Summer Summary!

With only a couple more days left in August, the reality that summer is coming to a close is setting in. Almost all of the colleges are back in session, and grade schools are going to go back fairly soon, too. Since the summer is about to end, I talked to Rachel about setting up a summary post to show just how successful SP-BH has been. So here's all the news that's fit to share!

June saw the arrival of the 7 angora rabbits from another rescue. They had been seized from a hoarding situation and were in pretty bad shape. Some were pregnant, and they all desperately needed the vet visit they received, at which time they were shaved to remove the horrible matting of their fur. 7 gerbils also arrived, as well as Chip the love bird and Earl the turtle.

As per usual, all of the animals were checked out at the vet. Other notable vet visits include the spay/neuter visit for Flander, Hudson, and Ohana the rabbits and Buddy the guinea pig's eye removal surgery. Sadly, Buddy passed not long after h

is surgery. In happier news, however, Malary, Vasari, and Prima the rats were adopted, as was Pablo the guinea pig. At the end of June, Florence the angora rabbit gave birth to 6 babies, 5 of which survived. There were more births to follow...

July proved to be an incredibly busy month. To start off, the rest of the angora babies were born. This proved to be bittersweet. On the 2nd, 6 babies were born to an unknown mother. Unfortunately, none of them survived, as they were ignored completely by their mother and the other females. On the 6th, both Magenta and Marylin had 8 babies. None of Magenta's babies survived, and only 4 of Marylin's babies survived. It's assumed that a combination of the deplorable conditions and constant moving from place to place played a role in the low survival rate of the babies. Fortunately, the 9 that did survive ap

pear to be in good health.

A bit later on in the month, Lifelong Tails became Small Pets-Big Hearts, Inc. and was able to begin the process of becoming a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization. This is HUGE news, as it means the name is now protected, and there are far more opportunities. As the name gets out there, we can reach more potential adopters and foster parents.

A large group of rats were surrendered when their family had to move and couldn't take them. Burrito, Zack, Gormy, Potter, Lilly, Gypsy, Janet, Dot, Bellatrix, Tempe, and Darlene are all very friendly and were obviously well cared for before coming to SP-BH. A group of Zebra finches, named after the cast of Firefly, was surrendered shortly before 8 gerbils, named for the cast of Law and Order were surrendered. Two rats, Charity and Dee Dee were placed in a foster home.

Luckily, the influx of animals was counterbalanced

by a long list of adoptions. Mimi, Momo, and Hopper the gerbils, Edger the (female) guinea pig, Milton and Cleo the rats, Sofia, Mabel, and Marigold the angora rabbits, Coco and Annabelle the guinea pigs, Hawthorne and Flynt the rats, Chip the lovebird, Gary and Doug the dwarf hamsters, Katarina the one-eyed hamster, Ginger and Fonda the gerbils, and Picasso and Potter the rats all went to their forever homes. Whew!

There were 3 routine vet visits, and sadly, Shaft the mouse died of old age. He and the other mice from his surrender had been previously taken off of PetFinder because of their age.

Things have calmed down this month. Despite a few setbacks, like the unfortunate deaths of Hendrix the one-eyed African Soft Furred rat, Book the one-footed zebra finch, and Mars the elderly mouse, this month has been a fairly good one. The

re was a much smaller influx of animals, mostly due to the already-crowded conditions of Small Pets-Big Hearts headquarters. The surrenders were Leonna and Luke the sugar gliders, Charlie Brown the ferret, Cleopatra the (ENORMOUS) turtle, and Abby and Juno the guinea pigs. 7 of the 18 African Soft Furred rats were fostered, as were Gibbs, McGee, and DiNozzo the dwarf hamsters. While they have been suffering from umbilical infections and one nasty case of "hair ring" (a rather unpleasant condition involving male parts and debris), they are still incredibly friendly.

Christopher the rabbit was adopted this month, as were S'Mores the guinea pig, Pumpkin the rabbit, Meela and Keesha the gerbils, and as of today, Lilly the rat.

In other happy news, SP-BH has officially opened a bank account! This means that Rachel and Ray will have a much easier time accepting donations and adoption fees. Here, take a look at this check:

We're all incredibly excited about this.

All in all, 62 animals entered Small Pets-Big Hearts this summer, not counting the babies that were born. A total of 31 animals were adopted, and 12 went to foster homes. Though 5 adult and 15 baby animals passed away, it's obvious that SP-BH has been incredibly successful.

There are still two days left in August, so I'd love to have to come back and edit this post to add more fosters and adoptions. As it stands, Emma and Tessa the dwarf hamsters are adoption pending. Let's hope they go to their forever homes within the next two days.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, everyone!

A plea for help

Small Pets-Big Hearts has been booming lately. Unfortunately, this means that headquarters is full! But that doesn't stop requests for surrenders from coming in. Just today, two major requests came in. We're asking for help in finding either rescues that can handle the overflow or forever homes for the rescues already in SP-BH headquarters. Here are the stories:

Travelers from New Jersey have called in dire need. They are currently carrying 14 sugar gliders that were unwanted. Unfortunately, as SP-BH already has a pair waiting for adoption and has a vast menagerie of other animals waiting for forever homes, there's just no way to take them. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, there are no other no-kill organizations that take sugar gliders. If you know of anyone who can take them in, please let us know.

We also received an email requesting a surrender of 5 rabbits, 3 guinea pigs, a syrian hamster, and a hairless rat. All but the rabbits are known to be male. If you're familiar with other rescues that can take in these animals, or if you're interested in taking in these - or any other animals at SP-BH, please contact the rescue at rachel(at)smallpets-bighearts(dot)com.

Please don't forget that adoptions and fosters are always welcome. Every animal that gets adopted means that another can be rescued. If you can help, please let us know.

Newcomers and gerbils with New Home

Abby and Juno the female guinea pigs arrived today. Their previous owner was unable to afford or find the time for them anymore. They are gorgeous short haired girls with a mixture of browns in their coat. Abby has a bit of teddy fur in her. They have gorgeous black eyes that say , " I am Beautiful and drop dead CUTE!" They are adjusting well to life at Small Pets-Big Hearts, Inc. headquarters and main foster home. They didn't waste time to try out the timothy hay and fresh veggies. After a bit of time and a wellness check up at the vet, they will then be adoptable.
We have great news about Meela and Keesha the female gerbils. They have been adopted!! They will be be loved and spoiled by their new Mom :)
Our not so great news is about DiNozzo, Gibbs and Mcgee the dwarf hamsters. They have been finished with their antibiotics for a few days now, and unfortunately , their infections have returned. We will give Dr.Tomaschke a call on Monday for advice on what to do next. He may want to see them again, or try another round of the same antibiotic or a different one. We willpost about his instructions and the boy's progress.
Pictured above is Meela and Keesha.

Zack, Cleopatra, Pumpkin and Sugar Gliders

I have great news about Zack the rat. His neuter went smoothly and he is already nearly healed. He didn't skip a beat after his neuter and immediately went for his food and climbed up to his hammock. He has been behaving well with Burrito and we hope to move Gormy back in with the two. Gormy's wound from Zack is also healed. All three will be monitored closely when they are reintroduced. If Zack acts back up, our next step will be introducing him with females ( after a month has passed from his neuter)
Yesterday we received a new arrival, one we didn't expect to be quite so large. Cleopatra the red eared slider arrived. I was told she was 5 to 6 months old, I was not envisioning a full grown female red ear that is definetly a lot older than that. We are urgently looking for a foster or adoptive home for her , with someone that has an indoor pond. Most glass aquariums are much too small for her. We have her in a glass aquarium right now. I know she needs more space. We would love someone with better accommodations to either adopt or foster her.
Pumpkin the rabbit was adopted today!! Pumpkin was dropped off at a pet store. Her previous owner had to rehome/take her somewhere, because the landlord found out about Pumpkin and pets were not allowed. Pumpkin went into foster care immediately and quickly found a loving home a couple of weeks after she was spayed. We are very happy for Pumpkin :)
The two sugar gliders saw the vet yesterday. We found out that one is a female and one is neutered male. That is why the neutered boy appeared to be a female , no male " pom poms" and the scent gland on the head disappears after a neuter. But Dr.T couldn't find a pouch, that signalled his true identity. The female does have a pouch. They are both in great health and are now ready to be adopted. The male has been renamed Luke , they are Luke and Leonna.

More Mixed News

It seems like there has been an awful lot of mixed news lately. In a way, it's better that we have the mix - the sad news would be much harder to deal with if there wasn't happy news to follow.

To start, Hendrix the one-eyed African Soft Furred rat passed away. Like Book the zebra finch, his death was sudden and most likely not related to his disability. His permanent wink will be missed.

The better news is that Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee the dwarf hamsters have healed. Their umbilical infections have cleared up thanks to Baytril and a little extra loving. Their foster dad was a great help with this, even though they gave him some trouble with the medication.

In other good news, SP-BH now has a bank account! This means that donations can be made to the rescue directly, which will be infinitely simpler for Rachel and Ray. Donations are not tax deductible. We are hoping to become tax expempt by the end of the year, at that point donations will be tax deductible. Speaking of the founders, let's give them a great big hurrah for all the work they've been doing to get Small Pets-Big Hearts, Inc. the incorporated status that it deserves. Everything they do is for the benefit of the animals who are so often overlooked when families consider a pet. Literally hundreds of small animals have been given loving homes because of their efforts. Please help them out. Adopting, fostering, and donating are all ways you can help and become a part of the Small Pets-Big Hearts phenomenon.

Zach the Rat and Adoptions.

I love to start out with our adoptions this week. Christopher the rabbit has found his forever home. He was waiting since November, 2009. It was worth the wait for him, he now has a loving home and family. Then, S'Mores the guinea pig went home. His new Mom drove here from Erie, PA, just for him. She couldn't resist his cuteness.
Zach the rat has been causing some distress and injuries to his cage mates, Burrito and Gormy. He has been displaying an overbearing, dominant and macho personality and behavior. He is only showing this behavior to his rat friends, with people he is a mushy pants, he loves to be held and loved on. The best way to resolve Zach's issue is a neuter. Neutering a rat normally brings down those hormone levels that cause the dominant behavior. If it doesn't work and he is still mean to Gormy and Burrito, we will then introduce him to some females, he may get along with them better. And since he would be neutered, we won't have pregnancies occurring, which is always a very good thing! We are doing everything we can to prevent having to place Zach by himself. Rat are very social and are the happiest with a rat companion living with them. Zach's neuter is scheduled tomorrow. But we may not see a change his in his behavior towards his rat buddies for a month, it takes that long for hormone levels to subside. I will update on his post-surgery and progress.
I will leave you with a picture of Christopher and S'Mores.

Sugar Gliders and Ferret

We have a few new arrivals at Small Pets-Big Hearts, Inc. We took in 2 sugar gliders that were abandoned by a room mate that moved out. The person still living at the place , didn't know how to care for them or what to do. We are thankful that he took the time to find us, ask for help and bring them to us. We quickly provided them with a water bottle, pouches, a wodent wheel, toys and fresh foods at night time. They appear to be females, they do not have the fuzzy "pom poms" and scent glands that males have. But one or both might be neutered boys. Once we get them to our vet, then we will know for sure. For now, they are have been named Leona and Julianne. Unless we found out someone has been altered.
Yesterday we took in a ferret named Charlie Brown. His owner couldn't care for him any longer. He is a black eyed , white , 4 year old male. He is a Marshall's ferret , this means he has been neutered and descented. He is now in foster care with Alyssa. Alyssa has been our favorite ferret foster parent.
Both Charlie Brown and the sugar glider will not be placed as adoptable until they have seen the vet for a wellness check up. We will update on their status.

Memorial for Linus

Yesterday I received grave news from Lucy and Linus the chinchillas' Mom. She let me know that Linus passed away, his passing was sudden and it left his family and Lucy very depressed.
Linus ( was neutered) had arrived at the rescue with three other chinchillas. Hermione and Harry, and Lucy. You could tell who was already paired up and were life long companions. Those pairs were inseparable. Hermione and Harry found a loving home quickly. But it took a while longer for Lucy and Linus. We were told that they were already at an older age of 7 to 8 years. Despite their older age, they enjoyed climbing and jumping to the extra levels in their cage. Linus loved pressing his nose at the bars of the cage and beg for treats. He was a smaller chinchilla packed full of soft fluff and love.
He touched the hearts of many people. We hope that Lucy will bounce back from her tremendous loss. The only thing that could have come between them was such a tragic event.
Our thoughts are with Linus's family and with Lucy. He will always be remembered.

Mixed News

Well, we have some bad news and some good news.

Unfortunately, we lost one of the zebra finches today. One had come in missing a foot, but otherwise healthy. Despite having seemed healthy, he passed today. There's no indication that his missing foot had anything to do with his passing; it was well-healed when he arrived. He may not have been at Small Pets-Big Hearts, Inc. for long, but he will be missed.

In better news, Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee the hamsters appear to be healing well from umbilical infections. While we're not sure how they wound up infected in the first place, a few days and some Baytril have already led to much improvement. Skin color is returning to normal and the infections are draining.

As always, if you would like to help out the rescue by fostering, adopting, or donating, please email rachel(at)smallpets-bighearts(dot)org.

Updates

Pumpkin and Christopher the bunnies were spayed and neutered, respectively, yesterday. They're currently resting comfortably and awaiting forever homes.

You may recall that Lilly the rat saw the doctors for an eye issue. Luckily, the eye is already looking much better. With any luck, she'll adjust well and be ready for a forever home very soon.

In other veterinary news, Gibbs, McGee, and DiNozzo the dwarf hamsters will be going to the vet tomorrow afternoon to check out some suspicious looking spots on their tiny bellies. If there is something wrong, they sure don't act like it! Those three are just fluffy bundles of energy, and they love being held. They're still in foster care, awaiting their forever home, too.