Boo Passes

I went into the room and found that Boo had passed overnight. :*( He was preceded in death by his brother Mr. Beans. Both were adopted from CL from someone that offered them up as pets or food. They were in a small, filthy cage. I didn't even take the cage it smelled so bad.

After his brother passed, Boo was moved into a cage filled with girls, and he was very happy. (He and his brother were neutered not long after they got here.)

Run and be free little Boo!

Trixie Shocks Us

This death was a surprise. One day she was bouncing around the cage, the next she wasn't. She was a crabby little girl that calmed down with the presence of Boo, a neutered boy. Probably because he was so much bigger than her. And Pixie, an older rattie lady that started out life crabby but ended up a more loving rattie as she got older. Finally figured out people were no longer a bad thing.

Rest in Peace little one!

Ratties Move....New Cage Purchase

Libby has been moved to the downstairs BC-6. She is living next store to Bella. Bella has been moved from the home with the 5 girls. They do ok, but Bella has 4 tumors and Libby needed a friend. Bella was ok with the other group of girls but she was not so bonded that she didn't like the change. She seems to love having a part of a cage to herself and still be able to visit with Libby.

Libby also has a small tumor and she is also pretty old. :( So they are two little old ladies that hang out side-by-side in their hammocks.

Mimi and Junior were moved back downstairs into a BC-6. Junior still gets a bit nervous around a lot of noise but he so enjoys hamming it up when he knows you're looking at him. These are the 2 I hope to put the 2 spayed girls with. Mimi is also spayed of course.

Sherman and Luke are in the lower BC-6. They have lots of fun. I've thrown in lots of newspaper in all of the cages and they've gone to town with making nests. It cracks me up to see the 2 boys in their hammocks with newspaper all around them. They have blankets too but it must be something about the paper. lol

Upstairs, the BC-7s are waiting to be cleaned. Remi is currently hanging out downstairs while this is happening. Remi will be moving into a split BC-7 with Cricket on the other side. Hopefully they will get used to each other so the divider can come out. Potter and Joey are also in a carrier waiting for the BC-7 (they used to live in a BC-6). I've downsized the room to 2 stacks of BC-7 and moved all of the BC-6 downstairs. Of course the 4 custom multi-leveled cages are still up there.

Trixie, Pixie and Boo have moved into Tickle Tower! (Remember Boo is neutered.) So far so good. Since Libby has moved downstairs, she was living in the upper level of the Tower, there was more room to move the 3 in. Boo doesn't know quite what to do. The tower has lots of stuff for them to play in and hammocks to sack out in. Sadly, the matriarch, Shäst, has really slowed down. I'm hesitent to move her though. I put everthing she needs on the level she stays on. Although water is available on all levels. She spends most of the time in the hammock. I don't want to move her out because her friends Lucy and Nona are good company for her and take care of their old friend.


I did purchase a used Quality Cage, BC-11 1/2 cage from a private party. I went to Quality Cages and purchased a stand, as shown in the picture. I also had extra doors made for easier cleaning. I also need to purchase 2 more doors to cover the nest box holes, but that is not a problem! Turns out they made a new product for the chinchilla cages. It is a powder coated metal shelf. So I got 3 of those to try out in this cage. I'll see how they work and might order more, maybe even wider shelves. It's so exciting. The cage is very big, but if I keep it downstairs, which is where it will eventually end up, I can just roll it out the front door to clean. Currently, this cage is in storage.

Anyway, it has been very busy at the village.

Trixie Joins Us

A co-worker had adopted 2 little girls. 1 of the girls was cage aggressive and with children, she could not keep Trixie. So Trixie has come home with me. Right now her carrier is next to Pixie's carrier (their cage is drying). Pixie and Trixie will be joined by a neutered boy Boo in a PC-1822. This cage is a little smaller than I like to keep 3 rats in but they are smallish rats and it is temporary while I can monitor them downstairs. When the 3 cages are done at Quality Cages, they'll move upstairs in the rat room and live in a BC-6 or BC-7, depends on which is available.

Mr. Beans Passes

Mr. Beans passed sometime during Monday night. I went in the next morning to find him laying on the bottom of the cage, his brother, Boo, running frantically around to get my attention. ::sigh:: I hate losing the little guys. He was about 1 year old. I adopted both from someone that was giving them away for pets or food. :-(

I wrapped him in a clean blanket and placed his remains in a container to be taken to the Humane Society on Sunday.

He is survived by his brother Boo.

Sadness and Sickness Sweeps Vermin Village

I'm so upset. Respiratory illness is sweeping through Vermin Village. I stopped using CareFresh, too dusty. I switched to Aspen. Also too dusty. So now I'm switching to kiln dried pine (yes I know) litter made by ABM. The Rat Guide lists it as an acceptable bedding and I have to do something. So we are trying that.

All of the fur kids are on lysine and antibiotics. It is a very long time. I noticed early on that Rico had BUGS ON HIM. What the hell? So despite the warnings, I had to treat everyone with Revolution. You aren't supposed to treat sick kids but they are NOT candidates for a bath AND the bugs work against them too.

Owen, one of the older boys adopted from a family in SE Portland, passed away around 2am Monday, April 21st. I was up all night with him, my rat Rico, and Precious. Rico and Precious continued to remain in the bathroom with humidifier and steam treatments as well as their other medication. Rico was also really bad. He passed away around 3am today, April 24th. He was not even a year old. I will write about both of them on another post as all of the babies deserve their own memorial on the blog. I just have to think of what to say since I've lost 2 and have the potential to lose a lot more, so close together.

Precious is still fighting. She is just a year old, hairless little girl. I hope she was caught early enough.

Others that have been sneezing and the ones they are caged with (so every rat in the room) is on lysine and antibiotics. I'll give them all lysine the rest of their lives and antibiotics twice a day for 6 weeks, which means I'm very busy.

I did get two boys, Mr. Beans and Boo from CL. They were offered as pets or snake food and after hemming and hawing due to the illness, I went and got them. I'll make a separate entry for that experience later. Right now I've got to go and medicate and clean a cage or two before I go to work.