More Rat Babies!

Lot’s o’ babies to choose from - as of 4/2/12 there appears to be 14 girls and 17 boys that will be ready to be taken to their new homes in about 3 weeks!

Orphaned Baby Bunnies

In lots of rural and suburban areas people often come across what seems to be nests of orphaned baby bunnies, whether by simply stumbling upon them, or when the nest is destroyed either by accident or by an animal.  We’ve had several people come into the store now asking questions about “orphaned” baby bunnies and, while I don’t claim to be any sort of an expert on the subject, here are the most important points I’ve found through some research:

*Unlike many other mother animals, mother rabbits only nurse for around 5 minutes per day and are generally only in their nests once or twice a day, usually in the early morning or late at night.  Therefore what often SEEMS to be a nest of abandoned baby bunnies has not been abandoned at all.  The best thing you can do if you stumble across a nest of baby bunnies is simply to leave them be and the mother will most often come back for them. Removing them from the nest greatly decreases their chances of survival.  Especially before their eyes are opened, wild baby bunnies generally only have about a very small chance of survival without a mother, even with expert care.

*If you accidentally destroy a nest or if your animal destroys a nest, the best thing to do is to attempt to “rebuild” a nest no more than 10 feet away from the original nest.  Use gloves to move the babies and materials to avoid leaving your scent.  Dig a small hole/depression and create a nest with straw/hay or grasses and as much from the original nest as possible including any of the mother’s fur.  Creating a pattern over th nest with straw or small twigs can help to determine if the mother is coming back to feed the babies.

*If you come across a baby bunny outside of the nest, if they eyes are open, they are likely just exploring.  This is common and is rarely a cause for any concern.

*If you are SURE that the mother has been killed, the best thing you can do it to contact a wildlife rehabilitator.  Local vets, animal control and humane societies can often be a good resource.  Wild rabbits DO NOT have the same nutritional needs as domestic rabbits so it is critically important to get them to a wildlife rehab or rabbit to give them a better chance of survival.

For more info and resources, check out this link: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html#Introduction

February is Pet Dental Health Month!

Your pet’s teeth need care and cleaning too!  Here are some quick, easy and affordable suggestions for keeping your pets teeth clean and healthy.

While trying to brush your pets teeth is always a good plan, it can be a bit daunting!  Even if you can’t manage to use a tooth or finger brush, if you can get your fingers onto the teeth at all, a good enzymatic toothpaste like those made by petrodex in a yummy beef or poultry flavor for dogs, or in malt flavor for cats, can simply be quickly rubbed on.  If you’d rather not risk sticking your finger in your pets mouth, Tropiclean makes a clean teeth gel with a convenient applicator tip.  Just do your best to squeeze a small amount of gel onto the teeth with the plaque and tartar buildup about once daily for 30 days, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive!

Another product worth trying which has also gotten very good customer reviews, is ProDen Plaque Off, adding a small scoop to your pets food every day can supposedly help significantly reduce plaque in 3-8 weeks!

For help with maintaining good oral hygiene and keeping your doggie’s breath fresh, Tropiclean Instant Fresh Foam, and Tropiclean Oral Care Water Additive are also good additions to any dental care regime.  In addition, Tropiclean has a fresh breath floss spray which comes individually (to spray on your dogs favorite toy) or with it’s own rope toy to spray and help to floss the dogs teeth while they chew.

There are also a wide variety of dental and breath treat options out there, may of which are low in fat and corn and gluten-free, including: Greenies for cats and dogs, Nutrident, Blue Buffalo Blue Bones, Terrabones, Zukes Z-Bones, Paragon dental chews, Smart n’ Tasty for cats and dogs, and, as a treat and toothpaste mix, Ark Natural Brushless Toothpaste treats!

While certain chew toys can also been great for your dogs teeth, if your dog is a big time chewer, Elk Antlers are a great natural chew that are also great for helping with oral hygiene.  They aren’t terribly cheap, running from around $7 for a small to around $16 for a large, but they last a LONG time, even with the heaviest of chewers, don’t smell, don’t splinter, don’t stain and, because your dog simply chews it down over time, you don’t have to worry about the digestive upsets that some other items like rawhide can cause.  Another great toy/chew for fun and dental hygiene for all dogs, but especially those tough chewers, is the Premier Busy Bone, which comes in fours sizes from tiny to extra large with tough nylon bone ends with nylon bristles and rubber nubs for teeth cleaning while they chew, and replaceable rawhide treat rings to provide extra interest.

For the entire month of February all dental health chews, treats and products are 10% off at Paws and Claws, so come on down, your pet and your vet with thank you!

Rattie Update!

We still have plenty of ratties left that are up for adoption – around 6 boys and 9 girls currently, most of which are the mostly solid brown tan babies of mom’s Mishka and Nikita and daddy Zoidberg.  Mishka is also up for adoption, as is Whiskers, a hooded female, around 8 month old, who is somewhat shy, but still friendly.  For Whiskers especially, as she is definitely more attached to other rats than she is to people, we will require that she go to a home with at least 1 other female rat.

We have three main different rattie homes available for purchase, ranging from around $50 to around $175.  We also have available for purchase lots of cute and easily washable options for rattie hammocks, as well as plenty of wheels, treats (Their favorite seem to be seeds and, of course, yogurt drops!), toys for chewing and enrichment (they seems to especially like nut knot nibblers), and cage accessories like Lava ledges which provide extra perching space plus are good for their nails and for them to chew on.  We also carry Rainforest Rodent – our preferred seed mix for our ratties - which we mix with mazuri rodent pellets and/or Oxbow Regal Rat, as well as total cereal (I like the one with raisins to give them an extra treat!).  Ours also seem to love Kale, Broccoli and carrots.

Once you go rat, you never go back!

The first two sets of babies are ready to go starting this week! As of now, all of the peach colored “Zoidberg” babies have been spoken for and in a few months I’ll be attempting Line Breeding for the first time to hopefully get more babies with Zoidbergs coloring and, most importantly, his personality!

In regards to the other babies, here’s the scoop: Hurricane was the first to be adopted to a wonderful family who travelled from an hour away just to get him! That family was also one of the lucky ones to get a peach Zoidberg baby and they will be picking him up around the beginning of February when Nikita’s litter is ready to go. Sunny is mine (all mine!), and Lightning, Storm and Fog are also all on hold, but we still have plenty of wonderful, sweet babies to go around!

Baby Ratties Update!

Nikita, a blue girl, who we didn’t think had gotten pregnant (she didn’t really look it!) gave birth on New Years Eve to 14 babies!

Our slightly older rats, the kits of Mischka and Nikita just opened their eyes the other day and will be ready to go in a little less than 3 weeks!  We’ve named Mishka’s babies the alphabet litter, and Nikita’s are the Weather litter.  Nikita’s babies will be named soon!

Below – 25 rat babies in a basket!

Gallery from Left to Right:

Row 1: Trinity’s Litter - Sky (f), Sunny (rex – m), Rain (f), Lightning (f), Fog (m)

Row 2: Trinity’s Litter - Storm (m), Rainbow (rex- f), Hurricane (rex – m), Cloud (rex -f), Blizzard (f)

Row 3: Mishka’s Litter – Buttons (rex – m), Dharma (rex – f), Gaby (f), Hagrid (rex – m), Rex Black & Tan Babies (not all pictured) 1 male – Evan, 4 females – Caramel, Flora, Ingrid, Lily

Row 4: Mishka’s Litter – Silky Black & Tan babies (not all pictured) 1 female – Anna, 3 males – Jake, Klauss, Marvin; pile of babies – 8 and 10 days old.

Blue Buffalo

Our store will soon be carrying Blue Buffalo Dog Food and Treats – here’s my question:  For those of you who already use Blue Buffalo or those of you that are thinking of switching to Blue Buffalo, what are the foods and treats you buy or are interested in buying?  There are A LOT of options and we have a limited amount of space – while we can always special order things, I want to get an idea of what people are/would be most interested in.

Chicken Wrapped Dog Treats that are USA made

Here’s a questions for you folks out there – does anyone know any brands of chicken wrapped treats (such as chicken wrapped apple or sweet potato) that are USA made?  I just discovered (I’m embaressed to admit) that the Dogswell Chicken Jerky treats I had brought in to the store are made in China.  They seemed like such great treats, all natural, fairly healthy, and certain ones with Glucosamine and Chondroitin for joints, mint as parsley for breath, and others for heart health and calming.  While I know not all pet treats made in China are bad, and that there are some of these treats that say they are “tested” in the USA, I’d prefer to find ones that are USA made.  I’ve been searching but it seems for whatever reason it is really hard to find!  If anyone knows of any, please let me know so I can try to pick some up for the store.

Rat Babies! Trinity and Mishka

Our rat babies are growing fast! We have a few rats in each litter and possibily will have some dumbo’s as well!  Babies should be ready to go to their new homes in about a month.

Trinity’s Babies – Day 1

Mishka and her babies – Day 1

Mishka’s Babies – Day 3

Trinity’s babies – Day 5

Mishka’s Babies - Day 6

Trinity’s Babies – Day 8 – Gray/White

Trinity’s Babies – Day 8 – Black/White

 

Welcome to the NEW Paws and Claws Pet Store Blog!

Life is always interesting here at Paws and Claws Pet Store here in Kennett Square, PA! Here I’ll be posting about all kinds of things, from day to day events – like Tracey and I frantically running around the store with nets trying to catch 5 parakeets after a kitten jumped up and knocked over the cage – to more practical things like product reviews of items like the Thundershirt, Bark Collars, and various natural dog and cat foods; links and discussion of interesting pet related news and articles on dogs, cats, birds, lizards, frogs, turtles, fish, ferrets, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, snakes, hamsters and more; and info on new items, like Elk Antler chews and Paw Thaw ice melter, and new animals in the store, like the White’s Tree Frogs we just got in. In addition, I’ll be posting about events, sales and specials and more! I’m also happy to do my best to answer any questions anyone might have about pets or products or, at the very least, help you find a good source for information.