Cage Set-up Changes

As you may notice, I'm a big fan of Quality Cages, www.qualitycage.com.  They have made every cage and carrier in use at Vermin Village except the mice bin style cages and that is because the wire is a real pain to work with.  I have several designs of cages that I use but at this moment I'm in the process of converting to temporarily retiring my multi-level cages and going with single level cages.  The reason I didn't do it before was because of the size limitation, how do you make side-by-side cages bigger but still fairly easy to clean.  I finally found a way to do that.  This set up makes introductions easier and are definitely easier to clean.

• Honey-Can-Do 5-Shelf 42 in. W x 72 in. H x 18 in. D Black Shelving Unit Model # SHF-01440 Internet # 202493261 from Home Depot as the shelving units.  You could opt to have them make stands for you and then stack the cages but I like the extra storage these provide.  I actually purchased wheels for these shelves from Ace Hardware Outlet [www.acehardwareoutlet.com].  Ace Trading SHF-01939 Casters 4-Set, ACE# 5603923 MFR# SHF-01939.  Please note, 36" wide shelves will NOT work for these cages as the cage itself is 36" wide.

• 2 BC-7 or FC-7 cages from Quality Cages (I prefer the BC-7 cages but the FC-7 cages will work too).  Also, get powder coated, it is well worth the money.  The center divider in the BC-7 slides out.  Each cage comes with a solid and wire divider so introductions work well too!

 Have the cages customized in the following manner:

• Make the doors as large as possible to fit items like wheels, igloos, et cetera through the door. (Measurements to follow.)
• Make sure the cut a hole in one side of the cage (measurements and placement to follow) on each cage.  Make sure that each pair of cages has the hole cut in the center facing of each cage (so one cut is on the right side of one cage and the left side of the second cage).  Pictures of cuts to follow.
• Put the door over the hole.  The door should be 10" x 12"  with the latch on the 10" side.
• 2 ceiling collars (sold in the vent section at Home Depot)

• Machine screws and nuts, and washers. (sizes to follow)

Currently, for the tube I use a 12" long 4" PVC pipe and two 3" to 4" reducers.

I'm going to be working on a metal tube solution with Quality Cages because the PVC ones are kind of a pain to clean and if I have them make it, the tube will be 4" through the entire tube.

Anyway, when the tube is in use, the doors are open (they should be set to open down.  When the tubes aren't needed, the doors can be closed.  Perfect for cleaning.  To clean the tube, I recommend purchasing a toilet bowl brush just for cleaning the tubes.

I use 4 pairs of BC-7 cages for the rats.

O-ren Passes

O-ren, a bitey dwarf hamster passed away sometime Tuesday.  I noticed she didn't come greet me at the door and after pulling her tunnels apart found she had passed in her cage.  The only time she hasn't tried to bite me when pulling her out.

She's been prepared for private cremation at OHS.

Rest in peace you little air attacker.  (For her penchant for trying to bite the air when you walked by.)

Harold Leaves to Reunite With Brothers

At the age of 31 months, Harold has been reunited with his brothers, Chupachup, Billy and Rutherford.  Harold, like his brothers, was a sweet gentle giant.  Always greeting you at the cage door, these past few weeks he lost the use of his back legs.  He still could scoot around until I noticed Sunday he had slowed down quite a bit.  He passed away while I was at work on Monday.

He has been prepared for private cremation at OHS.

Rest in peace little giant.

Raisin Unexpectedly Exits

I'm very upset, Raisin, one of my New Mexico rattie girls, has passed unexpectedly.   She went through so much to get here and now she has gone.  The only comfort I have is that she at least was with her cage mates.

She has been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.  She is survived by her 2 "sisters" Currant and Sultana.

Rest in peace little Raisin.

Frozen Rodent Mix

Taking a leaf from the Dapper Rat's site on her frozen food recipe, I decided to try a frozen mix myself since I'm always so pressed for time.

Thanks to another friend, I found Whole Foods sells frozen kale.  In the interest of time I also used the frozen rice and beans.  In future mixes, I'll make the rice and beans myself.

I gave them some tonight and they all LOVED it.  I will vary it every batch but there are some base ingredients I will use in every batch.  I'll add other items for variety.

• Frozen Whole Kale  (10#)
• Frozen Chopped Broccoli, Cauliflower, Squash, Carrots (11#)
• Peas (5#)
• Corn (5#)
• 10 cups of cooked beans
• 12 cups steamed brown basmatti rice
• 12 cups steamed quinoa
• Frozen Green Beans (5#)

For those in the Beaverton/Hillsboro, Oregon area, I get items to make the mix at the following locations:

• frozen, chopped blue kale - Whole Foods
• frozen corn - Costco
• frozen peas - Costco
• frozen green beans - Costco
• frozen Normandy vegetables - Costco
• brown rice - winco bulk food bins (you can get any grain, but since I eat the basmatti brown, that is what I buy them, it is more expensive)  And I actually purchase my basmatti brown rice at Costco or Winco, depending on which one is cheaper.
• mix of dried beans (I buy a combination of dried beans from the bulk bins in Winco; I do not include lentils or split peas because I already have frozen peas and the lentils don't seem to hold together so well.

I steam the brown rice in a cooker.  I have the small cooker so when I cook it, it takes 2 pots of it for about 12 cups.  I then cook the quinoa in the cooker and it also takes 2 pots to get about 12 cups.

I cook 1 cup of dried beans for every 2 cups of cooked beans.  I place the beans in a pot on the stove and cover with water and bring to a boil for 3 minutes.  Then I turn down the heat and let simmer for 2 and a half hours until the beans are tender but not mushy.  I then drain and put beans in the fridge to cool.  The rice and quinoa are put in the fridge to cool and then in the freezer to freeze.

I then mix all of the frozen foods together and add the beans as well.

After mixing it all together, I part it out in amounts that I will use each night.  Currently I use freezer zip bags (and I reuse them).  Eventually I will get the appropriate sized freezer containers to do this with I still have to find one that I like.

Each night I pull a packet out and  put it in a microwave safe container and cook it for 3 to 5 minutes.  Then I dish it out to the kiddos.

I do include fresh vegetables when I have them.  I don't cook those. 


Because of their dry mix, I don't put in any pasta in the mix.

I purchased the 1 pound paper boats at Costco, 250 for $5 to feed the wet mix in.  I would rather spend the money on paper plates than spend the time washing them. :D

Reference:  The Dapper Rat Rat Diet http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#diet