lack of posting

Some drama has been going on over the past few days, which I'm not going to get into, but that has accounted for my lack of posting.

We did welcome back Keisa, one of our pedigreed chins that was sold as a kit (and is now 7-ish months old).  

We adopted out our mink-hooded female rat, now named Rasta.

And really, nothing else major has happened over the past few days.  Lots of cleaning and trying to get the house (in addition to chin stuff) in order, while I have the free time to do so.

...forgot!

So, almost forgot about the other fun "person of the day."

Get a call this morning from some guy asking about the rats we have for adoption.  So I tell him, oh we have these and these, and he says he is looking for a female cause he already has females.  Ok, so I tell him, we have a female pair and this and that and he says he's looking for one.  Ok, moving onto the cage with single females, I tell him the colors.  He says ok, says he will call later.

Calls later... to tell me that he's going to call me in an hour and a half.  Um... ok? 

So, hour and a half (ish) passes (wasn't paying attention to the time) he calls.  Asks where we're located and I tell him.  Ok, so he asks for directions.  Now, the directions I give start at a major crossroads and there are literally three turns from that crossroads to our driveway.  He says he's confused after the first turn and says he'll call back.

Calls back, so we get him on the first street, Main Street.  I tell him to turn on White Oak Ave.  Now, there is a White Oak subdivision, but I specifically tell him to turn at the stoplight (and I did give him further directions).  So I'm waiting and waiting (cause it should have only taken a few mins from there to our house). 

Finally get a call..."did you say turn on the (White Oak) street? cause I turned into the subdivision."  Oh boy.  Ok, so straighten him out, get him in the right direction and tell him once he turns on White Oak, it's a left turn onto Somerset and a left turn onto Devonshire.  Hang up.

Calls back.  "so it's a right turn onto Somertime?  I didn't see Somertime."  *facepalm*  Ok, straighten that out.

He calls again, "did you say the turn onto Devonshire is right when you enter the subdivision?"  "yeah"  "oh, I missed that turn"  AHHHHHHHHHHH.

Ok, so he finally got here.  Directionally challenged, but very nice guy.  Just adored the rats.

Though, he did try to talk me down on my $55 cage down to $20... and then start picking random cages and asking if he could have them for $20.  I did tell him a few times the only ones for sale are in the one corner and the smallest/cheapest we have is the $55.  Which is totally worth $55 with the shelves.  I have it as $40 without the shelves, which the rats could have lived without (cause they're like little monkeys, they climb the walls), but surely not $20.  This isn't a garage sale buddy.  (He did have two cages, a large one and like a smaller cage, so it's not like he needed another cage, so I didn't feel bad, for once).

So... none of those phone calls were long enough for me to actually have told him that he'd be filling out forms and all when he got here.  But he was going to or he wasn't adopting anything, that's just the way it goes, so as he's filling out all these forms and signing everything, it dawns on him "oh, so this is like the Humane Society, you just run it out of your basement."  Yes, you got it.  :)  LOL.

Nice kid though.  Directionally challenged, but nice kid.  I'm sure the rat is gonna love him.

It's... one of those days...

So, let's forget the Keisa thing for right now.  Posted it on the forum and got some useful help there, helped sort out my thoughts.  Love the forum. <3

So anyway... onto the next "person of the day".  This one emailed this morning and the last emails are around now... just wanted to note that I could totally see where this was going right from the beginning:

Her:  (in response to my one online classified ad)  can i have them.   do they have a cage and other stuff they need if they do can i have that too

Me:  Sure, you can adopt them if you read our care packet, fill out the adoption form, and pay the adoption fee for the rats ($15).  They don't come with a cage, but we do have cages for sale if you wanted to buy one.  We have one that would work good for them for $55.  Let me know if you're interested.

Her:  ill take the mice would it be alright if they stayed in a box for a day or 2

Me:   They're not mice, they're rats.  No, they cannot stay in a box for a day or two, if you don't have a cage ready, you would not be able to adopt them.  They would chew through a box in a few hours.

I am attaching their care packet and adoption form.  You will need to fill out the adoption form and get it back to me in order to adopt them.

Her:  ok like next saterday i should have a cage

Me:  Ok, well you'll just need to read the care packet and fill out the adoption form and email it back to me and if it looks good then you can come and adopt them once you have the cage.

Her:  ok save them for me i have the money for them i just need the money for the cage

Me:  I can't hold them for you until you get your completed adoption form back to me. 

Her:  (sent exactly like this, not in the care packet form, only difference is that I removed identifying information)

care pakedge done
 state marinette WI. zip 54143.  phone . own or rent rent.  allowed pets yes. moving

in a few years no. had rat before no. food type same food. for someone or myself myself. breed it no.  bedding  soft wood shaveings. cage size med. .type of cage metal.  shelves metal. bar space inch or 2. keep cage on dresser. let it get exersize yes. read rat care book yes. life span commitment 3-5 yes. cozzy place to sleep yes. if need to get rid of them give to nwi

Me:  (ignoring the fact that it's all jumbled and out of order and not in the form I sent her)  For the most part it looks good.  Just a few things:

-- you didn't answer the question that asks about safe fruits/vegetables, so please let me know what some safe ones are:
--your cage bar spacing -- you said it's an inch or two.  If it's over an inch, the rats will be able to get out of that cage, no problem, so if I were you, I would check what the bar spacing is.  When you do, email me and let me know what the bar spacing is.

Also, as it says on the ad for these rats -- the previous owner wants to keep in contact.  So that'd mean that I'd give you her email and give her your email and you would need to email her every so often and let her know how the rats are doing, maybe send a picture.  Would you be alright with doing that?

 

Her:  safe fruits are bannannas carrots and tomatoes and more oh the spacing is is an inch
yes I would

Me:  One more question for you -- was looking over your form.  Do you realize that you're over 285 miles away from us?  That's a 5+ hour drive.

Her:  ok but can i still have spots and princess

Me:  Sure, you can adopt them, you're all set, I was just letting you know that it's a far drive.

So, when works for you to come pick them up?

Her:  can u bring them here

Me:  No, you have to come get them.  That's why I sent you the email about how far you are away from us, because that's distance that you would have to travel to come get them.

Her:  why cant u bring them to me

Me:  We don't deliver any pets to anyone, regardless of distance.  That's our policy.

....and so far, no response to that.

....and again with Keisa

So, I emailed the owner of Keisa (the chin that was being returned, but the owners wanted me to keep), saying that we got her in today, and emailing him the forms that he needed to fill out and return to me.  I also said that, no promises, but we may show her, but I will decide in a few days.

So, here's the email I get back:

We are so thrilled to hear that! We have been upset all day, just missing her. If you can show her we would love it, we would even pay for her food when we get back on her feet, along with any other supplies she may need while shes with you.

Does that sound to you like them surrendering the chin?  Not to me.  Sounds to me like they want me to pet-sit for an unknown amount of time.  Sorry, but no can do.

So I emailed back:

I'm giving myself a few days to decide if we're going to show her or not, so I can see her at different times and see what I think. 

Here's the thing.  Even if I do keep her and show her.  Say she does good at show and we decide to breed her.  There's not a real "nice" way to say this, but say I decided to keeping Keisa and use her for breeding as part of my herd... she would be my chinchilla then, and would be staying here.  I understand you want to get on your feet and get her back, but this is not a pet sitting business -- this is a rescue that breeds chinchillas on the side.  If you wanted someone to pet sit her, you could have found a pet-sitter or something of the sort, but that's not what we are.  You signed (or should be filling out, signing, and emailing back to me) the surrender form that I emailed you.  That form gives Keisa over to the rescue and relinquishes any ownership right you have in her.  That's how it works.  It even says on the form --> "I understand that once surrendered, this animal will not be returned to me. "  This wouldn't be the first time that someone has said, hey, hang onto the chin for a year and I'll come back and get it.  I'm not saying you wouldn't come back, but giving a chin to the rescue means you have given it up.  If we decided to adopt her out, and she happened to be up for adoption at the time you were ready to bring her back into your life, you would be welcome to adopt her.  But that's all I can tell you.  What you're asking for is for me to pet sit her until you're back on your feet, and that we don't do.    

I feel like that sounds like I'm almost being cruel... but shit, this is a rescue.  You want a rescue to take in your chin, you don't get it back.  The Humane Society would look at you like you were nuts if you told them that. 

15 minute increments....

So, today I need to work on my papers due tomorrow, so it's 45 minutes on (working on paper), 15 minutes off (break time, chin time, etc)... all day until these things are written and ready for editing. 

1st break - went outside to give the shelves one last scrubdown and set them in the sun.  Doorbell rang -- was my person who was coming to buy Used Cage #4 - the "dog crate" that had been made into a small animal cage.  They were actually going to use it as a dog crate for their boxer puppy.  Went onto the NWI Chins site and took down the listing for cage 4; also went on external websites and took down picture of that cage.

2nd break - took the dog outside to potty, checked the mail.  Realized that the cuddlebuddies are out of date on the webstore.  Took a new picture of the one, as now it has a grommet and clip (someone wanted it, then decided against), so I want the picture to reflect how it is now).  Going through and deleting the (hidden) cuddlebuddies that have sold.  Realized that a TON of items on the webstore say "new" and really... not that many are new.  Edited that.  "Hid" the pinesical hanging toy, as I may never have that many of those pieces available to keep making that toy.  But will decide for sure on that later.  Edited boh of red, blue, beige plaid hammock on webstore.  Edit boh of the pink used dust bath houses.

3rd break - threw some clothes in the wash (hey, my stuff has to be clean before I can throw in the hammocks and liners), and washed some of the "to-be-cleaned" pile of stuff from the basement.  Mom gave me another towel to cut up and use for cleaning downstairs (yay!).

Good day today #2

Ok, back to regularly scheduled broadcast of "what I did today."

So, made some more of the mom-n-kit supplement.  Didn't have enough ground up pellets, so I brought some upstairs, pulled out the coffee grinder, and pureed me some pellets.  I think that's the only time the coffee grinder gets used -- we haven't had coffee beans in years.  See, I'm helping an unused appliance feel loved (and if you're just now thinking "man, she's lost it..." you clearly haven't been reading this blog for very long).   So, made a decent amount of that.

Side note.  Was cleaning up and noticed I had some Joann's flyers (I should buy stock in the company, like for real) and so I was flipping open to cut out the coupons (if it isn't on sale, or I don't have a coupon, it can wait) and I flipped to the first coupon, and I thought it said "50% off any one overpriced fabric."  Now, in reality, it says "50% off any one regular-priced fabric"... but lol.  Omg so, does anyone else look through these things and think "holy shit that would cost a lot to make?  Cause I do.  Like there's this picture of this kid sitting on a hippo:

... and while I admit it is adorable... omg would that cost a lot for the fleece and the stuffing and stuff.  And who has that much talent to sew something like that?  Or the time?  I need to meet these people I can hardly sew square hammocks.  And I probably have 5-10 new fabric patterns... but I haven't had the time to cut them to size or anything so they're not up on the website yet.  People sewing the hippos of the world: please tell me how you do it.  And would you like to volunteer????  Lol.

 K, so a few adoptions I am working on putting up here, the site, and fb all at once.... 

On 7/21 two of our black hooded rats (males) went to their new home:

On 7/22, our last remaining guinea pig baby went to his new home:

And on 7/26, *drumroll* Moch and Mycha went to their new home *breaks out in applause*

....and on a more depressing note, I finally got in my shipment (backordered for 3 months) from Ashes to Ashes.  The urns we got:

....and the plaques we got:

We don't cremate every chin that dies, by any means.  Couldn't afford it (though, we don't have that many die here), but the special ones get cremated.  Moki was our second chin, so of course we got her cremated.  JuneBug was another hetero beige female that was just sweet as pie.  Awesome chin... til her cagemates ganged up on her and tore her apart.  I remember going down and looking at the cage -- it looked like a beige chin had exploded.  Fur everywhere.  She tried to get behind the wheel to get away, but that only worked so well......well, not at all.  She's the reason we now use breeding runs.

...but back to present day.  Made some hay rolls today.  Threw one or two in every cage, gave the buns each their own (they need to learn to share, but in the meantime...)... some were interested in them, some kinda gave me like "you expect me to play with that?  buy me an expensive toy" -- but at least it'll give them something to do.  Gotta work for the hay.  Keep the mind busy.  Hay rolls:

And finally... just had the camera sitting down there while I cleaned to see if any good picture opportunities would pop up.  Cause they always pop up when the camera's upstairs.  And of course, animals don't understand "don't move while I go run and get it."  So got a few decent photos.

Daisy -- can never seem to get a good photo of her.  She always looks super skinny (which she's not), but she looks ok here (and yes, that is powercoating flaking off -- this was when QC had an issue with the place that did their powdercoating):

Carney -- I'm a big fan of that no-legs look.  Blob-bunny!

Thumper -- reminds me of a dog the way he's laying.

(sorry Fuzzball fans, he wasn't being photogenic today).  But... here's a cute photo of all three of them.  Aren't they cute?  You know you want to adopt all three.

Unrelated, but the Midwest Prairie Dog Shelter just posted in answer to my question -- they use the 15" chin spins and the $100+ Leo Braun wheels for their pd's.  They recommended the Leo Braun as it's quieter and more sturdy.  And as Shiloh's a bit of a porker... he definitely needs sturdy.  There may be a most-expensive-wheel-ever-purchased purchase in the future... if/when I get that second job going again.  But no talk about why I'm down to one job right now.  I need the extra time off so I'm not complaining.... at the moment.

For anyone wondering, the Leo Braun wheel is this one --> http://www.tjschinchillasupplies.com/chinchilla%20cages.html (second one down).  Expensive... but heck, I already spent like $235ish + shipping on Shiloh's cage and god knows how much on his beds and his other must-haves, so what's an extra $135 + shipping?  Ok, a lot.  It really is.  But... I also have a large amount of money sitting unused in my paypal account, so it's not like any of my actual bank accounts would be affected.... hmmmmm.  JEAN!!!  *runs off to email* (and darn it, I JUST put in and received an order)

But going back to that... just got my order from TJ's the other day... I think I actually received the order before I paid for it (oops), so I logged onto paypal real quick and paid her.  Great stuff.  Didn't order much for once, just some liners, some of those shower hooks to hang hammocks etc, some blue cloud rocks, and an aztec hammock (matches nothing I have here... but I like it!).  In talking, Jean said she doesn't want to make those pillows anymore and asked if I could use the fleece scraps... so she said she'd throw them in the box.  So... I'm expecting like tiny pieces of fleece (cause you should see my miniscule fleece scraps, I let nothing go to waste), but like she sent like omg a TON of fleece lol.  And a shelf for the rescues as well, and two corner hammocks.  How sweet.  Will need to get a pic of the donation and get it up on my donations page.  But like, with the fleece... there's enough of some of the pieces that I could actually probably make a pillow or small hammock rather than just use them for stuffing.  We'll see.  That's for another day.

.... in fact, everything else is "for another day" cause it's 1:48 right now and I need to hit the hay.

Good day today #1

Actually got a lot done today.  Would have gotten more done, but... ah we'll get there.

So, started off the day trying to arrange things and clean up the basement.  Did pretty well.  Had a lot of things in bags that needed to be "unpacked" and put where they went, so I did that.  Made more goodie bags, printed more goodie bag sheets.  Cleaned off the one table and organized everything on it.  aka put everything where it actually goes. 

Took the shelves out of the FN that I've been working on and put them outside so they could bake/bleach in the sun.  Was just about ready to go get them and put them back in... and it rained!  AHHH!!  So needless to say they're still out there.  So much for finishing the FN today. 

Got a text in the morning about two rats, Oreo and Marshmallow, that someone didn't want.  Something bout the mom and kid brought em home without telling dad, and dad was making a stink.  Sounds awfully familiar, can we say Daisy/Delilah #2?  Anyway, so now we have two new rattie faces here at the rescue. 

Was texted by someone wanting a dog crate.  I dunno where people get the idea that I have all sorts of weird cages (cause I've been emailed about every cage under the sun lately and I don't have that many for sale even).  But anyway, I had just emailed someone last night about our one cage (which had been used for chins but was clearly a dog crate) and she had wanted it shipped... well surprise surprise, she said she went to the pet store and realized that with shipping, my dog crate cost as much as the new one at the pet store.  Well... yeah.  It does weigh like 14 pounds, so shipping even to Chicago is going to cost a small fortune.  So she just bought the petstore one, so I still had this one to sell.  So I told this person that I did have one and sent her a pic and all and she's coming to get it tomorrow.  Yay.

So... moment of stupidity here... I opened my mini-fridge downstairs... and my lettuce and stuff was frozen solid!  Ok, so I haven't used a small fridge in years, and I didn't even think to check the temperature setting.  I turned it down to 4 and some of the stuff de-thawed enough that the pigs would eat some and the rabbits would take the kale from my hands (yippee!!) so that was nice.  But the green pepper container is still frozen solid so now it's turned down to 3, we'll see how it is in the morning.

Refilled all the chew toys.  Sounds like it'd take 5 minutes, but as most cages have at least 4 chews hanging, and at least 75% of the hanging chews are wire (instead of those pet store ones where the bottom screws on), I have to take the pliers, uncurl the wire, straighten it out so I can get toys on it.. and so on and so forth.  Did that, then realized a lot of the pieces in my toy parts bin were not drilled, so I went through all the parts and pulled out the non-drilled ones.  Didn't drill em, but I at least have them set aside.

Then realized that "make toys" has been on my list for quite some time.  So I decided I was going to cut up some wood.  So I cut up enough to fill the bin and then about another bag full.  Really need to go get some wood to use to cut up those flat end pieces, but that's for another day.  Cut up wood until I had enough in my eyes and lungs that I was sure I'd be coughing up wood in the morning and said enough for the night.  Will start trying to put some toys together tomorrow... well, gotta sand the stuff first, but will start putting together toys, and then when I realize what pieces I need, I'll be sure to cut more of those.

Gave the bunnies water, which they promptly knocked over.  Shop-vacc'd the water up, gave more water.  They decided to completely pull all the shavings out of their one litter pan.  Little devils.  Grr.  And they somehow got a poo in one of their water bowls.  Really?  Cause those litter boxes are looking awfully clean but they managed one in a much smaller water bowl?  They're playing with me.  They're lucky they're cute.  And they didn't mind my mildly freezer burnt kale so that's good. 

Will post more later.  Need to clean up around this area before my trash takes over my computer.

More of Today

So, went down, wiped down the FN.  For some stupid reason, I thought I'd just be able to wipe down the pans.  Yeah... no.  I mean, mine weren't nearly as bad as the pans I got in with the two FN's, but they still were grimier than I'd have liked, so I had to put em on the ground and pour in the vinegar and scrub.  So that's done now.  Also peroxide'd the shelves and pulled out the chew toys (for some reason, when re-doing a cage, the chew toys are the last thing to go back in).  Put in the liners, the hanging house, the hammocks... not the pillow yet cause I still need to work on those shelves.  If I think about it, tomorrow I'll pull out the shelves and set em outside to hopefully bleach em a bit in the sun, and then when I get them back in, I'll put on poo-guards and put em back in the cage.  And then the cage should be ready for its new occupant! 

And that was really all I did for the last ridiculous amount of hours.

Today

Actually got a few things accomplished today.

Started out the day by having some people come over to look at the chins.  They ended up adopting Moch and Mycha (yay!) and getting all supplies and everything they needed.  Very nice people.  Picture coming later.

So then, last night, I got an email from someone who has one of our chins that can no longer keep the chin and will be returning the chin to us.  Well, Meredith will be driving down to Greenwood and getting the chin for us.  So, that's all good.  I got an email today from the adoptive home letting me know that she's going to be picked up Sunday, and asking if we would be keeping the chin as a pet/breeder or adopting out the chin.  Now, hate to say it, but.... if the chin was sold... likely I didn't think it was going to work in our breeding program.  But, regardless, I told them that if the chin looks like a decent chin, we could show her and if she turned out good, we might keep her as a breeder.  Note, might.  But I said we wouldn't keep her as a pet cause we already have so many pets and really don't have room for anymore.  So... I get an email back saying that they would really like for me to keep her because they trust me.  Really?  I looked up the chin they have, and the mom is Joker.  Not to knock Joker, but some of her kits have definitely not been show quality.  Typically, when she's had colored kits, they are show quality, but the standards coming from her have been either red tinted or just lacking in density.  But the colors are fine, go figure.  Well anyway, so in looking at that, it'd be very unlikely that we'd keep her, but I reiterated that if she looks show quality, she may be kept, but I just can't add any more pets.  Wanted to end that sentence with "especially not animals that people are trying to guilt-trip me into keeping as pets." 

Sorry, I know you love your chin, but just cause you want me to keep your pet doesn't mean I want to.  Guilt tripping me will not help, cause considering I've been adopting out my OWN pets, cause I think they'd do better in another home.... not much luck giving me a chin that I just can't live without to keep.... and this isn't stopping.  As I am typing this, I got another email:

Well, Keisa will be coming with a cage and a ton of other stuff we got her over time, so you'd only need table space. ;) 

And my response:

Unfortunately, that's beside the point.  The space taken by her cage could be used for a cage that would hold rescues.  I don't have endless tables to put these cages on, just what I have, and usually those are all full of cages holding rescues. 
 
As for her being kept here, in all honesty, if I thought she was show quality, I probably would have kept her in the first place, and as I didn't, she will likely be adopted out.  I understand your concern, but I have been very happy with the homes our chins have gone to - we've only had a handful of chins returned in 9 years, so it's not common.  Usually, we have homes that are just nuts about chins and think they're the greatest and spoil them to death.  


And, it's usually one or two-chin homes.  The thing with the rescue is that when I have a ton of chins here, each chin gets a lot less attention than it would in a home with one or two chins.  Part of the reason I've adopted out some of my own pets is because I realize they'd get a lot more attention elsewhere.  Currently, the rescue is just about full.  We have 22 chins (some are ours), 3 guinea pigs, the prairie dog, 4 rabbits, and 8 rats.  That's 38 animals.  With more coming in a few days.  I can't say each animal gets individualized attention every day the way they would if they were in a home that didn't have quite as many critters.  Sure, they get attention maybe every other day and they get spoiled and all, but it's not the type of attention they'd get in a one-chin home.  Unfortunately, I can't spend hours with each chin even if I wanted to.  That's why I've been only keeping the pets that I can't live without (which, at the moment, are only 2 chins as pets - my 1st and 3rd chin), cause I don't think it's fair to the others to keep them here when I'm so busy socializing rescues. 

When she gets here, I could try to pair her up with another female and see how that goes.  They could get adopted out together and then they'd have a playmate and a new family.  

And I mean all of that.  I actually almost feel bad for the few pets and breeders I have, because I don't have as much time for them.  When I have a million rescues, they need to be played with and held and all, and guess who doesn't get held and played with?  Oh yeah, my own pets.  That's why, like I said, the only chins we have as "our own" are Winx and Toby right now, the rest are breeders.  We have our pet prairie dog (was a rescue, but we love him and he's staying), we have a rescue pac man frog (upstairs - that's why no one's ever seen Rex), and we currently have two special needs chins that are likely going to be sanctuary chins that will live out their lives here.  But I don't want to add any more to that number cause I want to still be able to give the chins all attention and all.  I don't want to be unfair to the ones we get, or to rescues coming in.  But at the same time, I can't keep a chin just cause someone wants me to.  I mean, it's not even fair to Winx and Toby that I hang onto them, but they really are my babies and are spoiled beyond belief, so they aren't going nowhere.

Other than that... got an email back from the guy who's adopted several of our rats.  Last time when he came here to pick up his hidey house, he and his wife were looking at Buddy and Juno (more rats).  He emailed me a bit ago (maybe a week or two) asking for pictures, and I sent them, but never heard back.  Well today he emailed asking if we still had em and if he could come over and look at em.  We definitely still have them, they're not done with their eval. yet.  So he's not available yet to come, out camping, but he will email when he is.  So for now those two are on hold.  And I sent him more pics that I took yesterday in anticipation of putting more critters up on the site.

On that note, I got all the rabbits listed on the website last night.  Very happy bout that. 

Had someone email today about Moch and Mycha... told them the were already adopted, but that we have many other chins that will soon be done with their eval's and be ready to be adopted.  So we will see how that goes. 

Cleaned out all the runs today.  Also cleaned out Moch and Mycha's cage (after they were adopted) and put Frederico and Georgie in that cage. 

I need to take down some papertowels cause I started cleaning one of the other FN's to put the new stuff in, but I need papertowels and I need to wipe everything down and get it ready....

What else did I do... hmmm... it seems like I did a lot more than this stuff I wrote here, but it takes a long time to clean out the big QC and all of the runs.  Going back down there in a bit, maybe I'll get something else done.

So, few things today

First off, and this is only first cause I'm going through emails first, that person interested in Delilah... no longer is so.  At least they emailed me to let me know, so I do appreciate that, but here's the thing.  I was going through my email folder that I keep potential adopters' emails in, and I was deleting her emails and I noticed that she had said that her bf had contacted me a bit ago wanting to adopt, but then they weren't able to.  Well, then today, maybe half a year from then, she tells me something came up and they can't adopt.  Now, I could be wrong, but is this "something" that keeps coming up, oh, I dunno... the adoption form?  Cause they both bailed right after I sent it. 

Ok, fine, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say it has nothing to do with the adoption form and that's just pure coincidence.  Fine.  Well.... if these two people have things going on in their lives every 6 months that prevent them from owning pets... then shouldn't they wait until they're stable and know for sure they can get and care for a pet?  Like maybe now's just not the right time.

But, on another front, good news.  Lilly and Tallie are going to their new home together!  Just got word today.  Yaaay for the pair.  Very nice home, they will be very happy and spoiled chins.

Unrelated... didn't get a chance to call the person back about the chins she wants to drop off.  Fell asleep and then had to run two of the rescues over to our first foster home's place in Hebron (not Portage like I thought a few days ago).  And, since I never get out of the house, when I do...... well, I left at 7, came home at like midnight.  Few pics:

-----had the entire back of the blazer loaded.  This with back seats folded down and everything... see, there's just not that much room in there --> two cages (one chin, one rabbit), 2 brown grocery bags of shavings, 1 brown grocery bag of rabbit food/litter box, 1 brown grocery bag of chin food/supplies, two carriers, and large white bag stuffed with hay... and that filled up the entire back-----

---you can see Honey (rex rabbit) on the left and Psycho (female chin) on the right---

---our foster mom, Meredith, with one of her own chins, a violet female named Posh.  Meredith purchased Gin (a standard grey pedigreed kit) from us a bit ago---

---Psycho taking to Meredith very well.  Already realizing she's a great hiding spot.  See, you totally can't see her, right?  Right??  Haha---

Psycho came here un-named, but earned her name (poor thing, I know, but it totally fits her) because of her habits.  (1) she makes a dash to get out of the cage every time it's opened... so when she's in a run, that means making a flying leap out of the cage, (2) you reach for her and she literally does laps around the cage, wall-surfing the entire way, (3) you take her out and hold her and she screams and screams and screams......

.... but she's cute!  Course I don't think I have a pic of her (how would I? she's always running for the front of the cage when the door's open) but she is a cutie and Meredith is going to try to work with her and get her a little more used to people reaching for her.

...well, that's about it.  Still haven't gotten up the pics from the latest adoptions, but it's already 1:30 am, so that's not happening today.  Speaking of "not happening today" - still haven't sat down to look at the other placed Saturday, still haven't paid Jean (of TJ's) for my order even though I think she shipped it out (there are advantages to being friends with people before they open a chin supply business... though she will get paid, no worries!), still haven't finished cleaning out and liner-ing up the two FN's that are put together...  tomorrow will likely be a busy day!

Tired, but need to post

So, I am completely exhausted, and someone may have to wipe up the sludge I am degrading into off of this chair, but I am not going to bed tonight without posting.  Been putting it off and no more.

So, after only talking about it for the last few months (see, this is where procrastination becomes a problem), I actually plugged in one of our mini-fridges downstairs.  Right now, it's sitting on the floor, but I need to make a sort of wooden stand with wheels so it's more easily maneuverable.  But a fridge down there, who-hoo!!  Had to get a huge ladder cause the second plug in the basement is actually up in the rafters, so I had to get a ladder to plug the cord in.  And then an eye cook with cable tie at the corner so the cord doesn't hang down at a weird angle, it just goes from the plug to the wall and straight down.  Looks much better that way.  And it's awesome, no more having to cart all the g-pig and rabbit stuff down from the fridge up here, it'll just be conveniently down there...

....course, plugging in that fridge WAS a necessity...  went to the St. John farmer's market, bought kale, romaine, green pepper, and cantaloupe... and my parents' fridge is like brimming at total capacity so it was either dig out and turn on the fridge or... yeah.  So now there's a mini-fridge down there (and when I say mini, it is TINY... even smaller than you're thinking... the cantaloupe is upstairs).

Oh, our last baby guinea pig went home.  Happy days.  Then, two of our male rats went home.  Tried to intro our remaining male with another male pair that we had, but the single male was just NOT having it.  So I guess not.

Bought some more fleece at Joann's the other day, and some more grommets.  Now I have on my list to at least cut out the hammocks, so I can get pictures and get them ready for the site.  

Tomorrow, Psycho (chin) and Honey (rabbit) are going to their foster home with _________ (texted her asking if I could use her name... no text back yet).  Psycho actually needs some TLC (well... more like a few hundred xanax) and needs to calm down.  We reach for her, she goes psycho and does laps around the cage, wall-surfing all the way around.  Right now we have her in a run to conserve space (though she is going to her foster home in an actual cage) and she always darts out of the cage at the last second so I can't say I will miss that while she's gone.  She's a pretty chin, a standard grey with longer fur (not long long, but like too long for showing standards), but she is just terrified of people.  Shreiks at the top of her lungs when you have her out.  So I hope her foster mom can work some miracles.  Honey, on the other hand, is pretty much just chill.  She could use being let out more often, cause she clearly gets restless, but she doesn't have any behavioral issues that really need working on.  At this point, even if Psycho didn't have her issues, it would be worth these two going to a foster home just to clear up some space at the rescue (and give me more time to devote to the rescues that are here).

Since I have some, ah... added time off, for the next month, I plan to write up all the ads and take pictures of all the chins and other critters that will be available so that's all ready to go for when these critters are ready to be adopted.  Also need to work on filling out the forms for the Chicago Pet Show -- someone sponsored us ($290 value!!) so we will get to be there and participate.  Dunno if it will help the rescue, but can't hurt, right?

Had someone email about Spots and Princess, asking about if they could be kept in a aquarium.  They could, assuming it was cleaned regularly, but ideally they'd rather be in a rat cage.  Said she's working on convincing her parents, so we'll see.

Got an email asking about baby chins, will email back tomorrow (along with the rest of the emails).  Also got a phone call about chins, maybe surrendering them?  Only listened to part of the message.  Will call back tomorrow.

Going to bed now.

Bad day.

Let me just start it off by saying today is turning out to be a bad day.  Not like for the rescue, so much, but just not a good day and people are really ticking me off today.

First off... the website isn't working.  AGAIN.  Honest to God.  and of course, since it's not working, I can't get on the host website to find a phone number and call em up being like, "hey, why isn't my website working?"  I did get the website to load for a second earlier, but it loaded saying "this domain has recently been purchased, will be active in 48 hours."  Excuse me?  It was purchased like a year or so, not "recently" so I dunno what is up with that.

Then... lately the cage people have been driving me nuts.  People will email about a cage, say they want it, I say, ok, when you want to come and get it... nothing.  And this is often lately.  So, today I get a text asking if we have the playpen that connects to the cage.  Now, I know the cage they're talking about, but we don't even have that BRAND of cage for sale, much less the playpen that connects.  So I tell her no.  Well, then she asks if our cages are cheap.  Um... depends on what she considers cheap, but she clearly was looking at an ad that we had cages for sale, and right on the ad is all the prices.  So, I text back saying that it depends on what she considers cheap, and I ask what type of cage she's looking for.  Find out it's a cage for 3 gp's.  Well, I have a rabbit cage that might work, that's $35, so I tell her that and the dimensions.  She wants a pic.  Now, I know I'm in a bad mood, but I was ready to tell her, go look at the ad again and then come back and text me.  Cause on most of the ads, all the cages are pictured.  But, I text her a pic of the cage.  So she asks if we take trades.  Really?  I'm trying to GET RID of this crap, not trade for worse crap.  I tell her we usually don't, but I ask what she has to trade.  So she shows me a picture of a cage that's like HALF the size of the cage she's asking about.  Right, makes perfect sense, let me trade you my $35 cage for your $10 cage and call it even.  Um, NO. 

The cage she showed to trade was a cage with several levels.  Heck, I have several like that, bigger than hers... but they're all in the $60+ range, and if shes' thinking $35 is too much.... so I told her no on on the trade.  No text back yet.  Apparently when you have three guinea pigs, $35 for a much bigger cage is too much.  Hope those gp's don't have to go the vet anytime soon.  Forget meds, it'd be too much to take them in.  Ugh.

Just a frustrating day all together.  And it's only 4 pm.

Ignoring questions

So... the person interested in Delilah emailed me back.  Said that she is still interested and can't open the attachments.  Now... wouldn't you think she'd email right when she can't open them, versus waiting til I email her?

Anyway, that's beside the point.  Let's revisit what I said to her:

Hey,

Sent you an email last weekend after getting your email saying you were interested in Delilah.  In that email, I let you know that if you're interested in her, you'd need to put down a deposit to hold her until she's ready (which should be around the beginning week or so of August).  You will also need to read our care packet and adoption form, which I attached to the last email. 

I haven't heard back from you since sending that email, so I wanted to check and see if you are still interested in adopting Delilah?  I would appreciate if you would let me know either way.  If I haven't heard from you in a few days, I'll assume you're not interested and will move on to the next interested home.  However, I would much rather hear back from you.  Thanks.

Notice what she completely ignored?  The deposit part.  Which, if she drags this out long enough, won't be an issue, but why is it that people can't just say, hey, I don't feel comfortable putting down a deposit (or I don't want to, or whatever the case may be).  And this isn't the first time.  It's not always the deposit, sometimes no matter how I send them the forms, the can't open them.  If I copy and paste them into an email they can't open them.  If I literally type the questions into an email as a regular email, can't open.  Just tell me you don't want to fill out the gosh darn form and I will stop bugging you.  You also won't be adopting any critter from me, but I sure will stop trying to get them to you. 

And with this one, I don't know if she's serious or not.  Cause if someone emailed me and said fill out this attachment, get it back to me, and I couldn't open it... I'd be emailing and saying, hey, can you send it some other way.  Like today, I somehow deleted someone's email, but I remembered seeing it, so I emailed them, hey, send again?  So if I hadn't emailed her, I dunno if she'd have emailed me.  Now, people on Macs can't open up my forms, cause they're word docs for a PC.  Fine.  But like I will email her the care packet and the adoption form pasted into the email and we shall see if I hear back.

Earlier post...

If anyone saw the blog earlier.... perfect reason why I should not blog while on my phone.  Posted like 7 or 8 postings of the same thing.

One of those days...

So, first had someone call wanting to adopt a female kitten. Um....right.

Then had someone text me about one of the cages I have for sale. Said theyre really interested. Asked them when they want to come get it. No response.

...and it's only 10:15 am

Cleaning...

Spent a lot of the day cleaning (once I got home, that is).  After I told someone they could come tomorrow for supplies, realized the basement is nowhere near the level of organization it should be.  And with as many critters as we have right now, can't let it get messy or it's too hard to clean up.  So, cleaned the rat cages, cleaned the tables.  FOUND the source of my gnat problem and fixed that problem.  Fed the babies, nice round bellies today. 

It smells much better down there after cleaning the rat cages and scrubbing down the tables.  Pulled Shiloh's barn out of his cage... entire thing soaking wet, he must be peeing in it.  Vacuumed it out cause it had all sorts of food that he'd dragged into it and set it aside to dry.  He can have it back after it dries out.  He seems to be ignoring some of the treat stick things I threw in his cage, so if he doesn't pick up on them soon, the rats are going to enjoy them and he's going to miss out. 

Speaking of the rats... I'm so use to vacuuming chin cages with the chins IN them I'm not so conscious of the fact that rats aren't nearly as big as chins.  So, I'm vacuuming out Juno and Buddy's cage, and Juno is having a mini heart attack and runs past the hose, out of the cage, to the end of the table, leaps like a freaking flying squirrel to the ground below and takes off.  Course, I leave the cage open and go after him.  Now, Juno is a sweet rat, but he totally looks like your average sewer rat that crawled out of the Chicago sewer, just a bit smaller.  So here I am chasing this sewer-looking rat around the basement.... I'm typing this and it doesn't seem funny now but at the time all I could think of was how Cindy (secretary at the law office) was saying this is why I could never rent with the rescues cause I'd have something get loose, and it'd be even worse if it looked like a wild rat.  Lol.  Ah well, I caught him.  And petted him and he was all bruxing and grooming/licking me.  So cute.  So sweet.  I am not keeping rats though.  Too messy.  They're somewhere between chins and degus on the messy-ness scale, but closer to degus.  I couldn't deal with the degus, which is why we don't have them anymore.  Couldn't stand the constant stickiness of the entire cage.  The rats aren't quite that bad, and people do potty train them... but I haven't had luck with that....

Oh, cleaned the guinea pig cages today, mom cut up some carrots and I gave them some of the romaine that Cindy donated last week (is it technically donating to the rescue if you say it's for the guinea pigs and they're my personal pets?  well, I gave the rabbits some too, and they are rescues).  Still have some left and dad must have picked up another head of romaine so I'm stocked for awhile.  Need to give the rabbits some more tomorrow, didn't bring down as much as I should have for four gp's and four rabbits.  But enough that they all did get some.  The gp's are never satisfied though.  The baby gp is getting big.  The person interested in him asked for more pics the other day, which I sent.  Then asked if his eyes were red... I responded.  Haven't heard back since.  Or from the person that said she decided she wants Delilah (that was back on Sat.).  Patience, I know, but it's been a tad stressful lately. 

Psycho is really stressing me out.  She's got the chin (in the run next to her) learning to make a run for it and jump out when I open the door.  BAD influence.  Cute, but evil.  I can see the horns now.  Thankfully, if I can ever get my butt out to Portage (is it Portage? it's somewhere around there) she will have a foster home for a bit to hopefully work that out of her.  We shall see. 

Introducing....

Introducing... well, she doesn't have a name yet.  But she deserves a proper introduction.  This is our new pink white female named *mumble mumble* from Chins by Design.  She just turned four months old (so much for getting a shown adult).  She comes from Ritterspach, Shoots, and Jags lines, and is a little spitfire.  I think I may have ONE pic of her where I'm not getting the stinkeye.  She's lucky she's cute.

Cuteness, innocence... adorableness....

.....all just an act.  This is how she normally glares at me.

nice clear pic of that chew toy... just what I wanted to focus on...

...and here it is again!

Petco adoption event and more...

So, started off the day by going to the Calumet City Petco's adoption event.  Of course, forgot our business cards...and couldn't find our framed news article (but did find it) or our banner.  STILL didn't find the banner.  Will definitely have to find that sooner or later.  But the day went good.  Met a lot of people that had never seen a chinchilla before, got to talk with them and let them pet the chins.  We took Moch and Mycha with us. 

The people at Petco were really nice, they got a table for us and showed us where the water was (when my genius self forgot to fill the water bottle before leaving home).  Course, being in a pet store, we couldn't help but buy treats and a squeaky chicken for the dog (what is it with me and chickens?  hey, Kailey likes them too, I swear), and some chews for the critters. 

So that was fun, we were there from maybe 11-5:30?  Got home, sent a email to the manager who invited us (who was not there today) thanking her for inviting us and saying we could come back some other time if she wanted.  So that was a good day.

Came home, Kicomo and Kocomo (now KiKi and KoKo) were picked up.  Well... they were already out on a trial run with their new home, but I told them to bring the chins back for a picture when they were ready to pick up their cage and actually adopt the boys.  So they brought the chins over and picked up their cage and other supplies, so they went home for good now.  I emailed their previous home and let them know the chins went home and sent them a picture of the chins with their new home.  And here it is:

And then I called the people who'd called the other day... the ones who'd gotten Ranger and said they wanted another rat.  Well, they called me back later, and apparently the mother had jumped the gun... the daughter had said something about wanting a second rat and so the mother called me... and so when the daughter heard that the mother called me, she was like, "well, let's wait on this a bit."  So no second rat for them just quite yet.

Then, while at Petco, we nailed down that we will be getting in yet another chin rescue on Tuesday.

I also have someone wanting to come... next weekend?  To see the rattie boys. I suppose I should respond to her email and set up a time.

Haven't done much else today.  Well, responded to emails and cleaned up the basement and that same stuff.  Same ol' same ol'. And added another person to our waiting list for chins.  Apparently the word hasn't gotten out that we don't get super-young rescues, cause lately everyone wants one that's like 1 year old and we keep getting in older ones!  Like for example Moch/Mycha are 5/6 years and Kicomo/Kocomo were 5 years.  Frederico and Georgie are also 5 years.  The chin we're getting in Tuesday is 7 years... this is just not working out to my advantage, lol.  Nah, someone will adopt them... just not the people on my waiting list.  That's alright, that's why it's called a "waiting list" -- there's a lot of "waiting" involved.  :D

Important!

So, just want to put this out there.  Anyone bringing animals to the rescue should clarify if their animal only drinks out of a water bowl (course, I don't think to ask either, I just assume they use water bottles).  Cause I only give water bottles unless I know otherwise...

So, I realize that the water level in the rabbit pen hasn't gone down in the last 24 hours, nor has the food (versus the single rex rabbit who's water bottle is half empty and she has eaten an entire bowl all by herself).  So I go to hook a different water bottle on, thinking maybe they couldn't figure the two out.  While doing that, my water jug drips several times into their pen and they start lapping the tiny bit of water up from the floor.  Oh hell.  So I put in a water bowl......and they all are trying to push each other out of the way to gulp down as much as they can.  Now I feel bad for not thinking of that.  But how would I have known?  The rex drank from the water bottle just fine. 

Update

So, this is going to be short, cause I really didn't do much today regarding the rescues/pets.  And cause of my supposed sinus infection my face/jaw feels like someone threw a brick at my head, so excuse the shortness please.

Bought some new fleece the other day.  It's really cute.  Should take pictures, but I'll wait until I get it cut up and all. 

Got in the guinea pig cage I ordered.  Going to keep this one, I think, but if it's good, it may also be one we decide to stock and sell to guinea pig purchasers.  We will see.  Right now, I don't have the table room to set it up cause we have THAT many rescues (and three rabbits are in a pen on the floor!), so that's going to have to wait.

The other day, I vacuumed out the two FN's that Willow, Jordyn, & Lexi, and Tallie & Lilly were in.  Now, just need to pull out the pans, vacuum again, wipe everything down, and start adding the fleece!  So excited.  But, homework comes first, and getting ready for pickups comes second.

Speaking of that, we should have had a pickup (er, well, they already have the chins on a trial run, but they want to adopt them... anyway...) today, but the person's kid got sick, so she's hoping for tomorrow.  I'm supposed to call her once we (me and my mom) get home from the adoption event at the Calumet City Petco tomorrow. 

Meijer had a sale on Cheerios (big box 3 @ $10), the Quaker oatmeal squares (2 @ $5), and the tri-color rotini ($1/box), so I got 3 cheerios, 2 quaker oatmeal squares, and 3 pasta boxes.  I go through rat food so fast it's not even funny.  But this should last me a little longer. 

Had someone email asking about some of the male rats.  Already got her adoption form back to me, so it all looks good.  Hopefully she'll come soon and adopt some of the boys!

And got a call from one of our previous adoptive homes, who only adopted one rat.  Now wants to adopt another to get along with him.  But... I'm confused... the other males beat him up.  We tried putting another male or two with him and it didn't work out.  I don't have any new males ready to go... so...?  But, she did say she wanted another cage too, so maybe she was thinking of doing slower intros or something.  Tried calling her back, and got a call back from her mom (they must live together, but the daughter has to be like in her 40s) saying the daughter was sleeping and they'd call me later.  Well, they didn't call, so I'll call tomorrow when I get out of the adoption event.

Well, that may very well be it.  Until next time....

....almost forgot

Ok so one last thing.  One of our rat adoptive homes purchased two hidey houses from us, but we only had one ready (he originally thought he wanted larger ones.... but upon getting here and seeing them, decided smaller would do).  So, he paid for both and said he would come back for the second one.  So he ended up coming back today to get his hidey house.  Brought his wife to show her the rescue and brought four cages to donate!  I didn't take pictures of those, but the one's a large guinea pig/rabbit cage.  Another could be like a gerbil cage or even a rat transport cage.  Another is a smaller rabbit-type cage, and then the last one is this cage --> http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3140459 .... looks brand new!  And since I was JUST talking about how once some of our rats are adopted out, that our one cage is going back to being a chin cage (once I pitch the shelves and scrub the cage to death), it's perfect that we got a decent sized rat cage in.... especially considering I had to put the two new rat boys in one of our smaller cages cause I didn't have anything larger, now that we're back up to 11 rats.  And they are still in the smaller cage, I will need to clean the larger one, but at least now I have something bigger for them to go into as soon as I get to cleaning it.

So that was real nice of him to donate those cages.  He said he sees them at garage sales and knows we can use em or sell em or whatever, and I guess they must be cheap enough, but still, that is just awesome.  :)

Busy day today

Ok, I lied.  Forgot about a pickup we had yesterday.  Dunno HOW I forgot, but I was too busy thinking bout today.  So, before I forget..... Willow, Jordyn, and Lexi went to their new home!!!  I still have to email both Tricia and Lisa each other's contact info, but I figured I might as well post this first and then get on to that.

Ok, so finally, moving onto today.... Friday the 13th..... we got in 8 rescues.  Hooo boy.  2 chins, 4 rabbits, and 2 rats.  And then one of our adoptive homes showed up with goodies.  But more on that later. 

First, we got the rats.    Buddy (white w/ agouti hood) and Juno (black w/ white stripe on belly).  They are 7/8 month old males.  Purchased from Petco, eating store-brand rat food.  They  like their ears scratched and lima beans.  (We have a form, people don't just randomly volunteer tons of info).  These rats came to the rescue because their owner said she lost her job and hadn't been able to afford proper food or bedding for the rats for about a month.  Well, now they have that stuff. 

Buddy (front), Juno (back)

Buddy

Juno

Right as the rat people were leaving, my chinchilla person showed up.  Apparently, they live about 20 mins from St. Louis, so it was a 5 hour trip for her to bring the chins.  The chins are named Frederico and Georgie -- both standard males. They are 5 years old.  I talked with this person on the phone, so I no longer can remember every detail (and there's no email for me to look back at) but from talking with her today, somehow she was living out of her car and sleeping on people's couches, and realized that wasn't the best situation for her chins (apparently this was a recent development).  As for these chins... the owner got them from someone else who was unable to keep them.  She was feeding them Petsmart-brand chin food.  They like banana chips and raisins (with a little heart by the word raisins) -- which they will never get again.  They apparently don't like rosehips (well why would they? raisins are definitely the better treat, haha).  Didn't notice when she first dropped them off, but the one is developing cataracts.

such big ears!

munchin' on some hay -- you can see the cataracts here, that's not the flash

... and then close to when the chin person was getting ready to leave, our rabbit person showed up.  We got in four rabbits: Thumper -- lop-eared rabbit, Fuzzball -- lionhead rabbit, Carney -- american chinchilla rabbit, and Honey -- rex rabbit.  They all seem very sweet... and very large.  The smallest is Honey, weighing in at 4.5 pounds.  The others I want to say are all in the 6-7.5 pound range.  Honey is by herself - apparently the other rabbits didn't like her.  The other three are caged together (the family had the two males neutered).  Carney was won at a carnival game (as a baby of course).  So was Honey.  The other two, they don't remember how they got.  Well, we got them because their owner had a stroke and was mostly paralyzed on the one side of her body.  She was wheelchair bound and with the rabbits being outside, it was hard for her to see them, much less care for them.  The husband cared for them for awhile, but then she made the difficult decision to have them brought to the rescue.  As we didn't have quite a bit enough cage for the trio, we again have our rabbit pen set up (they had the trio in a 6'x6' pen outside).

Carney (front) and Thumper (back)

Fuzzball

Honey (her color is much lighter of a reddish brown)

So, that was our drop-offs for the day.  Got an email from someone asking about bringing their chin to the rescue, so we will see about that.  For the rabbits, I have someone who'd been asking about rabbits, so I'm going to email them and let them know what we have....

...behind a bit.

So, little bit behind.  Go figure the days the rescue is busy is the same days I am busy in other non-rescue areas of my life, so nothing gets posted.

...oh, and if any words are missing random "d"s, the "d" key on my laptop is requiring an extra amount of pressure, so in typing fast, it may not get hit hard enough... so any words missing a "d," please insert.  thank you.

First, some pics of things I talked about in the previous posts, but didn't have the pics ready for.

Zazzles (Ember's kit) with her new "mom"

Annabelle with her new "dad," Mark, and her new sister

our female guinea pig pups with their new "mom," Tammy

...and that gets us up-to-date to today.

Wee hours of the night

Well, didn't get home til after 10 cause of work and my night class.  Went right to feed the kits. 

Then, cleaned out the guinea pig cage and separated the piggies into girls and boys, each in separate cages (cause the babies are three weeks now).  Added a second food bowl and veggie dish and all, so now the two cages are all happy and clean.

Cleaned the runs.  Now the run chins are happy and clean. 

Weighed some of the chins, just to see how they're doing.  The few I weighed had either maintained or gained, so that's good.

Weighed Ember.  She gained like 40 grams (I think? -- well, she'll be weighed again on the 15th so I can really see what's going on then).  If she really did gain 40 grams, then we have to keep hanging onto her until she stabilizes or has babies... whichever happens first.

Weighed Lola.  She was up to like 340 today!  Congrats Lola.  She had some gunk in both eyes that I wasn't positive as to what it was... first move is to always rinse out with saline and wipe the eyes, and the gunk came off, so maybe it was nothing, just dust in the eye or something causing the eye to produce the gunk.  We'll see.  If it doesn't clear up, back to the vet we go.

Fed the babies two more times before the night was over.  I think they're doing pretty good.  :D