Mama-Girl is here!

B, who had the 5 little babies that just got here, contacted me today about Mama-Girl.  We made arrangements and she brought Mama-Girl to meet me after I got off of work today.  This really helped me out as I don't have a car during the week, John does.   I didn't have a carrier but there was one in the car, which John had  at his work.  I took the bus to his work and found the car and as I was getting it ready, he walked out the door!  Mama-Girl was transferred from the box to the carrier and was all good!


She'll stay a bit in the carrier until I get the BC-7 side cleared out for her to get used to the 3 girls that are about her age.  She should do well with them.

After I get back from my trip, I'll change them to a multi-level cage.  They'll eventually be joined by a pair of PEWs from the New Mexico hoarding situation.  They should all have a lot of fun together. :D

Sooki Is Here!

Dmnt Sooki is here!

I took John to breakfast today and we met Morgan in Brooks, Oregon (and why isn't Brooks, Oregon in GPS?).  He is so handsome!  He'll be living with RMIS Poppy(s) and RMIS Rose(s) and the two boys Chase(n) and Liam(n).

I'm  so excited that he is here!

They'll be introduced in a little bit as I'm waiting for the cage to dry.

Welcome Sooki!  (And yes, Sooki is named for the Saggy Baggy Elephant.  And no, that was not the first book I learned how to read.  I learned how to read The Duck on the Truck by Leonard Kessler.)

Rattie Filled Day

Today I did a lot of running around.  I went to OHS to check out Louie, a little boy for adoption.  I am putting together a cage of similarly aged male rats and Louie would have fit right in.  Unfortunately he appeared to have mange mites so I had to decline taking him. Luckily an OHS youth volunteer adopted the little guy so he'll be able to be by himself as he'll need to be a bit older before he can receive treatment.  This was a positive outcome to the situation.  :D

I met the rats from the West Linn situation.  (Got to see all of the beautiful birds too.)  The rats are gorgeous and very sweet.  They looked very well cared for.  (Of course the shelter was providing them with great care but they wouldn't have looked THAT good if the late owner hadn't been caring for them.)  I'm hoping to adopt the 3 baby boys as they'll fit in well with my little munchkins I picked up later that day.

I did notice that OHS had run out of water bottles and cages so we went back later that day with 2 cages for the adult rats and hopefully they'll be able to switch the smaller rats into the closer bar cages, and several new water bottles, spring bottle holders and some aquarium bottle holders.  I also brought them some cat food to mix with the rat food for the baby rats.

I also donated about 10 or so pounds of food to the young lady that had the little munchkins I took in yesterday as she has been using her food to feed the abandoned waifs  so I wanted to help offset that.  I also gave her one of the martin cages I had so she had a bigger home for the remaining rats.  I told her to just keep it as I don't really need it back.  (My preferred cages are Quality Cages.)  I also gave her all of the bedding I had gotten on previous adoptions that I don't use.  Ultra carefresh, cell sorb and some white gem animal bedding.  I'm glad it will be put to use now.  I think I also gave her left over food from adoptions as well.  I won't feed most mixes or blocks so that might as well go to good use too!

All in all, it was a rattie filled day!

5 Baby Boys Are Sworn In

Ping, Pong, Blink, Mr. Buttons, and Rollo have been brought to the village.  They are part of a litter that was abandoned and taken in by a really nice young woman, B, in Portland.  She placed most of the girls and I took the boys.  I told her I'd take momma too since she'd fit right in with some girls that were adopted a bit ago.  I'll wait to hear back from her on that one.

Ping, Pong, Blink, Mr. Buttons and Rollo are cute as a button and no bigger than my little finger.  Like the late Corvallis 6, they are a mix of rex and standard furred ratties.  All have top ears which is just fine with me. I do not care what they look like, I'm more concerned with being able to tell them apart!

I am so excited as it has been a long time since I've had babies so young.  I think the youngest I've adopted was 6 weeks.  Pokey, my rattie girl from 1993 was 4 weeks.

I really love the little boys, of course I haven't met a rat I didn't like!  LOL

Welcome to the village little guys!

Bob and Franc are Helped to the Bridge

At the age of 2 years 3 months, brothers Franc and Bob have been helped to the bridge today.  They are survived by their brother Millo.  They were preceded in death by their mother Babs, sister Tina, and brothers Alex, Merle, Mando, and Mavro.  Millo, the last brother, is a little frail looking, but he still toddles around his cage a bit.  I'm going to put Buddy in the second half of the cage to see how they do together.  Hopefully they'll hit it off and not be alone.

Rest in peace little ones!

Bob and Franc have been prepared for private cremation at Oregon Humane Society.

Booh and Bou Helped to the Bridge

Two of the oldest checkerboard boys were helped to the bridge this morning.   They were said to 1.5 years old when we got them in December but since the previous owner didn't give a damn, we don't know for certain.  (And we know they didn't give a damn because before surrendering 20 boys to OHS, they had 20 girls that were not taken because they were potentially pregnant and they didn't make arrangements that if OHS decided to euthanize them, to contact them.)

Both were two of the sweetest boys of the group.  They looked markedly frail over the past month and despite eye drops and medications just didn't really improve.  After checking on them this morning, it was decided to help them to the bridge.

They at least spent the last 6 months being spoiled.  I've been working on my rodent mix and I really couldn't test it on this group...because they eat everthing you put in front of them.

They've been a real joy and I'm so glad I adopted them. 

Rest in peace little giants, you have brothers waiting for you at the bridge.

Booh and Bou have been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.

Nona Says Goodnight

Nona is the one crouched

I noticed she didn't come when I called her. :(  32 months old, Nona was an active little gem until the day she passed.  She loved her cage mates and she was very loving to people too.   I adopted Nona from someone on CL that had her and 2 boys, Sherman and Patches.

Nona is the last of my AT&T girls that I adopted, separately, in 2007.  I'm so sad that she has left but I know she is back with her best buddies, Shäst, Precious (r), and Lucy.

Nona had been living with Isabella and Joey(n) these past few months.

Nona has been prepared for private cremation at OHS.

You're hanging again with your best buds little Nona!

Spot and Luciano Leave for the Bridge

I have been expecting this for a few weeks.  I don't have the heart to euthanize them when they come and greet me at the door.  Well today Luciano didn't greet me at the door.  He had passed.  Spot, being very frail, was helped to the bridge.  Spot was 30 months and Luciano was 28 months old.

I was about ready to move these two neutered boys in with 3 of my other older ratties.  :(  This is a great plug for spaying or neutering your rats.  While the females were all intact, the males were all neutered!  This mean the boys were never alone.  It is preferred that you spay females first because of the additional health benefits they get.  However it is a bit easier to find a vet that will neuter.

Both ratties have been prepared for private cremation.

Run and be free little ratties!

Guildenstern Poses in His Hammock

Guildenstern is posing in his Halloween Pocket Hammock.  And yes, he actually does get in the pockets!  The cage they are in is 34" wide x 16" deep x 16" tall.  I came up with this design to fit on the shelves they sell in various stores.  The cage has a powder coated, 3" metal pan.  The cage itself is galvanized.  It has a full flip top and a single front door that opens up to fit the wheel and igloos through so they are big.  The cage sits in the pan.  When not in use, the cage fully folds down into the pan.   This cage was manufactured to my specifications by Quality Cages. 

I use the Lixit Recycled Juice Bottle Kit, Small tip for all of my cages.  The kit uses glass snapple bottles or similar kinds so they are really easy to replace if broken.

I removed their tunnel and their toys to take this picture, they are about ready to have their cage cleaned here.  But I wanted to be sure and take a picture for my blog.  After I clean the cage they are too busy digging through it to get any shots. LOL

Rosencrantz is sleeping in the wheel.  Silly boy.

These boys were adopted and came with a 10-gallon aquarium cage and topper.  We donated that to OHS on Sunday and I'm so glad we did because they needed it to put ratties in the front to show them off for adoption.  Yeah!

Chase, Liam, Rose and Poppy Settle In

RMIS Rose (s), RMIS Poppy (s), Chase (n), Liam (n) have settled in their new home together.  Ironically, I had donated or sold all of my Quality Cages with the expansion piece I designed.  I decided I needed a set again for these kids.  Funny enough, someone put one on CL so I bought it.

I set it up with two double folded hammocks, one on each level.  A Wobust Wodent Wheel, a soda box, two Lixit Recycled Juice Bottle Kit, Small tip, a litter box filled with large rocks, and extra blankets to haul around.  There is also a paper bag filled with shredded paper that I give them to play around in and drag all over.

Their food dish is filled with my rodent mix and lab blocks.  This cage is located downstairs in our living room.  We actually have 4 cages of rats down stairs.

This is Rose and Chase peering at me after I snapped a few pictures.  For being introduced Saturday, they are pretty chummy which makes me very happy.  They didn't really squabble when I put them together.  (This cage was "new to both sets of kiddos.")

I did put fleece between the two levels. Since this cage unhooks in the middle, it makes it very convenient.

I'll be adding more toys, but I wanted to get this shot up here so their respective former parents could see how their babies are getting along.

I apologize that this picture is so blurry but you get the general idea of how they are getting on. :D  From the far back, the black head in the back is Poppy, laying right next to her is Liam, and then in the front Rose and Chase.

Eventually these 4 kids will be joined by the 5th member of their group, an intact double rex boy dumbo boy...Sooki!

Hazel Queen of the Igloo--Dexter in the House

Hazel(s) is such a silly girl.  This is a crappy picture but I wanted to post it anyway because it shows her fluffiness. lol  Hazel is a sweet little girl and has a nice squishy belly to kiss.  She's bigger than her cage mate, Dexter.  I had to move their cage a foot higher because they are on the bottom shelf of the 3 cages.  Pajar was just a little too curious and the fuzzies didn't come out too often when he was downstairs.  Now they are higher so they feel more secure.  If I had a cage of all girls, I'd put them on the bottom because they'd pull him in and smack him around!  Or better yet, sick the OHS rattie boys onto him.  Little orange menace.

Updated Rodent Mix

Continuing my rodent mix post, I'm putting my actual recipe here. I can and do continue to feed Harlan Teklad 2014/Native Earth 4018 lab blocks (whichever I have available) as all but 1 of my current residents love them. (My hamster Precious stacks them in the corner of her cage so I don't waste them by putting them in her cage anymore.)

This mix and the blocks are my dry maintenance diet for all residents (mice, gerbils, hamsters, and of course ratties). I will switch out grains with others, for example spelt flakes, but these are the ones that are reasonable. The rolled oats and pumpkin seeds are purchased from a feed store, the rest is all purchased at grocery stores or specialty markets. The dog food (www.cloudstar.com) and spinach (www.sfherb.com) are purchased online.

[Click on image to read it.]

All of my rodents eat everything in the mix so I'm pretty happy with it. The spinach and parsley breaks up but they still eat that too.

I did buy rolled barley from the feed store, but they did not care for it. I think part of it was because the hull was still on it (it was more like crimped barley although they sold it as rolled). I bought them the barley flakes from the bulk bins at the grocery store to try and they loved it so I buy it there. I don't mind buying it as long as they eat it.

This mix costs me about 90 cents a pound. That is way less than what you'd pay in a pet store for a crappy mix. But my cost is also held down because I buy full bags of bulk bin items, even at the grocery store. The only item I don't buy full bags of is the parsley. To order full bags at the grocery store, I make sure and order ahead. I am lucky that Bob's Red Mill is near where I live so I can travel there and pick up some items that are actually cheaper there than at the grocery store.

I did run my mix as it is above through the nutrition database and I got the information below: (Please note, the mix nutritional values do NOT include the lab blocks by Harlan/Native Earth.)

	15 gram serving
Total Calories	49.65	kj
Calories From Carbs	33.6	kj
Calories From Fat	8.895	kj
Calories From Protein	7.065	kj
Calories From Alcohol	0	kj
Proteins and Amino Acides	1.98	kj
Carbohydrates	8.055	g
Dietary Fiber	1.59	g
Starch	2.73	g
Sugars	0.15	g
Fats and Fatty Acids
Total Fats	1.11	g
Saturated Fat	0.135	g
Monounsaturated Fat	0.21	g
Polyunsaturated Fat	0.555	g
Total trans fatty acids	0	g
Total trans-monoenoic fatty acids	0
Total trans-polyenoic fatty acids	0
Total Omega-3 fatty acids	301.95	mg
Total Omega-6 fatty acids	249.3	mg
Vitamins
Vitamin A	306.9	IU
Vitamin C	0.855	mg
Vitamin D	2.37	IU
Vitamin E	0.3	mg
Vitamin K	11.535	mcg
Thiamin	0.105	mg
Riboflavin	0.06	mg
Niacin	0.69	mg
Vitamin B6	0.075	mg
Folate	199.2	mcg
Vitamin B12	22.05	mcg
Pantothenic Acid	0.21	mg
Choline	5.085	mg
Betaine	3.045	mg
Minerals
Calcium	30.15	mg
Iron	2.385	mg
Magnesium	21	mg
Phosphorus	48.45	mg
Sodium	10.8	mg
Zinc	2.175	mg
Copper	0.225	mg
Manganese	0.645	mg
Selenium	113.1	mcg
Fluoride	0
Sterols
Cholesterol	0	mg
Phytosterols	0	mg
Other
Alcohol	0	g
Water	3.045	g
Ash	0.405	g
Caffeine	0	mg
Theobromine	0	mg

Mimzi the Gerbil!

Mimzi the gerbil has come to Vermin Village.  He was adopted from the Oregon Humane Society.  He is very skittish but so fun to watch.  He is about 6 months old.

Welcome Mimzi!

Photo credit: Oregon Humane Society