Chase was actually sick last month and had been doing lots better and was just taking a maintenance dose of Cipro. I went to feed the fuzzies tonight and he had passed in the igloo. The others must have thought he was cold because they covered him with the blanket.
Chase was a beautiful, loving rattie and he loved his cage mates. I think the loss of Liam upset him and he just gave up. (As Liam was sick, Chase built a nest around him in the lower level of the cage and slept with him to keep him warm.)
Chase loved to hang out with his girls and his favorite food was Blueberry Pomegranate Total. He would try to eat all of the pieces before anyone else got downstairs. It was hysterical.
Chase is survived by his cage mates RMIS Rose, RMIS Poppy and Dmnt Sooki.
Chase, you left us too soon. Rest in peace.
Chase has been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.
The lives of the lovable vermin of F.A.T.E.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Blossom Passes
Blossom, one of my little Idaho girls passed away unexpectedly. She was found curled asleep in the igloo. :(
She is survived by her "sibling" Sweet Pea and cage mates Currant, Sultana, Little Mamma, Jelly, and the ancient one, Isabella.
Blossom loved to dangle from the top of the cage and dart through the tunnel. Her favorite food was broccoli. Like other girls, she preferred to scrabble around than hang out with me but she did like to be pet and play hand chase.
Rest in peace Blossom!
She is survived by her "sibling" Sweet Pea and cage mates Currant, Sultana, Little Mamma, Jelly, and the ancient one, Isabella.
Blossom loved to dangle from the top of the cage and dart through the tunnel. Her favorite food was broccoli. Like other girls, she preferred to scrabble around than hang out with me but she did like to be pet and play hand chase.
Rest in peace Blossom!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Liam Leaves Us
After fighting a myco flare up, he just kept getting weaker and weaker. He spent Friday night through Sunday 2am with me. I woke up ever couple of hours and fed him and gave him fluids (along with his medication). At 2am I realized he was not going to get better and helped him to the bridge.
Liam was an odd-eyed boy that wasn't too big on being held but put up with it on a regular basis. My husband really bonded with Liam. And the day I brought him to work he was a big hit and he was a gentle boy while people fussed over him.
He is survived by his cage mates RMIS Rose, RMIS Poppy, Dmnt Sooki and his best buddy Chase.
Rest in peace little guy. You are greatly missed.
Liam was an odd-eyed boy that wasn't too big on being held but put up with it on a regular basis. My husband really bonded with Liam. And the day I brought him to work he was a big hit and he was a gentle boy while people fussed over him.
He is survived by his cage mates RMIS Rose, RMIS Poppy, Dmnt Sooki and his best buddy Chase.
Rest in peace little guy. You are greatly missed.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Bedding and Litter and Vermin Village
I have some updates to this post. After several years under my belt, I've refined my preferences.
Rats get fleece in the cage and Good News (or other paper pelleted litter) in the litter boxes. I get the fleece cheap from either Ikea or Joanne's fabrics. The fleece is tossed after use.
Mice get Good News (or other paper pelleted litter) as the main substrate and then I add tissues and shredded paper, or Clean and Cozy for nesting material. The paper pellets are better at controlling the odor. The best place in the Portland metro area that I know of to get Good News is Winco.
The gerbils get crinkle kraft paper that I order from Staples in 10# boxes. I provide paper and tissue and some Clean and Cozy for nesting material. They seem to really love shredding it and tunneling through it.
Hamsters get Kaytee's Clean and Cozy. I find the crinkle paper tends to stick to them if they have longer fur. I order this from petmountain.com. I used to order it from Drs Foster and Smith but when they were taken over by Petco, they stopped offering the pet store size and it became too expensive.
I wanted to provide the updates because after 10+ years experience, this is what I have found works best here.
Previous information:
I've tried many items for bedding and litter. I use Good Mews in my litter boxes and in the mouse cages. It controls odor well. It is heavy though so while I have used it in my cages, due to the number of cages I have and where the cages are located I prefer not to use it in the cage bases.
I've used wooden pellets but they smelled funny to me. I was not a fan of the aspen shavings. I did like the Aspen Sani Chips but the ratties had so much fun tossing them out and it is expensive to get.
I'm currently finishing up the Douglas Fir shavings I have and have been pretty pleased with them but the large bales sometimes have a dampness to them so I have to let them dry. The smaller bales are better about being dry.
I just recently purchased rice hulls at the feed store. I've used it in several cages so far. A bale lasts me for at least 2 cleanings of all of my cages and the bales are available locally at NW Concentrates for $14 as of this posting. It is better if I give the area of the cages, which is 8784 inches. This is just the area where the hulls are placed. It is good for a week, with little odor at that time. It absorbs well. The rats do like to dig in it so it is best with deep pans of at least 3 inches, but it does vacuum easily and is less likely to clog the hose because the pieces are small and uniform in size. There is little to no dust. The bedding itself has barely any scent and certainly nothing to irritate sensitive rattie noses.
In the gerbil cages I just use shredded newspaper. In the hamster cages they get rice hulls and newspaper. In the mouse cages I use Good Mews and newspaper.
The downside with rice hulls is the difficulty in finding them where rice is not grown. Luckily Portland has a place that orders it from the Davis, California area.
Rats get fleece in the cage and Good News (or other paper pelleted litter) in the litter boxes. I get the fleece cheap from either Ikea or Joanne's fabrics. The fleece is tossed after use.
Mice get Good News (or other paper pelleted litter) as the main substrate and then I add tissues and shredded paper, or Clean and Cozy for nesting material. The paper pellets are better at controlling the odor. The best place in the Portland metro area that I know of to get Good News is Winco.
The gerbils get crinkle kraft paper that I order from Staples in 10# boxes. I provide paper and tissue and some Clean and Cozy for nesting material. They seem to really love shredding it and tunneling through it.
Hamsters get Kaytee's Clean and Cozy. I find the crinkle paper tends to stick to them if they have longer fur. I order this from petmountain.com. I used to order it from Drs Foster and Smith but when they were taken over by Petco, they stopped offering the pet store size and it became too expensive.
I wanted to provide the updates because after 10+ years experience, this is what I have found works best here.
Previous information:
I've tried many items for bedding and litter. I use Good Mews in my litter boxes and in the mouse cages. It controls odor well. It is heavy though so while I have used it in my cages, due to the number of cages I have and where the cages are located I prefer not to use it in the cage bases.
I've used wooden pellets but they smelled funny to me. I was not a fan of the aspen shavings. I did like the Aspen Sani Chips but the ratties had so much fun tossing them out and it is expensive to get.
I'm currently finishing up the Douglas Fir shavings I have and have been pretty pleased with them but the large bales sometimes have a dampness to them so I have to let them dry. The smaller bales are better about being dry.
I just recently purchased rice hulls at the feed store. I've used it in several cages so far. A bale lasts me for at least 2 cleanings of all of my cages and the bales are available locally at NW Concentrates for $14 as of this posting. It is better if I give the area of the cages, which is 8784 inches. This is just the area where the hulls are placed. It is good for a week, with little odor at that time. It absorbs well. The rats do like to dig in it so it is best with deep pans of at least 3 inches, but it does vacuum easily and is less likely to clog the hose because the pieces are small and uniform in size. There is little to no dust. The bedding itself has barely any scent and certainly nothing to irritate sensitive rattie noses.
In the gerbil cages I just use shredded newspaper. In the hamster cages they get rice hulls and newspaper. In the mouse cages I use Good Mews and newspaper.
The downside with rice hulls is the difficulty in finding them where rice is not grown. Luckily Portland has a place that orders it from the Davis, California area.
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