Benjamin and Gumdrop

I am thrilled to announce that the two rabbits Benjamin and Gumdrop are now home, together! :) They both arrived to us at different times. Benjamin came to us in February of 2008, his owner became disabled and was unable to care for him anymore. He arrived a very scared and skittish bunny, he seemed scared of his own shadow. Even after time and quiet he still remained nervous. Gumdrop arrived in March, she came to us as a little baby. She was brought with her siblings and Mom. After Gumdrop and Benjamin were spayed and neutered they then went into foster care. A vet tech at the animal hospital we go to wanted to help out by fostering bunnies for us. She decided to introduce Benjamin and Gumdrop to each other, and they were a bonded pair in no time. In fact, Since Benjamin made a friend he became more confident and outgoing. Their foster Mom was leaving to go to Cornell to further her education as a vet tech so she brought back the duo. They were two different bunnies, Their foster Mom must have lavished time and attention on them because they were so mellow and loved to be petted, such a change. Makes me have to say again, I Love Foster parents !:) The day came when their new Mom called us saying she was thrilled to find out we had such an adorable bonded pair. She was looking for two rabbits just like them that lived together. She fawned over Benjamin's velvety rex fur, I don't blame her, it's very soft. I am so happy they have a great Mom now and each other. What a happy ending, I love it.

Lotti, Cotton Candy and Butterscotch, 2 baby turtles

Last week a few guinea pigs found their loving homes. Butterscotch is a beautiful cream and white colored female piggie. She was staying at Foster Mom, Andrea's, home until her adoption day arrived. I wish I had a picture of her to post since she is a drop dead gorgeous girl. Maybe her new Mom will provide us with a picture of her. Later that same day, the two guinea pigs, Cotton Candy and Lotti also went home :) Lotti is a black and white girl and Cotton Candy ( I should say Cotton Candy 2 since we also had another Cotton Candy who was a guinea pig, he was adopted only a couple months ago) is a calico colored girl. They have a great Mom and dad now. Dad is the first man I have met that likes to talk baby talk to the guinea pigs. I think it is great, more guys should show their soft side to the little furry ones. I do have pictures of Cotton Candy 2 and Lotti.
2 baby turtles arrived, I have named them Micro and Mini. They came with the names Keegan and Sarah, but I have renamed them since we aren't sure Sarah is truly a girl. I think it is fitting for these tiny ones, I am so used to the large turtles. Micro is having problems though, and he arrived with this problem. It seems he tilts his neck and head back ( as if he can't help it) then he leans back so far he falls backward, at this point he starts to spin and twirl uncontrollably. It's very distressing to see, I have him accomodated where he is spinning less but he still lays with his head tilted back. When he goes to grab food his head moves back and forth, making him miss his target again and again. His appetite is there but with his swaying and bobbing head , it makes catching and eating food difficult for him. Last night he did accomplish catching some gammarus shrimp on his own and did swallow some. A few times he caught the food, but then lost the food out of his mouth before he could chew and swallow. Normally spinning in the red eared or any aquatic turtle is associated with a URI or pneumonia, but as I watch Micro's symptoms, they appear to be almost neurological in nature. Of course, I am not a vet. He does have a vet appointment on Saturday, then I'll have a better idea as to what is wrong, and I hope we can help him out. I video taped his abnormal actions on the digital camera, I will show Dr.T the videos so we don't have to succumb Micro to anymore spinning just so Dr.T can see the symptoms himself. Mini the baby red eared slider is perfectly well, he swims like a champ and eats like a horse.

Vincent VanGogh, Marty and Randy

Vincent VanGogh is a male syrian hamster, he was brought to us because his owner did not want him anymore. Little Vincent was looking for a new home. We gave him that name because a good portion of ear was missing, I am guessing from a fight with another hamster ( he arrived with the ear in that condition) Vincent moved into a foster home while he was waiting for adoption, his foster Mom was Jessica. Jessica has now become Vincent's Mom!:) Jessica fell for Vincent's good looks and charm, she fell in love with him. She just officially adopted Vincent yesterday.
On Thursday, I had a vet appointment with Dr.T. It was for Marty and Randy our two cats. A couple months ago we took Marty in because he had awful breathe for a one year old cat. Well, poor Marty has gingivitis. Dr.T gave him a cortisone shot, many times it can be due to allergies or other reactions. He did get much better with the breathe and redness of the gums for about two weeks, then it came back. I took Marty in for a re-check on his Gingivitis. He just got another cortisone shot and I am to mark down exactly how long it lasts before his symptoms come back. If this isn't really helping he may need a different treatment that can have side effects, or have some teeth pulled ( I hope not) Randy the cat went in for his ears. I noticed he was itching in his ears with his back feet , really digging in and when he pulled his back foot out, it had gunk in his toenails, ew. Dr.T took swabs of his ear gunk and checked it out. He discovered that Randy has a yeast infection in both ears. He now has ear drops to treat it, and we are on day three of the treatment, it will go on for a week. He isn't too bad, Ray and I wrap him up in a blanket and I drop it in. He does shake his head vigorously when we are done, causing some of it to fly out. I am positive most of it is staying in though.
Layla the rabbit is going in for her spay surgery on Monday. I'll update on how she does.
Pictures of Vincent VanGogh and Randy are above.

Squirt!

I am happy to announce that Squirt the turtle is home now! :) Squirt is a little female painted turtle. She was surrendered to us because she wasn't wanted anymore. Now she has a new home and a new Daddy, Tom. Tom also has a small male painted turtle. He'll be keeping the two of them outside in a pond during the warm summer months and he has an enclosure indoors for them for the awful Buffalo Winters. We are so happy that Squirt has found a home. Now we would love for Rosebud or giant sized Razz, the turtles, to find homes as well. They have been waiting to be adopted longer than Squirt has.

Here's a picture of little Squirt. She was camera shy and was reluctant to peek her head out of her shell.

Clay

I am not sure how many people would appreciate this pet story. Though I am sure many of you animal and pet lovers can relate and even find it slightly amusing. Today I decided to soak Clay the lizard in some luke warm water. Clay is a Mali Uromastyx lizard and he is our own family member, we have had home for about 6 years, before we even started rescuing. Right now he is shedding his skin, and he has always had difficulty with getting the skin off his back legs and toes. Soaking him in water helps loosen up the skin and get it to peel off. I placed just the right amount of water in a plastic container where he was able to lift his head up out of the water without a problem. He was very relaxed and content in the warm bath, so I decided to clean, Pasta, the hamster's cage. When I go back to check on Clay, I immediately notice that he is now sitting in GREEN water! You see, he was so relaxed and content in the warm water that it got his bowels going and he took a nice dump in the water. His diet is mainly fresh greens , that explains the color. He turned his nice soak into a toilet! I took him out and rinsed him off, placed him back in his enclosure where I gave him some more collared greens and Kale. Then I dumped his lovely concoction of water and poop in the basement sink. I guess the sudden green water is what shocked me the most.

Here are some overhead pictures of Clay. You can see his shedding progress in the pictures.

Take care everyone :) feel free to e-mail me some of your pet stories at rachel@lifelongtails.org or comment them in the Blog.

Back to Normal

Last week Ray and I went on a Disney cruise !:) Actually, we spent 4 days at the parks and then 3 days on the cruise. We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. We went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. On our cruise we visited the Bahamas. The last two days of the cruise I started to get a nasty cold and I am still kicking it out of my system now. Even though I wasn't feeling 100 percent I still had a great time. Of course, I missed all the pets and our 6 kitties ( I think they missed us too)My Mom and Dad and Christine had the task of feeding and caring for everyone while we were gone. Florida and the Bahamas were fantastic, but as the saying goes " There no place like home."
I am getting back on track with the rescuing. After our dilemma with being threatened and wondering if we should continue and then going on vacation, it seemed everything was on hold for a while. Now, we will go back to where we were before it all, and we hope to help the animals as much as we have been. In fact , I hope we run even smoother and never have any negative comments again.
For everyone that has been by our side I want to thank you all. I know many love to visit this blog and see all the new updates and pictures, I am so very sorry it has been the same for so long. I guarantee it will be back to the way it was before these escapades. I hope there will be post of adoptions real soon too :) That's the best news of all.