So... those FN's that seemed like such an awesome deal? seeming less so as the days go by.
Today I decided I was going to clean everything and separate everything out into 2 piles, so I started on that. Turns out, on one of the side panels, a screw was clearly broken off while in the panel. So there's no screw head or anything, but there is this piece sticking out from where there should be an entire screw... and it's not large enough for my normally-trusty-pliers to grip and get it out. May have to splurge for those vice grips I keep putting off buying and see if that helps.
Ok, so got all those clean, then moved on to the bottom parts, like the stuff that connects below the actual cages. Now, I had noted that some of these pieces were still attached together, but I didn't think anything of it before, I just thought, oh well they're not big pieces, so they were left together. WRONG. So the screws are SO stripped that I was only able to undo one of them. Went to several "get out stripped screws" websites and the one tip which actually might not be bad is the one saying find a huge flathead to try to use to get the screws out. Will try that next (some other day). Another tip was to find a nut just slightly bigger than the screwhead, cold-weld it on, and when it's dry, socket wrench the whole thing out. Now that just might work, and I already have the cold-weld. But... since I don't have the nuts and don't intend to go to the store for that, I think I'll try the flathead first... but oy. It's like maybe 4-5 screws that are stuck.
And I HOPE I have all of the connector pieces, I didn't clean or count those yet. But I do have all the cage pieces (though, if I can't get that one broken screw out, I'm going to have to order another side panel, ugh). So just missing four grids (two regular, two cut-out) and the circular caster holder plastic pieces.
Emailed midwest today about this, we'll see what they say.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Goings on
So, today we had some people come over and put down a deposit on Sparkle. I told them I'd check to see when she'd be ready - turns out it's only like a little over a week from now. So in reality, I suppose that deposit wasn't necessary. Ah well. But anyway, they did that, and Sparkle's holding her weight (just weighed all the chins today) and so I'm sure she'll be ready to go in a week, so we'll be all set for her to go to her new home soon.
And then, Annabelle... I posted on my fb page the other day that her poos are looking better... they are looking significantly better. She is such a light chin, she's only around 400-450 grams. I want to say she was 415 when she was brought in, and you pick her up and it's like you're holding air. Like I'm used to my 600-800 gram chins, so you pick her up and it's like nothing. Well, in the time she's been here, she's gained! She's now up to around 450 grams! Yay for Annabelle! Still skin and bones, but getting there. She just needs to stay on a good pellet and time for her to fill out and she'll be just fine. Poor thing.
Lilly's (the bv rescue) poos have also solidified, no more loose poos for her. Again, just a matter of getting her on a quality pellet and she's fine. No junk like what she was fed at the previous home.
Lilly (our standard grey breeding female) is now up to 968 grams! Holy cow she is ROUND. Any day now, I'd think.
Well, I never did hear back from the lady that was interested in Ember and her kit. In the end, I'd sent her messages on fb and emailed her and everything, and I guess it was too much for her to simply email me back and say, you know what, I changed my mind. So now they're up for adoption.
Oh! And the website that had been using Pash's pics - I never did receive an email back (like I thought I wouldn't - really, is there any common courtesy anymore?) but I checked the website today, and they did take down the pics. And that's really the goal, so I'm happy with that.
Tallie... our white eb female that was adopted out recently - is going to be coming back. Her to-be cagemate has now made it clear that she doesn't want Tallie in her life, so Tallie will be coming back to the rescue.
OH! So for those FN's - got an email today that the lady can't find any of the missing parts. Said she would check again though, and I have my fingers crossed. I would really like if she found them versus me having to order them.
And then, Annabelle... I posted on my fb page the other day that her poos are looking better... they are looking significantly better. She is such a light chin, she's only around 400-450 grams. I want to say she was 415 when she was brought in, and you pick her up and it's like you're holding air. Like I'm used to my 600-800 gram chins, so you pick her up and it's like nothing. Well, in the time she's been here, she's gained! She's now up to around 450 grams! Yay for Annabelle! Still skin and bones, but getting there. She just needs to stay on a good pellet and time for her to fill out and she'll be just fine. Poor thing.
Lilly's (the bv rescue) poos have also solidified, no more loose poos for her. Again, just a matter of getting her on a quality pellet and she's fine. No junk like what she was fed at the previous home.
Lilly (our standard grey breeding female) is now up to 968 grams! Holy cow she is ROUND. Any day now, I'd think.
Well, I never did hear back from the lady that was interested in Ember and her kit. In the end, I'd sent her messages on fb and emailed her and everything, and I guess it was too much for her to simply email me back and say, you know what, I changed my mind. So now they're up for adoption.
Oh! And the website that had been using Pash's pics - I never did receive an email back (like I thought I wouldn't - really, is there any common courtesy anymore?) but I checked the website today, and they did take down the pics. And that's really the goal, so I'm happy with that.
Tallie... our white eb female that was adopted out recently - is going to be coming back. Her to-be cagemate has now made it clear that she doesn't want Tallie in her life, so Tallie will be coming back to the rescue.
OH! So for those FN's - got an email today that the lady can't find any of the missing parts. Said she would check again though, and I have my fingers crossed. I would really like if she found them versus me having to order them.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Long day, seemingly not much accomplished
So... due to the fact that I had a paper due in my night class, even though I was up since 9 am and today was a day off.... I really didn't get much done.
Cleaned up a bit, organized the disaster area that I call the chin area. Our "to be washed" pile has grown exponentially, so I brought a bit of it upstairs to clean, and washed a few sinkfuls of that stuff. Cleaned, put shelves in, and took pictures of three cages. Didn't get them posted, but got them close enough.
Cut the wood for a customer order, then realized... they wanted 3 shelves and I only bought enough wood for 2. It was a custom order - I have a ton of 8" wood here, but they wanted 11" wide. So I told them their order still wasn't done, they told me that the last piece could just be the 8" wood, so now their order is all packaged up, and they paid for it, so it can hopefully go out tomorrow.
Balanced the chin account.
Sewed up some hammocks, and went digging through my fabric. Found some smaller scraps of fabric that could be turned into either off-size hammocks or cuddlebuddies. Was able to make a nice leopard print cuddlebuddy, a good size one, that we will be keeping. Made a lime green one too, and have two smaller ones (lime green and mint green) that I could make, but I didn't feel like stuffing any more cuddlebuddies tonight. Also had enough fabric left of the multicolor houndstooth to make a very very off-size hammock in that pattern. Ooh and found a very very offsize inner-hearts hammock. So those will be listed soon, along with the cuddlebuddies.
I think I'm also going to make up some hammocks that aren't chin-safe, like for when we adopt out rats and stuff. So in case those people want a hammock, they can get one of the other ones if they want. Cause we have a ton of fabric donated that's not chin safe, and I really can't do anything with it, but it'd be good for like rat people and for other critters that tend to destroy the hammocks really quickly regardless of what they're made of.
Intended to buy rat food today -- never left the house, so that clearly never happened (they're not starving, don't worry, I just want to make up a batch).
Right now... I have a large chin cage waiting for shelves, another cage with the pan soaking in vinegar... there's several more cages that will be up for sale as well, but ones that cannot be cleaned downstairs, like they will NEED to be taken upstairs and outside to be powerwashed and scrubbed down. But for the moment I'm doing ok with cleaning the cages indoors. Most of them that we're selling have already been scrubbed down/powerwashed outdoors and are now just dusty and maybe have some cobwebs, so they're not too bad, the most some need is for the pans to get a good scrub down with vinegar and cleaner. It's looking a little better downstairs in the spare-cage-area. I'm surprised my dad hasn't had a cow that there are two FN's with all the pieces sprawled out in this one area downstairs, but I just don't have anywhere to move them until I finish taking pictures of some of the cages. That's for another day though. Still waiting to hear back to see if the original FN owners found the rest of the pieces of them. If not... they probably were not worth what I paid. But ah well, I have them now, whatcha gonna do?
To put shelves in one of the cages, I used the shelves I had cut for the one customers' cage. So now, he emailed me asking about paying by card, and that's fine, and so tomorrow I'll need to re-cut his shelves. No big deal, I'll just have to do it. And I have someone coming tomorrow to bring their adoption form and put down a deposit on Sparkle, after I get home from work. Busy busy.
Cleaned up a bit, organized the disaster area that I call the chin area. Our "to be washed" pile has grown exponentially, so I brought a bit of it upstairs to clean, and washed a few sinkfuls of that stuff. Cleaned, put shelves in, and took pictures of three cages. Didn't get them posted, but got them close enough.
Cut the wood for a customer order, then realized... they wanted 3 shelves and I only bought enough wood for 2. It was a custom order - I have a ton of 8" wood here, but they wanted 11" wide. So I told them their order still wasn't done, they told me that the last piece could just be the 8" wood, so now their order is all packaged up, and they paid for it, so it can hopefully go out tomorrow.
Balanced the chin account.
Sewed up some hammocks, and went digging through my fabric. Found some smaller scraps of fabric that could be turned into either off-size hammocks or cuddlebuddies. Was able to make a nice leopard print cuddlebuddy, a good size one, that we will be keeping. Made a lime green one too, and have two smaller ones (lime green and mint green) that I could make, but I didn't feel like stuffing any more cuddlebuddies tonight. Also had enough fabric left of the multicolor houndstooth to make a very very off-size hammock in that pattern. Ooh and found a very very offsize inner-hearts hammock. So those will be listed soon, along with the cuddlebuddies.
I think I'm also going to make up some hammocks that aren't chin-safe, like for when we adopt out rats and stuff. So in case those people want a hammock, they can get one of the other ones if they want. Cause we have a ton of fabric donated that's not chin safe, and I really can't do anything with it, but it'd be good for like rat people and for other critters that tend to destroy the hammocks really quickly regardless of what they're made of.
Intended to buy rat food today -- never left the house, so that clearly never happened (they're not starving, don't worry, I just want to make up a batch).
Right now... I have a large chin cage waiting for shelves, another cage with the pan soaking in vinegar... there's several more cages that will be up for sale as well, but ones that cannot be cleaned downstairs, like they will NEED to be taken upstairs and outside to be powerwashed and scrubbed down. But for the moment I'm doing ok with cleaning the cages indoors. Most of them that we're selling have already been scrubbed down/powerwashed outdoors and are now just dusty and maybe have some cobwebs, so they're not too bad, the most some need is for the pans to get a good scrub down with vinegar and cleaner. It's looking a little better downstairs in the spare-cage-area. I'm surprised my dad hasn't had a cow that there are two FN's with all the pieces sprawled out in this one area downstairs, but I just don't have anywhere to move them until I finish taking pictures of some of the cages. That's for another day though. Still waiting to hear back to see if the original FN owners found the rest of the pieces of them. If not... they probably were not worth what I paid. But ah well, I have them now, whatcha gonna do?
To put shelves in one of the cages, I used the shelves I had cut for the one customers' cage. So now, he emailed me asking about paying by card, and that's fine, and so tomorrow I'll need to re-cut his shelves. No big deal, I'll just have to do it. And I have someone coming tomorrow to bring their adoption form and put down a deposit on Sparkle, after I get home from work. Busy busy.
Pictures
Well, I don't know if I posted about this or not, but the other day I saw a picture of a chin on facebook with someone saying they wanted that chin. It was a picture of one of our TOV Ebony chins (since has been adopted out) Pash. Well, of course I had to ask if they'd seen that chin for sale somewhere, because if they did....well, our adoption contract states that adoptive homes will return the chins to us before they find the chin another home... and so if it was Pash, the adoptive home didn't do so.
So... I fished out the email of the adoptive home, and emailed them. Probably sounded like a loon, but I told them, you know, just wanted to check if you still have the chin, cause her pictures are up on this other site.....Got an email back today - they still have her.
So, I nicely emailed the person with the website using my pictures that I didn't appreciate that they were doing so, AND that I felt they were misrepresenting the chin to the public, as our Pash was a 7 year old chin, and the chin they were using the pictures for was a 4 month old baby. Look the same? Highly doubt it.
I'm sure I won't hear a response, but I will be checking back to see if those pictures are still up there. Nothing I can really "do," but at least I expressed my displeasure at them using my pictures.
So... I fished out the email of the adoptive home, and emailed them. Probably sounded like a loon, but I told them, you know, just wanted to check if you still have the chin, cause her pictures are up on this other site.....Got an email back today - they still have her.
So, I nicely emailed the person with the website using my pictures that I didn't appreciate that they were doing so, AND that I felt they were misrepresenting the chin to the public, as our Pash was a 7 year old chin, and the chin they were using the pictures for was a 4 month old baby. Look the same? Highly doubt it.
I'm sure I won't hear a response, but I will be checking back to see if those pictures are still up there. Nothing I can really "do," but at least I expressed my displeasure at them using my pictures.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
NWI Silicone Bands
As a result of inspiration from my... uh... , well, he's, ah..... hell, from this-guy-I-know who had custom silicone bands made for his "group," we now have NWI silicone bands (size M) for sale for $2 each. They are light blue, they glow in the dark (oooo!), and they say "NWI Chinchillas" on them. They are for purchase in the webstore. Pic below. They look much better in real life -- it's actually really difficult to get a pic of the wording without the flash completely erasing it or the band ending up completely blurry.
Today (cont.)
Before I come across sounding like a heartless bitch in regards to the person wanting/not wanting Ember and her kit - I do acknowledge that something may have come up which would prevent her from adopting chinchillas. I understand that. Chinchillas are not at the top of everyone's priority list the way they are on mine. I get that. No problem.
My problem lies in the fact that people can't even have the common courtesy to say, "you know what? I can't get the chinchilla anymore." In all honesty, I don't even care WHY people can't get them anymore, if they would just TELL ME. It's not even like these people have to face me, 99.5% of adoptive homes contact me through emails, so all they gotta do is send me an email or a facebook message saying that they can't adopt anymore. And some do, don't get me wrong. And you know what I do when they do that? I don't yell and scream and tell them how they've wasted my time. I would never do that. No, I tell them that I appreciate them letting me know so that I don't waste any time trying to find another home for the chins. Cause when this kind of thing happens, it's the chins who suffer. Ember and her baby could have already been on hold and ready to be adopted out to another family... had this person simply said that they couldn't/didn't-want-to adopt them anymore. Simple as that. Not like the chins are in any danger or are hurt by being here longer, but I would rather them be in an adoptive home than at the rescue. That's all. And all it takes is a few simple words. I don't know if people are scared or what, but nothing's going to happen to them if they would simply tell me they don't want the chins anymore.
Here's the best part - these people are on my list for (I believe) a white baby? Sorry, but if they can't be bothered to contact me back about Ember and her baby... they're coming off my list. There's no point to have people on my waiting list for a baby if I can't get ahold of them and if they can't have the common courtesy to email me back. I treat others as I would like to be treated, but there comes a point when I start treating people as they treat me.
My problem lies in the fact that people can't even have the common courtesy to say, "you know what? I can't get the chinchilla anymore." In all honesty, I don't even care WHY people can't get them anymore, if they would just TELL ME. It's not even like these people have to face me, 99.5% of adoptive homes contact me through emails, so all they gotta do is send me an email or a facebook message saying that they can't adopt anymore. And some do, don't get me wrong. And you know what I do when they do that? I don't yell and scream and tell them how they've wasted my time. I would never do that. No, I tell them that I appreciate them letting me know so that I don't waste any time trying to find another home for the chins. Cause when this kind of thing happens, it's the chins who suffer. Ember and her baby could have already been on hold and ready to be adopted out to another family... had this person simply said that they couldn't/didn't-want-to adopt them anymore. Simple as that. Not like the chins are in any danger or are hurt by being here longer, but I would rather them be in an adoptive home than at the rescue. That's all. And all it takes is a few simple words. I don't know if people are scared or what, but nothing's going to happen to them if they would simply tell me they don't want the chins anymore.
Here's the best part - these people are on my list for (I believe) a white baby? Sorry, but if they can't be bothered to contact me back about Ember and her baby... they're coming off my list. There's no point to have people on my waiting list for a baby if I can't get ahold of them and if they can't have the common courtesy to email me back. I treat others as I would like to be treated, but there comes a point when I start treating people as they treat me.
Today
So, I got an email back from the people with the FN's, saying when they get back from their vacation (or something like that) they will double check their storage to see if they have the missing FN pieces. Fingers crossed that they find something.
On a related note, I pulled out several more cages, decided which are keepers/sellers, and cleaned out 3 as best I could without a vacuum or hose (one day I will live in my own house and won't have to be quiet late at night). All three need some shelves made, so that'll be tomorrow, and then I'll have some more cages to list on our used cages for sale page.
Then... well, let's say I've finally decided I won't be hearing back from the person who wanted Ember and her baby, but since I did tell her the 30th, I won't sell the chins before then. But, I did take pics of the two of them and wrote up an ad for the two of them and will be posting the ad and the pics today (with the note they can't go home until the 1st, on the odd chance this person gets back to me). However, I really doubt it, considering this person has posted on their facebook in the last 11 hours, yet has not responded to any emails or anything since the 11th, and clearly has lied about sending out a deposit and adoption form (or else, should be contacting me panicked to death about where her $100 check went any second now). So they're getting listed.
...and that's about it for today.
On a related note, I pulled out several more cages, decided which are keepers/sellers, and cleaned out 3 as best I could without a vacuum or hose (one day I will live in my own house and won't have to be quiet late at night). All three need some shelves made, so that'll be tomorrow, and then I'll have some more cages to list on our used cages for sale page.
Then... well, let's say I've finally decided I won't be hearing back from the person who wanted Ember and her baby, but since I did tell her the 30th, I won't sell the chins before then. But, I did take pics of the two of them and wrote up an ad for the two of them and will be posting the ad and the pics today (with the note they can't go home until the 1st, on the odd chance this person gets back to me). However, I really doubt it, considering this person has posted on their facebook in the last 11 hours, yet has not responded to any emails or anything since the 11th, and clearly has lied about sending out a deposit and adoption form (or else, should be contacting me panicked to death about where her $100 check went any second now). So they're getting listed.
...and that's about it for today.
FN's.... deal or not-so-great deal? that is the question
So, yesterday we had someone deliver us two used FN's with bass pans. They even took $50 off the price, because they said some screws were stripped. No big deal, I said. So $200 for two FN 142s, with bass pans, seems like a good deal, right?
Well, in taking a quick look at them yesterday, I realized there were no casters. No big deal, I can buy casters. That's an extra $$ but for the used price, not so bad. And all the pans were the full pans, no cut-outs. No big deal, I can just purchase cut-out pans if I want them (which I will, but it's good to have some non-cut-out so if I need to change the cage into two cages, I have the right pans, so no big deal).
So today, I go down to take a closer look at them.... now, the people did say the screws were stripped. But I surely thought the FN's would still COME with screws. Um, wrong. In the bag of "hardware" that I didn't actually look at yesterday, there was one screw. Really? And the screw is all rusted to hell, which I will never understand, because in all the time we've had cages that go together with screws, none of our screws have ever rusted. Makes me wonder what people do to these cages.
Anyway, so I go to Home Depot (my hardware store of choice) and pick up some casters and some screws. Cost about $30 for the casters and screws, not horrible, they did take $50 off the cage price, so I suppose that's why.
So I go back down to look at the FN's, and I want to check if the casters I bought are going to fit. So I look at the one leg, and yup, it'll fit. Then I realize, only that one leg has this little plastic piece that holds the caster in place. The rest of the legs are missing that piece.
Moving on, just looking through the pieces, I notice there's only four grates. Now, there should be four per cage. There should be one on the very bottom for the shelf, one under the bottom pan, one under the top pan, and one at the very top of the cage. And all I have... is four. I should have 8. Ugh.
So... forget the little plastic pieces, if those were lost, oh well, I can order from Midwest... but I emailed the people who brought the cages asking if they're sure they brought all the pieces, and I told them how there should be eight grates, and all I have is four.
Now, I'm sure all of this can be purchased with one call to Midwest. But shit, at the point I go about doing that these have turned into a-lot-more-costly-cages than the $200 at the get-go. The plastic things, probably pretty cheap, if I could even get the last one off (which, of course, it doesn't want to come off), I might be able to find it locally somewhere. But those grates will definitely have to be ordered from Midwest if the people don't have the others, and four grates are likely going to cost a pretty penny + shipping.
There's days like this when I hate buying stuff used...
Now, I'm going to go back down there and check if I'm missing anything else, while I'm at it. The day I put the cages together will be the day that really shows if we're missing any of the smaller pieces that wouldn't be so obviously missing from the get-go.
Well, in taking a quick look at them yesterday, I realized there were no casters. No big deal, I can buy casters. That's an extra $$ but for the used price, not so bad. And all the pans were the full pans, no cut-outs. No big deal, I can just purchase cut-out pans if I want them (which I will, but it's good to have some non-cut-out so if I need to change the cage into two cages, I have the right pans, so no big deal).
So today, I go down to take a closer look at them.... now, the people did say the screws were stripped. But I surely thought the FN's would still COME with screws. Um, wrong. In the bag of "hardware" that I didn't actually look at yesterday, there was one screw. Really? And the screw is all rusted to hell, which I will never understand, because in all the time we've had cages that go together with screws, none of our screws have ever rusted. Makes me wonder what people do to these cages.
Anyway, so I go to Home Depot (my hardware store of choice) and pick up some casters and some screws. Cost about $30 for the casters and screws, not horrible, they did take $50 off the cage price, so I suppose that's why.
So I go back down to look at the FN's, and I want to check if the casters I bought are going to fit. So I look at the one leg, and yup, it'll fit. Then I realize, only that one leg has this little plastic piece that holds the caster in place. The rest of the legs are missing that piece.
Moving on, just looking through the pieces, I notice there's only four grates. Now, there should be four per cage. There should be one on the very bottom for the shelf, one under the bottom pan, one under the top pan, and one at the very top of the cage. And all I have... is four. I should have 8. Ugh.
So... forget the little plastic pieces, if those were lost, oh well, I can order from Midwest... but I emailed the people who brought the cages asking if they're sure they brought all the pieces, and I told them how there should be eight grates, and all I have is four.
Now, I'm sure all of this can be purchased with one call to Midwest. But shit, at the point I go about doing that these have turned into a-lot-more-costly-cages than the $200 at the get-go. The plastic things, probably pretty cheap, if I could even get the last one off (which, of course, it doesn't want to come off), I might be able to find it locally somewhere. But those grates will definitely have to be ordered from Midwest if the people don't have the others, and four grates are likely going to cost a pretty penny + shipping.
There's days like this when I hate buying stuff used...
Now, I'm going to go back down there and check if I'm missing anything else, while I'm at it. The day I put the cages together will be the day that really shows if we're missing any of the smaller pieces that wouldn't be so obviously missing from the get-go.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Nike
So, Nike's new family did come and did adopt him. I was actually getting a tad worried cause I hadn't gotten an email back from them and I hadn't heard from them and it was like 4:30 (they were gonna come at 4)... but then they showed up! Real nice people, I'm sure they'll make a great home for Nike.
Here's a pic of Nike and his new mom.
Of course, had someone texting me today asking about Nike... I told them I'd get back to them and let them know if he'd been adopted (which I did). Now, just need to get a few more chins on the move. :)
Here's a pic of Nike and his new mom.
Of course, had someone texting me today asking about Nike... I told them I'd get back to them and let them know if he'd been adopted (which I did). Now, just need to get a few more chins on the move. :)
...too much to ask
So, apparently it'd be too much to ask to END the day on a good note.
Just got an email from someone about our trio of females, saying "Don't you think, you, should drop your prices you been trying to get.rid of em for awhile"
No, I don't. $160 for three females, food, and fleece items is more than reasonable. Chins are $150 each at the pet store. Someone wanting to buy three would be at $450 for three, and they wouldn't come with any food or anything! Not to mention, these chins have only been available for maybe a week or two, which is nothing. Most chins are here at least that long. I emailed them back (nicely) and told them that the right person will think that $160 is a deal for the three chins and supplies, and that part of the reason they're still here is likely that they need to be adopted out together. A lot of people want to add a chinchilla to their life - not everyone wants to add three. It's as simple as that. We have a much easier time adopting out single chins than we do pairs+. I don't think it even has anything to do with the cost, it's simply that many people want one, not several, chinchillas (at least to start with). Granted, there are some people who do realize, right off the bat, that they want a chinchilla and they want that chinchilla to have a buddy, but the majority of people will get one chin, and then maybe some time later, decide they want another. That's considerably more common.
Oh well. I'm sure I won't hear back, but I nicely responded to that person. I'm sure she's one of those who thinks that I need them gone by a certain date, and if they're not gone by then, I'll drop their price to like $30 for the three (cause we have had people tell us things like that). Sorry, not happening. If the price goes too cheap, you get people trying to re-sell the animals. Now, our adoption application would make that a little more difficult - it's not like someone can just walk in, put down $160 and leave with the three chins, but think about if we didn't have that adoption application - $160 for three chins -- someone could look at that and think ca-ching! Split up, they could easily sell for $75 each, and that's more than $160 right there. But, their previous home wants them adopted out together, so they will be. And screw the people who think that if the right home can't be found in x-amount of days, then we should lower the price. That's not how it goes.
The only reason we're even having a multi-chin sale right now is cause we have so many multiples and sales often attract attention. But for the good homes, getting $20 off a pair or $40 off a trio usually isn't something that brings chins from non-affordable to affordable. If $20 is your cutoff point, you probably don't have enough money to own a chin, cause heaven forbid it get sick! The only (or almost only) people who care so much about money are the ones that think all rescue chins should be $20 and that the chin rescues should run themselves into the ground paying for vet bills and adopting out the chins for pennies. Sorry, won't happen. I'm not making money, by any means, on adopting out chins. If we didn't have our supply sales to make up the difference between what we pay in expenses and what we bring in from chin adoptions, we wouldn't still be open.
Just as a case in point - the family we have coming from Auburn - they told me, they could drive 2.5 hours each way and adopt Nike from us for $85, which includes, food, goodie bag, care booklet, and hammock, or they could go locally to a pet store and purchase a chin for $150. They're likely going to spend more in gas getting here and back than would make up the difference between the $85 and $150. But to them, it's important to get a chin from a rescue, as they already have many adopted animals, and to them, the $85 for the chin wasn't even something to discuss. It was the adoption fee, they liked the chin, assuming they get here and everything goes well, they're going to pay the adoption fee and adopt the chin. They're not going to nickel and dime me or tell me I should lower the price because he's been available for awhile. And neither will the people who eventually adopt Willow and her girls.
...now I'm going to bed before I get any more aggravating emails.
Just got an email from someone about our trio of females, saying "Don't you think, you, should drop your prices you been trying to get.rid of em for awhile"
No, I don't. $160 for three females, food, and fleece items is more than reasonable. Chins are $150 each at the pet store. Someone wanting to buy three would be at $450 for three, and they wouldn't come with any food or anything! Not to mention, these chins have only been available for maybe a week or two, which is nothing. Most chins are here at least that long. I emailed them back (nicely) and told them that the right person will think that $160 is a deal for the three chins and supplies, and that part of the reason they're still here is likely that they need to be adopted out together. A lot of people want to add a chinchilla to their life - not everyone wants to add three. It's as simple as that. We have a much easier time adopting out single chins than we do pairs+. I don't think it even has anything to do with the cost, it's simply that many people want one, not several, chinchillas (at least to start with). Granted, there are some people who do realize, right off the bat, that they want a chinchilla and they want that chinchilla to have a buddy, but the majority of people will get one chin, and then maybe some time later, decide they want another. That's considerably more common.
Oh well. I'm sure I won't hear back, but I nicely responded to that person. I'm sure she's one of those who thinks that I need them gone by a certain date, and if they're not gone by then, I'll drop their price to like $30 for the three (cause we have had people tell us things like that). Sorry, not happening. If the price goes too cheap, you get people trying to re-sell the animals. Now, our adoption application would make that a little more difficult - it's not like someone can just walk in, put down $160 and leave with the three chins, but think about if we didn't have that adoption application - $160 for three chins -- someone could look at that and think ca-ching! Split up, they could easily sell for $75 each, and that's more than $160 right there. But, their previous home wants them adopted out together, so they will be. And screw the people who think that if the right home can't be found in x-amount of days, then we should lower the price. That's not how it goes.
The only reason we're even having a multi-chin sale right now is cause we have so many multiples and sales often attract attention. But for the good homes, getting $20 off a pair or $40 off a trio usually isn't something that brings chins from non-affordable to affordable. If $20 is your cutoff point, you probably don't have enough money to own a chin, cause heaven forbid it get sick! The only (or almost only) people who care so much about money are the ones that think all rescue chins should be $20 and that the chin rescues should run themselves into the ground paying for vet bills and adopting out the chins for pennies. Sorry, won't happen. I'm not making money, by any means, on adopting out chins. If we didn't have our supply sales to make up the difference between what we pay in expenses and what we bring in from chin adoptions, we wouldn't still be open.
Just as a case in point - the family we have coming from Auburn - they told me, they could drive 2.5 hours each way and adopt Nike from us for $85, which includes, food, goodie bag, care booklet, and hammock, or they could go locally to a pet store and purchase a chin for $150. They're likely going to spend more in gas getting here and back than would make up the difference between the $85 and $150. But to them, it's important to get a chin from a rescue, as they already have many adopted animals, and to them, the $85 for the chin wasn't even something to discuss. It was the adoption fee, they liked the chin, assuming they get here and everything goes well, they're going to pay the adoption fee and adopt the chin. They're not going to nickel and dime me or tell me I should lower the price because he's been available for awhile. And neither will the people who eventually adopt Willow and her girls.
...now I'm going to bed before I get any more aggravating emails.
good day...mostly
So, had someone come and put down a deposit on the other of our babies, so now both of Dreamz's babies have deposits on them.
Still haven't heard from the person who was supposed to be sending their deposit and adoption form for Ember's kit. I sent her an email and a facebook message a few days ago, but I haven't actually "heard" from her since the 11th, which is when she said she sent a check and the adoption form. Well, if she did, I have not received it... and granted, if she really did send it, you think she would be starting to panic right about now that I haven't received a $100 check. It doesn't take 15 days for a check to go from NE Indiana to NW Indiana. This may be another case where she decided she doesn't want to adopt, but doesn't want to actually say it. Now, maybe it's just me, but I'd just buck up and say, you know what, I changed my mind. But that seems so difficult for people! They just figure, if they ignore emails long enough, eventually I'll stop bugging them. Which I do... usually (per policy), they get a week + 2 days. Since this has been going on long enough with this specific person, I told them (in the message today) that if I don't hear from them by the 30th, the chins are going back up for adoption. I can't wait forever and these chins could already be on hold for another good home if she's not intending to get them.
But on another positive note... yesterday I had received a call from Auburn asking about Nike. Now, Auburn is 2.5 hours away, and while some people will make the drive, the majority of calls we get from more than 30 minutes away never actually make it here. But today, got a call back saying they will make the drive! So, been going back and forth with emails with them about supplies and such and they're coming tomorrow to see/adopt Nike!
Also had someone email earlier about Annabelle. Yesterday I believe. They wanted to know when she'd be ready, if I could email them when she'd be ready. I said I didn't know when that'd be, but that if they wanted to wait, I suggested a deposit. Well, of course they pointed out that there's a tentative ready date on my website for her. Yes, there is, but all that is is the date 30 days out from the day she came in. Annabelle is very skinny and her poos are maybe 1/5 the size of regular chin poos. She's now on a quality diet and is active and doing well, but she's got a ways to go before she will be adoptable. That 30 day date? Not likely. The interested person also expressed interest in Willow and her girls, so I told her that they're already ready to go home, so if she wants to adopt now, she could take them home much sooner. I almost forgot to send her the care packet and adoption form, so I just went and did so, so we'll see if she ends up adopting some chins.
Lilly (our std. ped. fem.) still looks like she's going to pop. She was 950g at last weigh in, here's hoping she's close to the end of her pregnancy.
Lilly (bv rescue) is definitely looking better. The soft poos have cleared up with some TLC (i.e. good pellets, hay, no junk). According to her previous home, she would only eat the food with the treats, and wouldn't touch the food with just the pellets. Well, wouldn't you know it, we only give her the pelleted food here, and I guess she must be eating it (they typically will when they get hungry enough -- and there always is hay in the cage), cause there's poos in the cage! And her poos aren't bad. Not as nice size as I'd like, but not nearly as bad as Annabelle's, and they are solid, so we have progress!
Overall, a good day.
Still haven't heard from the person who was supposed to be sending their deposit and adoption form for Ember's kit. I sent her an email and a facebook message a few days ago, but I haven't actually "heard" from her since the 11th, which is when she said she sent a check and the adoption form. Well, if she did, I have not received it... and granted, if she really did send it, you think she would be starting to panic right about now that I haven't received a $100 check. It doesn't take 15 days for a check to go from NE Indiana to NW Indiana. This may be another case where she decided she doesn't want to adopt, but doesn't want to actually say it. Now, maybe it's just me, but I'd just buck up and say, you know what, I changed my mind. But that seems so difficult for people! They just figure, if they ignore emails long enough, eventually I'll stop bugging them. Which I do... usually (per policy), they get a week + 2 days. Since this has been going on long enough with this specific person, I told them (in the message today) that if I don't hear from them by the 30th, the chins are going back up for adoption. I can't wait forever and these chins could already be on hold for another good home if she's not intending to get them.
But on another positive note... yesterday I had received a call from Auburn asking about Nike. Now, Auburn is 2.5 hours away, and while some people will make the drive, the majority of calls we get from more than 30 minutes away never actually make it here. But today, got a call back saying they will make the drive! So, been going back and forth with emails with them about supplies and such and they're coming tomorrow to see/adopt Nike!
Also had someone email earlier about Annabelle. Yesterday I believe. They wanted to know when she'd be ready, if I could email them when she'd be ready. I said I didn't know when that'd be, but that if they wanted to wait, I suggested a deposit. Well, of course they pointed out that there's a tentative ready date on my website for her. Yes, there is, but all that is is the date 30 days out from the day she came in. Annabelle is very skinny and her poos are maybe 1/5 the size of regular chin poos. She's now on a quality diet and is active and doing well, but she's got a ways to go before she will be adoptable. That 30 day date? Not likely. The interested person also expressed interest in Willow and her girls, so I told her that they're already ready to go home, so if she wants to adopt now, she could take them home much sooner. I almost forgot to send her the care packet and adoption form, so I just went and did so, so we'll see if she ends up adopting some chins.
Lilly (our std. ped. fem.) still looks like she's going to pop. She was 950g at last weigh in, here's hoping she's close to the end of her pregnancy.
Lilly (bv rescue) is definitely looking better. The soft poos have cleared up with some TLC (i.e. good pellets, hay, no junk). According to her previous home, she would only eat the food with the treats, and wouldn't touch the food with just the pellets. Well, wouldn't you know it, we only give her the pelleted food here, and I guess she must be eating it (they typically will when they get hungry enough -- and there always is hay in the cage), cause there's poos in the cage! And her poos aren't bad. Not as nice size as I'd like, but not nearly as bad as Annabelle's, and they are solid, so we have progress!
Overall, a good day.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Catching up....
So, went to the pet expo. That was fun, set up the day before with my dad, and then had Jenny drive over to our house the morning of, for the last few things. Unfortunately, it became clear that morning that our 2nd chin ever, Moki, wasn't going to make it. We had to leave her and go to the pet expo, which I thought was a good experience for us. We got to meet a lot of other rescues and some great people, and we even entered Kailey (our sheltie) in the tricks contest and she won! So it was a good day.
Came home to find that Moki had passed. So, knowing that Munster Animal Hospital wasn't open that late and I wouldn't be able to take her until Tuesday, she was packaged up and went in the freezer. So, fast forward to today, and I call up MAH and they say that a cremation will be $168. Now I knew that my one friend had a chin cremated there last month and it was considerably less, so I called around... got some numbers as low as $120, some as high as $334. Settled on a place -- the Burns Funeral Home on Broadway has a Pet Crematory out back - private cremation for $125. Highland AH was $120, but that was just with a partitioned cremation -- $125 was a completely private one at Burns, so that's where we went. Dropped her off there, they said I can pick her up Monday/Tuesday when I'll be in the area.
Came home and had to take Jessie to the vet. Went to Munster, because it was an eye issue and she wasn't losing any weight, so no worries for teeth problems. Saw Dr. Foster, same Dr. who saw Fuzzy alll those years back. He looked at her, said her conjunctivi (?) looked good so he wasn't so sure about an eye infection, though she might have a URI. But he said we could try the eye drops for a few days and if that doesn't work, we'll move onto an antibiotic, but he said he didn't want to start with that because he knows how it can stop their eating and mess up digestion and all. So we started her on eye drops, cleaned her cage out, put her actually in a different one so she's not literally next to any other chins or anything, and we'll see how she does for the next 5 days. If no improvement, she goes back.
Other than that... we had called up someone on our waiting list about having a chin that they wanted, and so they came over today and put down a deposit on the chin. Seemed real nice, had a few things wrong about chin care, but they got our booklet which talked about chin care and I gave them our adoption form, so they're going to fill that out and mail it back to us before the time comes for them to take their chin home.
Also had a drop off today - a BV chin named Lilly and two rats - Princess and... well I'd have to look. Lilly was matted so I took some time to pull out the matts... already got bit. Which they did tell me that she bit, but do I listen? Not so much. But I think I got all the matts out! Always a positive. The rats seem really friendly so we'll have to see how all that goes.
With this dropoff, it was just the chin and the rats, no supplies, no food, no nothing. Which is fine, it simply prompted me to ask what they've been feeding. So, for the chin, she'd been given the food with the dried fruit and dried treats and all that, and the owner said she would not eat the food that's just the pellets. Well... she's going to here or else she's gonna die of starvation. I filled up her bowl of pellets and gave her some hay. At first, I saw this muushy poo and I was like uh-oh... but then later in the day I saw lots of little chin-poos in the cage. So she will be monitored to see how she does, hopefully well.
Came home to find that Moki had passed. So, knowing that Munster Animal Hospital wasn't open that late and I wouldn't be able to take her until Tuesday, she was packaged up and went in the freezer. So, fast forward to today, and I call up MAH and they say that a cremation will be $168. Now I knew that my one friend had a chin cremated there last month and it was considerably less, so I called around... got some numbers as low as $120, some as high as $334. Settled on a place -- the Burns Funeral Home on Broadway has a Pet Crematory out back - private cremation for $125. Highland AH was $120, but that was just with a partitioned cremation -- $125 was a completely private one at Burns, so that's where we went. Dropped her off there, they said I can pick her up Monday/Tuesday when I'll be in the area.
Came home and had to take Jessie to the vet. Went to Munster, because it was an eye issue and she wasn't losing any weight, so no worries for teeth problems. Saw Dr. Foster, same Dr. who saw Fuzzy alll those years back. He looked at her, said her conjunctivi (?) looked good so he wasn't so sure about an eye infection, though she might have a URI. But he said we could try the eye drops for a few days and if that doesn't work, we'll move onto an antibiotic, but he said he didn't want to start with that because he knows how it can stop their eating and mess up digestion and all. So we started her on eye drops, cleaned her cage out, put her actually in a different one so she's not literally next to any other chins or anything, and we'll see how she does for the next 5 days. If no improvement, she goes back.
Other than that... we had called up someone on our waiting list about having a chin that they wanted, and so they came over today and put down a deposit on the chin. Seemed real nice, had a few things wrong about chin care, but they got our booklet which talked about chin care and I gave them our adoption form, so they're going to fill that out and mail it back to us before the time comes for them to take their chin home.
Also had a drop off today - a BV chin named Lilly and two rats - Princess and... well I'd have to look. Lilly was matted so I took some time to pull out the matts... already got bit. Which they did tell me that she bit, but do I listen? Not so much. But I think I got all the matts out! Always a positive. The rats seem really friendly so we'll have to see how all that goes.
With this dropoff, it was just the chin and the rats, no supplies, no food, no nothing. Which is fine, it simply prompted me to ask what they've been feeding. So, for the chin, she'd been given the food with the dried fruit and dried treats and all that, and the owner said she would not eat the food that's just the pellets. Well... she's going to here or else she's gonna die of starvation. I filled up her bowl of pellets and gave her some hay. At first, I saw this muushy poo and I was like uh-oh... but then later in the day I saw lots of little chin-poos in the cage. So she will be monitored to see how she does, hopefully well.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Note from Adoptive Home
So, for all adoptive homes, I usually give them a few days after adopting and then contact them (usually email) asking how the animal's doing, settling in, etc. A hope-all-is-going-well type of thing.
Well, I just wanted to share this one email we got back from Cadbury's adoptive home. A little background on Cadbury, in case I don't have it in here. In her last few days here, Cadbury was living in one of our opened playpens with a farm-animal feed pan as a litter pan. So, it was basically a 15" round litter pan that was definitely "her size." She apparently approved considerably more of her playpen and litter pan, than she did of her prior cage, because she actually started using her litter pan, stopped stomping her back feet at us, and seemed much more content. I was contacted by a family on about the 3rd day she was in the pen, but had I had more time, I was going to update the ads to say that she seemed like she'd have been a good house rabbit, and that that's the type of home she should go to (as they'd likely have the most luck keeping her litter trained and happy).
Well, we had a family come over to look at her, and I explained over the phone that she was litter trained (it came up, as it always did)... but that we'd tried a large cage, probably one of the bigger rabbit ones on the market, and she just refused to be trained in the cage... but went on to tell them that we'd had her in a pen for the last few days, and since putting her in the pan with the XL litter box, she was trained from day 1. Like she knew how, but was just being a stinker, and apparently wanted me to realize the "house rabbit" thing. So they came over, saw her, saw how our setup was, and decided they wanted to adopt her. They said they were going to build a small pen so she could stay in one of their walk-in closets. So all was said and done, they filled out the paperwork, and she went home with them that day (which just proves that the adoption process doesn't have to take forever, because they even filled out the adoption form while at the rescue -- the delay is usually the result of the adoptive home, not delay on the rescue end).
Anyway, here's the email I got today:
oh my gosh, she is so wonderful, we don't keep her locked up unless we leave to go somewhere, she will go to her litter box, and she refuses to be anywhere in the house alone. if my daughter take a shower or bath cadbury is there, she likes to sit on the couch, and be held, she likes to sleep with my daughter, she talks to us, and if we overlook her, she thumps her back feet. she gives kisses, we will send pics soon. we will keep in touch, going to save your info.
I'm glad she went to that home. It sounds like they have her as a full house rabbit and only pen her up when they're gone, so I'm sure she is just loving it there! So happy she found such a great home!
Well, I just wanted to share this one email we got back from Cadbury's adoptive home. A little background on Cadbury, in case I don't have it in here. In her last few days here, Cadbury was living in one of our opened playpens with a farm-animal feed pan as a litter pan. So, it was basically a 15" round litter pan that was definitely "her size." She apparently approved considerably more of her playpen and litter pan, than she did of her prior cage, because she actually started using her litter pan, stopped stomping her back feet at us, and seemed much more content. I was contacted by a family on about the 3rd day she was in the pen, but had I had more time, I was going to update the ads to say that she seemed like she'd have been a good house rabbit, and that that's the type of home she should go to (as they'd likely have the most luck keeping her litter trained and happy).
Well, we had a family come over to look at her, and I explained over the phone that she was litter trained (it came up, as it always did)... but that we'd tried a large cage, probably one of the bigger rabbit ones on the market, and she just refused to be trained in the cage... but went on to tell them that we'd had her in a pen for the last few days, and since putting her in the pan with the XL litter box, she was trained from day 1. Like she knew how, but was just being a stinker, and apparently wanted me to realize the "house rabbit" thing. So they came over, saw her, saw how our setup was, and decided they wanted to adopt her. They said they were going to build a small pen so she could stay in one of their walk-in closets. So all was said and done, they filled out the paperwork, and she went home with them that day (which just proves that the adoption process doesn't have to take forever, because they even filled out the adoption form while at the rescue -- the delay is usually the result of the adoptive home, not delay on the rescue end).
Anyway, here's the email I got today:
oh my gosh, she is so wonderful, we don't keep her locked up unless we leave to go somewhere, she will go to her litter box, and she refuses to be anywhere in the house alone. if my daughter take a shower or bath cadbury is there, she likes to sit on the couch, and be held, she likes to sleep with my daughter, she talks to us, and if we overlook her, she thumps her back feet. she gives kisses, we will send pics soon. we will keep in touch, going to save your info.
I'm glad she went to that home. It sounds like they have her as a full house rabbit and only pen her up when they're gone, so I'm sure she is just loving it there! So happy she found such a great home!
Friday, May 11, 2012
last few days
So yesterday was an eventful day (5/10). One of our adoptive homes was coming over with her son to pick up their on-hold chinchilla, now that they'd finished his cage and renovated the room he was going to be in. With her, she was bringing someone interested in adopting Cody and Jack (the rats), as well as her neighbor looking to adopt a chinchilla. So, we had quite a few people downstairs all at once.
On top of that, before that group ever showed up, I received a call from someone interested in Cadbury. So I called them back and we talked and they sounded like a good home. Wanted to come that day to pay for her, saying that way the daughter (grown daughter) would know they were really getting the rabbit. Well, through discussion and talking, they decided to actually take Cadbury home that day, so they filled out all the forms and everything and now have themselves a new bunny!
And of course, they showed up just a few minutes after everyone else, so the basement was a bit of a chaos area down there. Well, Jamie and Robbie filled out the rest of their paperwork and got to take Ghost home.
And then the other adoptive family liked the rats so they took them home.
Unfortunately, I heard today that Cody may already have an ear infection. I think maybe he got it from his bath - we gave the rats a bath before they left, they appeared to be stained from something - maybe got water in his ear. Hopefully he'll be ok, I emailed his owner and told her I was sorry for adopting out a not 100% rat - we always make sure our animals are 100% before adopting them out, and it must have just been that his bath was so close to his adoption time that he didn't have any major symptoms before he left. Well, I told her I would pay for her vet bills so hopefully everything will get taken care of and he'll return to his healthy self soon.
So then moving onto today, I got an email from someone interested in Darth (the gerbil). They filled out the forms and all and sound like they'll be a good home. So they're coming tomorrow to bring their new family member home. They're driving all the way from LaPorte, IN, to adopt this little $5 gerbil. They sound awesome. They're going to name her Holly (I didn't have her name on her ads, cause people aren't always the brightest and might be confused by a female gerbil named Darth).
So then Randy came today for more hay. My dog's clearly getting used to him being around every so often cause she barks but not so much and she lets him pet her. Well anyway, I'd been having difficulty finding a place to sell me coroplast for the guinea pig cage and so I asked him if he could give me the name of the place he gets his, and he said he will, so hopefully soon we will be on our way to guinea pig cage heaven. And Randy donated $3 to the rescue. Thanks Randy!
My dad found me a sales order book (like with the carbon copies) for me to take to the expo, so we will be taking that. That saves me a few bucks not having to pay for that.
So it's been a good couple of days at the rescue.
As for our other chins, Nike is now on hold, waiting to go to his new home. Tallie is on hold (well, she has been, but now the guy actually got us our adoption form back, and was approved). And yet, we still have our problems with the guy interested in Moch and Mycha. Said on Monday he would send a deposit. Now, he's in Illinois, but up by Chicago (not that far away), and I have yet to see that deposit.... so come Monday, I will be calling him to check on what's going on. My mom has said - and I feel like this may be the case - that this guy isn't going to end up getting them. It seems like every time he sets a date or says he's gonna do something, he doesn't. He was supposed to come one day last week to pick them up and he texted me about an hour before and said he didn't have the $150... er, he did, but he had just paid rent and bills and stuff and if he paid the $150 then he wouldn't have any money left for the next two weeks. Understandable, I've been there before. But he said he did want them, so I told him, send a $50 deposit and I can hold them for you until you have the rest of the money. So he said he would put in the mail tomorrow (which would have been this past Tuesday) and I told him I'd let him know when I got it. Well, I'll give him til Monday night (to check it doesn't get here in Monday's mail) and if the mail comes and no deposit.... we're gonna have a talk. When this all started, I told him I didn't want this to turn into one of the cases where he keeps pushing it back and pushing it back, and he assured me, he would never do that. Uh-huh. Cause that's what it's turning into. In the end, we will just have to wait and see, but this guy seems to be one excuse after another. While they may be legitimate reasons for not coming and picking up the chins, not showing up, that's fine, but in the end it's still pushing it back. So we will see.
Let's see. I was contacted by someone wanting help rehoming their gerbils today. They wanted a rehoming fee, so I suggested that we could list them on our site and other sites, but since we don't pay for rescues, we wouldn't be taking them in. So they said that was fine and so we listed them on the various places we list our pets.
I also got Kicomo and Kocomo listed on our website, but I need to get some pics of them before I start posting elsewhere. Meant to get the girls (Willow, Jordyn, and Lexi) posted up on the site as well, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe tomorrow. It's been a busy couple days.
On top of that, before that group ever showed up, I received a call from someone interested in Cadbury. So I called them back and we talked and they sounded like a good home. Wanted to come that day to pay for her, saying that way the daughter (grown daughter) would know they were really getting the rabbit. Well, through discussion and talking, they decided to actually take Cadbury home that day, so they filled out all the forms and everything and now have themselves a new bunny!
And of course, they showed up just a few minutes after everyone else, so the basement was a bit of a chaos area down there. Well, Jamie and Robbie filled out the rest of their paperwork and got to take Ghost home.
And then the other adoptive family liked the rats so they took them home.
Unfortunately, I heard today that Cody may already have an ear infection. I think maybe he got it from his bath - we gave the rats a bath before they left, they appeared to be stained from something - maybe got water in his ear. Hopefully he'll be ok, I emailed his owner and told her I was sorry for adopting out a not 100% rat - we always make sure our animals are 100% before adopting them out, and it must have just been that his bath was so close to his adoption time that he didn't have any major symptoms before he left. Well, I told her I would pay for her vet bills so hopefully everything will get taken care of and he'll return to his healthy self soon.
So then moving onto today, I got an email from someone interested in Darth (the gerbil). They filled out the forms and all and sound like they'll be a good home. So they're coming tomorrow to bring their new family member home. They're driving all the way from LaPorte, IN, to adopt this little $5 gerbil. They sound awesome. They're going to name her Holly (I didn't have her name on her ads, cause people aren't always the brightest and might be confused by a female gerbil named Darth).
So then Randy came today for more hay. My dog's clearly getting used to him being around every so often cause she barks but not so much and she lets him pet her. Well anyway, I'd been having difficulty finding a place to sell me coroplast for the guinea pig cage and so I asked him if he could give me the name of the place he gets his, and he said he will, so hopefully soon we will be on our way to guinea pig cage heaven. And Randy donated $3 to the rescue. Thanks Randy!
My dad found me a sales order book (like with the carbon copies) for me to take to the expo, so we will be taking that. That saves me a few bucks not having to pay for that.
So it's been a good couple of days at the rescue.
As for our other chins, Nike is now on hold, waiting to go to his new home. Tallie is on hold (well, she has been, but now the guy actually got us our adoption form back, and was approved). And yet, we still have our problems with the guy interested in Moch and Mycha. Said on Monday he would send a deposit. Now, he's in Illinois, but up by Chicago (not that far away), and I have yet to see that deposit.... so come Monday, I will be calling him to check on what's going on. My mom has said - and I feel like this may be the case - that this guy isn't going to end up getting them. It seems like every time he sets a date or says he's gonna do something, he doesn't. He was supposed to come one day last week to pick them up and he texted me about an hour before and said he didn't have the $150... er, he did, but he had just paid rent and bills and stuff and if he paid the $150 then he wouldn't have any money left for the next two weeks. Understandable, I've been there before. But he said he did want them, so I told him, send a $50 deposit and I can hold them for you until you have the rest of the money. So he said he would put in the mail tomorrow (which would have been this past Tuesday) and I told him I'd let him know when I got it. Well, I'll give him til Monday night (to check it doesn't get here in Monday's mail) and if the mail comes and no deposit.... we're gonna have a talk. When this all started, I told him I didn't want this to turn into one of the cases where he keeps pushing it back and pushing it back, and he assured me, he would never do that. Uh-huh. Cause that's what it's turning into. In the end, we will just have to wait and see, but this guy seems to be one excuse after another. While they may be legitimate reasons for not coming and picking up the chins, not showing up, that's fine, but in the end it's still pushing it back. So we will see.
Let's see. I was contacted by someone wanting help rehoming their gerbils today. They wanted a rehoming fee, so I suggested that we could list them on our site and other sites, but since we don't pay for rescues, we wouldn't be taking them in. So they said that was fine and so we listed them on the various places we list our pets.
I also got Kicomo and Kocomo listed on our website, but I need to get some pics of them before I start posting elsewhere. Meant to get the girls (Willow, Jordyn, and Lexi) posted up on the site as well, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe tomorrow. It's been a busy couple days.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
...and the days go by....and the complaining never stops....
So today, worked on getting more cages ready for my used cages page (which is now up - http://www.nwichinchillas.com/usedcagesforsale.htm). Got a few more ready, and mainly just cleaned up the basement. God only knows how it gets to be so messy down there in such a short period of time.
Had someone come over to drop off a rescue. Turns out, her daughter went on some trip and said she was going to bring something back... and brought a chinchilla back. Apparently this was some time in 2011 before Christmas (only leaves 11.9 months, eh?). So I guess they kept the chinchilla and it was first in the daughter's room and then in the son's room, and then the parents were getting divorced and they "had to find a place to take the chinchilla." I don't know if they were moving to a place where pets weren't allowed or what. I try not to judge, my goal is to take care of the rescues, not hound people about why they're rehoming them. Not my job. But anyway, they brought over the chin and his stuff. Excuse me, HER stuff, because it is a girl, not a boy. I asked about the name of the chinchilla, they said it didn't have one. So... my mom dubbed the chinchilla Sparkle, and so Sparkle she is. Put her in one of our cages and left her plastic-filled cage on the side. Will eventually get to that as I keep cleaning out cages. Sweet chin. Did great being held and petted.
But other than that, I just spent a lot of time cleaning and working on the cages and pictures and all that. Of course, that meant that several of the cages downstairs were moved around and in the middle of the one "aisle" and so there was only one way through downstairs. So my dad bitches to my mom that the chinchillas are taking over the basement. Really? Cause there's actually only ONE more cage down there now than there was 6 months ago. Like seriously, in the last 6 months, not counting that cage that came with the chin today, we've only gotten in ONE cage. Which is fine, not complaining about that, but my dad was saying there's cages everywhere, and it's like, ok there were those same cages here for the last few years, they were all just tucked away and stacked and taken apart or whatever, and now that they're all getting ready to sell, I have to dig them out... and like I cleared out one spot near one of the walls so I can get clear pictures of the cage, and so I have the cages ready to go all over in that area, as well as a table with the stuff on it that we're taking to the Expo. So that's getting added to by the day.... but it's not like cages are taking up every inch, come on already. So anyway, she told me what he said and I tucked back the remaining cages into the area they'd previously been tucked away in and tried to clean up the area where I had the already-ready-to-go cages so they're not taking up as much room. We do have a lot of spare cages, and I mean we already have 7 ready to go... not all chin cages, but we get in a variety of critters so some other critter cages... and it's getting to that point where I can say, ok these cages we're keeping, those can go. And if I really need more cages at some point, we still have like 4-6 extra runs standing on end. Not like those are great cages, but they'd work in a pinch if I got in a slew of chins and needed to order some cages. Since many of the ones we're selling are the exact same cages that we sell new... they're just ones we had and used for a few years and just aren't my absolute favorites. Nothing wrong with em, just have ones I now prefer to them. Can't keep em all.
Same with the animals. Cadbury seems to be taking well to her new cage, er, pen. I opened up one of our smaller playpens, took the bearings and back off the junko-wheel and filled it with shavings... figured if there's any way Caddy's gonna be potty trained, she needs the biggest pan I can manage and that's pretty big. So I got her in the pen with food/water, the pan, and everything. She went in the pan! Of course, it's got 4 "drip holes" cause of the previous bolts so I think tomorrow if I have time I'm going to empty it out, rinse it out, and try to cold weld those holes shut. In the meantime I have a towel under the litter pan but I would rather it just not drip through. But she seems to be doing well. Oh and today as I was walking around the playpen Caddy kept running up to the side I was on, which got me thinking, this 8 pound rabbit can probably open the pen if she wanted. So now the thing has like 5 pear clips holding the pen shut. It was sort of clipped shut the way some cages clip open, like into place, but now extra safeguards. So we'll see how she does tomorrow. Anyway... the point is, she wanted attention, so I got in the pen with her and I was petting her and petting her and she was just laying there enjoying the attention and I had that moment of, hey, I could keep her, she could stay in the pen and.....and then it's like, you know, if I kept her, then I'd have less room and less money, less whatever, for the other rescues. Which is also why we're adopting out Nike, Tallie, and some of our other previously resident-chins, because at the end of the day, I can't keep them all, and I have to keep the ones I absolutely can't live without.
Like Winx. Winx graduated to his new cage today (well, it's not new, but we got it used and fixed it up) and it's the biggest cage he's ever been in, and for the moment he's just by himself in there. When we get in another chill male rescue he can have a buddy again. He seems to love it. And I walked by the cage twice and just had to pull him out and give him some lovin'. And that's what I mean, like he's my baby. But Nike? Tallie? Some of the others? Don't get me wrong, I love em all, but Nike - it's more the fact that he's an extreme mosaic that kept him here. Tallie's older and wasn't breeding. Not like I don't love my oldies, but she's really a chin that likes attention and would do awesome in a pet home. Same with the others. There's nothing "bad" about them, they're chins I would keep if I didn't have the rescue, if I just had x amount of chins. But at the end of the day, there's only so many chins I can manage and I would rather have less of my own chins and more room for rescue chins, without needing to add more and more cages because my own chins take up so many cages.
Like on that note... Winx is housed separately. Moki has Tallie as a cagemate at the moment, but for the most part, she's housed separately. Toby beat up Winx awhile back so he's housed separately. Now, Winx and Moki are friendly chins and can have cagemates, so they don't "have" to be separate, they can have buddies if we get in friendly rescues. But right there, that's 3 cages that permanently have a "fixture" chin in them. I go back and forth on this all the time, but I think when my "pet" chins die, I won't be replacing them. That probably sounds horrible, and it's NOT cause they're taking up cage space, but I guess I just feel like somehow my own pets are the ones that suffer when I have a million rescues cause even though they're all spoiled the same, if I get in a rescue that needs a lot of time devoted to it, my own pet chins kind of take the back seat. Not like the breeder chins get a ton more attention either, but at least they're contained in a bit smaller areas... but again, when they pass, or when we adopt them out as retired breeders... whatever the case, I feel like I won't be getting as many replacements. I will get some - I will never have "no" chins of my own, but I feel like I'll be a bit more picky about what I get and how that all goes down. I got a lot of my current chins in a herd sale. And it's not that I'm not happy with them, but I think next-go-round I'm going to pick and choose. The herd sale was good cause I got a lot of supplies and a lot of stuff that I was able to sell and make money for the rescue, but I kept a lot of chins simply because they were chins that did well, or whatever, whether or not I like them. Heck, Dreamz is still here, and I still can't fathom why she's named that! She is the most pissed-off chin ever. Doesn't bite but just barks up a storm and is the biggest crab-ass chin. I love her to death. She's like my Moki #2 (they have the biting/barking switched up). Dreamz is one of our pedigreed breeder chins and has had some nice babies, and the babies do NOT inherit her attitude (thank god), or else she'd probably be gone too.
Ember's going to be going as well. I was telling someone, I feel like it's a "back to basics" sale, like you hear in the stores, cause I'm going back to fewer breeding chins, almost no pet chins except three out of my original four chins (the fourth is Bailey - who is one of our two breeding males) and Myshkin, and Myshkin's kinda just sitting here for the moment. He did well at Nationals but we don't have any girls for him so... he's just kinda chillin. And that's fine, he can enjoy his wheel and big cage and all. But I feel like selling so many of the used cages and adopting out some of our resident chins, it's like ok somewhere I got too attached and it's time to let go. Don't need all the pets, don't need all the cages.
On that note, sanctuary animals are obviously not replaced. Rex? (our pacman frog). Love him to death... but he won't eat on his own, so per vet's orders, we open up his mouth twice a week, get him to eat two fuzzies, and move on. Great frog, doesn't complain a bit (haha). Already older, doesn't eat on his own, not adoptable = sanctuary animal. But once he's gone, no more frogs. Aries, our sanctuary hamster. We don't even take in hamsters, but he was from a good friend. Couldn't say no to that. Sweet hamster, hates me to death and wants to bite off my fingers when I give him his meds (gloves are the lifesaver), but he's very cute and loves his cage and wheel. Nice pet, but already 2-3 years and I wouldn't want a critter to pass shortly after adopting it out (that, and I did say I'd just keep him til he passed). Once they're gone, their stuff will be sold or pitched or whatever the case. And they're not "pets" so it's not like I'm in any hurry to get rid of them or anything... but at one point, I might have been able to adopt out Rex, and then I said, no, we're keeping him here as a sanctuary animal. That's fine. But again, back to basics. I guess it's more like I'd rather help people find their new pets rather than have a ton of pets of my own that are spoiled to death but aren't getting as much attention as I would like them to get. With a rescue... there's not a ton of time for other things. I mean, I have time to go out with friends, have some fun, but at the end of the night I have to check water bottles, feed critters... and I'm not complaining, I love it! But there's always something to do. That's the nature of it, I guess, and that's fine... but for me, that simply means not having a million pets/breeders of my own.
Had someone come over to drop off a rescue. Turns out, her daughter went on some trip and said she was going to bring something back... and brought a chinchilla back. Apparently this was some time in 2011 before Christmas (only leaves 11.9 months, eh?). So I guess they kept the chinchilla and it was first in the daughter's room and then in the son's room, and then the parents were getting divorced and they "had to find a place to take the chinchilla." I don't know if they were moving to a place where pets weren't allowed or what. I try not to judge, my goal is to take care of the rescues, not hound people about why they're rehoming them. Not my job. But anyway, they brought over the chin and his stuff. Excuse me, HER stuff, because it is a girl, not a boy. I asked about the name of the chinchilla, they said it didn't have one. So... my mom dubbed the chinchilla Sparkle, and so Sparkle she is. Put her in one of our cages and left her plastic-filled cage on the side. Will eventually get to that as I keep cleaning out cages. Sweet chin. Did great being held and petted.
But other than that, I just spent a lot of time cleaning and working on the cages and pictures and all that. Of course, that meant that several of the cages downstairs were moved around and in the middle of the one "aisle" and so there was only one way through downstairs. So my dad bitches to my mom that the chinchillas are taking over the basement. Really? Cause there's actually only ONE more cage down there now than there was 6 months ago. Like seriously, in the last 6 months, not counting that cage that came with the chin today, we've only gotten in ONE cage. Which is fine, not complaining about that, but my dad was saying there's cages everywhere, and it's like, ok there were those same cages here for the last few years, they were all just tucked away and stacked and taken apart or whatever, and now that they're all getting ready to sell, I have to dig them out... and like I cleared out one spot near one of the walls so I can get clear pictures of the cage, and so I have the cages ready to go all over in that area, as well as a table with the stuff on it that we're taking to the Expo. So that's getting added to by the day.... but it's not like cages are taking up every inch, come on already. So anyway, she told me what he said and I tucked back the remaining cages into the area they'd previously been tucked away in and tried to clean up the area where I had the already-ready-to-go cages so they're not taking up as much room. We do have a lot of spare cages, and I mean we already have 7 ready to go... not all chin cages, but we get in a variety of critters so some other critter cages... and it's getting to that point where I can say, ok these cages we're keeping, those can go. And if I really need more cages at some point, we still have like 4-6 extra runs standing on end. Not like those are great cages, but they'd work in a pinch if I got in a slew of chins and needed to order some cages. Since many of the ones we're selling are the exact same cages that we sell new... they're just ones we had and used for a few years and just aren't my absolute favorites. Nothing wrong with em, just have ones I now prefer to them. Can't keep em all.
Same with the animals. Cadbury seems to be taking well to her new cage, er, pen. I opened up one of our smaller playpens, took the bearings and back off the junko-wheel and filled it with shavings... figured if there's any way Caddy's gonna be potty trained, she needs the biggest pan I can manage and that's pretty big. So I got her in the pen with food/water, the pan, and everything. She went in the pan! Of course, it's got 4 "drip holes" cause of the previous bolts so I think tomorrow if I have time I'm going to empty it out, rinse it out, and try to cold weld those holes shut. In the meantime I have a towel under the litter pan but I would rather it just not drip through. But she seems to be doing well. Oh and today as I was walking around the playpen Caddy kept running up to the side I was on, which got me thinking, this 8 pound rabbit can probably open the pen if she wanted. So now the thing has like 5 pear clips holding the pen shut. It was sort of clipped shut the way some cages clip open, like into place, but now extra safeguards. So we'll see how she does tomorrow. Anyway... the point is, she wanted attention, so I got in the pen with her and I was petting her and petting her and she was just laying there enjoying the attention and I had that moment of, hey, I could keep her, she could stay in the pen and.....and then it's like, you know, if I kept her, then I'd have less room and less money, less whatever, for the other rescues. Which is also why we're adopting out Nike, Tallie, and some of our other previously resident-chins, because at the end of the day, I can't keep them all, and I have to keep the ones I absolutely can't live without.
Like Winx. Winx graduated to his new cage today (well, it's not new, but we got it used and fixed it up) and it's the biggest cage he's ever been in, and for the moment he's just by himself in there. When we get in another chill male rescue he can have a buddy again. He seems to love it. And I walked by the cage twice and just had to pull him out and give him some lovin'. And that's what I mean, like he's my baby. But Nike? Tallie? Some of the others? Don't get me wrong, I love em all, but Nike - it's more the fact that he's an extreme mosaic that kept him here. Tallie's older and wasn't breeding. Not like I don't love my oldies, but she's really a chin that likes attention and would do awesome in a pet home. Same with the others. There's nothing "bad" about them, they're chins I would keep if I didn't have the rescue, if I just had x amount of chins. But at the end of the day, there's only so many chins I can manage and I would rather have less of my own chins and more room for rescue chins, without needing to add more and more cages because my own chins take up so many cages.
Like on that note... Winx is housed separately. Moki has Tallie as a cagemate at the moment, but for the most part, she's housed separately. Toby beat up Winx awhile back so he's housed separately. Now, Winx and Moki are friendly chins and can have cagemates, so they don't "have" to be separate, they can have buddies if we get in friendly rescues. But right there, that's 3 cages that permanently have a "fixture" chin in them. I go back and forth on this all the time, but I think when my "pet" chins die, I won't be replacing them. That probably sounds horrible, and it's NOT cause they're taking up cage space, but I guess I just feel like somehow my own pets are the ones that suffer when I have a million rescues cause even though they're all spoiled the same, if I get in a rescue that needs a lot of time devoted to it, my own pet chins kind of take the back seat. Not like the breeder chins get a ton more attention either, but at least they're contained in a bit smaller areas... but again, when they pass, or when we adopt them out as retired breeders... whatever the case, I feel like I won't be getting as many replacements. I will get some - I will never have "no" chins of my own, but I feel like I'll be a bit more picky about what I get and how that all goes down. I got a lot of my current chins in a herd sale. And it's not that I'm not happy with them, but I think next-go-round I'm going to pick and choose. The herd sale was good cause I got a lot of supplies and a lot of stuff that I was able to sell and make money for the rescue, but I kept a lot of chins simply because they were chins that did well, or whatever, whether or not I like them. Heck, Dreamz is still here, and I still can't fathom why she's named that! She is the most pissed-off chin ever. Doesn't bite but just barks up a storm and is the biggest crab-ass chin. I love her to death. She's like my Moki #2 (they have the biting/barking switched up). Dreamz is one of our pedigreed breeder chins and has had some nice babies, and the babies do NOT inherit her attitude (thank god), or else she'd probably be gone too.
Ember's going to be going as well. I was telling someone, I feel like it's a "back to basics" sale, like you hear in the stores, cause I'm going back to fewer breeding chins, almost no pet chins except three out of my original four chins (the fourth is Bailey - who is one of our two breeding males) and Myshkin, and Myshkin's kinda just sitting here for the moment. He did well at Nationals but we don't have any girls for him so... he's just kinda chillin. And that's fine, he can enjoy his wheel and big cage and all. But I feel like selling so many of the used cages and adopting out some of our resident chins, it's like ok somewhere I got too attached and it's time to let go. Don't need all the pets, don't need all the cages.
On that note, sanctuary animals are obviously not replaced. Rex? (our pacman frog). Love him to death... but he won't eat on his own, so per vet's orders, we open up his mouth twice a week, get him to eat two fuzzies, and move on. Great frog, doesn't complain a bit (haha). Already older, doesn't eat on his own, not adoptable = sanctuary animal. But once he's gone, no more frogs. Aries, our sanctuary hamster. We don't even take in hamsters, but he was from a good friend. Couldn't say no to that. Sweet hamster, hates me to death and wants to bite off my fingers when I give him his meds (gloves are the lifesaver), but he's very cute and loves his cage and wheel. Nice pet, but already 2-3 years and I wouldn't want a critter to pass shortly after adopting it out (that, and I did say I'd just keep him til he passed). Once they're gone, their stuff will be sold or pitched or whatever the case. And they're not "pets" so it's not like I'm in any hurry to get rid of them or anything... but at one point, I might have been able to adopt out Rex, and then I said, no, we're keeping him here as a sanctuary animal. That's fine. But again, back to basics. I guess it's more like I'd rather help people find their new pets rather than have a ton of pets of my own that are spoiled to death but aren't getting as much attention as I would like them to get. With a rescue... there's not a ton of time for other things. I mean, I have time to go out with friends, have some fun, but at the end of the night I have to check water bottles, feed critters... and I'm not complaining, I love it! But there's always something to do. That's the nature of it, I guess, and that's fine... but for me, that simply means not having a million pets/breeders of my own.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Seemingly got a lot done.....
So, yesterday. Decided we need to "go back to basics" and that we have altogether too many critters and cages. Like I have cages coming out of my ears and with the addition of the three resident guinea pigs, now it's like pets galore again. So, a few of our resident chins are likely going to be put up for adoption, and we're going to sell some of the used cages.
So, on that note, I took two of the used cages, sanded down the wood ledges, washed the cages, and prepped them for sale. Started work on the Marshall Mansion, those ledges really need some work, but there's so much wood in the cage, it'd take a LOT to replace it. So, I scrubbed everything down with peroxide, and I'll probably have to do it again, once I go down there and see how it looks now that it's dried and all. Probably will scrub it again and then give the whole cage a once-over and get it all ready for sale as well.
I think we have several cages that are "empty" and can have new shelves put in them, but for the few that we have that have been used by US, no sense in replacing the shelves when a little sanding and maybe some peroxide-ing and they look pretty much brand new. Or at least, brand-new in the sense of brand-new-and-chewed-on-for-a-week anyway. Bought a ton of wood yesterday so I'll be able to continue with the hidey houses and the shelves... tomorrow, as it's late today.
So, that lady that I had interested in the gerbil... she was supposed to call a few days ago, to fill out the form over the phone and never called. So I emailed yesterday? and asked what happened, if she was still interested. Well, surprise surprise, she said something about it being a bad weekend and she's going to have to wait and not get the gerbil at this time. Now, not to judge, but how difficult is it to care for a $5 gerbil? I feel like some people just come up with excuses, but I don't know her situation, so maybe something did come up.
With that guy interested in Cadbury... yeah, needless to say, I did not receive a call back, so, yet again, her potty training issues are keeping her from being adopted. I wish she would potty train. But she just wants to pee outside the litter box and I'm no rabbit expert so she's out-witting me on the litter box training.
But on a more positive note (if you consider getting in rescues positive - I do, they're usually coming to get out of a less-than-ideal situation), I got a call and email (covering all her bases - I like!) from someone today while I was at my night class. My phone had long since died (too many games during class, I know, I know) so I completely missed the call, and then by the time I got home it was after 10, so I didn't call her back but I emailed her back saying that we could take in the chin and asked if she could bring it here. She had said she was in Whiting, and a lot of times, people will say where they are when they need me to drive out and come get the stuff - well, she said she's going to come and drop off the chin Wednesday, after I get home from the doctor's, so she wants me to call. So I have it down in my planner to call her when I get home from the doctor's.
Well, gonna check on the chins and see how everyone's doing, give everyone some pets and scritches and of course food and water, and gonna call it a night. School nights are always the nights I feel like I should do more, but I'm out of the house from 7 am - 10:30 pm, so it's the one night a week they don't get my undivided attention for several hours. But tomorrow I'll have a decent chunk of the night to devote to them so it'll make up for it.
So, on that note, I took two of the used cages, sanded down the wood ledges, washed the cages, and prepped them for sale. Started work on the Marshall Mansion, those ledges really need some work, but there's so much wood in the cage, it'd take a LOT to replace it. So, I scrubbed everything down with peroxide, and I'll probably have to do it again, once I go down there and see how it looks now that it's dried and all. Probably will scrub it again and then give the whole cage a once-over and get it all ready for sale as well.
I think we have several cages that are "empty" and can have new shelves put in them, but for the few that we have that have been used by US, no sense in replacing the shelves when a little sanding and maybe some peroxide-ing and they look pretty much brand new. Or at least, brand-new in the sense of brand-new-and-chewed-on-for-a-week anyway. Bought a ton of wood yesterday so I'll be able to continue with the hidey houses and the shelves... tomorrow, as it's late today.
So, that lady that I had interested in the gerbil... she was supposed to call a few days ago, to fill out the form over the phone and never called. So I emailed yesterday? and asked what happened, if she was still interested. Well, surprise surprise, she said something about it being a bad weekend and she's going to have to wait and not get the gerbil at this time. Now, not to judge, but how difficult is it to care for a $5 gerbil? I feel like some people just come up with excuses, but I don't know her situation, so maybe something did come up.
With that guy interested in Cadbury... yeah, needless to say, I did not receive a call back, so, yet again, her potty training issues are keeping her from being adopted. I wish she would potty train. But she just wants to pee outside the litter box and I'm no rabbit expert so she's out-witting me on the litter box training.
But on a more positive note (if you consider getting in rescues positive - I do, they're usually coming to get out of a less-than-ideal situation), I got a call and email (covering all her bases - I like!) from someone today while I was at my night class. My phone had long since died (too many games during class, I know, I know) so I completely missed the call, and then by the time I got home it was after 10, so I didn't call her back but I emailed her back saying that we could take in the chin and asked if she could bring it here. She had said she was in Whiting, and a lot of times, people will say where they are when they need me to drive out and come get the stuff - well, she said she's going to come and drop off the chin Wednesday, after I get home from the doctor's, so she wants me to call. So I have it down in my planner to call her when I get home from the doctor's.
Well, gonna check on the chins and see how everyone's doing, give everyone some pets and scritches and of course food and water, and gonna call it a night. School nights are always the nights I feel like I should do more, but I'm out of the house from 7 am - 10:30 pm, so it's the one night a week they don't get my undivided attention for several hours. But tomorrow I'll have a decent chunk of the night to devote to them so it'll make up for it.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Phone calls
Was thinking about this after I got home. I had two people leave voicemails, one last night at 10 pm, the other today while I was at work. I called both back, left messages.
Heard back from the guy who called about Cadbury. So he calls and says, "did you just call me?" and I was like yeah, and he said, "ok, why'd you call?" I hate to sound like an ass, but I told him that I did leave him a message, and had he listened to it, he would have known I was the person he called about Cadbury. Anyway, so he if it was right that she wasn't potty trained. Yes, it says RIGHT in the ad, she is not potty trained. That means... she's not potty trained. Boy, rocket scientists that I get on the phone. So then he asks, can you potty train her? And I told him, you know, we tried to potty train her, she would pee in the litter pan for a bit, but then move it or pee outside of it or whatever, and for us, it wasn't working. I did tell him that sometimes if people have more time to spend with the pet, they might have better luck, versus me, whereas we have a lot of pets so I can't devote 20 hours a week to getting a rabbit potty trained. So he asks about our location and address, and I tell him that we run the rescue out of our house so if he wants to come see her he needs to make an appointment. So he said he'd talk it over with *mumble mumble* and he'd call me back. Have to say I don't think I'll be hearing back.
But in all reality, lets think about this. If you read on an ad that something isn't potty trained, don't you just assume ok, not potty trained. Not, oh, let me call and ask if what the ad says is actually correct, and then, when it's confirmed that the ad is correct, ask if there's something that could be done to potty train the rabbit. It's not like I don't try. That's why it says right in the ad that she's not potty trained - so that people who are looking for a potty trained rabbit don't give me a call just to ask if she's potty trained.
Ah well. Anyway, the point about phone calls is that this was a rare one. Usually what happens is that out of every 10 calls we get, I call all 10 back, usually twice per call (on consecutive days), and maybe 2 out of the 10 return my call. And often, those two have already found pets elsewhere cause they couldn't be bothered to wait the 5 hours for me to return their call. Not like impulse buyers would actually read our care packet or fill out our forms anyway, but I find it aggravating because I take the time to call people and to answer their questions on the voicemail I leave them (if they ask questions) and 95% of them can't be bothered to give me a buzz back to say that they decided against it, or whatever the case may be.
Heard back from the guy who called about Cadbury. So he calls and says, "did you just call me?" and I was like yeah, and he said, "ok, why'd you call?" I hate to sound like an ass, but I told him that I did leave him a message, and had he listened to it, he would have known I was the person he called about Cadbury. Anyway, so he if it was right that she wasn't potty trained. Yes, it says RIGHT in the ad, she is not potty trained. That means... she's not potty trained. Boy, rocket scientists that I get on the phone. So then he asks, can you potty train her? And I told him, you know, we tried to potty train her, she would pee in the litter pan for a bit, but then move it or pee outside of it or whatever, and for us, it wasn't working. I did tell him that sometimes if people have more time to spend with the pet, they might have better luck, versus me, whereas we have a lot of pets so I can't devote 20 hours a week to getting a rabbit potty trained. So he asks about our location and address, and I tell him that we run the rescue out of our house so if he wants to come see her he needs to make an appointment. So he said he'd talk it over with *mumble mumble* and he'd call me back. Have to say I don't think I'll be hearing back.
But in all reality, lets think about this. If you read on an ad that something isn't potty trained, don't you just assume ok, not potty trained. Not, oh, let me call and ask if what the ad says is actually correct, and then, when it's confirmed that the ad is correct, ask if there's something that could be done to potty train the rabbit. It's not like I don't try. That's why it says right in the ad that she's not potty trained - so that people who are looking for a potty trained rabbit don't give me a call just to ask if she's potty trained.
Ah well. Anyway, the point about phone calls is that this was a rare one. Usually what happens is that out of every 10 calls we get, I call all 10 back, usually twice per call (on consecutive days), and maybe 2 out of the 10 return my call. And often, those two have already found pets elsewhere cause they couldn't be bothered to wait the 5 hours for me to return their call. Not like impulse buyers would actually read our care packet or fill out our forms anyway, but I find it aggravating because I take the time to call people and to answer their questions on the voicemail I leave them (if they ask questions) and 95% of them can't be bothered to give me a buzz back to say that they decided against it, or whatever the case may be.
People never cease to amaze me
So, I'm sitting at work on my lunch and I get a text... well, here's how the conversation went:
Them: Is the tail strong on that gerby? I need a strong tail for the pulling.
Them: It is not hard, but out I need strong tail to grip.
Me: I have no idea, I don't pull on her tail. Anyway, I think I already have someone interested in her that'll be calling me tonight.
Them: You sure? I'll pay top dollar for a gerby with a strong tail to grip
Me: Yeah I'm pretty sure they're going to get her.
Them: If not let me know on the asap. I need that little fresh fish for tonite
Um.... all I can say is wtf? I don't know bout everyone else, but I don't pull on gerbils' tails, and while using their tail is an alright way to grab them if they're loose, I wouldn't exactly suggest people pulling on their tails. Like wtf. So of course, if the other person doesn't call for some reason, there is NO way I'm contacting this person back. Just creepy.
Them: Is the tail strong on that gerby? I need a strong tail for the pulling.
Them: It is not hard, but out I need strong tail to grip.
Me: I have no idea, I don't pull on her tail. Anyway, I think I already have someone interested in her that'll be calling me tonight.
Them: You sure? I'll pay top dollar for a gerby with a strong tail to grip
Me: Yeah I'm pretty sure they're going to get her.
Them: If not let me know on the asap. I need that little fresh fish for tonite
Um.... all I can say is wtf? I don't know bout everyone else, but I don't pull on gerbils' tails, and while using their tail is an alright way to grab them if they're loose, I wouldn't exactly suggest people pulling on their tails. Like wtf. So of course, if the other person doesn't call for some reason, there is NO way I'm contacting this person back. Just creepy.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Somewhat productive day
So, got a decent amount done today. Weighed all the chins and other critters, fed and watered everyone (well, that's everyday), gave everyone hay....
Built another hidey house and a half for the expo. The half is cause I still need to work on the roof (it's two pieces) and it's too late to run the saw again. So that'll get finished tomorrow.
Also, built a chinny mobile. Once it's dry, I will finally be able to mock-package-up this potential order and give a potential customer a total with shipping. And if they don't want it, hey, I'll have more stuff ready for the expo.
Re-built the custom hay cube holder that someone's been wanting. Built it a few days ago... realized that while the outside dimensions were what they wanted.... the inside dimensions were probably more along the size they had quoted me. So... rebuilt that today. It's drying.
Used the cold weld on the CN and one of our black/purple cages. Finally think I got all the broken bars on both. Once I'm positive on that, those cages are getting fixed up - the CN to use, the other for sale. Need to dig through all our spare cages as well and see about selling other cages. We have somehow accumulated a million of em, and now I can actually pick and choose to keep the favorite cages and get rid of the ones that work, but I could live without. And that's going to be a LOT of cages.
Got an email from someone interested in the gerbil - yay! They didn't have internet at home, only on their phone, so they are going to call me tomorrow with the info for the adoption form (so they don't have to type it all out on their phone). Hopefully they'll call, they sounded like a promising home for Darth.
Then, got a call at like 10 pm (didn't answer it - calls 10 pm and later aren't answered cause I don't want people to start calling at all hours) - some guy interested in Cadbury wanting to ask some questions. So, I will call him back tomorrow.
And, tomorrow, we're supposed to have Moch and Mycha go home, if their to-be-owner shows up. They've been less than on-cue when they say they will call, they typically don't call, and I have to call them and remind them... so my mom's convinced that they're not going to show up tomorrow to come get the chins. I honestly don't know. I mean, I do think that if someone really wants a pet, they will make an effort to come and get it, but at the same time, I understand that people's lives don't revolve around chins. So we'll see. If he doesn't show up, I will be calling him yet again, and trying to set up a different day....
So then, what else... I sanded down some of the circular perches - I have a whole bag of circular perches and the smaller circular cutouts that need to be rasp'd - got a few of those done. Also, made shelves with poop-guards for the cage we're going to be taking with us to the expo. Attached those shelves to the cage. Still need to make one smaller step-up shelf for the hammock. I'd usually use a circular perch, but since we have to keep our area clean (and clean up after the expo), it's going to be more of a rounded perch with a flat backside so I can attach a poo-guard. So, will do that, and will find a hammock to put in the cage tomorrow.
Also, cut the wood to size for three more hidey houses. Still need to drill the holes, sand/rasp everything, and put em together, but piece by piece I'm getting there.
Will have to figure out what toys I will be taking to the expo. Probably 3 of each, like the same with the hidey houses.
Still deciding whether I will be making chinny mobiles and chinny motorhomes for the expo. Not like they take a ton of time, but it seems I hardly have time for anything anymore, so we'll see.
Well, that may just be it. Decent amount got done, but there's always more to do. So, we'll see how tomorrow goes!
Built another hidey house and a half for the expo. The half is cause I still need to work on the roof (it's two pieces) and it's too late to run the saw again. So that'll get finished tomorrow.
Also, built a chinny mobile. Once it's dry, I will finally be able to mock-package-up this potential order and give a potential customer a total with shipping. And if they don't want it, hey, I'll have more stuff ready for the expo.
Re-built the custom hay cube holder that someone's been wanting. Built it a few days ago... realized that while the outside dimensions were what they wanted.... the inside dimensions were probably more along the size they had quoted me. So... rebuilt that today. It's drying.
Used the cold weld on the CN and one of our black/purple cages. Finally think I got all the broken bars on both. Once I'm positive on that, those cages are getting fixed up - the CN to use, the other for sale. Need to dig through all our spare cages as well and see about selling other cages. We have somehow accumulated a million of em, and now I can actually pick and choose to keep the favorite cages and get rid of the ones that work, but I could live without. And that's going to be a LOT of cages.
Got an email from someone interested in the gerbil - yay! They didn't have internet at home, only on their phone, so they are going to call me tomorrow with the info for the adoption form (so they don't have to type it all out on their phone). Hopefully they'll call, they sounded like a promising home for Darth.
Then, got a call at like 10 pm (didn't answer it - calls 10 pm and later aren't answered cause I don't want people to start calling at all hours) - some guy interested in Cadbury wanting to ask some questions. So, I will call him back tomorrow.
And, tomorrow, we're supposed to have Moch and Mycha go home, if their to-be-owner shows up. They've been less than on-cue when they say they will call, they typically don't call, and I have to call them and remind them... so my mom's convinced that they're not going to show up tomorrow to come get the chins. I honestly don't know. I mean, I do think that if someone really wants a pet, they will make an effort to come and get it, but at the same time, I understand that people's lives don't revolve around chins. So we'll see. If he doesn't show up, I will be calling him yet again, and trying to set up a different day....
So then, what else... I sanded down some of the circular perches - I have a whole bag of circular perches and the smaller circular cutouts that need to be rasp'd - got a few of those done. Also, made shelves with poop-guards for the cage we're going to be taking with us to the expo. Attached those shelves to the cage. Still need to make one smaller step-up shelf for the hammock. I'd usually use a circular perch, but since we have to keep our area clean (and clean up after the expo), it's going to be more of a rounded perch with a flat backside so I can attach a poo-guard. So, will do that, and will find a hammock to put in the cage tomorrow.
Also, cut the wood to size for three more hidey houses. Still need to drill the holes, sand/rasp everything, and put em together, but piece by piece I'm getting there.
Will have to figure out what toys I will be taking to the expo. Probably 3 of each, like the same with the hidey houses.
Still deciding whether I will be making chinny mobiles and chinny motorhomes for the expo. Not like they take a ton of time, but it seems I hardly have time for anything anymore, so we'll see.
Well, that may just be it. Decent amount got done, but there's always more to do. So, we'll see how tomorrow goes!
Getting a bit frustrated w. adopting out Cadbury
So, Cadbury's still here. Which is fine, of course, there's no rush to get rid of rescues, but the people who are emailing me about her are all turning out to be duds.
Had someone email back on the 16th asking if I knew what breed she was and they wanted the adoption form to fill out for her. Emailed back that I didn't know about the breed, and sent the care info and adoption form. Never heard back.
Someone else emailed on the 21st wanting to know the adoption process they would go through and how they could get started on that to adopt her. So I emailed, told them. They emailed back on the 23rd, asking if I wanted them to fill out the adoption form. No, I sent it to them for shits and giggles. I told them, yes, fill it out and get it back to me (which I always state in the email where I actually attach it) and they asked something about setting up a time to come see her. So I emailed them back saying yes, please fill it out, and giving them times... never heard back.
So then I get another email on the 27th, which seems promising. Someone who already had a female rabbit and wanted to get another and wanted to know how Caddy would do with other rabbits. Told her that we once had her out in a playpen next to a playpen with another female, and she did fine, but we'd never actually had her out with another rabbit. But I told the person that they could bring over their rabbit and see how their rabbit did with ours, and all that. So they asked for the care info and adoption form, sent those to them, and so for the next few days we talk. So then we're talking about them coming over with their rabbit, and they fall off the face of the earth.
But in the meantime, on the 29th, I got an email from someone else asking if Caddy was still up for adoption, and I told them, well, I think I have someone interested and they said to let them know if that person backed out. So, after I didn't hear from the previous person for several days, I emailed both this person and that previous person saying something along the lines of, I would appreciate if you would let me know, either way, if you're interested or not in the rabbit. Haven't heard back from either one.
Now, this often happens with a lot of rescues that we get in, people interested flake out all the time. Nothing new. But it just seems like it's starting to be a ridiculous amount of people for this one rabbit. So now, well, I guess there's no one currently interested unless I hear back from one of these people, but that doesn't seem too promising at the moment. The people who really want the pet tend to respond pretty quickly and don't just wait weeks on end to get back to me. Ah well.
Had someone email back on the 16th asking if I knew what breed she was and they wanted the adoption form to fill out for her. Emailed back that I didn't know about the breed, and sent the care info and adoption form. Never heard back.
Someone else emailed on the 21st wanting to know the adoption process they would go through and how they could get started on that to adopt her. So I emailed, told them. They emailed back on the 23rd, asking if I wanted them to fill out the adoption form. No, I sent it to them for shits and giggles. I told them, yes, fill it out and get it back to me (which I always state in the email where I actually attach it) and they asked something about setting up a time to come see her. So I emailed them back saying yes, please fill it out, and giving them times... never heard back.
So then I get another email on the 27th, which seems promising. Someone who already had a female rabbit and wanted to get another and wanted to know how Caddy would do with other rabbits. Told her that we once had her out in a playpen next to a playpen with another female, and she did fine, but we'd never actually had her out with another rabbit. But I told the person that they could bring over their rabbit and see how their rabbit did with ours, and all that. So they asked for the care info and adoption form, sent those to them, and so for the next few days we talk. So then we're talking about them coming over with their rabbit, and they fall off the face of the earth.
But in the meantime, on the 29th, I got an email from someone else asking if Caddy was still up for adoption, and I told them, well, I think I have someone interested and they said to let them know if that person backed out. So, after I didn't hear from the previous person for several days, I emailed both this person and that previous person saying something along the lines of, I would appreciate if you would let me know, either way, if you're interested or not in the rabbit. Haven't heard back from either one.
Now, this often happens with a lot of rescues that we get in, people interested flake out all the time. Nothing new. But it just seems like it's starting to be a ridiculous amount of people for this one rabbit. So now, well, I guess there's no one currently interested unless I hear back from one of these people, but that doesn't seem too promising at the moment. The people who really want the pet tend to respond pretty quickly and don't just wait weeks on end to get back to me. Ah well.
Running around and running around
So I feel like the last few days have been less than productive. We used to have these chinchilla booklets that we got printed out at my mom's work. Well, the cooperative that she worked for dissolved, so obviously she no longer had access to the xerox machine that could print out these booklets. So, went to price them at other printing places.
Went to Miss Print, was given a quote of $80 for 50 booklets. Thought that was high and I would check around. Staples said $243 and Office Depot said $190, though dropped it to a $108 price match when I said that Miss Print would do cheaper. So I didn't go anywhere, but then the next day, thought, you know, I really need these darn booklets. And I can't make anything quite the same at home, and they look so much better when professionally done. So, I go back to Miss Print the following day, and I realize that when I originally gave them the booklets to quote for me, I was missing pages, so I gave them the booklet and the extra two pages and wait... and wait... and wait... and they come back and tell me, oh, so the $80 quote was wrong, it should've been $176! Ok, so forget that.
So I go back home, thinking I still want these booklets, and I call up Office Depot and I tell them how I talked to this guy who gave me a quote of $108, but I had no proof of that quote, yadda yadda, and I wanted to know if they'd still honor that price. They said they would work it out and try to get it as close to $108 as possible, they said that was fine, so I went there and dropped off the booklets. Told them I really didn't need the booklets til the 19th (the day of the pet expo) so no rush, and the guy said he'd call when the were done.
Well, went out with a friend for dinner and I got (but didn't answer) a phone call. Later at home, listened to the message, the booklets were done, and the cost would be $110+tax. That's about as affordable as I was gonna get, so then today, I went after work to pick them up. Saw the guy there who I originally talked to, and we talked about how he originally gave me the quote and I called in the next day asking about them upholding his quote and all that... so he said something about he'd be really nice since I came back... and my final price was some cents short of $100! AWESOME!
So since that's about $2/booklet, I think I'm going to try to not hand them out like candy to just about anyone. I mean, the people who adopt will get one, of course, and interested people, but we've had people before that want one for all their friends just to show them... and at some point, because of the cost, I just need to learn to say, it's online, print it off. Cause before, if I gave out 5 booklets, it was no big deal, but now that's $10 of rescue money going out in booklets, so I'm gonna keep a bit of a tighter hold on them.
So before the whole Office Depot thing, it was really seeming like I was running around to all of these places and just wasting time, but in the end it all worked out.
So then, yesterday, a bit again of running around and waiting.... Jamie was nice enough to let us use her vehicle to get hay. So I called our hay people up and they said, yeah, we could come over the next day and get hay. So we get up and leave at like 10 am, and get there... and wait... and wait... and I'm calling the hay people on their phone and I keep getting a busy signal, so we walk to the front of their house (we had parked the vehicle out back by their barn, ready for loading) and knock on the door, and knock... and ring the doorbell. And I don't want to be a pest, but they did say that they (well, the wife, anyway) would be home. So finally, their dogs find us and we go back to the vehicle and are standing there and the wife sticks her head out the back of the house and says she'll be right there. So, we ended up being able to fit 5 bales of hay in Jamie's vehicle. Four of them I paid for and Larry and Candice donated the 5th bale to the rescue (bless their hearts) so now we have 250 pounds of hay for the chins, rabbits, g-pigs, and whatever else. Who wants some hay??? Lol.
Went to Miss Print, was given a quote of $80 for 50 booklets. Thought that was high and I would check around. Staples said $243 and Office Depot said $190, though dropped it to a $108 price match when I said that Miss Print would do cheaper. So I didn't go anywhere, but then the next day, thought, you know, I really need these darn booklets. And I can't make anything quite the same at home, and they look so much better when professionally done. So, I go back to Miss Print the following day, and I realize that when I originally gave them the booklets to quote for me, I was missing pages, so I gave them the booklet and the extra two pages and wait... and wait... and wait... and they come back and tell me, oh, so the $80 quote was wrong, it should've been $176! Ok, so forget that.
So I go back home, thinking I still want these booklets, and I call up Office Depot and I tell them how I talked to this guy who gave me a quote of $108, but I had no proof of that quote, yadda yadda, and I wanted to know if they'd still honor that price. They said they would work it out and try to get it as close to $108 as possible, they said that was fine, so I went there and dropped off the booklets. Told them I really didn't need the booklets til the 19th (the day of the pet expo) so no rush, and the guy said he'd call when the were done.
Well, went out with a friend for dinner and I got (but didn't answer) a phone call. Later at home, listened to the message, the booklets were done, and the cost would be $110+tax. That's about as affordable as I was gonna get, so then today, I went after work to pick them up. Saw the guy there who I originally talked to, and we talked about how he originally gave me the quote and I called in the next day asking about them upholding his quote and all that... so he said something about he'd be really nice since I came back... and my final price was some cents short of $100! AWESOME!
So since that's about $2/booklet, I think I'm going to try to not hand them out like candy to just about anyone. I mean, the people who adopt will get one, of course, and interested people, but we've had people before that want one for all their friends just to show them... and at some point, because of the cost, I just need to learn to say, it's online, print it off. Cause before, if I gave out 5 booklets, it was no big deal, but now that's $10 of rescue money going out in booklets, so I'm gonna keep a bit of a tighter hold on them.
So before the whole Office Depot thing, it was really seeming like I was running around to all of these places and just wasting time, but in the end it all worked out.
So then, yesterday, a bit again of running around and waiting.... Jamie was nice enough to let us use her vehicle to get hay. So I called our hay people up and they said, yeah, we could come over the next day and get hay. So we get up and leave at like 10 am, and get there... and wait... and wait... and I'm calling the hay people on their phone and I keep getting a busy signal, so we walk to the front of their house (we had parked the vehicle out back by their barn, ready for loading) and knock on the door, and knock... and ring the doorbell. And I don't want to be a pest, but they did say that they (well, the wife, anyway) would be home. So finally, their dogs find us and we go back to the vehicle and are standing there and the wife sticks her head out the back of the house and says she'll be right there. So, we ended up being able to fit 5 bales of hay in Jamie's vehicle. Four of them I paid for and Larry and Candice donated the 5th bale to the rescue (bless their hearts) so now we have 250 pounds of hay for the chins, rabbits, g-pigs, and whatever else. Who wants some hay??? Lol.
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