Carrot Creek Critters Sanctuary

Home
Canada
Edson, AB
Carrot Creek Critters Sanctuary

Carrot Creek Critters is a q***r and trans run antispeciesist microsanctuary for rodents and reptiles

10/10/2022

And last to be introduced is Spot!

Spot is a brown anole. If they're female, they're probably as big as they'll ever get. If not, then they maybe have two or three inches left to grow. For now they’re in a temporary setup in a 36x18” exo terra, but I'm on the hunt for a terrarium taller than it is long - though really they're so small that the height isn't much of an issue, so we'll see!

They haven't shown much of an appetite yet, as with most uprooted reptiles. I'll be picking up some extra small crickets and perhaps even fruit flies to try and get them eating, as so far mealworms haven't sufficed.

10/06/2022

Meet Orange Pekoe and (though not seen here) Earl Grey!

These male Mongolian gerbils came here yesterday after they developed mites and their home was sadly unable to afford a vet visit. They're super friendly and overall healthy, besides a few scabs from scratching. Thanks to a new law here in Canada we're (probably) unable to purchase mite meds without a vet visit, but we're waiting to hear back and will get them their meds one way or the other - just might be through an expensive and unnecessary route.

As much as part of me wanted to just pay for their past caregivers vet visit, rodents aren't cheap. Mites have to be the least expensive illness I see, so unfortunately it was probably just a matter of time until other necessities weren't in the budget either.

For now they're in a small tank while I wait for meds and swap Herbie over to the 3x3' - but soon these boys will have the 4x2.5' tank all to themselves.

09/28/2022

Today we said goodbye to Darcie and PB, who had both developed masses. The one's afflicting Darcie, at least, were cancerous.

They absolutely began to seek out each other as their illnesses progressed and they got weaker. Today I had brought each out to give them a look over, and when placed back in the cage they sat together like the first photo for an hour. While sweet, it told me just how sickly they both were.

It's harder to lose two at once, but it's comforting to know that they were still able to be there for each other and neither has been left alone. Rest easy, girls ♥️

09/24/2022

Emit again, and an update on the girls:

PB and Darcie the mice will both likely need to be put to sleep soon. PB has one large mass as I've said before, but Darcie had multiple appear at the same time and her firm belly tells me that there are more we can't see. I'm guessing I'll be making that phonecall early next week :(

All of the mice from this group, who were supposedly purchased from a non feeder breeder, have so far all passed of cancer - excluding Robin who was simply unhealthy and frail in general. They're barely a year old and are still not the worst I've seen in terms of the age they develop it and aggression of the masses.

09/18/2022

In happier news, here's Emit! He's thankfully grown more confident and I'm able to give him a good workout when tong feeding

09/16/2022

Yesterday afternoon I found Dandie suddenly passed away, after appearing almost entirely normal. I remember thinking her belly felt perhaps a little large a week ago, but nothing obvious and no signs of discomfort - she had put on some weight too so I figured it was just that.

I brought her body into the vets yesterday for autopsy, who found that her liver was enlarged. The vet is confident it was cancerous and was most likely her cause of death.

Two of her sisters are currently suffering of cancer that slowly takes their quality of life, but Dandie was able to be herself right up until the end, as far as I saw, and for that I am so grateful. Rest easy, Dandie ♥️

09/12/2022

Fern out exploring and scratching an itch 🐭

09/07/2022

The new set up! Got a new massive cork log on the left side. This houses our five female mice and Remi the multimammate.

I feel like I never make good use of the topper, but this time I have a proper reason. Two of the residents need to be either watched closely or preferably taken out daily to assess quality of life, and they're fairly wobbly so I don't trust them with large heights. Another may soon need daily meds as palliative care, and while expansive nests are amazing enrichment they do prevent me from easily finding them come med time - hence the shallow bedding.

08/24/2022

A very sweet photo of PB, photobombed by a fuzz. She's sadly developed a mass on her side which was seen by our vet last month. Most tumours in mice are malignant, and if this one happens to be, our vet guessed it would have already spread. Between waiting for lab results from aspiration and booking a date, it would've been near two weeks before surgery could've been potentially preformed. I chose against it, which makes it bittersweet that she's currently doing amazing. The mass has grown but does not seem to impact her and there's no sign of it spreading, which I've been watching carefully for. I'll ask if our local vets would be able to aspirate lumps to expedite this process and make surgery a less risky option in the future.

08/21/2022

Beautiful Emit had his first vet appt a while back to address a minor wound on his lip. You can sort of see it in the last photo. Dr. said it would probably do fine without any intervention, and it thankfully has. Reptiles are still rather new to me and the local vets would be unable to help in emergencies, so always better safe than sorry - especially with wounds near the mouth.

He's flighty and incredibly fast, so he ends up running into walls and especially the mesh lid when spooked. I'm guessing this eventually caused the wound. I may have to start covering his cage during the day so he isn't startled as I walk past... and keep hunting for a 3x3 terrarium.

06/01/2022

Chip helping himself to a big piece of strawberry rice rusk. It's the same kind sold for toddlers- it's both healthier than most specialty treats and more economical. Otherwise treat night consists of rich, high fat nuts and seeds so balance is definitely key!

05/27/2022

Fester! This fella isn't the biggest fan of handling, like most crested geckos. Cresties may not be aggressive but it does not mean they like human contact. In his first home it's suspected that excessive handling led to him eating less than he should, which now makes having to handle him to check his weight rather ironic. All in all though, he's just a littler guy who I'm glad has kept a steady weight. Turns out watermelon Pangea was the secret!

05/26/2022

Chowing down 🐭

05/24/2022

This is Chip, who's apparently not a big flax fan.

For now he's got the shorter end of the stick and is in a bin temporarily while his brother has taken the 3x3', but I'll either upgrade Chip to a Xmas tree bin or potentially the 4x4'. There's never a thing as too much space, but I do think a Syrian hamster might benefit more from the 4x4' so maybe I'll keep it empty until one comes along. We'll see!

05/24/2022

Introducing a handful of newbies from Prickly Pear Rodent Rescue (who have adoptable residents if you happen to be near central AB)

The first two are spiny mice (specifically Egyptian/A. cahirinus, if I'm not mistaken) brothers who must be kept seperate - Chip and Eric, respectively. Spiny mice as a whole are new to me but they appear very similar to ASF, excluding the little hedgehog-like spikes on their backs. So far these boys are rather outgoing and I'm confident they'll settle right in.

Then there is Remi, an African soft fur. It's lovely to be caring for an ASF again, and this lonely boy should hopefully make a good fit for the female mouse troop. He has a little bit of balding happening which I'm thinking is self barbering as infection or parasites seem very unlikely, so hopefully bonding helps to ease it. Otherwise he's pretty spooky right now but nothing time and some treats can't remedy.

05/21/2022

A classic PB pose and speedy little Fern- I don't think I've got a single good photo of her yet!

PB is on the larger side of average but Fern has remained almost the same weight since she came here, which is a good thing as far as I can tell- she's one of fairly few mice I see without that cursed obesity gene.

05/06/2022

Sadly Pike and Robin have passed away ♥️

Robin passed on the 4th of April. I found her very lethargic one morning with her back wounded and we rushed her to the vets. It's unclear whether the wound was from an attack by another mouse or scratching from mites, but I suspect both. She was confirmed to have mites and was treated three weeks before, but it seems her immune system was so poor that they persisted. She was given fluids and pain meds, then sent home with antibiotics and grim expectations. Against the odds she improved almost back to her normal self, which unfortunately was pretty frail to begin with. She passed away at home on her last day of meds.

Pike was put to sleep on the 27th. Ten days before then she had developed what I assumed was a tumor on the side of her face, however after examination appeared to be an abscess. She was very spiteley at that time, just with slightly rough breathing. She was put on antibiotics and pain meds/anti-inflammatories, but ultimately we suspect that underneath the pocket of infection was indeed a tumour. Regardless, in just those ten days her abdomen had swollen full of cancer and she was no longer her active self, so the choice was made to euthanize her.

I'm not sure I believe the age I was told for Robin, but I do agree that Pike was fairly young at 8 months old. Tumours seem to be almost a certainty for most mice, and it's especially unfortunate to see them appear so aggressively in mice who really aren't that old 💔

03/09/2022

An updated photo of Gobo's bioactive terrarium. It's 36x18x18" with shadedweller 7%, 150w basking light on dimming thermostat, and a little CFL grow light. The plants consist of a snake plant (out of view), a few pothos, an Aloe Vera, and oat sprouts for cover/isopod food once I cut them back. The only thing I struggle with is humidity but it seems to be on course now. That and the odd gnat, which to my knowledge aren't harmful. The intentional clean up crew include orange, white, and giant Canyon isopods, plus springtails. Some unintended but not dangerous guests include soil mites and pot worms, which have been mostly outcompeted anyways. Time seems to be the biggest help in making bioactive cages work well, so I encourage setting them up as far in advance as possible.

03/04/2022

Little PB 🐭
·
·
·
·

03/03/2022

Emit again, now that he puts his environment to use more. Plus a photo of him "gaping" at the end. It's how lizards shed extra heat, and when basking shows that they're fine-tuning their temperature. Overall it's a sign that the basking zone is ideal. And can you his teeth?

02/27/2022

Emit out basking. He does have a little stuck shed- I always struggle keeping humidity up due to the climate here and he had been spending most of his time hidden behind the background. That's not ideal but I also want him to be comfortable, so I blocked it off and added some black paper on the outside of the cage to help him feel less exposed. All the moss I used to fill the gaps already seems to be helping the humidity too.

02/26/2022

Exploring the new (to them) cage 🐀

02/23/2022

I have some very sad news on the pacman frog taken in during October. They passed at 5 AM on the 21st after declining drastically over the week.

They had been refusing to eat for a month despite trying every possible feeder. That alone, to my knowledge, isn't that alarming or dangerous for a pacman of their size and I saw little weight loss. A week ago I suddenly noticed their jaw was droopy, which is a surefire sign of early metabolic bone disease. My theory is that despite calcium supplementation and appropriate UVB, their lack of appetite (and therefore calcium intake) caused MBD to continue it's course. If so, it was already prevalent by the time they got here based on their past care. They were still acting otherwise strong at this point, but I scheduled a vet appointment for the soonest possible date which would've been yesterday. As I stated, on the 20th they began going downhill. They were incredibly weak. I kept their body heat and hydration up with a couple warm soaks and then left them in the cage under a hide near the DHP/heat source. I wondered if perhaps I felt a blockage on their right side, though I had checked previously. They had a dark firm mass over one side of their hip, and just one eye was always dilated. I was present when they passed.

I took their body into our country vet for an autopsy yesterday and got results today. They don't know amphibians but it's a start. There were no blockages in their digestive tract and predictably nothing discernable about their eye- it's perhaps neurological. The area over their hip was a hematoma, a pool of blood, caused by a recently (within a week) broken femur. How that even happened is a mystery to me. The bones may have been weaker due to MBD but that's all I can think of. Otherwise the vet said they appeared healthy and that there was no sign of infection around the femur (yet) or elsewhere.

It appears that a great number of things were wrong all at once. It's especially hard to know that had any of them been the sole issue, it likely could've been fixed. I am so sorry 💔

02/23/2022

At long last, the group of seven is in the detolf/condo! Getting Pigeon safe company had taken priority over sorting out bickering, so since her passing I've been able to work slowly to get them to this point. Nothing too bad but I've got my eye on a couple folks. Seen here is Mochi, who's become one of the friendliest in the bunch.

02/09/2022

Little Gobo had a vet visit a week back. All is well and it was a minor issue: hemipenal plugs. The odd bit is that Gobo was previously confirmed female as they'd laid (infertile) eggs many times before, thus I assumed the plugs were some sort of prolapse. I trust my vet entirely, especially on something as common as this, but I also know for a fact I've seen eggs. So my assumption for now is that Gobo must be intersex. That alone is really not that uncommon, but the fact that both sets of organs seem to be functioning is much more difficult to believe. I've found another instance of a gecko like this but it is just a forum post, after all. I'll see if I have a photo of an egg somewhere to send my vet. Otherwise we talked about my reptile care and he said it all looks great. Gobo has a clean bill of health too.

02/09/2022

Apologies for the unexplained hiatus- my family contracted covid in December since they refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks as often as they should. I pulled through quickly but it did result in two close relatives heading to ICU/being on ventilators for quite some time. Both are very fortunately home now and mostly okay, but please trust doctors and don't take the pandemic lightly.

That said, sadly two residents have passed in this time.

Sprocket the Syrian hamster was unfortunately the first instance I've seen personally of cancer in his species, though I know it isn't uncommon. He was nearly two years of age to my knowledge. While his illness was obvious, unlike cancer hidden in the chest cavity, it rapidly showed itself as I was in quarantine. Fortunately he didn't appear to be in pain up until the end, which I tried to make as comfortable as possible. His sweet face and pitter-patter on the wheel are dearly missed.

Pigeon was an estimated three months away from being three years old, making her the oldest I've met. She was the last of a big family of six that came in back when Otter and the other ASF were around. Pig was the most easy going little mouse and we went through so much together. I'm glad to say that her age appeared to be the main contributor to her passing, and that I was able to be with her until the end. She also got to spend her last month successfully bonded with a group of other girls.

11/16/2021

Foraging for snacks 🌻 This guy is exclusively scatter fed because of his predictably high energy level. I've got some sprays and forage mixes waiting at the post office, so hopefully the roads become safer and I can go pick those up for everyone.

11/10/2021

Emit finally ate in front of me! He's had food offered at all times and it's safe to say he's eaten some already, but this is still good progress versus darting the second I open the doors. With luck maybe I can get him to chase tongs and work for his food.

And you can just barely see his blue throat in this photo.

11/08/2021

Fester taking a nap, plus a close-up of his sticky feet 🦎

11/05/2021

The very last yet to be introduced is Emit the emerald swift. He's just under a year old and I'm told he's captive bred, which is a sadly fairly rare for these guys. His past caregiver moved out for school so the parents decided he was best off in a new home.

He is incredibly quick and sometimes vibrant green as the name suggests, but he also has a brilliant blue throat and stomach. He's in the second largest exo terra which is 3H x 2W x 1.5D, and he makes complete use of it. Having both a diurnal and fast reptile is a big change from Fester or the pacman. Cresties compared to Emit are like Syrian hamsters to roborovskis. He also likes to watch me printmaking since my work desk is next to his tank- he turns his head to keep an eye on my brayer rolling up and down.

Address

Edson, AB
T0E0G0

Website

http://carrotcreekcritters.squarespace.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Carrot Creek Critters Sanctuary posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Carrot Creek Critters Sanctuary:

Videos

Chowing down 🐭

This is Chip, who's apparently not a big flax fan. For now he's got the shorter end of the stick and is in a bin temporarily while his brother has taken the 3x3', but I'll either upgrade Chip to a Xmas tree bin or potentially the 4x4'. There's never a thing as too much space, but I do think a Syrian hamster might benefit more from the 4x4' so maybe I'll keep it empty until one comes along. We'll see!