Laffnmule's Lode

I have pet rats, in cages. They are NEVER allowed to run loose.

I have two pet snakes, in cages.

I, also, have Salmonella.

How likely is it that I caught it from my PET rats?

How likely is it that I caught it from my PET snakes?

Of the two, which is the more likely source?

We, also, have a cat. Could she be the source? How likely?

Alice and Remi refuse to breed. I had them together for about 3 weeks last year, and nothing happened (well, Remi did rape Alice when I first put them together, but it, obviuosly, didn't take). This year, I will leave them together until Alice definately gets bulgy, no matter how many months that takes.

Since I removed Alice from Remi's Bungalow (cage), last year, she had been living alone in a ten gallon tank (I know, not the best housing; but the best I could manage at the time, besides it was suposed to be a maturnity ward for the babies that never arrived) next door to the Palace (my largest cage, which currently houses my two oldest males, the brothers Victor and Coaly).

This year I, temporarily, moved Remi into a ten gallon tank for a few days, while I cleaned, and redecorated with new hammocks, his Bungalow. Then I put Alice into the Bungalow, immediately followed by Remi. (Alice says that, I bungled and dealt her a low blow by putting her with Remi in the Bungalow.) Of course, Remi immeadiately raped Alice, then there was a lot of squeeky fighting. Now they pretty much stay away from each other.

The Bungalow is adequtely sized for one rat, but is a bit small for two rats. Could cage size be the problem? But Sam and Zoe previously produced three litters in a ten gallon tank, so that is probably not the problem. In fact Alice and Remi are both decendants from the first of those three litters.

I paired Alice and Remi (even though they are cousins, and both firmly believe in biting the hand that feeds them), because they are my two youngest rats, and therefore are the most likely out of all my rats to still be able to conceive. I fear that my other rats may be "over the hill"; but I will still try breeding some of them, once I get some better cages built.

Please no one say not to breed. I am an adult and I need these babies. Now one say eww rats, either; or that they live in the sewer, these don't they live in cages. Comments about snakes are acceptable.

This question is open to all rodent owners. When I asked before I did not get enough answers.

Please describe the closing mechanism of your rodents' cage door. Even if the fastener came with the cage please describe it.

I want to know about all of the different ways to hold a cage door securely shut.

Also, I would appreciate it, if you would describe the type of door on your small friends' cage. Does it open from the top, side, lower edge, or does it slide? Is the door located on the cage side, or top?

Is the door, and cage; square mesh, vertical bars, or horizontal bars? And what spacing?

It will help me greatly to have this information. Thanks for your time in answering.

I built a rat cage using a plastic tub bottom with a, quarter-inch mesh, hardware cloth upper section. The door is a piece of the quarter-inch mesh hardware cloth, folded in half, and hinged at the lower edge. I need a good secure latch for it. Temporarily, I have been using wire twist-ties to hold the door closed, but I need something better that is permanent.

Therefore, I am taking a survey on rodent cage door fasteners. What holds your small furry friends' cage door shut?

Before anyone suggests not latching the cage door. Our house cannot be made rat proof, and we have a cat, so I cannot let any of my rats run loose around the house.

I had assumed that my Great Basin Gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola) was a female, on the basis of the shape of the tail. But in the years since I have had her/him no eggs (or even slugs, infertile eggs) have ever been laid.

My snake just had his/her first shed of the new year. The old skin came off in one beautiful, complete piece.

On the cast off skin, on each side of the vent is a tiny, reddish, protrusion between about one sixteenth (1/16) and three thirty-seconds (3/32) of an inch long. I am wondering if they could be parts from hemipeins; thus indicating that my snake is a male, instead of the female that I used to believe that I had?

Or might these very tiny, protrusions be vestigial legs? Are there any other possibilities for what they might be?