Saoirse ate

[frankykeno]

Well we had quite a lovely night last night! We had picked up our usual live feeders (Kyna and Rionach take them p/k) yesterday and saw that the pet store had some lovely chubby just weaned gerbils. So we grabbed up one with our rat weans as we've read that sometimes WC balls will take those if nothing else. Expensive little buggers but we figured whatever it takes to get Saoirse eating, it's very worth it.

Well we popped the gerbil into our feeder carrier and left it on top of Saoirse's sterlite to see what she would do. She very quickly came out of her hide and began searching the lid of her tub then sort of honed in on the scent location and stayed very still angled upwards right under where the gerbil was. We left them in the dark for an hour like this and then figured okay let's see what happens here.

Put the live little gerbil in there, turned all the lights off and wham! no gerbil. Afterwards Saoirse started hunting around her small sterlite which was just lovely to see. So having another rat wean available, we did the same thing. Rat wean in feeder container put on top of her sterlite, leave for an hour in the dark. She again honed right in on the area above her where that nice smell was coming from.

Introduced the live rat wean, lights off....WHAM! buh bye wean rat!!! From what we could see in the dark she hit it faster than the little gerbil and took it down slick as anything (for her size a rat wean is a small meal of course).

So obviously we are thrilled. It was a calculated risk and we knew she might refuse as that is her "reputation". So now we will just leave her be (she's in her warm hide) and monitor her for any signs of regurge.

I know that she was in a rack prior to coming to us and has had a LOT of changes and stress in the past 6 months. I don't know if the change to a quiet, dark, peaceful environment and a small enclosure has done the trick and got her eating or if it's the time of year or it was just time or just blind luck but....

Saoirse ATE!


~~Jo~~

[tigerlily]

Oh Joanna - THAT'S AWESOME! I know you all are over there dancing the big happy dance. Congrats! At least you know she will eat for you, and hopefully she'll keep eating for you. HOORAY!

[frankykeno]

Too funny Christie! Actually Mike and I snuck out of the dark room, raced to the livingroom to high five madly (didn't wanna freak out poor Saoirse!)

We are being realistic though. This is just one tiny step on the road back for this female. She may well regurge (we pray not), she may refuse yet again or she may go happily onward eating and gaining back her proper weight. We knew before we decided to adopt her that it could be a long and frustrating road so we are keeping our hopes reasonable till we see a strong, consistent feeding pattern and a steady weight gain.

That said it is thrilling to peek in on her this morning and see her nicely curled up in her warm hide just like her "sisters" are doing after last nights feeding of all of them.


~~Jo~~

[tigerlily]

It's still a good step in the right direction! Oh and to celebrate I think Mike should go grab the hose, or maybe a celebratory dunk in the lake? Muhahaha

[frankykeno]

Hush you!

Hey after the lastest mess with this rotten car of ours ($750.00 this time!) we need something good to happen! What a summer of almost back to back car breakdowns!

Since the stupid Ford is actually working today *fingers crossed* I'm dragging Mike out after work to look at a much bigger house to rent. A bit further from his work but much larger and barely more than we pay now. Sounds like it would have enough room for a herp room! Hopefully it's not a dump LOL. It is on a river so I wouldn't have to give up our walks down to the water we love so much at this house.


~~Jo~~

[khara]

That's wonderful. I'm so glad that she ate. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she keeps it down.

[tigerlily]

I wish you the best of luck in your hopeful new house!! *fingers crossed* Remember not to freak out the realtor!! (hey hon, this would make a great place for the snakes and look a spot for our sacrificial mouse ceremonies )

[wendyhoo9]

Congrats Jo!! Good luck with her, I'm sure she'll turn into another little piggy..then you could have 3 little pigs (okay, story time was just little bit ago and the little ones like all the huffing and puffing to blow down houses...maybe I should just hit delete when I decide to make posts like this!!!).


I'm sure she'll keep it down! Everything will go great (sending positive happy digestive vibes your way!).

[frankykeno]

omg Christie LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

Actually it's only a rental but I guess hollering...."hey Mike you could whack rats in this room" is just NOT done (just kidding folks!)


~~Jo~~

[frankykeno]

Well we didn't end up renting that house. Wonderful huge place with tons of rooms but the heating bills would have choked a moose! Oh well....

Week two and Saoirse is two for two! We did the same routine with putting her prey into a container on top of her sterlite so she could hear and smell it for about an hour then put it in with her. As long as we leave the lights out she seems to eat like a trooper! We are still not handling her more than the occasional gentle stroke as she's very skittish when we open her tub to add water but that's okay, we've years ahead of us with this pretty lady.


~~Jo~~