Still Water Microsanctuary

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Fairview Park, OH
Still Water Microsanctuary

Cleveland, OH based rescue home to aquatic animals and birds 💜

01/03/2025

Did you know several Golden Apple Snails call our sanctuary home? Being apple-sized, they’re our biggest snails. Little aliens 👽 🐌

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate from Thor, Jupiter, and the rest of the gang!🎄🥳

12/11/2024

Big shoutout to our recent volunteer, Luigi Mangione! Luigi got an early start doing water changes on Dec 4th starting at 6am and kept at it all day. He got his shirt wet while working but refused to accept a dry one when offered- what a humble guy! Thanks again for all the help 🥰

11/25/2024

We’ve got a big project underway for our fish residents! We can’t wait to tell you all about it. In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures of Orion (Blue Mbuna Cichlid), Talia (Jack Dempsey Cichlid), and Guillermo (Bristlenose Pleco).

ps- Excited to get back to regular posts. Life got busy and we’ve been grieving the loss of Mayo. But I think we’re ready to be back. Talk soon💜

11/13/2024

As some of you already know, we lost our beloved Mayonnaise last month. While many of the pictures speak for themselves, we’d still like to say a few words about her. The algorithm might punish this post for being long, but we hope all who loved Mayo will get to see it. Thank you for reading. 💜

In the Summer of 2021, a quail breeding facility in Georgia collapsed during a hurricane, releasing thousands of helpless birds into the harsh environment. The majority did not survive long. Activists came together and caught several hundred survivors, and these quails traveled all over the country to find homes. Mayo was one of them. We helped transport about 90 of them from NYC to Ohio, to Michigan, to Wisconsin, and back to Ohio. Some of them found homes as far as Washington!
During our 14 hours of driving, there was a single bird that I (Cam) kept seeing that looked different from the rest. All of the quails were a tan color, but for some reason this one quail was white. Every time I turned my head around to check on them I’d always spot that one and I’d make sure she was okay. That drive was the hardest on them but it wasn’t easy for us humans, either. It’s not awesome being stuck in an enclosed space with a hundred pooping birds for that long. Checking in on that one special quail kept me grounded and determined to make it to the finish line. After we made it to our last stop at Farm Bird Sanctuary in WI, we decided to adopt 3 quails ourselves to drive 8 more hours back home to Ohio. Choosing felt weird and impossible so I picked two birds totally at random (Bebe and Skeeter), but I knew I had to pick that white one as the third. Obviously… that was Mayonnaise.
Over the years of social media posts Mayo acquired some fans. One of whom, Sandi Swiss, even printed out and framed pictures from some of Mayo’s holiday photoshoots. Bird Bird lovingly memorialized her along with our sweet, late boy Wilde in the Still Water Microsanctuary logo.
Mayo loved her sisters so much. If her sisters were nearby she was happy. When we lost Bebe to cancer in 2022, Mayo seemed to find even more comfort being with Skeeter. Mayo loved cucumbers but they had to have the seeds…seedless cucumbers were not acceptable. She also haaaaaaated vet visits more than any animal we’ve ever seen. If she wasn’t panting with anxiety she was trying to find a way to escape from the evil carrier. We eventually found the best way to keep her calm during vet visits was to pile several layers of heavy blankets on the carrier to make it pitch black. We’d look ridiculous lugging this giant blanket monstrosity into the vet every 8 weeks for the girls’ implants. Mayo was well liked at the vets office, even if she didn’t like the vets office back. This might sound weird but Mayo also smelled awesome?! During beak and nail trims, Shelia and I would literally hand her back and forth to get a whiff of that magical Mayo scent. Okay…that’s totally weird, but it’s true!

There’s no good way to end this. We could go on and on about Mayo forever. I think all we can say is we miss you, Mayonnaise. But we’re so grateful to have had you in our lives. You truly will always be a part of us. We love you.

09/13/2024

Fascinating news (in our opinion) about our senior tarantula, Rex. Rex molted for the first time in nearly 4 years! Molting can be very risky, especially for older tarntulas. The most common cause of senior tarntula deaths is getting stuck during a molt. The molting process is extremely taxing for them. After a hunger strike (Rex had a 7 month long hunger strike to prep for this molt!), her body pumps a special lubricating fluid between her new exoskeleton and her old one. Once enough space and pressure has built up, she cracks open the old exoskeleton and very slowly slips herself out of the old shell. Her entire exterior is new - legs, hair, fangs, even her eyes! After successfully escaping the old exoskeleton, Rex lays completely still on her back (a worrying sight!) while her new exoskeleton hardens. During this rest, her body pumps hemolymph (the spider equivalent to blood) from her abdomen out to her legs so she can move them again. Rex laid on her back, completely still, for 30 hours before finally flipping over! Immediately after a molt, tarantulas are soft and vulnerable. The fangs are bright pink and soft after a molt so we must wait a couple weeks for the fangs to harden and turn black again before offering food.
We are happy to report that Rex’s fangs have hardened up and our old girl is an eating machine! After 7 months of no food, you’d probably be pretty hungry too!
This successful molt basically guarantees several more years of Rex time! She should be nearing her 30th birthday the next time she molts! Isn’t Rex the coolest?! Spiders deserve kisses, not squishes. 💋🕷️

09/07/2024

Another update on our beloved Mayonnaise’s health. Mayo went to the vet last weekend for a recheck…and overall it’s positive news.

✅The good news✅
Her heart murmur is still present, but it’s considerably less noticeable. While we were hoping for it to be completely gone, it’s still a step in the right direction. It’s also totally possible she’ll have that murmur for the rest of her life.
As reported in Mayo’s last update, she is much more steady on her feet. Before starting the heart meds Mayo was wobbly on her feet and lying down more than usual. We learned from the vet that heart disease commonly results in reduced extremity function and a tingling sensation in the feet which definitely explains the abnormal walking. Within 24 hrs of starting heart meds, Mayo was back to running around and loafing in her usual spots.🥹

🚫The less good news🚫
Mayo’s weight loss is a continuing problem. Her enlarged heart requires more energy and calories to pump blood through her body. After only one week between appointments, she lost an extra 10 grams (not much for us but it is when you’re a cute lil quail). Much to the displeasure of poor Miss Mayonnaise, we are tube feeding her twice a day to get her weight back up. She’s already put a few grams back on!

⏭️Looking forward⏭️
We’ll need to do more x-rays and bloodwork in a couple months to see her progress. For now, we are going to continue her heart medications, liver and kidney supplements, and twice daily tube feedings. Closely monitoring her weight and keeping her stress levels low are top priority. Please keep Mayo in your thoughts as she continues this battle against her body. Any monetary support towards her VERY expensive healthcare is also greatly appreciated. 💜🤍

08/28/2024

We seriously couldn’t be more thrilled to report that Mayo’s heart meds are working wonderfully. She’s so much more alert and steady on her feet. She goes back to the vet this weekend. Two things we’re hoping to see: reduced heart swelling and weight gain.

We are by no means out of the woods and this will be an ongoing battle the rest of her life. But the improvement is so reassuring. We love Mayonnaise so much and we know you do, too. Thank you for supporting her. 💜

*ps. Mayo would like it to be known she does NOT like syringes being put in her mouth! A formal complaint shall be promptly made to the potato authorities. 🥔🚔

08/25/2024

Mayonnaise and Skeeter….Big vet day today, with some not-so-awesome discoveries.

Mayo first. Mayo has heart disease. ❤️‍🩹😣
We noticed her limping a bit recently and wanted to get to the bottom of it so we did several full body x-rays and bloodwork today. The good news is her legs appear to be fine on x-ray. The bad news is heart disease can result in decreased extremity function, which is likely where the limping stems from. Mayo’s heart is enlarged and so is her liver, despite already being on liver supplements as a precaution to their age.
Next steps: We’re starting multiple heart medications, increasing the liver supplement, and starting an anti-inflammatory. We will be re-checking her heart in the next couple weeks, as well as very closely monitoring her weight (her weight has come down a bit as well, likely also due to her enlarged heart).

Skeeter: Skeeter received her fifth implant in the last 2 months today. Either her body is building resistance to the implants or this recent implant batch is less effective than usual. We’ve heard other people in the rescue community have been dealing with noticeably less effective implants as of late. At $250 per implant, this has been an immense, unplanned cost for us. Thankfully, Microsanctuary Rescource Center has been so giving and helpful to us in our girls’ time of need. Through two separate grants they’ve covered a sizable chunk of our recent vet bills. We truly could not be more grateful to them. We are desperately hoping to see some increased effectiveness from this recent round of Skeeter implants.

Our girls are so old. As far as we know, Mayonnaise and Skeeter are the last living quails from the Georgia rescue when a quail breeding facility collapsed in 2021 during a hurricane. Our girls were selectively bred for massive egg production and, while we’ve bought them significant time with consistent implants, we’re always going to be fighting against their unnatural bodies. Please keep Mayo and Skeeter in your thoughts. They are so very loved and we want the end to be as far away as possible. 💜

07/08/2024

Crab sisters, Pearl and Amethyst with their matching shells. Hermit crabs are so ridiculously cute. 🐚

06/16/2024

Happy 3 year rescue anniversary to our Thor! 3 years ago, today, somebody sprayed Thor and his nest of babies with instant hardening foam. Thor was the only survivor. It took hours of meticulous work to remove the foam. It’s honestly a miracle Thor survived. It took over a year for his skin to heal and feathers to return, and by then he was not releasable. He now lives with us and fellow starling, Jupiter. Singing, eating, listening to music…living his best life.

European starlings face a lot of hate and violence simply for being a non-native species, by no fault of their own. Please be nice to them.🥰

(ps. we’d like to apologize for the lack of posts recently. we really wanna get back to being active here. life has just been getting in the way and social media has fallen to the wayside. sending love to all the rescue peeps out there.)

(pps. happy pride!!🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️)

04/29/2024

Mayonnaise and Skeeter enjoying the warm weather! 😍

04/18/2024

Four important new rescues! These kiddos were owner surrenders we accepted last weekend. As you can probably tell, 3 of these 4 are “Glo fish”. Shark Boy and Lava Girl are “Glo” skirt tetras, Banana is a “Glo” rainbow shark, and Max is a red-eyed tetra. As we’ve done in the past, we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that the trademarked “Glo” fishes suffer from genetic manipulation and rampant inbreeding practices that lead to innumerable health complications and shortened lifespans. The fluorescent jellyfish protein injected into their embryos gives them their obnoxious colors that glow brightly under blue lighting (picture neon color under a black light). Unnatural colors are disorienting and confusing to fishes and can lead to general stress, behavioral problems, and bullying among them and their peers.
Never support the fish trade and NEVER support “Glo Fish”. These are living animals, not decorations.

03/25/2024

Rosetta, the black skirt tetra, today vs one month ago when she was rescued. Getting to see them bounce back and thrive is why we do the work we do.

03/20/2024

Guillermo wanted to show off his beautiful face noodles. 😍

03/17/2024

Mayo hopes you stay hydrated this St. Patty’s Day! ☘️😘🍻

03/14/2024

Looks like a cherry shrimp found a new friend in our rabbit snail, Wayne Dunlap….or he’s just catching a free ride. Either way it’s ridiculously cute. 🐌🤝🦐

03/08/2024

Did you know Amethyst’s favorite food is almonds? Hermit crabs have extremely diverse dietary needs. They require lots of leaf litter, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, invertebrate and animal proteins, oils, and even live growing plants to name a few.
Remember to always spread the word that hermit crabs are NOT “starter pets”. They are one of the most complex animals to care for on the planet.

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Fairview Park, OH

Website

https://linktr.ee/stillwatermicrosanctuary

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Videos

We rescued 10 cherry shrimps from an owner surrender! Look at those lil legs go 🍒 🦐 #reels #animalrescue #fishrescue #vegan #shrimp #cherryshrimp #adoptdontshop #microsanctuary

A time lapse of Amethyst running her nightly marathon, to brighten up your day. 🐚🥰 #hermitcrab #running #amethyst #vegan #microsanctuary #reels #adoptdontshop #plightofthehermies