New Stow N Gos & New Collapsibles

I picked up my Stow N Go yesterday. The problem with the detachable ladder was the incorrect wire size was used. I opted not to take that. The builder made a mistake on my balcony and after thinking about it, I'm going to remove it and put it in another cage I need. The other balcony, I'll give it to my friend to use in her cages as she is always getting new ones put together. :D

I'll reorder my balconies. I may ask if they can make something out of wire instead, that is removable.

I also need to order 6 to 8 new size collapsible cages. The BC-7 I have I absolutely love, but they are quite heavy. I'm going to keep them, but put them in storage until we move to a new house, which won't be for quite some time. But the idea will be that I can roll them out to clean them.

The new collapsible cages will be the same as the hospital cages I ordered but bigger. The hospital cages I ordered are 16" deep x 16" tall x 32 " deep. The new collapsible cages will be 20" deep x 16" tall x 44" wide. These cages will be galvanized with powder coated trays.

Chase and Liam Check In

Chase and Liam have arrived at the Village. They are two neutered boys I found on Craigslist! The woman that had them, S, was very nice and worked at a vet's office. She's had them since November 2009 and she said Chase was about 10 weeks old and Liam was about 6 weeks old. Liam is an odd-eyed, standard eared boy and Chase is a blue dumbo eared boy. They are both incredibly sweet.

I will post pictures as soon as I get them in their home. I could not believe it, I got their cage ready last night and forgot...how they hell can I forget, to put the water bottle hardware on the cage. So I have to take the cage apart again. >:<

These two little boys will by joined soon by the soon to be spayed RMIS girls, Poppy and Rose. Poppy and Rose have been exposed a bit more to loud noises and frequent pestering so they now don't go and cower when these huge beings called people walk by. (Hell I'd run too if I was that small.)

Eventually they'll be joined by a 5th rattie boy, but after the girls are spayed because that boy will be intact.

Welcome Chase and Liam!

Popeetka Helped To the Bridge

Popeetka was helped to the bridge in the wee hours of the morning. He was one of my little boys that I never found another rattie to live with. He didn't even tolerate his own father. He was a cranky little rat but he did not like to be handled until the last month of his life. Good thing because he was the king of the penis plugs! :( He also had chronic respiratory issues and he'd developed a huge tumor under his left ear. :*(

Last night as I sat holding him he started to lick my hand. ::sigh:: This little guy has bitten me I can't tell you how many times. Of course you feel like crap when they do that. I held him for a bit and chatted with him and for the first time in his life, was able to cuddle with him where he didn't freak out. He just seemed so sad and tired.

I'd like to beat the crap out of the person that had him originally. He was kept in a small cage (about 10" x 15") with 8 other rats of mixed genders. They lived out on the porch in Rainier, Oregon/Longview, Washington area. In freaking November. They were thrown some birdseed every now and again. A hammie person rescued them and I got Popeetka in November 2007, he was already an adult.

Even if I don't know his exact age, he is at least 34 months old (I've had him since November 2007), possibly older.

Popeetka has been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.

Run and be free little Popeetka. And be nice to your papa!

New Rodent Mix

After talking with a friend and doing some research, I decided to try to come up with my own mix to use here for the critters at Vermin Village. I needed something that I could adapt easily between rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils. Currently I feed my rats (and when in residence, mice) Harlan Teklad 2014 or Native Earth 4018 if I run out of the other. When I order with the club, it runs about 66 cents per pound. But that doesn't take into account how to get it to my house. When I order anywhere online, it is $1 to $1.10 per pound.

I feed hamsters and gerbils a mix. But I've not been happy with the options available. So here it is...

Rolled Oats (Aloha Garden, Feed, & Pet)
Barley Flakes (Bob's Red Mill)
Wheat Flakes (Winco)
Titricale Flakes (Bob's Red Mill)
Wheat Berries (Winco)
Total Cereal (Any store--sale/coupons)
Toasted Oats (Winco)
pumpkin seeds (Aloha Garden, Feed, & Pet)
Flaxseed (Winco)
Freeze Dried Spinach (SFHerb.com)
Freeze Dried Parsley (Winco)
Cloudstar dog food (Cloudstar.com)

I'm still working on my diet. More protein is added for rodents of growing age and hamsters and gerbils get other items with their mix to make up for what they need.

I currently have millet and rolled barley from the feed store. The millet, while eaten by the hamsters, is not a big hit with the rats. So I'm changing it to wheat berries. The rolled barley, this gets left behind as the hull is still around it, it looks more crimped than rolled. So I am changing to the barley flakes, which they do like. If I'm going to spend the money, they had better want to eat it. :D

This mix costs me about 90 cents a pound to make.

store	Pounds	Cost	Cost/Pound	Notes
Online	200	$212.98	$1.06	Includes shipping
Club(blocks) & PetPros (hamster mix)	476	$319.82	$0.67	Transport brings it to about 88 cents.
Mix	266.91	$239.09	$0.90	Coupons and sales on cereal reduce cost.

References include:

Dream Mountain Rattery http://www.dreammtnfarm.com/rattery/index.htm
RatFanClub http://www.ratfanclub.org/nutreq.html
Shunamite Diet: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/guides.php?subject=shunamite

Pre-Spay for Rose and Poppy

Rose and Poppy had their pre-spay appointment this morning. Rose weighed 199 grams Poppy weighed 207 grams. They will be spayed in a couple of weeks!

Isabella

Here is a picture of Isabella. She is younger in this picture. Now she is more pear shaped. :D

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Rosentcrantz and Guildenstern standing at the door of their new home. They spent tonight watching Law and Order SVU with me. They do brux and appeared to be very happy.












I think they will both do very well and they are incredibly sweet! They seem to love playing in the paper and have already made a proper nest in their igloo. They've both tried out the wheel. They do have a hammock, but they don't seem too interested in that yet. I'm sure they will eventually.