Ren's WILDlife

[RandomWiktor]

I'm having such a lousy day I don't want to rattle off the list of annoying, worrisome, hurtful, or otherwise unpleasant events of the day because that would make for a bleak and uninteresting entry.

One thing I will say, however, is that I'm SO devastated that after a month of working hard to get access to a suspected hoarder's house - and lovingly preparing a very awesome cage to adopt one of her ninety mice - I was stood up. Thirty minutes of driving, thirty minutes of waiting around outside of a locked house that I'm pretty sure she was inside of, thirty minutes of driving home. I want to be angry about my time and gas being wasted, but I'm mostly just sad about all of those mice, including the little guy I was supposed to adopt today. Looking at the empty cage full of toys, tunnels, great food, and foraging boxes makes me sick right now.

On a more positive note, I ran into an old friend today from my doctor's office. We were both on IV treatments at the same time but I haven't seen him in over a year. He and his daughter - who was also sick back when I lasy saw him - were at Petsmart, where I was picking up dechlorinator. Turns out they found this AWESOME doctor who has just completely reversed their neurological symptoms; this is the first time I've seen this guy in ages without sunglasses from light sensitivity and a wobbling gait. It was incredible and gave me so much joy and hope to see him and his daughter fully recovered. He gave me the doctor's number and I left a message tonight - fingers crossed that she's still accepting patients!

Here's the real kicker though: After our chat he asked "Oh! Do you still do animal rescue?" I said yes and told him about how my fiance and I have plans to go 501(c) within the year. He asked if I wanted another fish. I was confused, and he said they'd just returned a sickly goldfish. The store would probably just flush or freeze it (true according to folks I've known who worked there), and he'd much rather I take it and give it a chance at survival. We tracked down the employee who said the fish hadn't been disposed of yet and happily fetched it from the back. His little girl was so excited; she gave me a big hug and told me to please help "Buddy" out.

So here's hoping I can repay an old friend's favor of helping me with health by helping him with his fish!

Pics of "Buddy" coming soon; the lil bugger is super stressed settling into his hospital tank right now. And yes, I promise this bunny blog will actually have BUNNIES in the next update!

 

[RandomWiktor]

As promised, here is a picture of Buddy. He doesn't seem to be feeling very good; he has some minor swim bladder issues and a very big belly despite his head and back suggesting he is underweight. My hope is that this is the result of an inappropriate flake diet; it is common for fancy goldfish, already prone to swim bladder problems, to have their symptoms worsened by the swelling of dry flakes in their stomaches causing bloat and constipation. Hopefully some boiled greens will get his GI moving along. For now I'm just keeping him in nice clean water with a bit of salt.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Yesterday, I was downstairs getting together materials for an upcoming rescue involving a number of potentially tuberculosis-harboring fish. As I juggled filter parts and dug through storage bins, I heard splashing. Afraid that one of the goldfish had jumped his bin, or that Jerimiah was having trouble righting himself on his three legs, I dropped everything and rushed over to the two 100g stocktanks. Yet I soon discovered that aquatic creatures were not causing the din, but rather that Wendy - who I'd just given two fresh bowls of water to in accomodation of her heightened "drinking" - had her feet in the smaller of the bowls and was furiously digging. Water splashed all over the hay until the bowl was nearly empty, at which point she had a quick drink then scurried off to play.

My jaw dropped. Only a week ago I had paid to have a urine sample examined in a panic over her heightened water consumption. Her soaked paper and empty water bowls in my mind suggested a serious underlying medical condition despite reassurances from the vet of normal urine and from members of normal consumption levels. Could it be that my rabbit has merely been playing with her water?

Wendy has always been the more playful of our two rabbits. She demolishes toys, races around the pen, re-arranges her hay, and turns cardboard boxes into shreds within days. Most rabbits I've had, however, despise getting wet. I can't really fathom one willfully placing her paws in the water bowl, yet here I have seen it. I guess there's always the chance of something new and unexpected happening when you have rabbits.

I haven't posted many pics of Wendy overall in this blog, so here's a few from today, plus one of Brindam to show her more slender figure after over a month of successful diet moderation and exercise:

Curious ofthe camera

Checking outnew box to destroy

A new fortress/chew toy

Brindam, finally sans massive bunny love handles

I need to get more photos of Thanator. He's become a very distinct looking bunny. I definitely feel that he has some mini rex in him just looking at his head. He's staying very tiny and developing some beautiful dark markings over his cinnamon coat. Last night I unexpectedly found myself nose to nose with him after dozing off on the couch; Steve put him there to say "hello," which I really wish he hadn't considering that the lil bun is not overly fond of me. I imagine a rabbit nip to the nose would have hurt! Thankfully his intentions were very benign and he merely sniffed me before using the ample obstacle of my butt (I need to get back on track with weight loss!)as a fun thing to jump over for a while.

In other critter news, Buddy the Goldfish is still hanging on. He is much less dehydrated than he was, and eating well. However, he also has a TERRIBLE outbreak of Ich. It's no wonder he was feeling lousy with such an infestation of protozoals. I'm still holding out hope for a recovery, however.

It figures that I should get in a sick goldfish while I'm scrambling to prepare for fish with TB. Thankfully, once the commons pass QT, they'll all be going in the 100g downstairs, which will leave me with a free 20g for a prolonged QT of Buddy if need be.

Finally... meet the two newest members of my Furry Family! With Delta passing I just couldn't live a life with NO mice. No details yet; their story (plus pics and vid)is forthcoming:

 

[Dragonrain]

Aw maybe they are just playing in the water! I had a bunny (Zeus - RIP) who was obsessed with playing in his water bowl.

The mice are so cute! I'm looking forward to hearing their story.

Good luck with Buddy and the other fish! Is your rescue a fish rescue or do you just happen to get in a lot of fish?

In one of your previous posts you posted a picture of your ACF tank that was a 40 gal bin of some sort - what kind of bins do you use and where do you get them? I have been considering using something similar to house my goldfish, after an incident with his tank leaking.

 

[RandomWiktor]

The ACF tank is a Rubbermaid Stock Tank. They're sold in both rigid and "rubbery" forms between 20 and 300+ gallons. I use them for fish and amphibians and think they're really grand.

I'm not specifically a fish rescue but I'm the only person locally and it seems one of few people nation-wide that accepts fish, especially fish with special needs or medical conditions. I like to foster/place as much as possible; I've placed a ton of bettas and goldfish. But some people specifically contact me wanting the fish to live here, and many of the fish I have are also too disabled to be disirable to "typical" homes - especially ones with terminal contageous medical conditions. These incoming TB guys put me basically at my limit, and although the common goldfish fosters (six of 'em) and betta fosters (nine of 'em) all have homes lined up, I'll probably be turning fish away for a while.

My fiance and I are hoping to go 501(c) within the year for our rescue and education projects, which I'm hoping pans out. I would probably gain more legitimacy if I had non-prof status instead of looking like "that crazy fish woman," haha.

 

[Dragonrain]

I think it's great that you take in fish too! I was just asking, because I've never really came across any shelter or rescue who took in fish. It's unfortunate though because fish deserve to have happy, comfortable lives the same as any other living thing - but I guess most people see them as pretty disposable pets. Poor fishies.

 

[RandomWiktor]

No time to write this morning (an update is definitely coming soon though) but, yesterday the buns FINALLY got to go back outside after months of snow and heavy rain! Here they are VERY happy to be grazing!

 

[paul2641]

Ahh how cute.

 

[RandomWiktor]

New York has been met with unseasonably warm weather the last few days, much to my pleasure. When you have arthritis at 24 and need to work with your hands constantly, any relief from the cold is welcomed. More importantly, however, it means that after a long, rainy, snowy winter, my critters can finally enjoy outdoors time! Our chickens and bunnies are accustomed to being outside most of the day during fair weather, so winter is a real drag for them.

Nothing compares to seeing them out on their first spring day: Wendy cavorted around her pen in rapid circlings, kicking her feet up and stopping periodically to graze almost frantically. Brindam stretched out on her side in the sunniest spot she could find, eyes half shut. Nuru dug a deep ditch and took a much needed dust bath, his shiny feathers soon dull with dust that will help keep parasites off of his skin. Rosa ran around snapping up as many early spring spiders, worms, and other bugs as she could find.

Unfortunately for Brindam, grazing after a winter without fresh grass inevitably means digestive upsets. Sure enough, by morning she had a case of "poopy butt." However, I am pleased to say that unlike her younger years when this waste would cake on and she'd need a bath due to her obesity, she is now slim and trim enough to wash her own tush! So I'm very pleased that her diet is benefitting her in multiple ways.

Steve is hoping to bring over Lucy and Thanator (not Leon, as he's VERY skittish) for grazing one of these days. He needs to fix the ceiling in the bunny room before his next USDA inspection, so I'll be bun-napping the kids while he fixes things up. Expect some hilarious pics of tiiiiiny Thanator next to GIANT Lucy!

ETA: Oh, and I can't tell you the story of the mice just yet. While I doubt their previous owner is a member of RO, I don't want to mention anything until I'm done working w/this individual. However, I did want to mention that my shipment of feeshies with TB arrived safe and sound. They're BEAUTIFUL. One or two of the bettas are sufficiently light colored that I do see signs of granulomas, which is unfortunate, but they're all still acting healthy and very sweet little guys. And just in time for the new arrivals, I'm happy to say that I've found placements for the following and shipping should be coming up soon:
- 6-8 bettas, which is ALL of myfoster bettas!(waiting to hear back from one adopter)
- 6 goldfish (leaving this summer!)
- 1 american bullfrog (already shipped out!)
- MAYBE *fingers crossed* the Turner's Gecko

 

[paul2641]

Good news on finding new homes for your fosters.

 

[Dragonrain]

The weather has been awesome! While I don't have a yard to let my bunnies play in, they have been thrilled lately that I've been able to keep the window open in their room. They have had much more energy and been much more playful since the weather changed.

Glad to hear about the fosters! You ship the animals to their new homes? I got my geckos shipped to me - it's kind of weird getting lizards in the 'mail'. Does your rescue have a website or anything? I'd love to take a look at it if it does.

Hope you have a great weekend!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Dragonrain, I do ship to non-local individuals, depending on the species I don't have a website yet, mostly out of being too busy to work on it, but once Steve and I get 501(c) we intend upon it! I do have a flickr account with animal photos and such, but I haven't updated it in a while. Perhaps when I do that I'll post it here!



I am sad to report that after struggling to overcome Ich, poor little Buddy did not make it. He at least died well fed in clean water rather than being flushed or frozen as would have been his fate when returned to the store. But it still makes me very sad that I was unable to save him despite my best efforts. I know you can't save them all, but dangit, I wish you could!

Part of what bothers me so much about this situation, I think, is the message that was sent to a child who loves animals by this entire ordeal. The fish was ailing, and instead of trying to help it, the family brought it in for a replacement. They did this knowing full well that the store would kill it; had I not been there, Buddy would not have even had a chance at survival. This taught the child that animals are replaceable, disposable, and that she is not obligated to help an sickly pet because its only value is as a product - and this product was "defective." It really cuts me to the bone knowing that this is what we are instilling in children today.

I generally buy from supplies-only vendors unless I need something suddenly (ie. the dechlorinator I was buying the day I obtained Buddy since my bottle cracked and spilled on a water change day). However, I do something called "Pet Store Watch" where I visit local pet stores weekly and keep an eye out for problems, which are reported to management and if need be corporate. It's a great opportunity to educate, advocate, and intervene. Sometimes it can be pretty dramatic; on one watch, I found a horned frog choking on his still-living cagemate's head (they should NEVER be kept together). Both frogs survived and the store now keeps shipments of multiple frogs in smaller containers within the main tank.

Sometimes, however, I do find myself moved to intervene on behalf of a pet store critter by taking it home so it can be fostered and placed with a good owner. I have a firm stance against paying stores for such animals, but I'm not above taking a sick, injured, or otherwise undesired animal for free knowing that current laws do not hold stores accountable for most of these critters, thus leaving their fate uncertain and often bleak.

Here is one such experience:

The sign was hand written, sandwiched between the price tags of animals on display. "We have a hamster for adoption. Please see the animal care manager." It looked like an afterthought, deliberately small and sloppy so it had no chance competing against the professional looking tags adorned with care tips and savings offers.

I on my weekly Pet Store Watch had previously adopted a diabetic hamster with an ill temperament from this very store, and suspected that much like she had been, this creature was shoved away in some tiny storage bin in an ill-lit back room, eating the sort of diet that makes hamsters sick and growing nastier with boredom by the day.

"I'd like to adopt the hamster. Also, one of the diamond doves has a very overgrown beak." The employee looked bored with another bleeding heart animal lover; ironically there is no place for our breed in the pet trade - which should say something about the state of the industry. She reassured me that the bird was already scheduled to see the store vet, then fetched the hamster.

The bin's footprint couldn't have been greater than a standard AGA 5g, consisting of only a wheel, a hide, and an overflowing bowl of corn and sunflower seeds. The hamster's coat was greasy and its nails so overgrown that her toes were turning sideways.

"See, she's nasty." The employee poked at the hamster with a pen, which the small beast attacked with gusto. I said "that's fine" as quickly as possible so that the animal would not need to be further harassed.

"You like her?"

"Yeah."

I filled out paperwork to absolve the store of any legal responsibility for the inevitable future of hamster maulings that my adoption entailed. Most notably, the contract mentioned that I could not discuss or publish the details of this adoption with the media; apparently the pet trade is getting wiser about the justifiable bad press it's recieved. This is why I am not mentioning the name of the store in this posting; I'd hate to be sued for daring to name names when saying "this is wrong!"

"We need to ring you up to get her out of the system. It'll be one cent."

"You can just use one from the Take a Penny," added the cashier.

I nodded, clutching the box. I could feel the faint vibrations of tiny feet digging frantically against cardboard confines.

"What code do I use for the discount?" The cashier gestured to the screen. "There's no code for adoption."

The animal care manager churned her lip beneath her teeth to think, then laughed.

"Definitely damaged. Yeah, she's damaged merch alright."

I handed the cashier a coin from the penny pool. I hate to even give them that, but I suppose a penny isn't much to a company worth millions. And a penny isn't much to give an animal a better life, even if I wish the law required that pet stores deal with their unwanted byproducts rather than jettison them for the animal rescue community to deal with.

Were the laws written as they ought to be, and stores were actually accountable to give vet care to skinny frogs, provide enriched life-long habitats to unwanted hamsters, accept back four foot aggressive iguanas with metabolic bone disease sold as cute babies, I imagine the phenomenon of the animal selling pet store would soon be a thing of the past. One can hope for that, some day.

In the mean time, I'll continue my store watches, reporting husbandry problems to management, educating where I see ignorance, advocating and insisting on behalf of fish and frogs and budgies and hamsters, and occasionally accepting the orphans of an industry that reduces lives to products.

(( FTR: The hamster, now in a better environment, is not NEARLY so nasty, and I suspect she'll be adoptable to an hamster-savvy home ))

 

[RandomWiktor]

I didn't add these quick enough for the post edit limit, but here's a pic of the poor lil hammie's nails! She was not hurt to restrain her this way, this is safe hamster restraint:

 

[Pipp]

I've never been able to understand the utter disrespect the human race traditionally shows other life forms.


sas :tears2:

 

[RandomWiktor]

Oye. I forgot to ever post pics of the new meecers' set up! This is a HUGE change from what they came from. Like I said, I don't want to give many details, but suffice it to say they've never had anything remotely resembling this in their lives.

(Under-bedding tunnel!)

 

[Happi Bun]

You are so awesome for taking in that hammie! I've never seen one with nails like that... Your mice set-up looks so fun.

What do you feed/recommend for hamsters?

 

[Myia09]

Great mouse cage!

 

[RandomWiktor]

I try to feed hamsters a quality lab block and enrich the diet mixed with higher quality grains, seeds, legumes etc. plus a small ammount of veg & insects. They are prone to diabetes so I avoid anything overly sugary. Right now I feed Oxbow Healthy Handfuls Hamster/Gerbil as my staple, then use grain millet, quinoa, barley, wild rice, flax seed, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, canary seed, niger seed, lentils, mung beans in the enrichment box. Finally, I offer little bits of sprouts, leafy greens, squash family veggies, superworms, dubia roaches, and VERY rarely a TINY piece of a berry about twice weekly.

 

[Happi Bun]

Wow!

In the past I tried feeding my Syrian Hamster Pixie Oxbow Healthy Handfuls with a hamster seed mix but she aboslutely refused to eatthe Oxbow. I've always had the same problem feeding my Rat's Oxbow Regal Rat food. They hate it. My rabbits and pigs sure love their Oxbow though. Right now Pixie is being fed ecotrition... but I don't think she cares for it that much, nor do I care feeding her it because she can pick out what tastes the best. I'm toying with idea of making her an organic mix and then providing a staple, like what you are doing. What staple to use when she wont eat Oxbow is the question though! Any ideas? You can PM what you think so I don't take up your blog with my questions.

 

[RandomWiktor]

*singing* It's the most obnoxious tiiiiime of the year. Well the parrots are screaming the bunnies are peeing and Ren needs a beeeer....

Hahaha. Oh yes, with longer days and warmer weather, spring has officially hit my crittery. As much as I hated the cold, wet winter, I can't say I adore spring time with a bunch of irate, hormonal animals. And I have a lot of them to contend with x_x

As I've mentioned earlier in the blog, my rabbits are not spayed thanks to my mom and have no prospects of being spayed. That means that with seasonal changes, behavioral changes come as well.

Brindam is sufficiently old that at worst, she just gets a little crankier - which she has, mostly involving possessiveness issues with her food bowl. Thankfully her growling and lunging when I try to pull it from the cage is easily quelled by placing my palm on her forehead when she goes to lunge, derailing her attempt to be tough.

But oh, that Wendy. Wendy has decided that spring is the time for her to pee on and scent mark everything, and make every attempt possible to maul anyone who dares enter her x-pen or outdoor run. I went to pick her up the other day and she wheeled around and bit me in the wrist - thankfully not very badly, because I just ruffled her ears in a condescending "silly rabbit" way and continued to pick her up, which took a fair ammount of wind out of her sails.

But she has been much more colorful in her run, including charging and trying her hand at ankle-biting. A pair of knee-high boots to deter bites paired with simply scooping her up in a "this is how I'd transport an unruly lab animal" restraint brings relief at least temporarily, but MAN! I'm so glad that Steve's males are to be neutered and his female is good tempered all year round.

On the bright side, neither Brindam nor Wendy seems to carry over their spring loopiness when loose in the dining room. I think the combination of linoleum flooring and knowledge that "bunnies, this is MY territory" is enough to keep their nastiness at bay. It's just a matter of working around their crankiness to actually get them to the kitchen, heh.

At least one of my girls is well behaved outdoors.

The rooster is crowing earlier and earlier - thank goodness we keep them inside at night or I hazard we'd have cranky neighbors. He's also decided that I am a rival rooster and that he must protect his dear Rosa by leaping high into the air and kicking the living crap out of me when I try to get near her. This is fairly standard behavior from him year-round, but he definitely amps up his game in the spring.

Nuru and his old lady

Likewise, the adorable gay couple that is my Diamond Doves have been both very amorous and very bickery as of late. The territorial calls are non-stop, as are the attempts at mating, subsequent squabbles over who is the lady in the relationship, and following make-up while building the nest together.

Neil and Uluru sharing one of the "love" moments of their love/hate relationship

No bird rivals the parrots in spring, however. I live with two amazons, a conure, a cockatiel, and six budgies. Every spring they go into a fit of hormonal nuttiness, which includes everything from furiously masturbating on their toys, screaming incessantly for their "mate" (me!), to delivering vicious out-of-the-blue bites when they get too worked up. Did I mention both 'zons and the conure are male, which means instead of laying eggs and getting broody they turn into possessive psycho-faces? Joyyyy.

I've been extremely busy lately with work, school, and holding down the fort at both our house and my sister's while she and my mom are away on vacation. As a result, the parrots are being slightly neglected attention-wise this week, and boy howdy, that's NOT something you want to do in spring. Aspen merely expresses neediness with high pitched, incessant screeching; he's still pretty cuddly. Sami attempts to brutally maul me when I go near his cage, so forget out of cage perch training with him in this mood (he's still in training) if I want to keep my face (Amazons tend to go for the face). But Pretty Bird is sneaky and insidious. He'll give me the back of his neck for scritches, then whirl around, grab my finger, bite it, and start screaming at me when I take the bait. He's very clever and very displeased. Thank god everyone comes back home on Friday!

You know what animal never gives me any spring grief? My land crab. I think in the future, I'm going to adopt a strict "No rescues that aren't land crabs" policy.

In all fairness to my other pets, they don't give me year-round grief by figuring out new ways to bust out of their enclosure then climb up the brickwork on the fireplace. Yeah, I'm talking about you, iPinch.