Peepers Passes

Peepers, the female of the pair I adopted in June 2009, has passed.  She had passed in one of her cardboard tubes.  She was just under 2 years old.

She was a curious little girl that seemed to really love her digs.  She was unusual in that she didn't seem to run on her wheel so much, unlike her former mate, Poppers, who is a marathon runner.

Syrian hamsters (these are all of the larger species of hamster sold in pet stores) are solitary animals, but she leaves behind her former cage mate Poppers.

Rest in peace little girl.

Ratatatoes Have Arrived!

My Idaho ratatotes have arrived!

My boys are, Harper (black dumbo boy), Spud (Siamese boy), Checkers (black and white), Tator (agouti berkshire dumbo) and Tot (agouti irish dumbo).

My girls are Blossom and Sweetpea!

Reed, Rasta, Dex, and Sento Join the Village

Reed, an agouti spotted  boy, Rasta, a black and white hooded boy, Dex (original name Dexter) is a Himalayan boy,  and Sento, a neutered boy, have moved to the village.  They were adopted from a couple off of CL as the couple was moving out of state and their new living situation would not allow rats.  This is not uncommon and for the times we live in and the had spent quite some time searching for a new home.

The boys were moved to a bigger carrier because the stupid cage wasn't dried last night.  They'll hang out in the bin and be moved tonight.

Sento will be moving into the big girls' cage as he apparently does better with the ladies.

Reed, Rasta and Dex will live in a BC-7.

This is all fortuitious timing as this Saturday the little ones adopted at the fall show will be making their way here from quarantine.  All ratties will get their health check and Revolution treatment.  (And the kitties will get their Revolution treatment too.)


Welcome Reed, Rasta, Dex, and Sento!

*Note, Dex is not to be confused with Dexter, the steel guitar playing rattie.

Show Panic Is Setting In

Gearing up for the show.  It is almost here and I have too much to do.  (About this time the other show directors are laughing at me I'm sure.)  But I don't really.  I have to cut out a lot of hearts one of the craft project.   I had to say it that way because it sounded so....NCIS.  :Þ

Found out the venue had put an office with a walk through that we can use for health checks.  YEAH!!!  I'm not so thrilled about the vendor so we'll probably just have someone running us sandwiches for hungry participants and judges.

Haven't heard about the private? showing movie yet.  I'll have to rattle some cages.  It's the difference between dinner reservations and dinner delivery.

I've cages all set for the Idaho folks so they don't have to haul cages for all of the rescues.  It's so exciting!

This weekend it is to the hotel to make sure we are good to go with no surprises.  One thing if it is you and your out in the cold you can go to another hotel.  Quite another when you have 100+  rats with you on a Friday night.

As for panicking.   Not really.  I am more worried about how I'm going to cut out a 1000+ hearts for the craft project.  Again, no biggie, just do it one at a time.  LOL

TTFN

Tucker Sleeps

Tucker passed away today in his hammock.  He had ongoing respiratory issues that plagued him for some time.  He was abandoned by his original owner and the caretaker was unable to keep him too so he came here.  He was neutered due to behavioral issues and lived with little Ruby, that also had respiratory issues.  She passed a few days ago.

Tucker never was a happy boy.  He screamed every time you picked him up and he'd try to bite you even when you had already picked him up.  He is the first rat that I'd ever had that did that.   Poor little guy.

Rest in peace little grumpy dude.

Cage Merging and Shifting

Today Remmy, Buddy and Millo are now cage mates!  They seem to get along ok with each other.

Isabella is my only rattie alone, I've decided to move her back in with the other girls in the multilevel cage.  I'll remove the ladder to the level up from the bottom so she can't get up but the others can continue to go up and down.  (I already know she can't climb the walls anymore.)  I'll move her Monday night after I turn in my homework for school.

This leaves a BC-7 clear for the boys from Idaho and opens up another shelf for a hamster to move up to and then leaves more room for storage.

The girls coming from Idaho will live in the big girls' cage too.  This puts all intact girls in one cage.  Yeah!

Rodent Diet Yet Again

After some adjustments, I've redone the mix again, eliminating some ingredients and adding new ones. They all seem to like this. Half the hamsters eat the blocks, the others don't. Mimzi the gerbil won't eat the blocks either, but he will eat the dog food.

	Pounds Used	Cups Used
Regular Rolled Oats (Oatmeal)	50	225
Barley Flakes	100	450
Pearl Barley	25	57
Whole Groats	25	63
Pomegranate Blueberry Total Cereal	6	71
Toasted Oats (Cheerios)	6	198
pumpkin seeds	5	6
Flaxseed	6	24
Air Dried Carrots	5	13
Freeze Dried Parsley	5	120
Raisins	6	17
Dried Bananas	3	15
Shredded Coconut	3	22
cloudstar dog food	20	40
Harlan 2014	99	Info Pending

References:

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

Local Food Sources:

I live in the Hillsboro, Oregon area.

Rolled barley (Barley Flakes)- I go to Aloha Garden and Feed. Out of all of the feed stores in my area, they sell the equivalent of barley flakes you get in the grocery store in 50# feed bags. If you are purchasing smaller amounts, you can purchase it at Whole Foods, Fred Meyer or Bob's Red Mill.  (Looks similar to oatmeal.)

Rolled oats (Oat Flakes) - I found that the local feed stores sell crimped rolled oats and I don't like it because the rats have to peel the husk off to eat it. My rats drop the husks back in their dish and it looks like they have food when they don't. It's also something they don't eat that you are paying for. I buy the 25 pound bags from the Winco bulk section. You can also find it in bulk at most major grocery stores in the area. Winco has the cheapest price in the bulk section. (Looks similar to oatmeal.)

Pomegranate Blueberry Total - I feed this over the regular total because they eat it. I have some rats that refuse to eat the plain cereal. This is for vitamin fortification.

Cheerios/Toasted Oats - A toasted oats cereal. They seem to really like this.

Pearl Barley - I order this from Winco in 25 pound bags. You can find this in most bulk food sections in the area. Winco has the best price.

Whole Groats - I order this from Winco in 25 pound bags. You can find this in most bulk food sections in the area. Winco has the best price.

Pumpkin seeds - I purchase bags from Hillsboro Feed store. Many feed stores carry this. You can buy it in smaller amounts in bulk food sections and for most, that is fine. For large populations of animals, that isn't practical.

Flaxseed - The best price is at Winco. They beat feed stores too.

Air Dried Carrots - unless you do it yourself, you will probably have to order online. I have found several places, but since I buy so much, I get it online at North Bay Trading Company. http://www.northbaytrading.com/air-dried-carrots/

Freeze Dried Parsley - Sold in bulk at Winco.  (And other stores in the area.)

Raisins - Sold in bulk at Winco (and other stores in the area.)

Dried Bananas - I was using freeze dried but it can't be mixed in their food because it soaks up the moisture in other foods and becomes soft.  So I finally broke down and used the dried  bananas in the bulk bins.  These usually have oil in them as well so be sure to limit the intake.

Shredded Coconut -    I purchase  from the bulk food bins at Winco.


Cloudstar Dog Food - I purchase from www.cloudstar.com.

Harlan Teklad 2014 - I purchase with the club but it can also be purchased from www.thecraftyrat.com or www.theratshop.com  Or you can purchase the commercial diet, higher protein (18%) Native Earth 4018 which is the same diet as Harlan Teklad 2018.

Ruby Slips Away

I went to feed the kids this morning and Ruby had slipped away sometime during the night.  She was just under a year old and this death was unexpected.  She has an unknown family past as she was the one found tied in a plastic bag in a dumpster. >:<

She is survived by her cage mate Tucker.  As Tucker is neutered, he'll be moved in with the girl's cage.

Rest in peace little Ruby.