General Update

After trying to see if the Syrian hamsters would do well in the old style Ware cages I've decided to revert back to the Quality Cages.  The Ware cages are just too small for them.  I'm also getting them flying saucers so no need to worry about the wheel issue.  I had ordered pans for the Ware cages from Martins Cages but I'm going to get rid of the Ware cages with their original pans and hang onto the Martin pans for the last 4 mouse cages that will be ordered.

I was able to get 225 pounds of rolled grain in the 55 gallon drum.  It's sealed away from anything that might get into it!  This is a food grade barrel and this is human grade grain.  I pull grain from here to mix the food for the rats.  (The gerbils, hamsters and mice eat other food although they do get a bit of this with their normal diet.)

I took the remains of the 9 critters that had passed since the last run, to the Oregon Humane Society for cremation.  Hopefully the freezer (we have a designated freezer for remains) will remain empty for some time! The urn should be ready for pick up next week or so.

I'm still trying to find a piece of the cage that got lost somehow.  The cage is slated to go to the Oregon Humane Society but I don't want to bring it without the final piece.

I ordered 2 42" shelves and casters for the room to replace one 36" and one 48" shelf.  This will allow me to get 2 BC-7 cages to expand 2 rat cages to hold up to 12 rats per group.  We often take in entire accidental litters so this allows us to keep all of the, same gender, together.

The cage configuration will be 10 shelves slated for ratties and 5 shelves slated for gerbils, Syrian hamsters, and/or mice.  Currently there are 8 shelves for ratties and 7 shelves for gerbils, Syrian hamstes, and/or mice.  (There are 12 shelves for storage.)  The critters also have their own refrigerator.

I think that is about it on the updates.  Next week we will pick up the remains, and go to Quality Cages to pay for an order and then to ConcentratesNW to pick up more rice hulls for bedding.