Yesterday

So I know it's been like 3 weeks since I've made a blog post... a lot has been going on... will detail that another post, but yesterday was one of those interesting days where a lot went on, so I thought I'd start off my re-start to blogging more-regularly with talking about what went on yesterday.

So, I now have a new worker, his name is Issa.  He's awesome.  He came over at 10 to work.  The previous night, I managed to put a hand through one of the glass panels on one of my storm doors after tripping over my dogs.  I'd cleaned up the glass inside, but this happened just before 1 am, so for outside, the best I could do was pick up the big pieces and wait until morning.  Issa got here, and I had him fetch the shop vac from the basement.  We hooked it up and vacuumed up all the glass, and picked up the shards that made it onto the grass.

Got that all done, and decided yesterday was the day that Noogie was going to move to his new tank.  At the last AAE expo, I found (well, one of my adopters found, and pointed out to me) a 55 gallon tank with a lid for $20.  Score!  Got it home in one piece.  It may or may not hold water, as it's a bit chipped on the corners, but otherwise is in good shape.  I was talking to beardie breeders and the feeder breeders at the expo and they suggested a mix of topsoil and sand for the substrate for the tank, which I'd also run across as a possibility online.  So, last night, I picked up two bags of topsoil and a bag of sand.  Issa and I brought that stuff in the house (ok, ok, he brought it in), mixed what seemed like appropriate amounts (so it's topsoil... but slightly not like topsoil) and added a layer to the bottom of the tank.  We then arranged the branches and decor so that Noogie would have more to do in there, and set up the lights.  Somewhere throughout the day, I found my bag of feeders (from last weekend, yes) and decided I would try to feed Noogie some hornworms (also suggested by the feeder breeders).  He loves them!  I will totally try to get a video of this another day.

Noogie's new digs

Then we decided to switch out the snake tank.  The tank that the red tail boa owner provided had a huge spider crack down the one side.  It had been glued, but I have tanks with no cracks, so we switched over the bedding and accessories for her to one of my tanks, and moved her over.  I have enough crap here without badly cracked tanks, so that one went in a trash bag, was smashed, and went in the trash.

Then everyone got fed.  I doled out two hornworms (smaller, of course) to my pixie frog, and some crickets to the geckos and my toads.  All the snakes got fed (every Friday), including the new redtail boa that came in the day before yesterday.  Tried to feed her a second one, but she wasn't super sure about it.  No worries, my adult corn snakes are pigs and ate it no problem.  Story about the redtail, another day, check back if you're curious.  Oh and the geckos all got fed, and we had two more eggs hatch 5/24, so those got moved into small kritter keepers.  Only two more eggs in existence right now, laid 5/1, so it'll be awhile before I have any more hatchling geckos.  And even longer until they're available, as they're so tiny and fragile until about 6+ months, they're iffy to rehome before then.

Then, I went to repair the runs downstairs.  One run and one holding cage that I was selling, needed repair work.  Just some basic patching with some hardware cloth, hog rings, and staples, but basically required two people... one to staple, one to hold the wire in place.  Got those partially repaired, then my one appointment showed up.

They were here to drop off their two chinchillas, Momo (white mosaic) and Oliver (violet).  3-4 year old males.  Unfortunately, the girl was going to college, and her parents couldn't / weren't able to keep them and watch them for her, as they were moving into an apartment or something of the sort.  She brought their treats, handmade food bowls (now that's love!), one of those chin-shaped hides (LOVE those things), and a FN cage.  For the moment, we left the cage outside near the side door, since I had a later appointment as well, to get those runs upstairs, and the cage not being in the way would be awesome.

So, she left, and I finished repairing the two runs.  We then moved on to building this new display thing that I bought for expos.  That was a task in itself.  The rack was supposed to include a little wrench to put it all together.  Of course, it didn't, so we had to improvise.  We got one side (of a four-sided sort of thing) together, and then realized... we only had instructions for up to the part we'd completed, not for the rest.  I left Issa to work on that, as best he could, as I went and worked on some other stuff.  He got the next part together, but the clamps that were supposed to hold everything together, well... didn't.  Super wobbly.  I told him to keep going and see if it would get any better, if more was put together, but it didn't.  Eventually we gave up, and got the container of zip ties from the basement.  The thing is, this has to break down to 3 pieces for expos, so it can't take 40 minutes to attach the sides, and that's how it was looking.  We tightened the stuff that will stay together (even with breaking down) and everything else was zip tied, and it's holding together well.  Another day, I will need to put on shelves / baskets / pegs and such, and figure out how I'm going to arrange product, but not today.  This is what it is:

By the time that was done officially being zip tied together, I was done with feeding all the upstairs critters, and cleaning the one gecko tank.  We then headed downstairs, to build some cages for a customer who wants decked out cages.  About 5 minutes after we got downstairs, I noticed a lot of brown streaks on my floor... checked Kailey's butt, and she had quite the poopy butt, so I called Issa upstairs to hold her head and keep her from walking away while I trimmed her fur.  That was loads of fun, let me tell you.  Then, we checked all the other dogs, to see that none of them had similar poopy butts (none did), and then went back downstairs to build the cages.

No sooner than we got down, was there a knock on the door.  I left Issa to work on the cages for a bit, and I went upstairs.  My appointment was there to pick up some runs and holding cages.  She was picking up four runs for her, and three runs and a holding cage for someone located near her.  She actually ended up taking 5 runs home... I had one that had a chewed up top... for me, it had to be kept under another run, but she actually had built runs on her own before, so it was no big deal to her, so I asked if she wanted to buy that one as well... so all those runs gone, now I only have my 6-holes (waiting for a deposit on those) and a few three-holes that I'm still using.  Also sent them home with some extra pans that fit those two-hole runs, so even less stuff sitting around here.  Issa helped the husband get everything loaded into the trailer.

Turns out, Issa had actually finished building the cage so I just now need to put on the wheels, and then build the other two!  Getting there!  Issa then left to go home.  I sat down for a bit and responded to some of my facebook messages and such.  Had dinner, responded to more emails, worked on cleaning up the basement... and that was the day.