baby mouse found...nursing back to health

we found this little guy sitting in the middle of the floor on one of our jobs.  i was very careful about picking him up at first.  looked like he was a bit dehydrator.  i think he lost his momma somehow and was on the verge of death.  turns out he is quite bonded to me already, been feeding the little guy puppy formula for two days around the clock every three hours.  can't tell you how tired i am lol.  he is doing very very well.  he is now also eatting bread soaked in water.  he likes that better than the bread soaked in formula.  today a lunch time he will get his formula as well as a bit of mashed bananna and we will see how he likes that. 

will post a pic of him now after two days in my care.  his eyes are wide open and very bright.  he is begining to run around his cage also.  

what a great little fellow he is too!  he will have a very happy life with us and hope that it is a long one, although mice only live 1 to 5 years.  i will have had a pretty cool little buddy. 

i am keeping him away from the other animals just incase he has any kind of disease and also vigorously washing hands after handling him.  he is only a little over two weeks old. 

at first we didn't think he would make it and my thought was we could atleast keep him as comfortable as possible until the end.  but after 12 hours he perked up and as soon as i put my hand down to him he jumps in it.  it is a sweet experience watching him take his formula and he watches me the whole time lol.

this one is about ferrets.....hope you enjoy!

Most of you know that we have three ferrets that we just love, I thought I’d make this post about them, along with a few facts about them. I have heard of some people that have had bad experiences with ferrets that have not been properly socialized or cared for and are now totally against them. If you leave a ferret in a cage without love and attention and proper care, that ferret is not going to appreciate the human touch at all. Like any other animal it needs these things. It is very important to the ferrets character and loving nature. Ours have never been and never will be caged.

Contrary to what some people believe, a ferret IS NOT A RODENT!!!! It upsets me when someone says they are rodents. They are mammals related to the weasel family.

They have a life span of 7 to 10 years and only weigh between 1.5 and 4 pounds.



In my experience, Ferret’s play like a cat, walk like a skunk and think they are a dog. With proper socialization they make wonderful pets and playmates to other pets. Although there are some no no’s. don’t let them play with your pet birds, rabbits, etc. These animals are prey to the ferret in the wild. Some people may think it would be really cute to introduce them to their pet mouse or hamster….don’t do that, most ferrets are great mousers and you most likely will not have your pet mouse or hamster. I am sure there are some exceptions to the rule but I just wouldn’t chance it.





Ever do the ferret shuffle? Lol, we do it all the time. If your ferrets have free run all the time like ours do then you learn to shuffle your feet along the floor as you walk. This guards against stepping on these curious little, under the feet, sweet and utterly lovable pets.

Our ferrets diet consists of marshalls ferret pellets in water in the morning and at night and a high quality mix of ferret pellets, and cat foods with no coloring. We also give a ferret supplement that comes in gel form which is very handy when trying to clip nails! If you have ever tried to clip a little ones nails then you know what I am talking about. Putting some of this gel on the upper side of your thumb allows you to hold the ferret while he eats and clip his nails with no problems.

These animals are very intelligent creatures also, they will figure out how to get something they want and usually won’t stop until they get it. There was a person that owned a ferret and the ferret wanted something so badly that she finally moved something in front of what she wanted so she could climb up on the object and get it.

Did I mention they are thieves??? Oh yes, if they want it, they will steal it. Most of the time you can find their stash easily but other times you have to hunt for the things they have stolen from you. Shiny objects are a big big thing. Watches, rings, etc….but I have found they like to steal our socks and shoes too. They love to pull the inserts out of shoes and run like hell with them. They are very comical and entertaining pets.

Ferrets are very susceptible to tumors. This is one of our biggest fears. We are so worried about the day we have a sick ferret. Removing the tumors do not guard against them coming back. I am up in the air about this subject. Do you keep removing the tumors or do you euthanize so the pet does not suffer at all? I guess that is something we will have to wait and see what happens. Doesn’t mean it will but it is a possibility. It will be a very sad day if we lose any of them to tumors.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I enjoyed writing it. There is so much more I can add but I’ll leave it for another time.

okay.....now i'm PISSED!!!!!!

i am going to veer off the subject just for this post....because well.....i'm pissed and need to vent.  the charity yard sale we had and got the material donations for....doulgas and i  had decided that the clothing that was left from the sale should go in the planet aid box right next to our house.  we figured that the people that donated all the clothes for the sale would appreciate it if we redonated it to people in need.  it seemed appropriate.  so, we put the large box in front of the planet aid box knowing that the next day they would be picking it up.  well, it disappeared.  the driver pulled in and i asked if they had gotten the box and he said "no".  two blocks down the street was a yard sale.....so.....we went down.  i was looking around at all the clothes and low and behold, there they all were.  for sale!!!!!!  i turned around and said "um, ma'am.....did you take the box of clothes in front of the planet aid box?".  she says "yeah", they are supposed to be in the box, not in front of it.  well, needless to say, i flipped a lid.  then came home and called the state police who also confirmed that what she did was theft.  he said if it had been in the garbage then fine but since it was something we wanted donated to people in need that it is in fact "theft" and that she was selling it for a profit.  he instructed me to go down and tell her to give the clothing back or she would be procecuted.  we did just that.  douglas told her she had 2 hours to get it all back to the house or we would be contacting the state tropper and they would be stopping by.
now, don't get me wrong, if she had looked at me and said "i just don't have money and could really use it from these clothes" i would have gladly said okay, keep them, or even if she needed the clothing to wear.  but she did none of that, she made excuses that if it rained....and blah, blah, blah.  now, was i wrong?  would you take from a planet aid box and then have a yard sale and sell them?  i just think it was wrong.  if i'm wrong, please tell me.  i guess i am fighting with myself here.

puppy and two new tiels

so we just dropped the puppy off for his second eye surgery.  if you remember on April 12, Ryder had his surgery for cherry eye.  well, he was doing great and late last week his stitches popped.  they are doing the second surgery for free......i hated leaving him there again.  the closer we got to the vet tonight the more agitated he became.  he is begining to associate car rides with vet. 

last night we went to talk to a lady that needs to get rid of her african gray (20 years old) and 9 cockatiels.  she has been so upset about having to do it, but she is 71 and can't keep up with them any longer.  i wanted to be a support post, so to speak, for her and to refer her to a local rescue that will monitor the birds adoptive home rather than give the bird to someone and not be able to do anything after the fact.  well, i went over with the intentions of "not" comming home with any new birds.  we go into the room she keeps them in and immediatly this male white faced grey is trying to get my attention and comes as close as the screening will allow.  she opens the door and this cockatiel comes flying out and right to me.  he sits there for the entire time we are talking and then this woman reaches over for "nemo" to step up.......low and behold he lunges for her, then snuggles closer to me.  it was unreal.  i told her there was no way i could leave without this bird if that was okay with her.  she asked then if i would be willing to take his daddy also how is about 17 years old.  i said absolutely.  i wanted "nemo" to be as comfortable as possible with the transition.  needless to say, i will go in the aviary now and he is either on my should within 5 seconds or on my head.  he chatters to me something fierce lmao.  he is most definately the sweetest cockatiel i have ever met in my life.  i am so in love with this little bird. 
so anyway, hopefully tomorrow i will have some pics i can post but its kind of difficult to take a pic with five or six tiels sitting about my head lol.   

just for the record.....

I recieved a comment on the last post, which i do want people to do and have no problem at all with it....but i feel that i need to address this comment.  My blog is about my experiences with all my animals, not to be confused with going out and buying a bird, dog, ferret, etc....just because i don't post how hard it is to keep up sometimes or how much hard work it really is, not to mention the expense.  IT IS but that isn't what this blog is about.  I have a strong love for animals and want to share with everyone what kind of interactions i face with these wonderful creatures.  I don't mention the costs or time put in because i knew what i was getting into with each and every one of these guys.  i would hope that everyone would research, research, research, and then talk to other owners, then calculate time and cost before comming to a decision about purchasing or better yet, adopting any animal or bird.  i have very strong feelings when it comes to abuse, neglect, an even improper diet and exercise.  so please guys, when you read my posts please keep in mind that we do have a daily schedule and absolutly no life outside of the house lmao.  also keep that in mind before placing a pet in your home....do you have the time and are you willing to put the pet first?  we go above and beyond for our guys and we wouldn't  have it any other way.........i hope you are all continuing to read my posts, i am enjoying sharing with all of you and please keep the comments comming, good, bad or iffy lol.

phoenix, the umbrella cockatoo

well, i decided to write a bit about phoenix today....he is quite the little character!  he has learned to cry like a baby when he doesn't get his own way!  its commical and evidentally he thinks so too. 
every single morning when we get home from work and make our rounds turning on lights and preparing everyone's daily morning breakfast consisting of their regular pellets, fresh water and veggies and fruits....phoenix can be heard "dod, are you done yet?".  then after a bit he will begin to cry and yell "hey, you forgot the bird". 
yesterday, daddy got him out of his aviary and phoenix's immediate response was "did you have a busy time with work?".  It still stuns my husband how much this bird understands and is able to state what he wants so clearly. 
when phoenix was a baby, only three months old, we brought him home.  a few days later he was on the table and douglas and i were sitting there, douglas asks phoenix "what can i do for you?".....phoenix replies  in a scratchy voice "water".  we both were stunned and at a loss for words.  i don't think my husband really understood what a joy and i might add "chore" this parrot was going to be.  neither one of us can be away from the house for very long together before we begin to stress that we aren't home with our birds and making sure they aren't lonely and that they are in fact safe.  i'd say about an hour into whatever we are doing, like going for dinner, is when we both begin to stress out.  then, of course, we are both in quite a rush to get home.
being that i'm home during the day and dad is at work, phoenix doesn't get a chance to miss mommy.  when dad pulls in the driveway, i will either hear "daddy's home?" or he will just go absolutly nuts when he walks in the door.  here is where i'll end for now.  hope you all enjoy this post!

puppy may need surgery

we took ryder to the vet first thing this morning after noticing something very wrong with his eye.  it almost looked like some kind of cist on the corner of his eyeball.  of course i was freaking out as usual over any pain my babies may have.  daddy was the trooper and strong one and said he was going to be just fine.  anyway, the vet said it is his third eyelid that had popped out.  he also said in these small dogs that it does happen and most of the time they need surgery to correct it.  he goes back on the 18th for a follow up and then we will know if this little guy is going to need surgery.  he also has an infection in it and is on antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day.  boy he really hates that!  i mean hates it!  anyway, if he needs surgery the doc said he will wait until ryder is old enough to be neutered also and do them at the same time.  reason being, his face is still growing and he doesn't want to do it until ryder is about full size.  this little fella has not had it easy.  first he ingested one of the birds beak blocks and was rushed to the er vet for that, now this.  i will do an update on ryder on the 19th.  vet appt is for 5pm on friday.