Pixie Leaves the Village

It is with great sadness that I had to help Pixie to the bridge tonight. She just had nothing left in her. She is one of the first girls I adopted. She actually was one scared girl when I first got her and inclined to nip. As she aged and got more used to me, she no longer did this. Tonight as I carried her downstairs she was bruxing and looking at me with sad eyes. She was 40 months old. She was preceded in death by her sister Pinkie. She has been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society. Rest in peach little one.

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.

Sprite Medicine Dream Girl

Well, poor Sprite is battling chronic respiratory illness and will be on meds for life. But I have to say she is a dream to give medicine too. She grabs the syringe and holds it while taking the medicine. She is the ONLY one that does this. I don't even have to pick her up. I just need to open the door and call her and she runs to it and drinks it all up like a good girl. So I have Sherman the potty training rattie boy and Sprite, the medicine girl. And of course Joey, abscess boy. Which by the way the last abscess treatment appears to look good so far. Pixie's growth was a sebaceous cyst. It is unknown if it will abscess now. Dr. B said it was not a sterile environment and he did the best he could to get clean tissue but as it had ulcerated and it was on the leg, there wasn't much skin to pull. So far that appears to be doing ok. She is on antibiotics too.

Pinkie's Trial and Peace

Pinkie was put to sleep today. I had intended to bring her in last night but they refused to follow the procedures I set out. As long as the rats in my care meet the criteria, which Pixie did, I want them in my arms when they pass. Most of the rats in my care were "throw away" pets, some don't even like to be held. They deserve to be loved, even if they are cranky. Pinkie was such a girl. She loved her sister Pixie, but not much else.

When they first to came to Vermin Village, they were frightened little girls. They were both adopted from the Oregon Humane Society. They were 1 years old at the time. Thankfully, they had taken them in. They originally had a huge cage to start with, but Pinkie bit me and Pixie was terrified. So I got them an aquarium and they felt safer. Eventually I went to Quality Cages and got a topper for the aquarium and eventually they graduated to the cages. Both were avid wheel runners.

As time passed, they took food from my hands and didn't run in terror when I opened the cages but they still needed a blanket to pick them up because they did NOT like being held. They also were terrified during free range attempts so I always made sure their cages were BIG and full of stuff for them to mess around with. It must have been good because as of this month they turned 26 months old.

Pinkie is survived by her sister Pixie. I held Pinkie while they administered the sedative and after she was completely relaxed, they injected the medication into her abdomen, and I held her then too. She peacefully went to sleep. She is awaiting transport to OHS tomorrow for private cremation.

The whole trial of the situation was I had arranged an appointment last night with Rock Creek Veterinary Hospital. Every time I have been in previously they performed the procedure exactly as I wanted. This time, they refused. (Different doctor.) I left. They said it was too traumatic to watch. Um, if you don't know what you're doing, just say so. What really irritated me was that I specifically asked for the procedure to be performed in the specific manner when I made the appointment. To add insult to injury, when I called Dove Lewis, the attitude was, we don't give sedatives to rats. Well, we won't be going there either. It is all very disappointing. I wish there was a way to get the communities that should respect all animals to read up on taking care of animals that are pets. Rats do deserve respect, even if you don't like them. In Columbia, the same species of rats we have as pets, they use for clearing land mine fields. (The ones in Africa are a different animal, but they do the same.) And for the sacrifice of their lives for humans for research, they damn well deserve to be treated humanely.

Rest in peace little one. Now you don't have to put up with crappy people any more. I'll look after your sister for you, and when it is time for her, you will be reunited again with your playmate.