Dobby is a free rat

Our wonderful little double rex blue agouti dumbo, Dobby passed away two days ago. We aren't sure what took him, but we do know that it was incredibly quick. He was fine Thursday, a little tired seeming but not sick in anyway we could notice. Friday we began to notice troubling signs, piloerection and lethargy as well as minor porphyrin production. The porphyrin came in such small amounts we don't even know if it was from the illness or from sleeping in excess, which I guess in that aspect it would be from illness.

We fed him antibiotics for two days and by the end of Saturday night he was losing fur around his neck. The image above is, unfortunately, one of the only few images we have. It was taken the night he died. He was so loving, giving kisses and yawns right up to the end when he used his sweet Dobby magic to travel to the bridge.

We will miss you Mr. Dobbs, always.

O.O So many days...

I am so sorry, Ben and I have been scrambling around and things have been hectic. I can't really say much right now, I'm too tired. I'll try to get back into the kick of things and blog a bit.

Again, sorry, things have been nuts.

Ratty Sniff: Ravencharm Rattery

 Ratty Sniff will be a series I'll be doing on any rattery I happen to come across that catches my attention. Either for the right or wrong reasons. Once I'm done with an overall evaluation, I'll be grading them on an F to A scale based on the Rat Adoption Guidelines that were listed out in a previous blog. It will be a simple positive/plus (+) or negative/minus (-) on each area of the list and depending on how well they score, they'll receive a grade accordingly. In the case of unknown information (unk) I'll count it as a negative/minus score as that information should be available on their site most of the time.


Okay, so during the initiation of the Ratty Sniff I was looking at another rattery that I wanted to review as well. This rattery impressed me throughout the entire time I was looking at the site. So, without further ado, here's Racencharm Rattery based out of Reno, Nevada.


Okay, so the first thing I noticed when I loaded her site was the fact that she had tabs that were right there, plain to see and very well organized. She also has a photo of the rattery sitting right at the front of the page as well. Which, if you live out of state, can be very handy to be able to look at online.


As I looked through her site I was impressed by the information that she gives so readily. That her goals are for health, temperament and conformation to show standards. A lot of times ideal conformation would worry me, but I get a sense that even if a rat isn't show perfect it doesn't mean that she won't love it, which is always important. She also states her ethics and guidelines right on the front page. She also links to the rattery which mentored her before she was given their breeding stock (the former breeder/owner had allergies that prevented her from continuing to breed).


She states when her does and bucks are bred (not before 8 months for does and not before 12 months for bucks). The only real complaint that I could have is the fact that she is a closed rattery, meaning that she does not allow people into the nursery. Not that she won't let them into her home, just her rat room. She does this for disease prevention in the colony. My opinion is that if you are concerned, ask adopters to wear fresh clothing, have them put plastic bags over their shoes and to tie back hair or put on a shower cap. People may complain, but it's about the health of the rats. Yeah, you may look silly for a a little bit, but it's a small price to pay to keep both the breeders colony and your new baby healthy and happy. She does, as stated before, have a photo of her rat room available right on her website. So far as I know you are allowed into her home, just not the main colony room itself. Which is an understandable precaution, but one that could be handled in other ways. It's up to the individual breeder in the end.


The only other thing that I would make a grievance about is the lack of a reimbursement plan being listed out on her site.


Another thing that absolutely impressed and I would even say floored me is that she has a recipe for homemade food mix on her site, with links to studies that explain why it is both corn and soy free.


Overall, she's gained my confidence in her ability to be responsible and trustworthy. So, grading time, let's see how she stacks up.


1. +
2. +
3. +
4. +
5. +
6. +
7. +
8. +
9. +
10. +
11. +
12. -
13. +


Grade: 92% A


Final Comment: There are small things that irk me personally, but overall the feel of the rattery and the website are enough to make me wish I had the ability to adopt from her. If you are around the Reno area and you are looking for a rat to adopt, I would recommend Ravencharm. She is what a good rattery is all about.


*Note: this may appear sort, it's also 1:30 am where I am right now, so I gave some quick highlights and a grade based on what I feel is important. The site is linked so that you can form your own opinion as well.

Come Skitter With Me, Come Skitter Away...

After Hermione passed (and a few others), there was a void left in the rats' homes. Aphrodite, Clover, and Winnie seem to take turns being dominate, Athena was depressed for a while until realizing that Algernon does (sometimes, at least) care about her, and we don't have our three pawed wonder, our singer, our two sweeties, and our young goof (Velvet passed this weekend due to a severe illness, at just past a month old). Being as emotional as I am, I've been taking it pretty hard.

We went up to Superpets again, to see if they'd finally started to sell their rat babies. This was the first one we saw: Frank Sinatra. He has a cleft palate (we think) and his teeth appear to grow out from the front of his head, and one grows normally. It's hard to see in this picture, but more will be coming soon. When we saw him, he was standing at the barriers, looking at the other rats, and wondering why no one would play with him. He started bruxing when I was petting him, but it took him a while to adjust to a new home.

We sent a welcoming committing for him, Ares, and Nova. Bumblebee and Dobby (who'll also have pics soon) immediately made friends with Frank, trying to get him to hide with them. He was the first to eat, and took up a habit when on my shoulder. He will grab the back of my neck, and try to steer me in the direction he wants me to go. He is a tiny sweetheart, with a similar personality to another special needs rat we had.

It isn't that we're gluttons for punishment. We know that he may not have as long as some of the others may have in life. But, here's the trick: doesn't he deserve a good life? Why should he punished because of his genetics? Isn't he just as loving and smart as any other rat? Don't take my word for it, though, look at the pic. He's bruxing!

Ben

Rat Tales

After Algernon and Athena were moved to the bird cage, they like running on the wheel all the more. Apparently, Aphrodite has picked up on this. She has a new habit, where she watches their wheel for them to run, then tries to run in her wheel, but faster. We don't have the heart to tell her that she isn't going to catch up.

In speaking of wheels, we had to take Algernon's and Athena's out, because they will not stop running when it's banging against the cage walls. Yesterday, Athena noticed that the door on top of the cage was open a little. She managed to push it open with her nose, climb to the boys' cage, and do what came natural. By natural, I mean natural to Athena. She tried to grab the base of the wheel in her mouth, and drag it with her. Bear and Cream still have no idea what she thought she was trying to do.

The little girls tend to have a system working. Clover is the groomer, Winnie is the "mother," and Aphrodite is the teacher. This is for better... and for worse. So far, Aphrodite has taught them how to alogroom Clover when she's not looking, and chewing on the bars when they want to play. On the other hand, she is teaching them how to be extremely "licky." She spent a good 15 minutes licking my face the other day, and now Cream is licking everyone.

In speaking of licking and grooming, Cream was grooming Dobby's neck last night. Apparently, he liked it, because he sat there, smiling, as Cream groomed away.

The big girls recently got new bedding, made of paper. Unfortunately, Algernon thought it best to take all of the paper to the "box tree house" to nest in. This has led to a few issues with safety. Algernon has tried to jump towards the hammock twice, landing on her head when Athena popped out to say, "Oh hai!" Athena didn't fair much better when she fell while climbing, landing on her head, and looking around for who ever pushed her off.

When I woke up today, Bumblebee was oddly hyper. Him and Cream were both jumping around, excited to see me. On the other hand, Bear was stuck under a piece of fabric, to the point that Dobby had to pull him out. Twice.

Mmm... Turian

Hi, my name is Cami Wetzel and I'm addicted to Mass Effect 2 and in specific Garrus. I've been playing for 35 hours and am about to go after the Reaper IFF. But it's all good, I got my sniper.

Okay, so that is not at all exaggerated. Ben got me playing Mass Effect 2 and I have a damn good femShep (if I do say so myself) and I am addicted to Garrus Vakarian. There's just something about him as a character, too much fun. That game is one of the main reason I haven't posted in a bit. I stay up til three a frackin m playing it, then I usually start playing it when I wake up. I'm just not used to a game being so fricken awesomely fun. Even when I die I want to continue. I don't know, it's just epic and I want to play Mass Effect 3 when it comes out next year. I have gotten so good a hacking. I have so many credits. I also have more palladium than upgrades to do for my guns. I'm almost always short on eezo, godthisgameissoAWESOME!

Enough of that. We have a new boy, and if I wasn't so distracted I'd take pictures. His name is Dobby, he's a blue agouti dumbo single rex and he's adorable! We were afraid for a while that Bumblebee wasn't gaining enough weight, but he's started to get better, especially after having gotten Dobby. I wish I could say the same for Velvet. Megacolon or megasophogus.. or both. She's so thin that I can count bones in her tail. I've been hand feeding her ensure, but at this point I don't think she'll make it. I just hope I can make her comfortable until she goes to the Bridge.We've had to isolate her to make sure she can't get any of the other babies sick. We're sure of the mega's right now, but we're not sure she doesn't have an infection. Her breath smells septic and... it's just hard. Ben and I hate losing babies. I think anyone does. When it doesn't phase them is when they don't deserve the animals in their care.

Speaking of which, I'm waiting for another day or so to see if I get a reply from the woman who runs this rattery in Michigan because if she doesn't reply to me I'm contacting her local humane society. I have quite a few issues with her. Least of which being her condescending attitude and total lack of regard for other people's views. Yes, I love rats, they are gorgeous animals and are very sweet and loving. But that doesn't mean that I don't think any other animal couldn't be like them, affectionate and beautiful. I don't know if she has a grudge against hamsters or what, but it seems she's done absolutely no research when she starts to lambast them.

Another issue I really cannot get over is the fact that on her home page, in the scrolling text she says that her breeding has hit some snags in the summer months. She sites "mishaps" for the reason she's lost entire litters. Excuse me? Mishaps. What kind of mishaps are costing your animals' health and the lives of these babies that you claim to love so much. One thing I find incredibly troubling is the lack of any information on her ethics in her site. I've said this multiple times, but you should not breed a doe more than three times in her life and not after the age of one year.

In her blog she talks about how she now knows why she hates to breed during the summer months. The does are overheating and losing their litters, either stillborn or being reabsorbed.

My question is, why aren't your does in air conditioning? Another thing that makes me more angry than almost anything else I've seen on her site is the fact that she accidently bred an 18 month old doe because she looks exactly like the younger doe. This is the equivalent of a 42 year old woman getting pregnant. The doe could have lost more than just her health. She says the only difference between them is size. I've seen photos of both does. Size would have been a great indicator as would, oh I don't know, the fact that the older doe's coat is slightly lighter from the silvering that comes with age. The doe had one baby boy, but with her age she should not have been bred. It shouldn't have been a matter of, "oh, shoulda looked harder, LOL"

I'm just losing my mind here I think. Oh well.

G'mornin, g'night or g'day

Afterthought: I'm Garrus Vakarian, and I love this rifle!

Persephone "Perdini"

Ben made this for me shortly after she passed. I found it ironic that I could make the ones for Artemis and Hermione but couldn't manage to make one for a rat that had bonded to me so well and so strongly. I remember writing a post when she got really sick the first time and we didn't think she'd live through the night. I was so heartbroken to think that my Baby. My Baby would be dead.

Well, the next morning she appeared to be fine.. like it was some sort of freak thing that happened but may not end up plaguing her anymore afterward. Then she'd get sick again and sneeze and be lethargic and all the while we're trying to figure out what it is. She'd then get better and we'd think the medication or changing the bedding or this and that had some miraculous effect. I bathed them a week ago and then two days later she had developed a large lump on her neck. It was a cyst. After that she got more lethargic until yesterday she fell asleep and never woke up.

Ben drew an angel in a box that we had originally planned on burying her in, but we changed our minds last minute and put her in something air tight that we could duct tape so now animals could get into it. So I cut the angel out as well as the lyrics he put on the box:

May angels lead you in
on sleepless roads
the sleepless go
may angels lead you in

I cried when I saw what he'd written. It was beautiful and just fit so well. Persephone, I will miss you, always. I will love you.. always. Paint me pretty pictures at the bridge, I'm sure Artemis will sing for you while you do.