We help exotic small animals by rescuing, rehabilitating, rehoming, providing sanctuary
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18/02/2025
Meet Berry!
Berry is a stunning senior male rat who was signed over after losing his companions. His owners wanted to ensure he had rattie company as rats are extremely social animals.
He's currently in foster at Retirement Rats in the hopes he will join their fellow oldies. If that doesn't work, we've got other options for him lined up. However, we are optimistic that he's found his retirement home. 🐀🧡
Keep your fingers crossed for this lovely lad 🤞
16/02/2025
Meet Dean!
Dean is a gorgeous young boar who was found as a stray in Congleton. Unfortunately, he wasn't claimed, so he is staying with us.
He was quite thin upon arrival, and has been loving some good food 😊.
He was checked over by our vet as he did have some skin issue on his nose which could've been ringworm, but was likely caused whilst straying. It has since cleared up and he's looking much better! He is fit and well enough to be neutered in a few weeks time. We aren't taking adoption enquires yet, as he still has quite a road ahead of him yet.
For now, please give Dean the warmest of welcomes 🧡.
16/02/2025
Neutering male guinea pigs.
Now that we have spoken about prophylactic sow neutering we may as well follow with castration of boars.
The neutering of boars is a much quicker procedure so is undertaken more routinely than females. We now most commonly do this via the abdominal approach to avoid scrotal infections and abscesses which used to be a very common complication.
Neutering obviously stops the production of more little piggies and means a male can be paired with one or more females (they must wait 6 weeks following the op to be paired for risk of potential pregnancy). In my opinion a male/female pairing tends to be a very stable pairing and would advocate for this more for people thinking of having just a pair of piggies. Boar pairs are notoriously hard to rehome at times due to people wanting female pairs but a male female pairing solves this issue.
The neutering of boars can also reduce scent, and reduce the chances of feacal impaction. The jury is still out on if neutering can help with two boars fighting. In my experience it can be hit and miss and if you have any chance of it working early neutering (before puberty or even earlier) is your best chance. The trouble is that even if the fighting is testosterone driven many of the behaviours seen may then be learned behaviours and removal of the hormones may not fix the problem. Regardless of this I would advocate for neutering of all boys where possible. As always finding a piggie savvy or exotic vet is essential for these procedures.
Here’s our most recent boy ‘Colin’ recovering from his castrate back in October. He’s now joined our herd of neutered sows.
11/02/2025
Meet Moose!
Moose is a gorgeous young male mouse who arrived with us due to no fault of his own. He's a friendly chap who's settled in beautifully.
He is booked in to be neutered in a few weeks, and will be looking for a mischeif of mice to join in the future 😊. Same species company is so important for mice, as they're naturally social creatures. 🐭
For now, give him the warmest of welcomes 🧡
09/02/2025
A very informative post!
All of our sows are routinely spayed 😊.
Spaying female guinea pigs.
By the time female guinea pigs reach 18 months old they can develop ovarian cysts, these occur in approximately 75% of sows (that’s 3 in every 4 ladies). Most of these cysts are called rete cysts (around 80% in some studies) which are not hormonally active, meaning they cannot be treated with hormonal therapy. Cysts can be uncomfortable and are likely to cause some reduction in life quality. Therefore treatment for cysts in guinea pigs is often surgical removal. This is therefore one of the big reasons we are beginning to advocate for preventative spaying in younger guinea pigs. This is a much easier surgery and less risk to the piggie when they are younger. It will not only prevent ovarian cysts but also can help reduce the chances of uterine cancers, infections and other changes.
In most cases for preventative spaying, guinea pigs have one or two surgical incisions on the one or both sides of their body. The ovaries can be reached by these small incisions a little easier than a midline incision (near the bellybutton). Although it is also veterinarian preference and in some cases when cysts are already present the midline approaches are preferred. Surgery is usually less than an hour.
Ideally ladies should be spayed as young as possible (around 4-6months of age), but this can be performed at any age. The older the sow often the more likely cyst are already present.
If you are interested in spaying your ladies preventatively then we would advise finding a piggie savvy or exotics vet who is happy to do this surgery. Not all vets are yet familiar with the surgery. Be mindful that it can take a week or so for them to fully bounce back. It’s also important that we do not consider this in piggies with any signs of illness. Some mainstream pet shop bred piggies also have concurrent underlying respiratory issues so they should always be checked fully by a vet before any decision regarding aneasthesia is decided.
Thank you once again to Alpha And Street Legal Tyres LTD for their generous bedding donation. It is always such an enormous help 🧡
We are so incredibly appreciative for their continued support.
29/01/2025
Some of the beautiful Syrian hamsters we have for adoption 🥰
Fernando, Pearl, and Coral are still searching for their forever home!
They're a gorgeous trio of piggies around 1 year old. Fernando is a neutered boar, and Pearl and Coral are spayed sows. They'd be able to join an existing herd or sows, or stay as a trio 😊.
If you think you can offer them a home, please get in touch 🧡
26/01/2025
We still have lots of lovely Russian dwarf hamsters waiting for their happily ever after 🧡.
Stray Guinea Pig found in Congleton.
7-day appeal.
Proof of ownership required
12/01/2025
Meet Raymond!
Raymond is a super cute young male Syrian hamster who recently joined us. He's currently in foster with Retirement Rats, he's settling in very well and is a real sweetheart 😍. As always, a big thank you to them for helping us out 💙🧡.
We hope Raymond will soon find a home once he's finished his assessment period in a few weeks 😊.
Give him the warmest of welcomes! 🧡
10/01/2025
Meet Ralph!
Ralph was surrendered due to no fault of his own. He's a beautiful shy male Syrian hamster. He's not been the biggest fan of us humans so far, but he's still adjusting to his new surroundings. Given some time and some kindness, we are sure Ralph will blossom into a sweet little ham.
He's currently under assesment, but Ralph will be looking for a quiet forever home with no young children. Housing must be a minimum of 100cm by 50cm.
For now, give him the warmest of welcomes 🥰
04/01/2025
Meet Basil!
This handsome chap is our first new arrival of 2025 and will be joining our sanctuary male mischief of rats. Basil has come from a very loving home who've come to the end of their rat journey.
Basil is a middle aged man with chronic respiratory disease. His disease is currently well managed, thanks to his owners efforts.
Once he's finished his assessment period, he will have friends again some fellow ratties. 🐀🧡
Give Basil the warmest of welcomes! 🥰
31/12/2024
Another big thanks to our friends at Misfits Mischief Mansion for all that they do for us and the animals here at the rescue 🧡🤎
31/12/2024
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout 2024. We simply couldn't do it without you, and we are so eternally grateful 🧡.
We currently have 68 animals under the care of the rescue. Some are sanctuary, and some will be rehabilitated and rehomed in 2025.
We've already got intakes lined up for January, so we appreciate your continued support 😁
We would like to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year. 🎊
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We would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas 🎁🎅
Thank you to everyone who has donated, volunteered, fostered, liked and shared our posts, and supported us in any way possible. You are all amazing and we genuinely couldn't do it without you. Together, we've made a difference to so many lives ❤️.
Happy holidays 🎄🎉
#animalrescue #animalsanctuary #adoptdontshop #christmas
Happy Halloween! 🎃
We had some lovely spooky treats donated, so here's a video of some of our current residents tucking in 🧡.
#animalrescue #animalsanctuary #adoptdontshop #halloween
Harrington underwent an abdominal castration yesterday. He is recovering really well, though he was very fascinated by his wound at the vets despite proper post-op pain meds.
He should be back to normal in a few days, but for now, he is enjoying some Weight Up Baby from @ratwarehouse and enjoying all the extra attention. 🥰
#rats #norwayrats #fancyrats #animalrescue #animalsanctuary #adoptdontshop
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How We Started
For decades, our team have kept and studied a variety of animals from Siberian chipmunks, sugar gliders, to striped skunks - you name it.
After a few years break from keeping exotic small mammals, The Bacchus family purchased a pair of Mongolian gerbils in 2015 - Rupert and Roland. We soon remembered what remarkable companions these small creatures are. On the other hand, we also saw how misunderstood and misinformed much of the general public about these amazing animals. Many people seemed to overlook and even look down on exotic animals. Some would treat them as though they were insignificant, if not inferior to more commonly kept pets such as dogs and cats.
Since keeping a larger range of rescued exotic small mammals, we started to become aware of just how many animals were unable to get the help they needed for reasons beyond their control. The general public mostly seemed unaware of the crisis surrounding rabbits, rodents, mustelids, marsupials, and the other exotic animals slipping through the cracks.
The Bacchus family founded a team of expert trustees who've since proudly helped hundreds of exotic small mammals. We created Bacchus Residents Rescue to help exotic small mammals at our home facilities in the aim to rehabilitate, and re-home animals wherever possible. Those who cannot be rehomed for health, behavioural, or other reasons stay within our facilities as sanctuary residents.
We try to take part in community fundraising and use networking to help the animals that we sadly cannot accommodate - we only have a limited facility.
We educate the public about the correct care and husbandry for exotic small mammals given the extensive amount of misinformation and unsuitable products available. We hope to be as welcoming, encouraging, and inclusive to our community as possible.
If you want to support us, you can follow our journey on social media and help show people that all animals (however unconventional) deserve equal love and care.
We help exotic small animals by rescuing, rehabilitating, rehoming, providing sanctuary
