Easter 2013 - Peeps S'mores

We had Peeps S'mores for Easter and, of course, the rats had to share.

Disclaimer - S'mores are NOT healthy, but this is a treat.  Also, chocolate is not poison for rats.  Indeed, chocolate can be therapeutic.

 Sam and Carl are investigating the strange yummy.  Doc is lurking in the background.

 Here, Sam goes for the peep.

 I just love this picture of Carl.  He's like, "WHAT???  Where did it go?"

 Doc enjoying the chocolate.

And, here's a Peeps S'more going into the oven.

It's 2 squares of graham cracker, some chocolate, and a yellow peep.  Baked at 350 deg Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes.  For the rats, I made sure it cooled a tad so none of my guys would get burnt tongues.

Smudge - Happy Customer

Ain't she a doll?  This is Smudge enjoying her new custom hammock.  She's the lucky hamster who gets to enjoy the 2 pink hammocks I made.

I Still Fit in Here. Don't I?

   Hi, I'm Carl.  I've doubled in size over the past few weeks  BUT my favorite hangout stays the same size.  But, I still fit. 

Don't I fit?

Here's the rat cage for this week.













And, I put a triangular hammock in an unusual spot.  And, it's being enjoyed.

Beautiful Spring Custom Hammocks - SOLD

There's one very lucky hamster out there.  She's a purty little girl, too.  Her name is Smudge and her loving owner custom ordered her some purty spring and girly hammocks.  

 Here's the 2 hammocks together.  I liked how the pattern tricks you into thinking it's just one hammock.  Each hammock is 6" x 6"  Petite for a petite girl hamster.

The back is pink fleece.  And, as you can see, the hammocks are pieced and quilted and very PINK.

And, here's the second hammock on its own.   The solid squares are a light green.  I was so worried that the colors would clash, but they worked beautifully.

I thoroughly enjoy making custom hammocks.  Essentially, I was asked to make a 6" x 6" quilted and pieced hammock that was in pinks or purples.  

Through email, I showed the customer some fabric and design options.  And, she approved the choices.  And, I started to make the hammock.  I really enjoy the back and forth, working together to create an item.  It's a challenge because until the hammock is made, I don't really know what its going to look like.  I have to communicate the uncertainty or surprise of the creative process while simultaneously communicating confidence that we will make a beautiful hammock.

And, if I do say so myself, these hammocks are just scrumptious.

Here's the link to my Etsy Shop  If you are interested in a custom hammock, please click the contact button at my Etsy Shop.

Happy Customer

HAPPY CUSTOMER REPORT--

Say Hi to Darwin. He's proudly standing on his brand new custom hammock that I made for him.  His owner requested a pieced hammock that matched the natural theme of his bin cage.  And, it looks like Darwin is quite pleased with his new luxurious hammock.

In case, if any are wondering, Darwin is a lovely hamster.

Here's another pic of Darwin showing off his new hammock.

Here's the pieced top.

If you're interested in owning a hammock like this.  I have a similar version available at my Etsy store., and of course, I can always make a custom version.

NEUTRALS Hammock just listed at Etsy

I just made this lovely NEUTRALS scheme hammock.  It's essentially 9" x 11".  Perfect for a bin cage.  It should match any decor, and yet provide a luxurious feeling.

It's currently listed at my Etsy store.

Dean, Our Cuddle Rat

Here's Dean being all cuddly.

You haven't seen a lot of Dean because we've been struggling to treat a skin rash of his.  And, finally success.  After multiple oral antibiotic courses, a skin scraping, etc, we finally used something that worked.

My vet was attributing his rash to an allergy.  I'm thinking he must have had a secondary bacterial infection resistant to the antibiotics he was taking on top of the allergy.  Anyways, what worked you might ask. (I am not implying that my vet didn't think the rash was infected, but rather that she thought the ongoing issue was an allergy.)

Well, the first treatment that showed some improvement was brushing him using a toothbrush saturated in chlorhexidine solution.  But, that particularly solution was going to take daily treatments and we would miss a few days and lose ground against his rash.

When we ran out of the solution the vet gave us, I bought Hibiclens which should have been the same concentration of chlorhexidine (we ran it by the vet), but it was red and the solution our vet gave us was blue.  Anyways, this stuff was potent against his rash.  We only treated him 2 or 3 times.  The red stuff was much more sticky and stayed on his fur for longer than 24 hours.  I'm wondering if the vet watered down the stuff that she gave us.

We are now a few weeks post treatment, and Dean's skin continues to improve.  He has a lot of bald spots, but I expect that time will cure that.

I guess the Hibiclens, which is a topical antiseptic and antimicrobial was able to kill the bacteria that the oral antibiotics weren't able to kill.

He's always liked to cuddle, but rubbing him used to make his scabs bleed.  Yeah, it was bad.  Now, he can cuddle and be petted to his heart's content.

I'm also thrilled that Sam's much milder rash responded well, too because Sam was much more irritable from his skin condition, and now, Sam is happy go lucky with his skin not bothering him.