Rats-

In April 2009 we took a rat from Pets at home adoption, they claimed she was fine, but we knew she had mites which had to be treated. She was called Mia and 12 months old, she sadly passed away in the September, but managed to get her some friends from a rescue down in Surrey! There were no rescues with female rats up here. A friend was comimg up to Dundee from Surrey on the train. We met her at the station and took the 2 girls home, they were 12 months old to. We called the girls Karly and Fliss. 

I have to admit, I never realised rats were such wonderful characters.

Since taking in Mia, we have given a home to quite a few rats, sadly rats are elderly by the age of 2 and many suffer from tumours and breathing problems. At the moment we have 2 left- Emma and Anna, arrived in 2011 aged 1, who we think are sisters and were originally bought for a 5 year old. They were underweight and scared but have improved with time, they have both had to be spayed due to uterine tumours. 

Chinchillas

We also took in 2 male chinchillas in mid june 2011. The boys owners were moving abroad and the plans for a new home had fallen through. The owners contacted us on the Wednesday and were leaving on the Friday. We agreed to take them and the were dropped off on the Friday morning, before the owner drove down to Glasgow for their flight!

The boys are lovely- Tyler is a beige ( who is 5) and Minstrel is chocolate brown (who is 3), they are starting to gain confidence with us and Tyler now lets me rub his chin, Minstrel is very nearly letting me give him a stroke. We have also ordered them some huge cages from John Hopewell, who has been very helpful, and by the next time I update I hope that they will be living in luxury!

Chinchillas have special requirements, because they cannot get wet and must be kept in temeratures below 24 degrees centigrade- if they get too hot they can suffer from heat stroke and die.

African Pygmy Hedgehog

Whirlygig arrived mid june 2011 too, she was aged 15 weeks and we were her third home already. She is beautiful to look at but I have to admit I see no point in having one as a pet and they should not be bought just for novelty. She curls in a ball and hisses when you try to handle her, I know some hedgehogs are fine but she is obviously scared. She is nocturnal so I usually only see her if I am up late, and if I disturb her she freezes. Hedgehogs can live to about 6 years old but they need to be kept in temperatures above 24 degrees centigrade, so not the easiest pet to cater for.