Old Man Sherman Departs the Village

Sherman passed while I was at the hospital. I didn't want to help him to the bridge because despite the fact he had total back end paralysis he dragged himself around and up the side of his cage like nobody's business.

A big black and white rattie boy, he was a real dream as a pet. He didn't like most rats, but for some reason he took a shine to Luke, his cage mate that preceeded him in death. Sherman was almost twice as big as Luke, but Sherman liked the fact Luke liked to be his blanket. Sherman was 43 months old. He came here a lone rattie boy. Patches and Nona also came from the same home. He lived with Luke until Luke passed away.

Rest in peace little Sherman, you'll have your little Luke blanket again.

Luke Is Helped to the Bridge

Sadly, I had to help Luke to the bridge. I was cleaning the cages and noticed that Luke was having a really hard time. He's been battling respiratory illness on and off for some time now. His chest appeared to barely expand anymore. I am very upset over this. I knew Sherman, Luke's cage mate, was going to have a hard time with this.

I pet and talked to Luke as he slipped away. He was then prepared to be taken to OHS for private cremation.

Luke was adopted with his brother Owen. Owen was also about 6 months older than Luke. Owen passed not long after he came here due to respiratory issues. It all happened rather fast!

Eventually, Luke and Sherman were introduced. Both being intact males, I had to be very careful. They hit it off right away. I was amazed. Sherman didn't like anyone else I had tried to introduce him to before.

When I left, Sherman was huddling in the front corner of his cage. Sherman is actually considerably older than Luke--Sherman is almost 3 years old. He is still very spry and big and cuddly. It was hard leaving him home while I came to California on vacation. I'm hoping he is ok. There wasn't time to arrange for him to stay with someone else. My husband is taking care of the little guys but I know that it is hard to spread yourself so thin with only one person there. I don't have anyone to put with Sherman. Sherman was actually very hard to find a buddy for. I was amazed that he and Luke hit it off. Luke, half the size of Sherman, used sleep on top of Sherman like a rattie blanket.

Rest in peace little Luke! You will be missed.

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.