Slider turtles, Lona and Gracie and little Zing!

As promised, I will explain how two turtles arrived here at Life Long Tails. Our Vet, Seneca Animal Hospital called us with an urgent request. An elderly woman made an appointment to have her two red eared slider turtles euthAnized, only because she couldn't care for them anymore. These 2 turtles are healthy and there wasn't any need to sentence them to death. Even though none of the vets there would have gone through with the procedure to euthanize two healthy turtles, after I let them know I had room to take them in, they called back the woman and she agreed to drop them off at the clinic and have me take them instead. One is a large male red eared slider turtle, he is the biggest male I have ever seen! I weighed him on a human scale and he is 3 pounds! He needs a nail trim and his shell has some pyramiding going on, this is usually from poor diet and lack of calcium and UVA and UVB. It can happen to any turtle or tortoise. Then there is a smaller female painted turtle her shell is in great shape, but her toes have injuries, may have been bitten at by the male. They both have a vet appointment with Dr.T tomorrow, he'll clip the males nails for me and he'll evaluate the females toes. I'll also hopefully gather up a fecal sample to make sure they don't have intestinal parasites. They now have an enclosure with a built in water tub complete with underwater heater and filter and a large UV basking bulb. We may need to adopt them out separately if it is the male that has damaged the female. The male will need a home that can accommodate his size, and continue with a good diet and UV lighting. The pyramiding will not go down, but it can stop progression.
Over the weekend, the two girlie guinea pigs, Lona and Gracie went home :) Their new Mom, Molly, loves guinea pigs and all animals. Our cat MotorMan loved her too, he jumped on her back and purred in her ear. I am jealous since I thought he only did that with me, haha. And Zing! the uniquely marked hamster was adopted too. His solid and mottled gray and white markings are very cute. His new Mom once had a syrian hamster, lost to old age and wanted to adopt a dwarf hamster.
Here are pictures of Lona, Gracie and Zing!

June and Summer Adopted, and a Whole Bunny Family

Two of the guinea pig girls, June and Summer were adopted together yesterday. June was Mom to Summer , so they got along very well with each other. I am excited that they will always have each other. Their new Mom and her daughter researched guinea pig care fully before adopting. They also made a CC cage, it is 6 by 2' has 2 igloos inside if they would like to get away from each other plus they have oxbow cavy cuisine food and timothy hay to munch on at all times. They had all of this prepared before picking up their new family members. This is true commitment and love for their new pets. I know Summer and June will love their new place.
I wrote up a little bit on our web site under recent news, about the new bunny bunch we have. So. in case you read or have read this already on our web site, I apologize for the repeat - We now have a whole rabbit family here. Someone had two female rabbits, and she was given another rabbit, she was told this rabbit was female. She figured it was safe to place the new rabbit with her girls... come to find out the new rabbit was a male. Both female rabbits had a litter of babies and total 12 babies in all. We now have both Moms plus their little ones. The person decided to rehome all her bunnies because of allergy problems. The male is on Petfinder right now, his name is Frank. All of the babies are already eating hay and pellets. One litter is smaller and younger than the other because there was 2 to 3 weeks in between each being born. It will be a process before any of these babies are adoptable. They need to be at least 12 weeks old before they can be spayed or neutered. We will also get the Mom's spayed, but they are still nursing, they aren't ready to be spayed. Let me tell ya, they eat a lot, a heaping mound of timothy hay is devoured in a few hours. That is good though, they are healthy and eating well. They are also getting alfalfa that baby buns and nursing Mom's need. This is an adorable picture of one of the babies, caught him with hay on it's way into the mouth. And a picture of the tiny runt.
I am working on the next newsletter, I have the first page finished. A couple more pages to go, and then I need to fold and envelope the rest. If anyone is willing to help me with folding and enveloping, I would sooo love the help. This is the process that takes the most time for me to do. I always finish the animal care first, and with what time is left, I squeeze in some folding and enveloping. This takes me many nights and can last me weeks before I finish them all. please e-mail me if anyone would like to help out, we can play with the cats and rescues while you're here :) Warning- the cats like to help, if you know what I mean.
We also have two new turtles here, they are red eared sliders. I will write more into detail about them the next entry.

Lola and Luna and Huge Flood!

Today has been crazy in all sense of the word.
One great thing did happen today though, Lola and Luna the hamsters found a wonderful home. Lola had a litter here at Life Long Tails, she came to us already pregnant because she was housed with other males. We kept her with her only daughter from the litter that we named Luna. They got along well, Lola being the older and larger hamster tended to push Luna around , but they cuddled and slept together. Just recently the tables turned, Luna started to push around her Mom, although it hasn't escalated to anything serious I did warn their new family about their antics. They are more than willing to separate them if they start to fight and bite each other , for now they just bicker. When hamsters fight it can be deadly serious. Lola and Luna are campbell's dwarf hamsters, and within a family group, can be housed together. Sometimes though, as time passes, fights can break out within a group. If fighting is occurring, action needs to be taken. Syrian hamsters should never be housed together no matter what. They are strictly solitary, once they fully mature, a cage mate will be a rival to destroy.
The craziness that happened today... well ....I flooded our kitchen , A lot, Badly! We have a hose that hooks up to the kitchen sink to syphon out water from our fish tank in the living room. I hooked it up and started to clean the tank, I have done this hundreds of times, I am sure. What I didn't do was clear out the sink , a step I usually take. There was a dish still in the sink that blocked off the drain. So water started to overflow out of the sink. Since I was in the living room cleaning the tank, I was oblivious, probably for 10 to 15 minutes as this was happening. There was a huge amount of water in the kitchen! Thankfully Ray was home and he kept a cool head, he got the shop vac and started sucking up all the water. We had to move the stove, the fridge and everything. Then I wiped the floor clean with bleach since that was all fish water, and cleaned the counters. The worst part of it was that it leaked into the basement, so our carpeted floor down there is pretty wet, plus the ceiling tiles got wet and may stain :( No animals were harmed , everyone stayed dry, except Ray and I. And the fish are okay too. I am so glad and lucky to have Ray, he took this really well, since this wasn't just a little water or a puddle, it was a flood. I will never make that mistake again!

Can't Forget Archie

I completely forgot to write about Archie the sugar glider in the last entry. Archie came to us with Mario and Luigi all the way from New Jersey. Mario and Luigi rejected Archie from their cage and partnership, so poor Archie is living the single life. He has been adopted now, His new Mom, Courtney, loves the marsupials. She is taking an animal Management class and is interning at the zoo too, I know I'd love to do that too, but rescue work takes up my days not to mention the job too. Courtney will be adding another glider to her family ( in the future)and will be introducing this glider to Archie. Sugar gliders are not meant to be alone, and they can be very stressed and depressed without a bonded partner or two.

Here is that cutie pie, Archie. Sorry for forgetting about you, little man.

No Success Yet at Bonding, Scout, New Gliders and Bunnies

Yesterday I placed River and Willis in our bathroom to start the bonding process. They got along with each other very well in the bathroom. I even took some pictures of them together. But once they were out of the bathroom, they immediately started to chase each other and became very pushy with one another. I haven't given up on them, it has only been a day of the bonding process and it does take time. Their reaction to each other in the bathroom gives me hope.
Yesterday, 6 sugar gliders arrived. Bella is the only female, and she is a cute little girl and friendly. The rest are all boys, and who really stands out is Spike. Spike is a 9 year old, he has that old man look about him and he has half a tail. he is also a sweetheart. We will be getting the boys neutered, all but Spike, due to his age it is best not to place him under anesthesia.
Today, Scout was adopted. Scout is a male ferret, he was given to a person who didn't want him. How anyone wouldn't want him, I don't know... he is such a sweetie, so layed back and loves attention. His playful antics are always a riot. His new home has a male ferret , Bruno, and two other ferrets that were recently adopted from the SPCA. His new Mom loves ferrets and most other animals ( our cat, Randy, loved her up :) ) though she let me know she could do without the reptiles. She is interested in fostering for us too, which is very helpful to us.
Also today, two Mom rabbits and their offspring arrived. What was thought to be a female rabbit was placed with these two girls, it was apparent that the bunny was not a female, but a male. And he quickly impregnated these two girls. One litter is about 6 weeks old, and soon will be independent from their Momma, the other litter is a few weeks younger and still nursing from Mom. It will be a while before these babies are old enough to be spayed and neutered, and also a while before the Mom's are "dried up" and ready to be spayed. They won't be adoptable and up on Petfinder for a while.
I'll be taking pictures of Cadet the bunny today and the cockatiels, Camelot and Gabriel. I already have pictures of the degus and River the rabbit, just need Ray to download them for me, or is the correct term, upload? I don't know.
Here are a couple cute pictures of Mr. funny-cute pants Scout. I am so happy he has found his loving home.

Benjamin and Bonding

This morning little Benjamin bunny, who is a dark brown colored mini rex rabbit, went in to be neutered. He went through it with flying colors, the vet techs let me know that he even ate a carrot while still at the clinic waiting for me to pick him up, it was so nice of them to feed him what he likes :) Once I got him home and released him into his pen, he started to eat hay and drink from his water bottle, it seems like he will heal up from the procedure without a problem. Soon I will give him his Metacam , which is a pain med and anti inflammatory to help him feel more comfortable.
Our adoptable Bunny, Willis, continues to show an attitude and cage aggression. Although I do not mind and can handle an unruly bunny , I know this will make him a difficult bunny to place... and it has me thinking. River the bunny is now all healed up from her spay surgery, she is about the same size as Willis. I am wondering if it will be beneficial to attempt to bond the two together. Of course a bonded pair of rabbits is a wonderful thing, they will never be lonely and there is nothing more heartwarming then two rabbits grooming each other and using each other as pillows. The only fact that holds me back from bonding our rescues is that single rabbits find homes easier and faster than two bonded rabbits. Most people are looking to adopt one rabbit, not two. But if Willis finds solace with a bonded partner, and it improves his attitude then I see nothing but good results from it. And if it takes many months to years for them to find a good home, then it will have to be. Bonded rabbits should never be separated, and rabbits are happier in pairs anyway. Now we'll have to see if they will warm up to each other and bond, there is the tricky part.. maybe it will be love at first sight?

The Road Trip and Vet Time

Our road trip to Pennsylvania went fantastic! We got the two rats, dwarf hamster and the two sugar gliders in cozy safe carriers ( separately of course) and got them secured in the car. Mario and Luigi , the sugar glider's cage just fit in the back seat. I brought a couple of books to read along the way while Ray did all the driving and used his new GPS system for the first time. Along the way we met up with Rudolph and Ginger Bread the rat's new Mom and Pip the Hamster's new Mom. We enjoyed meeting them and talking with them over lunch, such nice animal lovers. We have heard from Samantha too on how the rat boys are doing. They are slowly coming out of their shell and gaining trust , and their new names are Pipkin and Fiver after Watership Down characters. A few more hours of driving and we arrived at Allentown , PA, where Mario and Luigi are now located. They have a nice cozy home, where their new Mom Ashley spends her days and nights with these nocturnal fuzz balls. Ashley has let us know that Mario is a very active glider who gets into mischief and Luigi is more reserved and is already bonding with her. They also have many new toys and good treats to eat. We had nice weather for the drive and I loved seeing all the hills in PA. Nothing beats coming home to the cats and our furry, feathery and scaly family though, I could never stay away from them for long.
Today we went to the vet clinic and saw Dr.T. I brought in Jojo the Quaker for a check up, he checked over her feather picked areas, mainly her legs, under her wings and on the shoulders of her wings. Underneath her wings there are some old scabs and Dr.T wants us to hold onto Jojo for a little while to keep an eye on those areas and make they fully heal up and the scabs fall off. He also checked for infection , and she doesn't have an infection going on. She just needs to leave that area alone and let it heal all the way. She received a ton of kisses and head scratches today :) I also took one of the male degus, some of the degus have bald and patchy areas, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't caused by mites or lice. There aren't any of these present , Dr.T is 100 percent certain that the fur loss and patchy fur is from barbering. The cagemates are over grooming. One degu is over grooming another degu's face and backside areas a little too much. Dr.T explained to me this can be caused by boredom or stress, but many times it is just a degu partner getting over zealous about cleaning their friend and taking it too far. All in all it was a good vet visit, I am sure that Jojo's wing area will heal all the way, it is almost healed up already.
Good night everyone, I'll leave you with pictures of the newly adopted rat boys, Pip the hamster and Mario and Luigi.