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Post by bouncy on Jan 26, 2020 20:22:08 GMT
The rats are attracted to food and nesting provided by the outside hutch......
Glad Janis is still fighting!
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 27, 2020 1:27:03 GMT
So glad to hear that Janis is doing better and is back home! Sounds like you need to teach Jim how to administer her meds, since he is determined to keep you away. Step up or step aside, Jim.
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Post by randomname on Jan 27, 2020 14:13:52 GMT
Would rats try to get to him, I never knew this if so? Rats often do attack rabbits (probably attracted by food) & kill them. Don't google it, but the pictures I've seen are horrific. A rat can totally savage a bun. They can also (like cats) scare a rabbit to death by stalking & attacking the hutch at night. Plus the diseases they carry can have terrible consequences for outdoor buns. I guess guinea pigs are even less protected against them. Maybe a ferret could defend itself adequately?
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Post by randomname on Jan 27, 2020 14:22:41 GMT
Urgh I am not confident about Janis' chances. She's still not eating, getting meds into her is a huge issue. Hardly pooping at all. Seems bright but she's clearly not happy. She's now terrified of people (probably all the prodding & poking) It's been a week or so since she has eaten or pooped properly. It's so frustrating not to be getting the meds into her. I'm now trying to weigh up the pros & cons of taking her to the vet twice a day to get them to give her meds. It's literally a 5min walk away, but it's along a busy road & it's terrifying for her. The stress could make things worse or kill her. But then I'd know she was getting her meds. Tried babyfood, putting it on treats, burritoing her & NOT burritoing her.. nothing seems to work. Finding her mouth is a nightmare & she spits it out if I do get any into her. Feel so helpless that she won't let me help her.
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Post by savvy on Jan 27, 2020 14:47:16 GMT
Would rats try to get to him, I never knew this if so? Rats often do attack rabbits (probably attracted by food) & kill them. Don't google it, but the pictures I've seen are horrific. A rat can totally savage a bun. They can also (like cats) scare a rabbit to death by stalking & attacking the hutch at night. Plus the diseases they carry can have terrible consequences for outdoor buns. I guess guinea pigs are even less protected against them. Maybe a ferret could defend itself adequately? Ferrets can defend themselves against most things. They're a member of the stoat/polecat/weasel group so readily take down rabbits as prey with one bite, usually to the back of the neck. It's why ferrets were used by farmers for years to clear rabbits off their land, some parts still use them as they'll get into the burrows and clear out whole warrens. It's not pretty. Personally I think they'll take down a rat if they had to, but they tend to go for larger prey. It's common knowledge that if a ferret bites, and it means it, it'll bite straight down to the bone in one go, and you're going to need stitches. Foxes can easily take down rats and it's their main source of food when hunting. Its another reason why foxes are coming in to town, we leave a lot of food waste around which encourages the rats, the foxes come in after the rats, but also raid the food waste as hey, why hunt when you're being fed. Then we complain about the rats and foxes when it's pretty much down to us as to why they're here. We build on their territory, we feed them, then we complain. To a fox, a poorly penned rabbit or chicken is like ordering takeaway.
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Post by randomname on Jan 27, 2020 15:01:44 GMT
I'm beginning to love ferrets even more! Total badasses! Last few years I've been trying to think of a way to adopt some but it's not possible with all the prey animals we have. maybe in the future I can get some noodle cats Rats round here are at least as big as our Stan though.. could saddle them & ride them to the shops! Must be all those takeaways (*tries not to think about the graveyard out the back of us*)
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Post by randomname on Jan 27, 2020 15:07:48 GMT
@savvy - so what you're saying is I should use the hutch/run combo outside for ferrets not rabbits?! They'd be perfectly safe if the rats pop by? I should adopt some asap?! Ok.. seeing as you said to!
Nah, seriously thought about that but the smell from cleaning out the ferrets might get onto me & then the herbi gang would be freaked out.. it's not really fair.
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Post by savvy on Jan 27, 2020 15:25:20 GMT
I love the smell of ferrets! Seriously, it's like chanel no5 to me. OK, OK, I know, I'm weird.
Ferrets would be through a hutch quicker than a degu through a hazelnut, lol, so metal cages only. Also, they have to be neutered or the excessive hormone levels in breeding season can kill them if they don't mate. Yep, these guys have to have sex or they die!
But they are incredibly playful, love to steal things from pockets and run off just to get a reaction, and can make great pets if looked after properly.
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Post by bouncy on Jan 27, 2020 17:11:23 GMT
You are weird! They always had a disinfectant smell to me. My sister had two. One got named Buffy, and was super playful, but the other didn't get a named, so was referred to as Wotnot. They lived in wooden hutches outside, next to Gizmo the bunny. Rather mixed up, Giz would hop around the garden humping everything, including cuddly toys and, yes, Buffy.
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Post by savvy on Jan 27, 2020 17:36:44 GMT
Buffy must have been one well fed, tame ferret, lol.
I've seen them scratch their way out of a shed before now, luckily saw it before we had a mass escape.
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Post by randomname on Feb 5, 2020 14:25:36 GMT
Quick update: janis continues to improve. Still want her to eat more hay, but she's eating everything else & in good amounts. I'd say she's 80-90% there but still a little way to go. Something weird is going on with her & Jim, he had a real go at her the other day. I think she grumped at him first when he was grooming her face & he reacted. She's due a dental as soon as she's fit so maybe it's that? I'll be taking her back to the vets soon, just want to get her eating a bit better before I stress her out again.
The degu boys are much as before, nothing's changed. Leadbelly seems a bit depressed being in the bottom of the Liberta tbh so I want to get at least 2 of them together soon. Now Janis isn't needing meds & nursing I'll be able to do degu intros soon. Bo & Jelly have little hair partings on their noses from sniffing each other through the bars, they really seem to want to be together. Fingers crossed all 3 are happy to be reintroduced.
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Post by randomname on Feb 12, 2020 12:32:31 GMT
just to update on Janis. She did improve but had some eye discharge a few days later. We decided to get her dental done as she was pretty grumpy too. The op went well. They only found 1 tiny spur that probably could have waited. That's the 3rd vet to say that. The vet has concerns that she has pain in the muscles around her mouth so once she's recovered from the op we should know more. We've had a guinea pig with similar issues so it might be manageable (if we can reliably get meds into her) Her op was yesterday & she's managed to eat & poop pretty well overnight considering. She's been through a heck of a lot lately & we're not sure what's happening but we're trying everything. Sadly her & jim are having to live side by side as he was attacking her because she was growling at him, so she's pretty sad at the moment. Hopefully we'll see some improvements over the next couple of weeks. Still haven't had time to do degu intros yet
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Post by deguconvert on Feb 12, 2020 19:29:57 GMT
This might be a silly thought . . . but I can't help but wonder if Jim was taken away from his mother too soon? I know in the wild, baby rabbits are independent within a couple of weeks, but is it the same with domesticated buns?
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