Drape Is Helped To the Bridge

Drape was helped to the bridge today. After a long bout of respiratory issues, it just became too much for the little guy. He was the last of his cage mates. His "wife" Sprite, passed earlier.

Drape was adopted when Chester came to Vermin Village. He and Chester were introduced and became best buddies. This was the first introduction I'd done with intact males. They did very well and I was most impressed. Particularly because they were both 6 months of age--not a good age to introduce intact males. I think they were both exceptional in that they wanted a friend.

They were soon joined by Eddie, Dumbo, Diego and Hades. All intact males. Eddie and Dumbo were a bonded pair as were Diego and Hades. Sadly Hades and Dumbo were the first of the group passed, Eddie followed and more recently Diego.

Rest in peace little one.

Diego Slips Away

Diego has sadly slipped away, leaving his cage mate Drape behind but joining his other cage mates at the bridge. Chester, Eddie, Dumbo and his brother Hades are already there to greet him at the bridge. He always looked at you as if deciding whether or not he wanted you to pick him up or if he wanted you to chase him--as a game. He was very gentle. I was crushed the day his brother Hades passed. I think it was made easier for Diego because
he had other friends to be with. He is survived by his last cage mate, Drape, who has also been very ill.

Rest in peace little one.

Chester, The Agouti Big Guy

Chester passed early this morning. He was about 18 months old. His cage mate Drape stayed with him and pretty much alerted me that something was wrong when I walked in. Chester is survived by his cage mates Eddie, Diego and Drape.

Chester was a big guy. Gentle but with a very strong personality. He liked to be pet and held but he also liked to be left alone to explore. He was bonded most closely with Drape as he and Drape were single rats adopted from separate people. Eddie was originally Dumbo's cage mate and Diego was originally Hades cage mate. My poor bachelor group is getting smaller.

I adopted Chester from someone on Craigslist when he was six months old. She got him from someone that raised feeders. :-(

His remains are being saved for private cremation.

Drape AKA Hammy

On 10/28/2007, I picked up a new rat. He had a name, but John renamed him Drape (I was thinking of Luke) but Drape works. (You'll see when you see his picture.) He is a lovable little guy, but he is a bit nervous of all of the noises in Vermin Village so he is just taking it easy. He'll be introduced to Chester this weekend when I am home to monitor them for several hours.

Cocoa, Chester and Miscellaneous Updates

It's been a while and I have sooo much new happening. Vermin Village will open mid-November. Time has been taken up with some last minute classes. Precious and Shäst have bonded and share a cage. I did have them in a "bigger" cage that I made, but I decided it was too unwieldy and had some sharp edges. So I am going to have a "custom" addition made at Quality Cages. They have a wheel, but they don't use it as they are too busy keeping house.

I picked up a jumbo rat named Chester. He is under 6 months old, big, lovable guy. He is by himself right now. I'm hoping to see if he can join Knick and Knack and have some pals.

I clamped the 2 five story rat mansions together and it makes a wonderful 10-story cage for my 4 brothers, Rico, Baxter, Worth and Mosco.

Pepé, the mouse, kept having one of the three brothers escape from their habitat and into his habitat. The first time it happened, Pepé had the intruder pinned up the tube. The second time it happened, Curly had Pepé pinned up in the tube. I thought they were escaping outside of their habitats through the wheel open. Last night, I saw differently. They were escaping out the DOOR. The spaces were too wide on the door. So I've replaced with 1/2 x 1/2 inch wire.

While John was in Tennessee, I acquired Cocoa from the Oregon Humane Society. She was the last of a family of gerbils. She was the only black gerbil AND she was there several weeks longer. (Black animals stay in the shelter longer than other animals, that is why most shelters have "adopt a black dog" week.) John had mentioned he liked the rats, but they were asleep when he got home from work. Cocoa is awake during the day. We had a HUGE aquarium that we got for $5 at the Columbia Humane Society Rummage Sale. I got her a ceramic sand bath and put Chinchilla sand in it, a wheel, some tubes and about 4 inches of paper bedding and hay. She went to town! I know she hadn't had a sand bath in some time as she was at the shelter for over a month. She jumped right in. The next day, her coat was VERY nice. She rearranges her decor every day AND she LOVES the wheel. At first I had it on the 4 inches of bedding, but she kept tunneling underneath and eventually the wheel wouldn't move anymore. Now I tape the stand to the TOP of the aquarium (there is a lip) and she loves it even more there. (Sounds like the damn thing is about to carry the aquarium off!)