This was from a few days ago, but I didn't want to forget about it. Was driving along, and the phone rings, and usually I'll pick it up, but I'd been letting the calls go to voicemail that day because I was trying to get some errands ran and such. But this was an out-of-country call, and I will always pick those up, because I don't want to have to call them back and pay the charges. We have long distance, but not worldwide.
So, it turns out it's this guy from Saudia Arabia who has two chins, who just had a baby. He had separated the adults and had mom in with the baby, and the baby was a few days old and had picked up some hay and was munching on it. Well, apparently he'd read somewhere that if a baby chin ate hay too early in its life, it wouldn't digest and would cause stasis, and he was terrified this baby was going to die because he saw it munching on hay (which he had explained he'd removed, and then called me).
I told him I didn't know where he read that, but not to worry, we (and other breeders) feed the mom chins the same way we do before pregnancy (with pellets and hay) and in 10 years, no babies have died due to that. I explained that the baby would try the food at this point, and moreso later on, but wouldn't be able to actually eat enough of it to sustain itself until it was older.
And then we talked about him caring for the chins, he ships in Oxbow from the states (pellets and hay), and gives them a variety of different Oxbow hays (timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa). It sounded like he was caring for them well, and he wanted to know my thoughts on Oxbow vs. Mazuri. As local people know I lean towards Mazuri, but that's mainly because I could never afford to feed Oxbow on such a large scale. But if a chin is doing fine on Oxbow, I told him it's fine to stick with it. He seemed relieved to hear that as well.
So he said thanks and that was it.
What I find interesting is how he ended up calling me. I mean, he must have gotten my number either off my website or some rescue page, but I always find it interesting when I get the call. Like, out of everyone in the U.S., he called me, you know? Just interesting.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Shipping Prices & Weights & Time Delay for Orders
Ok, so a situation arose the other day leading to the subject of today's blog. Er, subjects.
First -- time delay for orders. Most orders I can get out within a day or two. Those include orders for food, dust, treats, etc. The orders for hidey houses, the wooden vehicles, and other such things list on the webstore that they can take up to two weeks as they can be made to order and are not always just sitting here ready-made. Shelves are one of those things that can take longer as well, as I have to cut the shelves on a table saw. That cannot be done if I am getting home at 10 pm, as the saw is, oh I dunno, loud, and would wake everyone up.
And the last thing that will not take one day to do -- figuring out shipping. I'd say at least 70-80% of what I deal with with orders are people asking, I want this, this, and this, how much will shipping be? I mean, it is a LOT of what I do. That is also not something that is going to take one day. Let me explain. First, if you want an order of whatever, I have to get it all together. That means, if you want a 16" shelf, I have to cut a 16" shelf (see part about using the table saw), put on bolts, because it's rather difficult to find a box that will fit a 16" shelf without actually having the 16" shelf in front of you. Then, I get that sanded, together, and with everything else, find a box that fits the stuff without me having to throw in 5 pounds of extra packaging material, and weigh it all. Maybe this doesn't sound like it takes a long time, but say this person wants a water bottle. I need to accurately pack that water bottle like I would if I knew the order was going out, because that can change the weight of the entire package. Same with anything breakable -- it gets packaged and wrapped as if it was going out.
So, I had this order the other day where someone wanted a shipping quote. For a 16" shelf and two chin chillers. I believe they emailed Tuesday. I told them that I wouldn't be able to get to it until likely Thursday, because I already had orders in front of theirs (Tuesday), Wednesday I have class, not home until 10 pm (no table saw), and so maybe Thursday. Turns out I actually got to it Friday, so I got their shelf cut/sanded and the chin chillers wrapped in bubble wrap and box found and packaging put in. I email the person that the box weighs 9-10 pounds, so shipping comes out to $17.50. This is the email I get back:
Hi,
Sorry I am all set. The package can't weight more than 5 pounds even if the tiles were made of brick. You took to long to get back and I was looking to have these items paid and shipped by now.
Sorry I am all set. The package can't weight more than 5 pounds even if the tiles were made of brick. You took to long to get back and I was looking to have these items paid and shipped by now.
So, I'm not upset that I lost the order, I have plenty. What I have really come to dislike, though, is the mentality that when someone emails me, I'm supposed to drop whatever I'm doing, whoever is in front of them, to work on their order. That's not how it goes. Paid orders typically get done before I do shipping quotes, and even then, those go in the order of how I received them. Hers was not first in line. It took four days for me to get her a shipping quote. I guess for her that was too long. Me? I think that's reasonable, considering I have a full time job, run the rescue, and do stuff for the store. If I sat home doing nothing but the store, I would think four days would be too long. But not considering I have a real job that requires 40+ hours per week.
Moving along. What I am really upset about is the fact that she doesn't believe that it weighs 9-10 pounds. I emailed her back saying that if she'd like, I'd be happy to show her a picture of the box on my scale. The one thing that I pride myself and the store on is that I don't overcharge on shipping. I typically charge actual shipping + $0.75-$1.00 as a cushion in case I'm off (because shipping is typically calculated before the box is sealed, so the tape and such can sometimes add a little bit in shipping). I hate the stores that charge $15 to ship something, and when you get it, it's in a priority mail box (small) which is $5.35. Unless that is the only store in the world that sells what I am looking for, I will buy elsewhere. So usually, those companies do not get repeat business from me. I HATE that and so I will not do it to my customers.
So, she has not responded, which is fine, and I really don't care specifically about losing one order, but for everyone who reads this, I want you all to see:
.jpg) |
| Box open showing shelf in box, two bubble wrapped chin chillers, and packaging paper |
 |
| box closed on the scale showing 9 lbs 4 oz. |
Sorry for bad picture quality, was using my phone for the pics. So, between 9-10 pounds? Sure. 5 pounds? No way. I don't know how light people think things are, but here's about how it works:
- a 6' x 8" x 1" board of pine weighs roughly 6 pounds
- consequently, 16 inches weighs roughly 1 pound, 5 ounces
- four bolts, eight washers, and four wingnuts weigh roughly 7 oz
- chin chillers weigh roughly 2 pounds 11 oz each
- so, two chinchillers together weigh roughly 5 pounds 7 oz
- the box isn't light as air, and this one is thicker (to support the chin chillers and not rip), so the box could be 1 lb itself
- packaging isn't light as air either -- so add in maybe another pound of packaging/tape/etc
- TOTAL = 1 lb 5 oz (pine board) + 7 oz (hardware) + 5 lb 7 oz (2 chinchillers) + 1 lb (box) + 1 lb (packaging/tape) = 9 lbs 3 oz.
Amazing, isn't it? I am happy to show people their package on the scale when they do not believe the weight. I have had people tell me that my shipping charge is considerably too much, and I will tell them, well, if it is, I will refund the excess shipping once it's been shipped out and I know how much it was over actual shipping. Almost never fails that I will quote someone $12 for shipping and shipping will be $11.50. I do typically keep an overage of $0.50-0.75 cents for handling charge, so that person would not get refunded anything. I can't help that shipping is expensive. I wish it was less myself.... but it is what it is.
Oh, and by the way.... granite/marble are more dense materials than brick. So the same piece would weigh less if it were made of brick, not more (as she suggested).
Solid granite 2691 kg/cu.m.
Solid marble 2563 kg./cu.m
Brick, common red 1922 kg/cu.m
^^ taken from http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_materials.htm
I actually sent this person an email a few mins ago with the picture below -- I just let her know that I didn't want her to think I was trying to cheat her (cause I'm not), and that the entire package would have a hard time being under 5 pounds, when the readout shows that the chinchillers themselves weigh a combined total of 5 pounds 7 7/8 oz (and 8 oz = 1/2 pound). I just don't want her to think I'm being dishonest. Cause word can get around.
I actually sent this person an email a few mins ago with the picture below -- I just let her know that I didn't want her to think I was trying to cheat her (cause I'm not), and that the entire package would have a hard time being under 5 pounds, when the readout shows that the chinchillers themselves weigh a combined total of 5 pounds 7 7/8 oz (and 8 oz = 1/2 pound). I just don't want her to think I'm being dishonest. Cause word can get around.
May have more to post about later, but for now, this is it.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Going's on.
Not too much going on lately. Went to Six Flags (yay!) with Amber, as a mini-vacation from our respective rescues. If you ran a rescue you'd know why we need days like that every so often-haha.
Came back Saturday night, and Sunday had people coming by. The one picked up a cage that had been on hold for awhile. Had someone come by and drop off a lop-eared rabbit. Sort of agouti colored, will have to ask Amber what this color really is called. Big rabbit for 9-10 months, and mostly potty trained! Awesome.
Then had someone come by to look at Haku. He's on hold for someone on my waiting list, and they wanted to come by and see him before bringing their chin here for me to try intros. They liked him, so intros will be later this week.
Got an email about Boom & Pow that I need to answer. Also some emails about donations. It's amazing how quickly you can get behind.
Oh and this was a good one. I have a cage for sale and someone texted asking if I have the bottom part for it. So I asked if they meant the pan, and I said yeah. So they asked how much, and I told them the price for the cage. They said, no, just for the pan. Well.... I told em, if I told you the pan... the cage would be useless to me. Because this cage has a slide in pan, so it's not like you can just go get a custom square cut to the size. Wouldn't work. And... really, this person knew that, because they have a cage that they can't use....because they apparently have no pan. I mean... maybe this is just me.... but I would think, anyone with that cage is NOT going to sell just the pan, because that makes the cage useless. I mean, good try, I suppose, but I doubt they're going to have any luck.
Came back Saturday night, and Sunday had people coming by. The one picked up a cage that had been on hold for awhile. Had someone come by and drop off a lop-eared rabbit. Sort of agouti colored, will have to ask Amber what this color really is called. Big rabbit for 9-10 months, and mostly potty trained! Awesome.
Then had someone come by to look at Haku. He's on hold for someone on my waiting list, and they wanted to come by and see him before bringing their chin here for me to try intros. They liked him, so intros will be later this week.
Got an email about Boom & Pow that I need to answer. Also some emails about donations. It's amazing how quickly you can get behind.
Oh and this was a good one. I have a cage for sale and someone texted asking if I have the bottom part for it. So I asked if they meant the pan, and I said yeah. So they asked how much, and I told them the price for the cage. They said, no, just for the pan. Well.... I told em, if I told you the pan... the cage would be useless to me. Because this cage has a slide in pan, so it's not like you can just go get a custom square cut to the size. Wouldn't work. And... really, this person knew that, because they have a cage that they can't use....because they apparently have no pan. I mean... maybe this is just me.... but I would think, anyone with that cage is NOT going to sell just the pan, because that makes the cage useless. I mean, good try, I suppose, but I doubt they're going to have any luck.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
New Stuff
So, new stuff. The person with the rats emailed back and really didn't explain why she hadn't responded to any of my other emails, but said she wanted to still adopt. Ok.
Then, I've been going back and forth with this one person about guinea pigs for a bit now. First, they asked if I had guinea pigs, yes I do. They want to know how much they are, so I told em, and they asked if I still had Squirt and Wizard. That must have been a day or so past when Squirt was adopted, but I slacked on getting his ads down (my bad), and so I told her, sorry, we didn't have him. But still had Wizard. To answer the question about which we had and prices, I directed them to the website. This was the person that asked if I would still have guinea pigs in a month's time. And I had told her, I really don't know. So then (and this is all over a maybe a week's time, in texts), she asks if I still have Sammy and Bashful and I tell her yes, and she asks if she can reserve them for a month. So, I tell her, for that long, she needs to put a deposit down. So then she asks, can she get updates if I get more new pigs in. I would assume, so if cuter ones come in, she could switch to those. I told her, and this applies to everyone potentially adopting, if she's not positive which animal(s) she wants, she doesn't need to be putting down a deposit. Every once in a blue moon, I will let someone transfer a deposit to another animal, say, if something happens to the one, or it doesn't get along with theirs, or whatever. But, adopting out animals isn't like making sure you wash your sheets every few weeks. There's actual work involved, feeding them, cleaning them, etc, and I told her, the problem is, say I hold them for you for a month. Then I get in new ones and you decide you want those instead. During that month, I may have turned away people asking about the ones you had on hold, because I thought you were going to get them. Therefore, in the event you were to decide to not get them, now I've wasted a month of time and potentially lost out on adoptive homes for them because I let you change your mind. Maybe that seems harsh, but this is how some animals end up being here for a year or quite a few months, is because they'll be on hold, that person will vanish, they'll get on hold again, that person will decide not to adopt, and so on and so forth, and it almost NEVER FAILS that during the time they are on hold (for someone who does not end up adopting them), I have to tell someone, sorry, they're on hold, you can't adopt them until that person decides not to.
Like with Mariah. She was on hold for that one person, and I had someone email who sounded like a great home, and I told them, hey, I can let you know if they decide not to get her, but I can't promise anything. I never heard back. When the original person decided not to adopt Mariah, I emailed that person back and said, hey, she's up for adoption if you're still interested, but never heard back. From what I know of that potential home, I think they would have followed through and adopted. But... I told them they couldn't, because she was on hold. Now, that's a completely different situation, because that person decided not to adopt, in general, versus wanting to get a different pet. But still, with the current one, I told her, if you're not positive those are the ones you want, don't put them on hold, cause I won't change it later.
Ok, so a few days pass and again she asks if I have Sammy and Bashful and I say, yeah, I do, and she asks if she can put them on hold and this time she says she wants to put them on hold for 2 weeks (which is the longest animals can be put on hold without a deposit). So I tell her, that's fine, but pickup HAS to be within the 2 weeks. It's not like on the 1st you can say, let me put them on hold, and then you diddle daddle and finally schedule pickup on the 30th. No, if you're putting them on hold on the 1st, pickup better be by the 15th, or you will be getting an email saying hey, you need to come adopt your fuzzball. It's one thing if something comes up and someone has to cancel or reschedule, but people try to get around it however they can.
Anyway, that's beside the point. I told her that'd be fine, but I need a completed adoption form to put an animal on hold (which I really do need to stick to, as that's what I keep telling myself is the best way to do it). So anyway, she gets me the answers to the adoption form back and asks how long she has to pay the deposit, and I told her, she has 5 days, which I think is reasonable. She said she wants to pay by debit card, so now I'm just waiting for that. I told her, her 30 days (which is the longest a deposit will get you) will start the day I receive her deposit. In this case, considering she originally wanted to pick up in a month, because she's moving (I did ask, curiosity got me), I imagine she will be waiting until day 5 to put down the deposit so she has the max amount of time to pick them up. But maybe not, we will see.
Unrelated, but the person who adopted Lucy, she also had one of our breeding chins, Jessie, as a foster case for her eye watery-ness. She has become a case of a foster failure, as she asked to adopt her. With Jessie's eye issues, she had been pulled from breeding a while back, and I had been debating putting her back, not putting her back. When Meredith and I were at the Ritterspach ranch in Ohio, I asked Jim what he thought about eye issues, genetic or not, and he said they're typically not, but I still didn't particularly like the idea of the possibility of it being passed on. Hence her going to foster (which I like never do, by the way, which is why no one ever hears about it happening) with this lady. So, her eyes have improved a little and she's gotten a clean bill of health from this person's vet (despite the eyes), and she's currently living with Lucy. I got an email a bit ago asking if she could adopt her. So I finally got around to emailing her the forms that she needs to fill out and sign and get back to me with the adoption fee and then Jessie will be her chin. Which frees up a spot in my runs to get a nice puffball white female from Jim next time we go out to his ranch. I am actually excited about that.
Let's see, what else. Winx is currently still on his respirachin (?) cleanse. I think it's day 4 or 5, and then he gets his water switched out again and probiotics on day 7-8. The stuff actually went in his water, and it did say it doesn't have a taste, but I left another water bottle up on his cage in case (the cages with the valve water bottles -- like his -- typically have a ryerson bottle as well, in case the chins can't figure out the valve). So I made sure that had water, and he has drinken some out of the ryerson bottle, which he usually doesn't do, but he's clearly drinking the water with the solution in it. It's got some sort of dye (food coloring would be my guess) to make it a medium green color (noted on the bottle so that it's obvious if you're still "using" it or not), so there's no doubt his water has something in it. Either that or I have a flourishing algae colony in his water bottle, lol. He seems fine on it, I have been giving him extra supplements as well. He probably thinks this is great, more treats than he's ever had!!, but at his age (10 -- and he's a pet store chin), and the fact that he's barely 500 grams as it is, anything that's going to help him along I can deal with. I've been giving him some of our supplement, as well as a variety of other things. I have some marshmallow root here, some supplement ingredients that were given to me by someone, so I can't use them in supplement that I'd sell (because I don't know, where it's from, if it's organic, etc etc), but he can have it, because I do know what it is. So he's getting our supplement, some additional ingredients, some ryerson supplement, I have a sample of tanya's broad spectrum supplement that he's getting 1/2 teaspoon every few days, and then someone dropped off some forever feisty supplement, herbal fusion I think, so he gets that as well. And I have a bag of another herbal supplement I bought way back when that I dole out. He doesn't get this all at once, but over time. I have some much variety here I need to use some of this stuff up and not replace it because I have no more room in the drawer where that stuff goes. So he's getting that, and eating it all up. I did buy him the weight loss/appetite supplement that tanya (fuzzies kingdom) makes and it came in the mail the other day, so I intend to use that and hopefully see positive results. We shall see.
So, I've been trying out the organic herbal supplement (by us, NWI) with the chins here, and it's apparently two paws up. It's not going to replace the cheaper, $2.50/pound ryerson supplement (for the breeder chins) anytime soon, but I can switch off every other day or something. The reason I wanted to make the supplement wasn't because I really wanted to sell supplement (as if I need more store items to mess with), but rather, because it's so gosh darn expensive to buy herbal supplements that even if it was just marginally cheaper by myself making it, over time that would add up. And in reality, the cost of the herbal supplement (for ingredients & jar) isn't a ton less than the $8.50 I charge. But it is cheaper to get it in bulk, make it myself, and sell it as well, rather than shipping in small amounts here and there from fuzzies or another supplement place. So, it's apparently chin-approved. I don't know yet if it's guinea pig or rabbit approved, but according to the guinea pig/rabbit experts, it is safe for them. The herbal sampler, on the other hand, has jasmine in it, which is not safe for the piggies. I can make it without the jasmine (and throw in extra of everything else to make up the subtraction) for pig owners, if someone wants that, but I need to know ahead of time, not when you walk in the front door. Supplement and herbal sampler creation take a bit too much work to be on-demand.
I want to say that's it for new things going on.
Then, I've been going back and forth with this one person about guinea pigs for a bit now. First, they asked if I had guinea pigs, yes I do. They want to know how much they are, so I told em, and they asked if I still had Squirt and Wizard. That must have been a day or so past when Squirt was adopted, but I slacked on getting his ads down (my bad), and so I told her, sorry, we didn't have him. But still had Wizard. To answer the question about which we had and prices, I directed them to the website. This was the person that asked if I would still have guinea pigs in a month's time. And I had told her, I really don't know. So then (and this is all over a maybe a week's time, in texts), she asks if I still have Sammy and Bashful and I tell her yes, and she asks if she can reserve them for a month. So, I tell her, for that long, she needs to put a deposit down. So then she asks, can she get updates if I get more new pigs in. I would assume, so if cuter ones come in, she could switch to those. I told her, and this applies to everyone potentially adopting, if she's not positive which animal(s) she wants, she doesn't need to be putting down a deposit. Every once in a blue moon, I will let someone transfer a deposit to another animal, say, if something happens to the one, or it doesn't get along with theirs, or whatever. But, adopting out animals isn't like making sure you wash your sheets every few weeks. There's actual work involved, feeding them, cleaning them, etc, and I told her, the problem is, say I hold them for you for a month. Then I get in new ones and you decide you want those instead. During that month, I may have turned away people asking about the ones you had on hold, because I thought you were going to get them. Therefore, in the event you were to decide to not get them, now I've wasted a month of time and potentially lost out on adoptive homes for them because I let you change your mind. Maybe that seems harsh, but this is how some animals end up being here for a year or quite a few months, is because they'll be on hold, that person will vanish, they'll get on hold again, that person will decide not to adopt, and so on and so forth, and it almost NEVER FAILS that during the time they are on hold (for someone who does not end up adopting them), I have to tell someone, sorry, they're on hold, you can't adopt them until that person decides not to.
Like with Mariah. She was on hold for that one person, and I had someone email who sounded like a great home, and I told them, hey, I can let you know if they decide not to get her, but I can't promise anything. I never heard back. When the original person decided not to adopt Mariah, I emailed that person back and said, hey, she's up for adoption if you're still interested, but never heard back. From what I know of that potential home, I think they would have followed through and adopted. But... I told them they couldn't, because she was on hold. Now, that's a completely different situation, because that person decided not to adopt, in general, versus wanting to get a different pet. But still, with the current one, I told her, if you're not positive those are the ones you want, don't put them on hold, cause I won't change it later.
Ok, so a few days pass and again she asks if I have Sammy and Bashful and I say, yeah, I do, and she asks if she can put them on hold and this time she says she wants to put them on hold for 2 weeks (which is the longest animals can be put on hold without a deposit). So I tell her, that's fine, but pickup HAS to be within the 2 weeks. It's not like on the 1st you can say, let me put them on hold, and then you diddle daddle and finally schedule pickup on the 30th. No, if you're putting them on hold on the 1st, pickup better be by the 15th, or you will be getting an email saying hey, you need to come adopt your fuzzball. It's one thing if something comes up and someone has to cancel or reschedule, but people try to get around it however they can.
Anyway, that's beside the point. I told her that'd be fine, but I need a completed adoption form to put an animal on hold (which I really do need to stick to, as that's what I keep telling myself is the best way to do it). So anyway, she gets me the answers to the adoption form back and asks how long she has to pay the deposit, and I told her, she has 5 days, which I think is reasonable. She said she wants to pay by debit card, so now I'm just waiting for that. I told her, her 30 days (which is the longest a deposit will get you) will start the day I receive her deposit. In this case, considering she originally wanted to pick up in a month, because she's moving (I did ask, curiosity got me), I imagine she will be waiting until day 5 to put down the deposit so she has the max amount of time to pick them up. But maybe not, we will see.
Unrelated, but the person who adopted Lucy, she also had one of our breeding chins, Jessie, as a foster case for her eye watery-ness. She has become a case of a foster failure, as she asked to adopt her. With Jessie's eye issues, she had been pulled from breeding a while back, and I had been debating putting her back, not putting her back. When Meredith and I were at the Ritterspach ranch in Ohio, I asked Jim what he thought about eye issues, genetic or not, and he said they're typically not, but I still didn't particularly like the idea of the possibility of it being passed on. Hence her going to foster (which I like never do, by the way, which is why no one ever hears about it happening) with this lady. So, her eyes have improved a little and she's gotten a clean bill of health from this person's vet (despite the eyes), and she's currently living with Lucy. I got an email a bit ago asking if she could adopt her. So I finally got around to emailing her the forms that she needs to fill out and sign and get back to me with the adoption fee and then Jessie will be her chin. Which frees up a spot in my runs to get a nice puffball white female from Jim next time we go out to his ranch. I am actually excited about that.
Let's see, what else. Winx is currently still on his respirachin (?) cleanse. I think it's day 4 or 5, and then he gets his water switched out again and probiotics on day 7-8. The stuff actually went in his water, and it did say it doesn't have a taste, but I left another water bottle up on his cage in case (the cages with the valve water bottles -- like his -- typically have a ryerson bottle as well, in case the chins can't figure out the valve). So I made sure that had water, and he has drinken some out of the ryerson bottle, which he usually doesn't do, but he's clearly drinking the water with the solution in it. It's got some sort of dye (food coloring would be my guess) to make it a medium green color (noted on the bottle so that it's obvious if you're still "using" it or not), so there's no doubt his water has something in it. Either that or I have a flourishing algae colony in his water bottle, lol. He seems fine on it, I have been giving him extra supplements as well. He probably thinks this is great, more treats than he's ever had!!, but at his age (10 -- and he's a pet store chin), and the fact that he's barely 500 grams as it is, anything that's going to help him along I can deal with. I've been giving him some of our supplement, as well as a variety of other things. I have some marshmallow root here, some supplement ingredients that were given to me by someone, so I can't use them in supplement that I'd sell (because I don't know, where it's from, if it's organic, etc etc), but he can have it, because I do know what it is. So he's getting our supplement, some additional ingredients, some ryerson supplement, I have a sample of tanya's broad spectrum supplement that he's getting 1/2 teaspoon every few days, and then someone dropped off some forever feisty supplement, herbal fusion I think, so he gets that as well. And I have a bag of another herbal supplement I bought way back when that I dole out. He doesn't get this all at once, but over time. I have some much variety here I need to use some of this stuff up and not replace it because I have no more room in the drawer where that stuff goes. So he's getting that, and eating it all up. I did buy him the weight loss/appetite supplement that tanya (fuzzies kingdom) makes and it came in the mail the other day, so I intend to use that and hopefully see positive results. We shall see.
So, I've been trying out the organic herbal supplement (by us, NWI) with the chins here, and it's apparently two paws up. It's not going to replace the cheaper, $2.50/pound ryerson supplement (for the breeder chins) anytime soon, but I can switch off every other day or something. The reason I wanted to make the supplement wasn't because I really wanted to sell supplement (as if I need more store items to mess with), but rather, because it's so gosh darn expensive to buy herbal supplements that even if it was just marginally cheaper by myself making it, over time that would add up. And in reality, the cost of the herbal supplement (for ingredients & jar) isn't a ton less than the $8.50 I charge. But it is cheaper to get it in bulk, make it myself, and sell it as well, rather than shipping in small amounts here and there from fuzzies or another supplement place. So, it's apparently chin-approved. I don't know yet if it's guinea pig or rabbit approved, but according to the guinea pig/rabbit experts, it is safe for them. The herbal sampler, on the other hand, has jasmine in it, which is not safe for the piggies. I can make it without the jasmine (and throw in extra of everything else to make up the subtraction) for pig owners, if someone wants that, but I need to know ahead of time, not when you walk in the front door. Supplement and herbal sampler creation take a bit too much work to be on-demand.
I want to say that's it for new things going on.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Latest Going On's
So, I know I've been slacking with what's been going on lately, so time for a little summary.
The court date for Tazzie and Sugar -- the other guy won. He said he was going to keep the chins, and despite my argument that I found it suspicious that one day he is "forced to sell them" and the next day he can "keep" them, the court believed him and so he gets to keep the chins. But the judge did tell him, in response to his comments (in the emails) about how the contract was one-sided and unfair, that he did sign it, and it is enforceable, so if he was to get rid of the chins, he does need to abide by it.
Moving along, then I saw two of the other chins we have on craigslist. Emailed the person, of course, she denies she listed them, took down the listing, says she was hacked. See, the funny thing bout that is when I'm hacked, people try to steal bank account info, they send emails with viruses to everyone in my contacts.... but never do they go on craigslist and post an item for sale. Cause guess what? They don't actually have that item to sell, so it's not going to benefit them if someone was to call. Shes' sticking with her story though, and the other lawyers at work have advised me that since it's all circumstantial evidence that I have, if she was to go to court and lie and say, no, she didn't do any of it, she was hacked, unless I could prove otherwise, I'd just be losing money again.
So their suggestion was to beef up the contract and put in liquidated damages provisions, court costs provisions, and so on and so forth, and a provision that if we see the animals for sale, we reserve the right to demand they be returned. So I will be working on this at some point. The point is to make it really seem like it's a serious matter, which it is, but also to make it more harsh on the people who want to pull this shit and try to sell the critters behind my back.
I am going to email the person back, though. I probably should just not reply to her statements that I am harassing and stalking her, and she should get a restraining order against me (really? yeah, she said these things -- all I did was send two emails -- one stating that I saw the ad up listing the chins for sale, and asked to set up a time to get them back, and, when she denied that, another email stating that I found it to be a really big coincidence that someone in the same town as her had the exact same two black velvet chins as her, same age chins, same age kid, same exact cage, and just so happened to be selling all of it -- but it wasn't her... and I told her, I have gone to court over this before and I can again. So, of course, that's threatening, stalking, and harassing. And she should file a restraining order against me. Uh-huh. Oh, and I'm being rude.
Let me paste the relevant portion of the email:
I am aware of what the contract states, and it only "asks" that I return the chins if I can no longer care for them, which seems more like a request. And as I care for them, I do not feel the need or the want to return them. I really do not appreciate the harassment and the stalking and the threats. I should be taking you to court and get a restraining order for all of this nonsense. If you want the chins, I want the money I paid for them. I did not try to adopt just to sell. You are being extremely rude.
Ah, no. The adoption form asks that we be contacted, the adoption contract, which is signed at pickup, states that the chins "will" be returned. I also find it interesting, that, since she wants to keep the chins, she would even offer to give them up if I pay her. Hmmmmmm.
Anyway, I do plan to scan in a copy of her adoption contract and email her and just nicely point out, hey, this is what I'm talking about, so if the time does come when you try to sell them.... this is why you are required to bring them back, it is not a request.
Moving along. Mariah was on hold for quite some time for an individual in another state who was trying to find a good time to come by. So, she doesn't email me for quite some time, bypassing the day she had originally wanted to come by, so finally she emails me back saying that her son had emergency surgery and now they can't make it out here. Now, I'm not one to typically sit back and call people liars, but these people lately.... like in this case -- the pig is originally from Amber's rescue, and she requested that the new owners keep in contact with her. So Amber had facebook-friended this person. Apparently, over the course of the days that this son allegedly had this emergency surgery, this person was posting about how wonderful the days were, oh, nice and sunny, oh wonderful day to lay around -- all "happy" statuses that I, personally, would never even think of posting if my son was in emergency surgery. Heck, I would not even BE on facebook if I had a kid going through surgery and aftercare, but if I was.... it sure wouldn't be posts like - oh isn't the world wonderful??? So... I would tend to think, with this, that this person simply decided not to adopt, and didn't want to say that, and figured a sick son would be a good excuse. I don't know that that's the case, but that's what I would tend to think.
Moving along again. I had 2 rats on hold for someone who wanted to come by between the 3rd and 9th. They were supposed to get back to me with specifically when they could come, and they were even thinking of adopting a 3rd female. And they had a cage and a TON of miscellaneous used items on hold. So, all was good, until I realized the last time they emailed me was 5/25. Ok, that's way past the 5 day email and 2 day notice....and I'd sent them multiple emails within that time, none of which they had responded to, so I emailed them:
As you now haven't responded for 11 days, I am taking these rats and your items off hold. The rescue's communications policy actually says that people only get 7 days before animals go off hold, but I thought maybe I would hear from you, but I unfortunately have not.
Personally, I would have preferred an email saying you decided not to adopt, now's not a good time, you don't have the money, or just "I can't adopt," no explanation needed, really. I find it not only disrespectful to me and to the rescue, but disappointing as well, as not responding to emails and letting me know you're not interested in adopting hurts the animals, in that that's just more time they will have to spend here, more time they spend away from their forever home that will love them and shower them with attention. Someone may have been interested in adopting them, but because they were on hold for you, and they saw that on the website, they may not have contacted me. So they may have missed out on a home they could have had, because I was not made aware that you no longer plan to adopt.
If you decide at some future time that you would like to adopt, the only way you will be able to put an animal on hold will be to put down a deposit before the animals will be put on hold.
So they are back available for adoption as well.
Moving along, I got several panicked phone calls from Amber last night. Apparently, this one rescue that had adopted both a chin and several guinea pigs from me, and guinea pigs from Amber had a lot going on. She had something like 17 pigs, and a few days later had 3 left. Turns out she got a pig from her friend, didn't quarantine it (major mistake), and whatever that pig had started spreading and killed almost all her pigs within a matter of a week or two. Did she take them to the vet for medical care? No. Too expensive, she'd have to borrow money. Yet, on both Amber's and my adoption forms, there is that question about "can you afford medical care" (or something of the sort), which she must have put "yes" on, or she would have not been able to adopt. To make things worse, she just purchased a large parrot for $450. I find it interesting that she had money to do this, but no money to take the animals to the vet? Someone with this poor financial handling should not be buying more animals. I mean, if the parrot gets sick, now she won't have any money for that either. Amber told this person that if she could bring the pigs to Amber, Amber would take them to the vet. She said, not without gas money. I know gas is expensive, but she's only about an hour away, and paying for gas would be exponentially cheaper than paying for vet care for the 14 pigs that died and the 3 remaining pigs. Needless to say, this person is now on our Do Not Adopt lists, and we have contacted other rescues to make them aware of this as well. If someone wants to know who this is, let me know, I'll get you the name, but for here, let's just say don't deal with any rescues in Kocomo, IN.
In other news, I ordered the appetite stimulant/weight gain supplement from Fuzzies Kingdom for Winx, so he will be getting that in hopes of plumping him back up. Got in some revitachin(?), something of the nature, supposed to help improve health, so he's currently on the 7 day dosage of that. He's a tad bit heavier than the previous time (515 vs. 505), but every little bit helps! Still bony, so the supplement hopefully will help with that. He definitely is eating and pooing, but I don't know if he's not eating enough, or what. I now have a second food bowl in the cage that I put some extra supplement and extra goodies in for him. Can't hurt. And putting it separate from his food keeps him from digging through his food bowl.
Everyone lately is emailing/calling about Ivan. He is listed as being still under evaluation and on a waiting list hold, but people just ignore that and I have actually been asked to move someone ahead of everyone on my waiting list "because they really like him and want him." Really? All they know is what it says on the website
So, I have re-listed all the animals this month, hopefully that will kickstart some adoptions, as the rescue has been literally dead lately. Just a few supply pickups from repeat customers that I see every so often, but nothing new, with everyone backing out lately.
Boom & Pow are finally off their medical watch. The day prior to them going up for adoption, they developed loose poos. Not really loose, but like, squishy when they'd step on them. So I'd be scraping them off the shelves. So, first few days, I give them just hay, shreddies, and so on. Doesn't fix the problem. So, I give em probiotics, doesn't fix the problem. So, I give em a dose of antibiotics and that doesn't immediately fix the problem either, so I figure give em a few days to see if it clears up on its own, as some chins are just prone to squishy poos every now and then. Finally, maybe a week or two has passed since my first noticing the squishy poos, and it occurs to me, I don't know if they both have it. So, I leave Boom in the cage, move Pow to one of the other cages, and by the next day -- neither has loose poos. Of course. Re-intro'd them and they are now ready to go be adopted.
I want to say that's it for the latest news.
The court date for Tazzie and Sugar -- the other guy won. He said he was going to keep the chins, and despite my argument that I found it suspicious that one day he is "forced to sell them" and the next day he can "keep" them, the court believed him and so he gets to keep the chins. But the judge did tell him, in response to his comments (in the emails) about how the contract was one-sided and unfair, that he did sign it, and it is enforceable, so if he was to get rid of the chins, he does need to abide by it.
Moving along, then I saw two of the other chins we have on craigslist. Emailed the person, of course, she denies she listed them, took down the listing, says she was hacked. See, the funny thing bout that is when I'm hacked, people try to steal bank account info, they send emails with viruses to everyone in my contacts.... but never do they go on craigslist and post an item for sale. Cause guess what? They don't actually have that item to sell, so it's not going to benefit them if someone was to call. Shes' sticking with her story though, and the other lawyers at work have advised me that since it's all circumstantial evidence that I have, if she was to go to court and lie and say, no, she didn't do any of it, she was hacked, unless I could prove otherwise, I'd just be losing money again.
So their suggestion was to beef up the contract and put in liquidated damages provisions, court costs provisions, and so on and so forth, and a provision that if we see the animals for sale, we reserve the right to demand they be returned. So I will be working on this at some point. The point is to make it really seem like it's a serious matter, which it is, but also to make it more harsh on the people who want to pull this shit and try to sell the critters behind my back.
I am going to email the person back, though. I probably should just not reply to her statements that I am harassing and stalking her, and she should get a restraining order against me (really? yeah, she said these things -- all I did was send two emails -- one stating that I saw the ad up listing the chins for sale, and asked to set up a time to get them back, and, when she denied that, another email stating that I found it to be a really big coincidence that someone in the same town as her had the exact same two black velvet chins as her, same age chins, same age kid, same exact cage, and just so happened to be selling all of it -- but it wasn't her... and I told her, I have gone to court over this before and I can again. So, of course, that's threatening, stalking, and harassing. And she should file a restraining order against me. Uh-huh. Oh, and I'm being rude.
Let me paste the relevant portion of the email:
I am aware of what the contract states, and it only "asks" that I return the chins if I can no longer care for them, which seems more like a request. And as I care for them, I do not feel the need or the want to return them. I really do not appreciate the harassment and the stalking and the threats. I should be taking you to court and get a restraining order for all of this nonsense. If you want the chins, I want the money I paid for them. I did not try to adopt just to sell. You are being extremely rude.
Ah, no. The adoption form asks that we be contacted, the adoption contract, which is signed at pickup, states that the chins "will" be returned. I also find it interesting, that, since she wants to keep the chins, she would even offer to give them up if I pay her. Hmmmmmm.
Anyway, I do plan to scan in a copy of her adoption contract and email her and just nicely point out, hey, this is what I'm talking about, so if the time does come when you try to sell them.... this is why you are required to bring them back, it is not a request.
Moving along. Mariah was on hold for quite some time for an individual in another state who was trying to find a good time to come by. So, she doesn't email me for quite some time, bypassing the day she had originally wanted to come by, so finally she emails me back saying that her son had emergency surgery and now they can't make it out here. Now, I'm not one to typically sit back and call people liars, but these people lately.... like in this case -- the pig is originally from Amber's rescue, and she requested that the new owners keep in contact with her. So Amber had facebook-friended this person. Apparently, over the course of the days that this son allegedly had this emergency surgery, this person was posting about how wonderful the days were, oh, nice and sunny, oh wonderful day to lay around -- all "happy" statuses that I, personally, would never even think of posting if my son was in emergency surgery. Heck, I would not even BE on facebook if I had a kid going through surgery and aftercare, but if I was.... it sure wouldn't be posts like - oh isn't the world wonderful??? So... I would tend to think, with this, that this person simply decided not to adopt, and didn't want to say that, and figured a sick son would be a good excuse. I don't know that that's the case, but that's what I would tend to think.
Moving along again. I had 2 rats on hold for someone who wanted to come by between the 3rd and 9th. They were supposed to get back to me with specifically when they could come, and they were even thinking of adopting a 3rd female. And they had a cage and a TON of miscellaneous used items on hold. So, all was good, until I realized the last time they emailed me was 5/25. Ok, that's way past the 5 day email and 2 day notice....and I'd sent them multiple emails within that time, none of which they had responded to, so I emailed them:
As you now haven't responded for 11 days, I am taking these rats and your items off hold. The rescue's communications policy actually says that people only get 7 days before animals go off hold, but I thought maybe I would hear from you, but I unfortunately have not.
Personally, I would have preferred an email saying you decided not to adopt, now's not a good time, you don't have the money, or just "I can't adopt," no explanation needed, really. I find it not only disrespectful to me and to the rescue, but disappointing as well, as not responding to emails and letting me know you're not interested in adopting hurts the animals, in that that's just more time they will have to spend here, more time they spend away from their forever home that will love them and shower them with attention. Someone may have been interested in adopting them, but because they were on hold for you, and they saw that on the website, they may not have contacted me. So they may have missed out on a home they could have had, because I was not made aware that you no longer plan to adopt.
If you decide at some future time that you would like to adopt, the only way you will be able to put an animal on hold will be to put down a deposit before the animals will be put on hold.
Moving along, I got several panicked phone calls from Amber last night. Apparently, this one rescue that had adopted both a chin and several guinea pigs from me, and guinea pigs from Amber had a lot going on. She had something like 17 pigs, and a few days later had 3 left. Turns out she got a pig from her friend, didn't quarantine it (major mistake), and whatever that pig had started spreading and killed almost all her pigs within a matter of a week or two. Did she take them to the vet for medical care? No. Too expensive, she'd have to borrow money. Yet, on both Amber's and my adoption forms, there is that question about "can you afford medical care" (or something of the sort), which she must have put "yes" on, or she would have not been able to adopt. To make things worse, she just purchased a large parrot for $450. I find it interesting that she had money to do this, but no money to take the animals to the vet? Someone with this poor financial handling should not be buying more animals. I mean, if the parrot gets sick, now she won't have any money for that either. Amber told this person that if she could bring the pigs to Amber, Amber would take them to the vet. She said, not without gas money. I know gas is expensive, but she's only about an hour away, and paying for gas would be exponentially cheaper than paying for vet care for the 14 pigs that died and the 3 remaining pigs. Needless to say, this person is now on our Do Not Adopt lists, and we have contacted other rescues to make them aware of this as well. If someone wants to know who this is, let me know, I'll get you the name, but for here, let's just say don't deal with any rescues in Kocomo, IN.
In other news, I ordered the appetite stimulant/weight gain supplement from Fuzzies Kingdom for Winx, so he will be getting that in hopes of plumping him back up. Got in some revitachin(?), something of the nature, supposed to help improve health, so he's currently on the 7 day dosage of that. He's a tad bit heavier than the previous time (515 vs. 505), but every little bit helps! Still bony, so the supplement hopefully will help with that. He definitely is eating and pooing, but I don't know if he's not eating enough, or what. I now have a second food bowl in the cage that I put some extra supplement and extra goodies in for him. Can't hurt. And putting it separate from his food keeps him from digging through his food bowl.
Everyone lately is emailing/calling about Ivan. He is listed as being still under evaluation and on a waiting list hold, but people just ignore that and I have actually been asked to move someone ahead of everyone on my waiting list "because they really like him and want him." Really? All they know is what it says on the website
- Ivan -- mosaic male chinchilla -- 5 months old -- ready approx. 6/17 (waiting list hold)
So, I have re-listed all the animals this month, hopefully that will kickstart some adoptions, as the rescue has been literally dead lately. Just a few supply pickups from repeat customers that I see every so often, but nothing new, with everyone backing out lately.
Boom & Pow are finally off their medical watch. The day prior to them going up for adoption, they developed loose poos. Not really loose, but like, squishy when they'd step on them. So I'd be scraping them off the shelves. So, first few days, I give them just hay, shreddies, and so on. Doesn't fix the problem. So, I give em probiotics, doesn't fix the problem. So, I give em a dose of antibiotics and that doesn't immediately fix the problem either, so I figure give em a few days to see if it clears up on its own, as some chins are just prone to squishy poos every now and then. Finally, maybe a week or two has passed since my first noticing the squishy poos, and it occurs to me, I don't know if they both have it. So, I leave Boom in the cage, move Pow to one of the other cages, and by the next day -- neither has loose poos. Of course. Re-intro'd them and they are now ready to go be adopted.
I want to say that's it for the latest news.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
One little thing
So, not a lot has been going on, been slow at the rescue, but busy in all other areas of my life. With my new job, my orders are starting to pile up, so those may take longer now than they have in the past, as I no longer have 24 hours a day to work on them.
Main reason for posting, though, is this -- about knowing when I will get more rescues or when I will adopt rescues. Here's the thing. I don't know.
Case in point. I had someone text me today asking me if I had guinea pigs for adoption, which I do. They asked if I had two specific ones, and I said something to the effect of, the one went home the other day, the other is still here. Then they asked, "when are you going to get new ones in?"
Ok, first, this isn't a pet store, so in reality, there's no such things as "new ones," but I digress. Regardless.... I don't know. I told this person, right now, I'm already over my limit of guinea pigs, so I don't currently have any open cages to take in more. Further explained, in order for me to take in more, I would need the current 3 adult males adopted out, as one of those cages is going bye-bye (like I said, over limit), and the other cage has the two adults, and I need no pigs in it to accept other pigs. So I told em, it could be tomorrow, it could be next week, I don't know. But I told em, for me to have new ones, several things need to happen:
1. three adult male pigs get adopted
2. someone contacts me wanting to drop off a pig
3. someone actually shows up at the rescue with a pig (you'd be amazed how few people that contact me about surrendering actually show up)
4. the pig stays here for 30+ days for evaluation/quarantine
5. the pig is put up for adoption
This isn't like one little thing, hence, I don't know if/when any of this will happen.
Moving on, they said a few more things and then asked, "well, will you still have two in a month?" *facepalm* That's like the same question just twisted a little. Short answer is, I don't know. I told them, if the pigs aren't adopted, sure. Or I may have different ones if the pigs are adopted. But I can't promise that the same animals will be here in any span of time if they're not on hold.
I once crunched the numbers, and the average critter is here about 3 months (that's including the 30 day eval/quarantine). So, it's very possible the animal will be here a month from now, if it was just put up for adoption. But, it's also very possible that animal has been here for 6 months and it's overdue to be going home. The 3 months is one of those weird statistics, because I have some animals who never hit the adoption floor (like the two mosaics I current have, both are on hold, pending evaluation, to go to people on my waiting list), and other animals that will stay at the rescue for a years' time. The average is 3 months, but it could vary widely. Some months I adopt out a ton of animals. There was one week, in 2012, where I adopted out 7 animals. Some months, not so much. Currently, I have two rats on hold for someone who's not getting back to me (so they may not be on hold much longer), and other than that, the emails/calls are not flowing in from people who want to adopt. It's slow. And I really can't predict this stuff.
I think what it all boils down to is this -- and this is just my viewpoint on things, but... -- if someone sees an animal and wants to adopt it, they should specify as such, even if they don't have the money to adopt it yet, they can put down a deposit on it to hold it for them, for a reasonable amount of time. Asking if I will still have the animal, x months down the road, and then getting upset when I don't, is just a lose-lose for everyone. I can't predict the future. If you know someone who can, send them by, I could use that every now and then.
Main reason for posting, though, is this -- about knowing when I will get more rescues or when I will adopt rescues. Here's the thing. I don't know.
Case in point. I had someone text me today asking me if I had guinea pigs for adoption, which I do. They asked if I had two specific ones, and I said something to the effect of, the one went home the other day, the other is still here. Then they asked, "when are you going to get new ones in?"
Ok, first, this isn't a pet store, so in reality, there's no such things as "new ones," but I digress. Regardless.... I don't know. I told this person, right now, I'm already over my limit of guinea pigs, so I don't currently have any open cages to take in more. Further explained, in order for me to take in more, I would need the current 3 adult males adopted out, as one of those cages is going bye-bye (like I said, over limit), and the other cage has the two adults, and I need no pigs in it to accept other pigs. So I told em, it could be tomorrow, it could be next week, I don't know. But I told em, for me to have new ones, several things need to happen:
1. three adult male pigs get adopted
2. someone contacts me wanting to drop off a pig
3. someone actually shows up at the rescue with a pig (you'd be amazed how few people that contact me about surrendering actually show up)
4. the pig stays here for 30+ days for evaluation/quarantine
5. the pig is put up for adoption
This isn't like one little thing, hence, I don't know if/when any of this will happen.
Moving on, they said a few more things and then asked, "well, will you still have two in a month?" *facepalm* That's like the same question just twisted a little. Short answer is, I don't know. I told them, if the pigs aren't adopted, sure. Or I may have different ones if the pigs are adopted. But I can't promise that the same animals will be here in any span of time if they're not on hold.
I once crunched the numbers, and the average critter is here about 3 months (that's including the 30 day eval/quarantine). So, it's very possible the animal will be here a month from now, if it was just put up for adoption. But, it's also very possible that animal has been here for 6 months and it's overdue to be going home. The 3 months is one of those weird statistics, because I have some animals who never hit the adoption floor (like the two mosaics I current have, both are on hold, pending evaluation, to go to people on my waiting list), and other animals that will stay at the rescue for a years' time. The average is 3 months, but it could vary widely. Some months I adopt out a ton of animals. There was one week, in 2012, where I adopted out 7 animals. Some months, not so much. Currently, I have two rats on hold for someone who's not getting back to me (so they may not be on hold much longer), and other than that, the emails/calls are not flowing in from people who want to adopt. It's slow. And I really can't predict this stuff.
I think what it all boils down to is this -- and this is just my viewpoint on things, but... -- if someone sees an animal and wants to adopt it, they should specify as such, even if they don't have the money to adopt it yet, they can put down a deposit on it to hold it for them, for a reasonable amount of time. Asking if I will still have the animal, x months down the road, and then getting upset when I don't, is just a lose-lose for everyone. I can't predict the future. If you know someone who can, send them by, I could use that every now and then.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Last lil bit
That old saying is true -- the less time I have to work with, the more I get done. So, so true.
Had a few orders come in the other day. Knew that I was going to be starting work in a few days, I managed to get all three orders out within 3 days of receiving the orders. Got another order, and I've already gotten it written down and the invoice downstairs. Just need to get the stuff out and packaged up.
Worked on sewing up hammocks. Currently have two crates full of them that just need to be hidden-stitched closed. That's for another day.
Today was the first day of work. Came home, went straight to the rescue to make sure everyone was fed and watered. Got some pics of Ziggy, to give to T (so she can tell me what type etc. of mouse I have). Finished setting up a donated cage and finished putting some extra shelves in that. Rolled that over to the used cage area. Still need to write it down and figure out a cost tomorrow. Pulled out another cage which I was originally going to keep, but only need so many spare cages. Pulled out the hanging chew toys, a wood perch, and the other goodies that aren't going home with the cage, and sanded down the shelves, and set it to the side.
Finally, decided I should make an effort to put my remaining chin spin and two flying saucers into cages. My goal was to have a wheel for every cage, and I had the wheels... just not set up. Well, back when, I finally put that imitation chin-spin in the bottom of Winx's FN. But hadn't done anything else with wheels. Until today. Today involved getting two more wheels in cages. For our green FN, a shelf and a hanging bed was taken out, and the green-powdercoated chin spin was put in. As the chins in there had chewed part of how the bed hung, I had to take it out and put another grommet in. Then re-attached the hanging bed with eye-hooks under the current shelf. Put up a real wood perch and a wooden tube to complete that cage.
Moved onto the blue FN. Only good place to put a wheel was all the way in the back, so I took out another real wood perch and put up the flying saucer.
The last flying saucer would be going in the yellow/orange FN. Actually removed the Leo Braun wheel and gave it back to the prairie dogs. Hopefully Shani (new praire dog, pronounced shahh-knee, finally named her!) will take to it. Had to move their food bowls around to get that wheel back in the cage. So, then there was the open space for the flying saucer. Didn't get a chance to put it in. Needed to go upstairs for the night (need to go to bed earlier now that I have a job to be at by 8:30 in the morning... rather than 2 in the afternoon), so I just cleaned up a few things, made everything reasonably presentable, and went up.
But first, added another shelf or two to a cage that's being picked up Thursday.
Meant to get that order ready while I was down there, but that didn't happen today.
On a positive note, almost everything is in place at the rescue, which is good, as I have two people coming by on Thursday after I get home from work. Considering tomorrow (Wednesday), I will be going straight from work to class and not home until 10ish, I won't have tons of time to be cleaning, so I made some effort today to make sure I wouldn't have a disaster waiting for me when I get home Thursday.
Think that's it for the moment.
Had a few orders come in the other day. Knew that I was going to be starting work in a few days, I managed to get all three orders out within 3 days of receiving the orders. Got another order, and I've already gotten it written down and the invoice downstairs. Just need to get the stuff out and packaged up.
Worked on sewing up hammocks. Currently have two crates full of them that just need to be hidden-stitched closed. That's for another day.
Today was the first day of work. Came home, went straight to the rescue to make sure everyone was fed and watered. Got some pics of Ziggy, to give to T (so she can tell me what type etc. of mouse I have). Finished setting up a donated cage and finished putting some extra shelves in that. Rolled that over to the used cage area. Still need to write it down and figure out a cost tomorrow. Pulled out another cage which I was originally going to keep, but only need so many spare cages. Pulled out the hanging chew toys, a wood perch, and the other goodies that aren't going home with the cage, and sanded down the shelves, and set it to the side.
Finally, decided I should make an effort to put my remaining chin spin and two flying saucers into cages. My goal was to have a wheel for every cage, and I had the wheels... just not set up. Well, back when, I finally put that imitation chin-spin in the bottom of Winx's FN. But hadn't done anything else with wheels. Until today. Today involved getting two more wheels in cages. For our green FN, a shelf and a hanging bed was taken out, and the green-powdercoated chin spin was put in. As the chins in there had chewed part of how the bed hung, I had to take it out and put another grommet in. Then re-attached the hanging bed with eye-hooks under the current shelf. Put up a real wood perch and a wooden tube to complete that cage.
Moved onto the blue FN. Only good place to put a wheel was all the way in the back, so I took out another real wood perch and put up the flying saucer.
The last flying saucer would be going in the yellow/orange FN. Actually removed the Leo Braun wheel and gave it back to the prairie dogs. Hopefully Shani (new praire dog, pronounced shahh-knee, finally named her!) will take to it. Had to move their food bowls around to get that wheel back in the cage. So, then there was the open space for the flying saucer. Didn't get a chance to put it in. Needed to go upstairs for the night (need to go to bed earlier now that I have a job to be at by 8:30 in the morning... rather than 2 in the afternoon), so I just cleaned up a few things, made everything reasonably presentable, and went up.
But first, added another shelf or two to a cage that's being picked up Thursday.
Meant to get that order ready while I was down there, but that didn't happen today.
On a positive note, almost everything is in place at the rescue, which is good, as I have two people coming by on Thursday after I get home from work. Considering tomorrow (Wednesday), I will be going straight from work to class and not home until 10ish, I won't have tons of time to be cleaning, so I made some effort today to make sure I wouldn't have a disaster waiting for me when I get home Thursday.
Think that's it for the moment.
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