rhapsody
Senior Member
A while back ago, some of you folks might have heard of the huge rat hoarding case in southern California where 1000+ rats were pulled. If any of you are really strong of heart, the A&E Hoarders episode of this case will air on January 10th. Not sure if I'll be able to watch it though without getting physically ill.
In any case, the small animal rescue I volunteer with spear-headed the efforts to rehabilitate the ratties and get them ready for adoption ... and yesterday, I finally brought one of them home! Please meet ...
[center:d6vkcb2s]SOPHIE
[/center:d6vkcb2s]
She is a very bold 6-week old blue-capped (?) little girl who was born at the rescue. She's currently living in a hamster cage until she's big enough to join my kiddos. I did let my gentlest boy do a quick meet-n-greet with her, and they hit it off really well. Here's hoping that the intros will go smoothly later on. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll grow into a healthy adult, but I'm definitely anticipating future health issues since she is so severely inbred.
Also, a quick update on the hoarding case. Turns out, over 1600 rats were pulled from this hoarder's house ... and only 1100ish were healthy enough to make the trip to the rescue. The rest were so far gone that they had to be euthanisized on the spot. And ever since the rats were brought in, pinkies have been appearing nearly every day - we're hoping that in the next couple of weeks, all the females will have successfully cleared their pregnancy watch. Money is really tight right now, and with the huge number of rats, the rescue can't spay/neuter more than just a handful.
I was able to help out with the rats this week, and I have never seen such a gorgeous variety of ratties - they are every possible color and pattern. Bad thing though, they have all allegedly originated from just one pregnant rat ... and about 40% have high-white markings. We've already had three cases of megacolon at the rescue - two early onset, and one late onset. And Lord knows how many died of the condition before the rats were pulled from the hoarder's house. Words cannot express how horrible I felt when I found a beautiful 5-week dalmation girl with the tell-tale bulging sides. She spent a whole day in my pocket before we had to let her go. Couldn't let her pass on without knowing some love, and without a name too. RIP Abigail.
Here's some pics of just a fraction of the rescued ratties:
[center:d6vkcb2s]ZOMG, BABIES!!!
LOL, there were like twenty girls stuffed in that hammock
Yes, the cages are wrapped in chicken wire. The company who donated the cages (Petsmart?) gave the rescue Ferret Nations, and well, most of the females managed to squeeze out them. Corralling a bunch of loose ratties is NOT fun
[/center:d6vkcb2s]
In any case, the small animal rescue I volunteer with spear-headed the efforts to rehabilitate the ratties and get them ready for adoption ... and yesterday, I finally brought one of them home! Please meet ...
[center:d6vkcb2s]SOPHIE
She is a very bold 6-week old blue-capped (?) little girl who was born at the rescue. She's currently living in a hamster cage until she's big enough to join my kiddos. I did let my gentlest boy do a quick meet-n-greet with her, and they hit it off really well. Here's hoping that the intros will go smoothly later on. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll grow into a healthy adult, but I'm definitely anticipating future health issues since she is so severely inbred.
Also, a quick update on the hoarding case. Turns out, over 1600 rats were pulled from this hoarder's house ... and only 1100ish were healthy enough to make the trip to the rescue. The rest were so far gone that they had to be euthanisized on the spot. And ever since the rats were brought in, pinkies have been appearing nearly every day - we're hoping that in the next couple of weeks, all the females will have successfully cleared their pregnancy watch. Money is really tight right now, and with the huge number of rats, the rescue can't spay/neuter more than just a handful.
I was able to help out with the rats this week, and I have never seen such a gorgeous variety of ratties - they are every possible color and pattern. Bad thing though, they have all allegedly originated from just one pregnant rat ... and about 40% have high-white markings. We've already had three cases of megacolon at the rescue - two early onset, and one late onset. And Lord knows how many died of the condition before the rats were pulled from the hoarder's house. Words cannot express how horrible I felt when I found a beautiful 5-week dalmation girl with the tell-tale bulging sides. She spent a whole day in my pocket before we had to let her go. Couldn't let her pass on without knowing some love, and without a name too. RIP Abigail.
Here's some pics of just a fraction of the rescued ratties:
[center:d6vkcb2s]ZOMG, BABIES!!!
LOL, there were like twenty girls stuffed in that hammock
Yes, the cages are wrapped in chicken wire. The company who donated the cages (Petsmart?) gave the rescue Ferret Nations, and well, most of the females managed to squeeze out them. Corralling a bunch of loose ratties is NOT fun
