), so they don't chip the powder coating off the wire. Since the cage is bigger than what they've been in before (I adopted all of my hammies and/or gerbil) they don't chew on it so much but still.

I had purchased a 6 1/2" silent spinner for my Syrian hamsters and gerbils, but for 4 of the hamsters, I had to change it to the 8 1/2" comfort wheel because the hammies were too big. :)

As for the plastic tubes sold with most cages, I've got 3 Syrians that are too big to fit through them. :) My vet said that sometimes people aren't paying attention, the hammie gets stuck in a tube and they died due to stress. :*( I've adopted gerbils that were degloved because of the crappy plastic cages. I also find them a pain to clean and kind of a waste of money. Those plastic cages can only be used for some animals.

The upside with this cage is that if you later decide you'd like gerbils, or rats, this cage works for them as well. And you don't ever have to worry about your hammie escaping--unless you leave the door open. :) My cages I can use for gerbils, large species of hamsters and rats. If I line the cage with 1/4" x 1/4" wire, I can also use them for dwarf hamsters and mice--so the cage is an "investment" and has a higher resale value.

This cage also exceeds the minimum requirements for a hammie cage http://exoticpets.about.com/od/hamsters/bb/hamstercage.htm

It ships flat and the only assembly needed is using a Phillips head screw driver to attach the balcony.

Good luck!

Neighbor Rats In Need

My next door neighbor has pet ratties. Unfortunately, she got them from a pet store. I tried to tell her but....too late now, she's had the little fuzzies since February.

They are all love bugs. 3 have upper respiratory infections and she hadn't gotten paid yet so I brought some of the medication over and we calculated the doses for them. I picked up one of her other ratties and he had an abscess. She had just spent $250 for another surgery and didn't have any more money so she put warm compresses on it to help bring it to a head. She's still working on that. Meanwhile, she has the oral antibiotic ready to go--but I told her to wait until the abscess burst (it is close to as it is now). Then I'll help her flush and pack it and she can start the antibiotics. Poor little guy. These 2 boys are double rexes but they have the sweetest personalities. I brought over some soda boxes because she didn't have any houses for them. I told her she needed to give them houses or boxes because they need to have a place to hide. They were tipping over the litter box (filled with paper) and making a house. (Ratties are so smart.)

So it has been a rattie filled evening!

Mimi Passes In the Night

I write this with a very heavy heart. Mimi, our little Siamese licky girl passed away. I walked in the room and she was dead in her cage. Words can not describe how upset this makes me. I told John and he was upset too. "Not my licky girl!"

Mimi was John's baby. She is survived by her cage mate, Junior. She didn't like other females so she needed a macho boy to live with. (She was spayed.)

Lee originally went to pick her up at my request in May 2008 (she was already 8-10 months old). Her family decided they no longer wanted her. Lee tried her living with Clive, but Clive was a push over and Mimi bossed him around. (Clive is neutered.)

I went to get Mimi. I tried to put her with girls and she attacked them all. I had her spayed and then when Junior came, he was introduced as her new buddy. They loved each other very much. Junior looked after his lady.

When Mimi was choking, he pulled a blanket out of the hammock and spread it on the floor for her to lay on. Then he laid right next to her, licking her face while she worked it out.

Mimi has been prepared for private cremation on the Oregon Humane Society.

Run free little Mimi. You can have as many treats as you want!

Worth Is Helped to the Bridge

Sadly I went in this morning to check on Worth, the last of the 4 baby boys in Vermin Village, he has needed extra help for some time now and it looks as if he finally was ready to go. He was helped to the bridge today at 12:30pm. He and his brothers were pretty spunky. They were the boys that gave me the idea of putting 2 cages together to make a bigger cage. They had 10 levels of fun. They used to take bits of paper and haul it around the cage and set them down and lay on it. Here is them with a paper plate. It was so cute. He was preceeded in death by his 3 brothers, Mosco, Baxter, and Rico. I have missed the group immensly and I know I'll miss Worth.

Have fun with your brothers little Worth!