Daenerys
Well-Known Member
At least he is healthy other than being underweight so you wont have to keep him that long...he should put on weight pretty fast now that he is getting regular meals, right?
Ren's WILDlife
- Thread starter RandomWiktor
- Start date
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
Well he's healthy aside from being underweight, but he's also not old enough to be released. If he is foraging effectively by 2lbs he could probably be let go, but he's definitely at least a month away from that. But no, not too long term I hope 
Myia09
Well-Known Member
He is so adorable! But man, that is expensive! I hope he gets better quickly and makes a nice return
Dragonrain
Well-Known Member
Aw he's a cutie. My mom is terrified of opossums, it's kind of funny.
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
So many updates!
Bunnies
It's been beautiful weather, so the buns have been outside every day. Their poops are so nice looking when they have access to real grass all day; it makes me look forward to the thought of possibly moving to a place where they'd have fresh graze virtually all year long.
I found a cool toy that is basically a ball with a smaller ball inside of it, and a bell inside that little ball. The buns both seem to love it.
I also have started making a new weekend meal for them - bunny chop. It is basically my effort to get them to eat varied hey. They'll eat timothy and feed hay, but not things like orchard grass, oat hay, botanical hay, bunny brome, bermuda grass, etc. I bought several different kinds, mixed them all together, and to get the buns to eat it I put it through a chopper with leafy greens and a little bit of either fruit/veg to make a nice treat. I realize this eradicates the benefits of different length strands, but my interest is more in the varied nutritients from hay to hay. So far it is working great and they LOVE it!
Fosters & Wildlife Patients
So much is going on here!
First of all, the opossum has already put on a good deal of weight and eats big, healthy meals three times daily. He does, however, have fleas and probably worms, so I'll be treating him for that this coming week.
I went out hiking at the release site of the assassin bug and saw a ton of his species there, so I'm really hoping that he's survived and is out there breeding now Here's two adults mating in that area:
The snapping turtle is outdoors in his pre-release enclosure and doing well. I filled it with duckweed, fallen leaves, etc. to make it closer to a pond and have him eating 100% live prey - and I don't plop it in front of him either. He seems to be doing well so far and is actually a scootch TOO fat; they're supposed to have extra weight at release since they typically lose weight orienting, but he's put on a bit too much.
The red eared slider is slowly and steadily improving. He is up to two pounds, which is close to a decent weight for a turtle his size. His eyes are still slowly improving, and there's no signs of a URI at this point. I do think he'll be a long term project though; still not self feeding, and not healed from all of the skin lessons yet. I did take him out for some nice UVB exposure today, though!
The gecko has taken a few steps back. It threw up two meals, was losing weight, and I noticed I was seeing just urates, no poo. I force fed some daphnia and soaked him in warm water, and he finally passed a very hard, sandy poo. I suspect the previous owner kept him on sand, only compounding his issues. For the sake of better hydrating him and amping up his nutrition more than roaches, I have made a custom gel diet out of my insectivore slurry and will be feeding that until further notice. I'm hoping it'll be easier to digest, and I'll be dusting it with probiotics as well.
The rat is still slowly, surely warming up. Zero bites for interested adopters. She figured out how to open the doors on top of her cage; I found her sitting on the lid shredding up the towel that is draped over the cage. She grabbed her mouthful of towel fluff and dashed back inside when I caught her. All doors are now clipped shut to prevent further incidents. Sneaky rattie!
I have no betta/goldfish updates other than: goldfish leave for upstate in about three weeks, yay! The foster bettas have no interested adopters at this point.
But finally...
Yeah, that IS a young sulcuta. I found it in a local park yesterday, probably abandoned since it's so far from housing developments that I have to question the likelihood of escapees. Having already found two abandoned pets this month, I called my fiance and made him come look at it because I was desperately hoping there was some NY turtle species that looks JUST like a tortoise and I could put it back where I found it. No such luck. I'll be fostering this guy only most likely, as they're darned hard to care for as they grow.
Bunnies
It's been beautiful weather, so the buns have been outside every day. Their poops are so nice looking when they have access to real grass all day; it makes me look forward to the thought of possibly moving to a place where they'd have fresh graze virtually all year long.
I found a cool toy that is basically a ball with a smaller ball inside of it, and a bell inside that little ball. The buns both seem to love it.
I also have started making a new weekend meal for them - bunny chop. It is basically my effort to get them to eat varied hey. They'll eat timothy and feed hay, but not things like orchard grass, oat hay, botanical hay, bunny brome, bermuda grass, etc. I bought several different kinds, mixed them all together, and to get the buns to eat it I put it through a chopper with leafy greens and a little bit of either fruit/veg to make a nice treat. I realize this eradicates the benefits of different length strands, but my interest is more in the varied nutritients from hay to hay. So far it is working great and they LOVE it!
Fosters & Wildlife Patients
So much is going on here!
First of all, the opossum has already put on a good deal of weight and eats big, healthy meals three times daily. He does, however, have fleas and probably worms, so I'll be treating him for that this coming week.
I went out hiking at the release site of the assassin bug and saw a ton of his species there, so I'm really hoping that he's survived and is out there breeding now
Here's two adults mating in that area:
The snapping turtle is outdoors in his pre-release enclosure and doing well. I filled it with duckweed, fallen leaves, etc. to make it closer to a pond and have him eating 100% live prey - and I don't plop it in front of him either. He seems to be doing well so far and is actually a scootch TOO fat; they're supposed to have extra weight at release since they typically lose weight orienting, but he's put on a bit too much.
The red eared slider is slowly and steadily improving. He is up to two pounds, which is close to a decent weight for a turtle his size. His eyes are still slowly improving, and there's no signs of a URI at this point. I do think he'll be a long term project though; still not self feeding, and not healed from all of the skin lessons yet. I did take him out for some nice UVB exposure today, though!
The gecko has taken a few steps back. It threw up two meals, was losing weight, and I noticed I was seeing just urates, no poo. I force fed some daphnia and soaked him in warm water, and he finally passed a very hard, sandy poo. I suspect the previous owner kept him on sand, only compounding his issues. For the sake of better hydrating him and amping up his nutrition more than roaches, I have made a custom gel diet out of my insectivore slurry and will be feeding that until further notice. I'm hoping it'll be easier to digest, and I'll be dusting it with probiotics as well.
The rat is still slowly, surely warming up. Zero bites for interested adopters. She figured out how to open the doors on top of her cage; I found her sitting on the lid shredding up the towel that is draped over the cage. She grabbed her mouthful of towel fluff and dashed back inside when I caught her. All doors are now clipped shut to prevent further incidents. Sneaky rattie!
I have no betta/goldfish updates other than: goldfish leave for upstate in about three weeks, yay! The foster bettas have no interested adopters at this point.
But finally...
Yeah, that IS a young sulcuta. I found it in a local park yesterday, probably abandoned since it's so far from housing developments that I have to question the likelihood of escapees. Having already found two abandoned pets this month, I called my fiance and made him come look at it because I was desperately hoping there was some NY turtle species that looks JUST like a tortoise and I could put it back where I found it. No such luck. I'll be fostering this guy only most likely, as they're darned hard to care for as they grow.
Daenerys
Well-Known Member
Ahhh I am so jealous of you with that sulcatta! I want a tortoise If I was in NY I would totally adopt him from you.
If I was in NY I would totally adopt him from you.
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
The red eared slider is now self feeding
Daenerys
Well-Known Member
Yaaaay!
JadeIcing
Well-Known Member
Thank god for news that make makes me smile.
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
Operation Buckley, Status: Complete!
Today was the exciting transport day for Buckley! It took a lot of weeks of playing "schedule tag" between myself, Jim, and Dianne, but we finally all found a good day and all systems were go. I was so nervous that I'd oversleep my alarm (3:30am as I needed to care for all of my animals and my pet sitting clients' dogs before heading out) that I was up until 1am the night before. By the grace of caffiene and the blessing of fair weather, no traffic, and good directions, however, the eight hour round trip journey was a success.
Jim met us very punctually in Newburgh for the first part of the transfer; what a sweet, kind man driving all the way up to meet at 6am on behalf of Buckley! He's a lucky bunny to have such a devoted foster dad. We unloaded his belongings into my (hay filled, haha) trunk, set him up in his travel cage, then began the long drive up to Tully.
Buckley HAD a nice cushy blanket and a bunch of hay over the absorbent newspaper below in his transport cage, but the lil bugger got nervous, moved everything around, and took to shredding it! He also started MUNCHING some newspaper, which I distracted him from with a nice big fistfull of dark mixed lettuces.
Caught in the act of paper destruction!
Denise showed up right on time in Tully. It was funny seeing Buckley in the show rabbit style transport cage because he's such a big boy! From what I hear, he had a safe ride home and is settling in nicely with Denise. It sounds like he really hit paydirt from what she was describing.
I'm so very happy to have been a part of this. Not only did I get to meet two wonderful RO members highly committed to the wellbeing of Buckley, but the furry little man himself. I wish him all of the best with his new mom!
Today was the exciting transport day for Buckley! It took a lot of weeks of playing "schedule tag" between myself, Jim, and Dianne, but we finally all found a good day and all systems were go. I was so nervous that I'd oversleep my alarm (3:30am as I needed to care for all of my animals and my pet sitting clients' dogs before heading out) that I was up until 1am the night before. By the grace of caffiene and the blessing of fair weather, no traffic, and good directions, however, the eight hour round trip journey was a success.
Jim met us very punctually in Newburgh for the first part of the transfer; what a sweet, kind man driving all the way up to meet at 6am on behalf of Buckley! He's a lucky bunny to have such a devoted foster dad. We unloaded his belongings into my (hay filled, haha) trunk, set him up in his travel cage, then began the long drive up to Tully.
Buckley HAD a nice cushy blanket and a bunch of hay over the absorbent newspaper below in his transport cage, but the lil bugger got nervous, moved everything around, and took to shredding it! He also started MUNCHING some newspaper, which I distracted him from with a nice big fistfull of dark mixed lettuces.
Caught in the act of paper destruction!
Denise showed up right on time in Tully. It was funny seeing Buckley in the show rabbit style transport cage because he's such a big boy! From what I hear, he had a safe ride home and is settling in nicely with Denise. It sounds like he really hit paydirt from what she was describing.
I'm so very happy to have been a part of this. Not only did I get to meet two wonderful RO members highly committed to the wellbeing of Buckley, but the furry little man himself. I wish him all of the best with his new mom!
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
Oops, for some reason I put "Dianne" instead of "Denise." Stupid post edit time limit!
fuzz16
Well-Known Member
wow a sulcata...so sad pet stores sell animals that get bigger than a normal person capacity and interest
JadeIcing
Well-Known Member
Hey checking in to see how you and your crew are... Ok and to see how little gecko dude is. A friend at work is taking care of one for the summer. Class room pet she told me he was way to skinny. Showed her your guy she said looks like that. Tips on helping it?
Myia09
Well-Known Member
JadeIcing wrote:
If she wont eat at all, you can use a gecko slurry fed with a dropper:
*1 small can Hill's A/D pet food (available from good veterinarians)
¼ cup Ensure (not chocolate)
1 jar baby food (squash or pumpkin flavoured)
¼ cup Pedialite
*2 tabs or the contents of 2 capsules of milk thistle (a herbal supplement used as liver support, found at most drug stores)
*2 tabs or the contents of 2 capsules of Acidophilus (a gastrointestinal probiotic, also found at most drug stores)
1 tsp. calcium powder
1/2 tsp. herp vitamin powder
2-4 extra large handfuls of mealworms - add slowly while the mixture is blending until it reaches the consistancy of amilkshake.
* optional ingredients
I have used said slurry a bunch of times with great success.
If she will eat fine on her own, just supplement her crickets with dubia roaches, mealworms, and waxworms. If she is an full grown leo, you can feed her a very small pinkie mouse, but make sure not to feed her other worms or roaches fro 2-3 days (So the mouse can digest)
Hey Ren, how is the aid going for purchasing the rescue?
If she wont eat at all, you can use a gecko slurry fed with a dropper:
*1 small can Hill's A/D pet food (available from good veterinarians)
¼ cup Ensure (not chocolate)
1 jar baby food (squash or pumpkin flavoured)
¼ cup Pedialite
*2 tabs or the contents of 2 capsules of milk thistle (a herbal supplement used as liver support, found at most drug stores)
*2 tabs or the contents of 2 capsules of Acidophilus (a gastrointestinal probiotic, also found at most drug stores)
1 tsp. calcium powder
1/2 tsp. herp vitamin powder
2-4 extra large handfuls of mealworms - add slowly while the mixture is blending until it reaches the consistancy of amilkshake.
* optional ingredients
I have used said slurry a bunch of times with great success.
If she will eat fine on her own, just supplement her crickets with dubia roaches, mealworms, and waxworms. If she is an full grown leo, you can feed her a very small pinkie mouse, but make sure not to feed her other worms or roaches fro 2-3 days (So the mouse can digest)
Hey Ren, how is the aid going for purchasing the rescue?
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. A LOT is going on.
First of all... we are in the process of contracting & closing for the purchase of the property in Alabama. Things are looking very good unless something highly unforseen happens. So, Steve and I are getting married in preparation to move. The wedding is the 27th of this month, so I'm running around like a madwoman trying to throw it together and keep everyone reasonably happy.
I'm doing a TON of pet sitting - I'm literally out of my home a good 18 hours a day since I do overnights. Thankfully my job said they will not throw any more work my way until I have a definite date for the move - though I'm still booked straight through mid July as it is.
I'm VERY sad to report that the little gecko started crashing. I brought him back to the vet... actively shedding cryptosporidium at this point. This is bad news as the prognosis is very poor & there is no reliable treatment and NO cure for it. I've been force feeding insectivore slurry, vitamins, calcium, and probiotics; it's up to him if he'll survive, but things are looking grim. He is dropping weight like crazy despite being fed throughout the day, which tells me his GI is not breaking down and absorbing nutrients properly.
As far as the other critters? Here's what's up.
- The red eared slider is self feeding extremely well on a home made gel diet, strong enough to swim, has been bought a huge kiddy pool to cruise around in during the day, and his eyes continue to improve. He has a vet appt coming up to check and make sure his shell rot is on track for recovery, as it's very severe and widespread. It seems to be improving, but I want a vet's formal opinion on the matter.
- The rat is friendly despite a minor set-back. I was cleaning, didn't notice her nestled in a pile of shredded bedding in the back of the cage, and accidentally struck her while pushing her bed into place. She freaked out and bit me so hard that it shattered my fingernail into three pieces! Very painful! I was mostly worried about violating her trust and immediately began talking soothingly and petting her with my good hand (as my injured finger bled all over, hah). She has been fine with me since the incident, as is going to be cross-listed on a rat rescue's website to increase the chance of finding her a VERY experienced home.
- The tortoise is thriving, munching up a storm and winning everyone over. She seems very healthy and is a silly, friendly girl! Still making up my mind on if we'll try to keep her or try to rehome her.
- A gecko from a fraudulent/failing rescue has come to stay with us. She should be placed with my friend mid-month after being treated for parasites and fattened up a wee bit.
- I've got foster fish up the wazoo suddenly and unexpectedly! Four bettas and two corydoras x_x I'm REALLY hoping they find homes before the move.
... Uh, is that everyone? I don't know. Back to work!
First of all... we are in the process of contracting & closing for the purchase of the property in Alabama. Things are looking very good unless something highly unforseen happens. So, Steve and I are getting married in preparation to move. The wedding is the 27th of this month, so I'm running around like a madwoman trying to throw it together and keep everyone reasonably happy.
I'm doing a TON of pet sitting - I'm literally out of my home a good 18 hours a day since I do overnights. Thankfully my job said they will not throw any more work my way until I have a definite date for the move - though I'm still booked straight through mid July as it is.
I'm VERY sad to report that the little gecko started crashing. I brought him back to the vet... actively shedding cryptosporidium at this point.
This is bad news as the prognosis is very poor & there is no reliable treatment and NO cure for it. I've been force feeding insectivore slurry, vitamins, calcium, and probiotics; it's up to him if he'll survive, but things are looking grim. He is dropping weight like crazy despite being fed throughout the day, which tells me his GI is not breaking down and absorbing nutrients properly. As far as the other critters? Here's what's up.
- The red eared slider is self feeding extremely well on a home made gel diet, strong enough to swim, has been bought a huge kiddy pool to cruise around in during the day, and his eyes continue to improve. He has a vet appt coming up to check and make sure his shell rot is on track for recovery, as it's very severe and widespread. It seems to be improving, but I want a vet's formal opinion on the matter.
- The rat is friendly despite a minor set-back. I was cleaning, didn't notice her nestled in a pile of shredded bedding in the back of the cage, and accidentally struck her while pushing her bed into place. She freaked out and bit me so hard that it shattered my fingernail into three pieces! Very painful! I was mostly worried about violating her trust and immediately began talking soothingly and petting her with my good hand (as my injured finger bled all over, hah). She has been fine with me since the incident, as is going to be cross-listed on a rat rescue's website to increase the chance of finding her a VERY experienced home.
- The tortoise is thriving, munching up a storm and winning everyone over. She seems very healthy and is a silly, friendly girl! Still making up my mind on if we'll try to keep her or try to rehome her.
- A gecko from a fraudulent/failing rescue has come to stay with us. She should be placed with my friend mid-month after being treated for parasites and fattened up a wee bit.
- I've got foster fish up the wazoo suddenly and unexpectedly! Four bettas and two corydoras x_x I'm REALLY hoping they find homes before the move.
... Uh, is that everyone? I don't know. Back to work!
JadeIcing
Well-Known Member
RandomWiktor wrote:
Ah man.
I'm VERY sad to report that the little gecko started crashing. I brought him back to the vet... actively shedding cryptosporidium at this point.
Ah man.
Daenerys
Well-Known Member
RandomWiktor wrote:
WOW, owwies! That sucks. Good to know she is still friendly though, despite that!
I'm sorry to hear about the gecko...but there is only so much you can do Poor guy
WOW, owwies! That sucks. Good to know she is still friendly though, despite that!
I'm sorry to hear about the gecko...but there is only so much you can do
Poor guy
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
In less than two weeks, Steven and I will be getting married. By mid July, if all goes well with the contract and closing (the contract is being reviewed by the current business owners TODAY! So nerve wracking!), I may be getting started on a move to Alabama. So naturally, I've agreed to take in a rabbit for the next 3-4 weeks!
You may have seen the post in the Rescue Me section about a rabbit with snuffles slated to be euthanized within a week. I don't want to go into too much detail about the background, because I spoke to several different people and got a few different ideas about the situation. But ultimately, a vet who clearly wasn't too rabbit-savvy reccomended the rabbit be euthanized for a MILD case of snuffles, and the place that had her couldn't foot the bill for treatment anyways.
After a lot of frantic networking - can I just say I LOVE you bunny people?? My inbox was loaded with new offers to help every day! - Hopalong Hollow in CT agreed to not only take her in 3-4 weeks, but to pay for the anti-biotics in full as long as I could hold her during treatment since their QT space is currently full.
I ran over to Norwalk today to pick the medsup so she could start treatment ASAP. Hopalong has beautiful facilities and lots of lovely, well cared for bunnies. The snuffles is very mild so I think she'll respond great; if you didn't listen closely or examine right around her nostrils, you wouldn't catch the faint sniffling and small ammount of whitish discharge. I took this photo after whiping her nose and she looks like the picture of health!
She's not the friendliest nor meanest bunny in the world. She seems very agreeable to being petted and even comes up to say "hi" -but being picked up? All I can say is, I hope she doesn't snap her own spine being treated, because she thrashes and kicks and panicks like a wild bunny. I'm taking measures to minimize how much she needs to be picked up, as bringing her upstairs for a weigh-in resulted in me getting kicked in the face, having my arms slashed, and her wiggling out of my arms and dashing across the kitchen. She also bares her big teeth in a big horrifying display that makes me confident of her good dental health :shock:
Despite this the first doses went well, so hopefully this minor infection will clear up promptly.
I'll try to post more on everyone else later, but I thought you guys would like to hear about her since this is allegedly a bunny blog despite all evidence to the contrary.
You may have seen the post in the Rescue Me section about a rabbit with snuffles slated to be euthanized within a week. I don't want to go into too much detail about the background, because I spoke to several different people and got a few different ideas about the situation. But ultimately, a vet who clearly wasn't too rabbit-savvy reccomended the rabbit be euthanized for a MILD case of snuffles, and the place that had her couldn't foot the bill for treatment anyways.
After a lot of frantic networking - can I just say I LOVE you bunny people?? My inbox was loaded with new offers to help every day! - Hopalong Hollow in CT agreed to not only take her in 3-4 weeks, but to pay for the anti-biotics in full as long as I could hold her during treatment since their QT space is currently full.
I ran over to Norwalk today to pick the medsup so she could start treatment ASAP. Hopalong has beautiful facilities and lots of lovely, well cared for bunnies. The snuffles is very mild so I think she'll respond great; if you didn't listen closely or examine right around her nostrils, you wouldn't catch the faint sniffling and small ammount of whitish discharge. I took this photo after whiping her nose and she looks like the picture of health!
She's not the friendliest nor meanest bunny in the world. She seems very agreeable to being petted and even comes up to say "hi" -but being picked up? All I can say is, I hope she doesn't snap her own spine being treated, because she thrashes and kicks and panicks like a wild bunny. I'm taking measures to minimize how much she needs to be picked up, as bringing her upstairs for a weigh-in resulted in me getting kicked in the face, having my arms slashed, and her wiggling out of my arms and dashing across the kitchen. She also bares her big teeth in a big horrifying display that makes me confident of her good dental health :shock:
Despite this the first doses went well, so hopefully this minor infection will clear up promptly.
I'll try to post more on everyone else later, but I thought you guys would like to hear about her since this is allegedly a bunny blog despite all evidence to the contrary.
Pet_Bunny
Well-Known Member
RandomWiktor wrote:
And you have time for the rabbits?
Congratulations! :toast:
And you have time for the rabbits?
RandomWiktor
Critter Keeper
Somehow, despite the fact that we planned this wedding in literally three weeks, yes! And for our other critters as well. Though I'm pretty sure I'll have gray hair by the time its all done with!
