Yesterday, whilst in Kent, I was lucky enough to bring home a couple of Lesser Egyptian Gerbill's who are great fun to watch.
Today, however, is a sad day. The final one of my Grey Short-Tailed Opossum's has passed away this morning. Chloe had a nice nature some of the time, and whilst she was not one who liked to be handled, she liked a little scratch and would happily chase after locusts and morioworms and absolutely loved boiled egg. She was approaching 4, and came to me after she failed to breed for another owner and they didn't want an aging opossum. She had a nice little enclosure since she came to me, and I used to enjoy watching her run round her wheel, and only 3 days ago, I was passing her locusts by hand. She was quite flighty when she came to me, but she grew in confidence and I use to love going in the little nocturnal room at night and watch her and the other small animals play.
This morning however, when I went to check on her, there was two 4th hoppers jumping about her enclosure and her fresh water from the night before was clean (very unlike Chloe, who used to love making a mess of everything). There was also morios and meal worms in her tube, which she would always scavenge on. I lifted up her house to see her, and she didn't look right, she was not sleeping, and not active at all, she looked in some discomfort. I placed her in a pot so I could take a closer look at her and she was a little bloated and it there was signs of over grooming around her back and backside and she seemed in a bit of discomfort, but was not remotely interested in her food.
I made a quick call to the vet and sent a small video and they were of the opinion, that she was close to death and there would be likely little they could do for her.
I made her house nice and comfy, and put down some fresh soft bedding, and added in some paper towel and placed her calmly back in her house, nice and warm and comfortable. I knew that when I checked her again she would most likely have passed away, but I wanted her in a nice comfy enclosure and to be at peace.
I gave it a couple of hours and went back to check on her, and she had passed away.
Chloe was just over 3 years old when she came to me, so I knew she wouldn't be here a long time, but she was lovely and I grew very fond of her. She was one of the first exotic pets / rescues, I took on, and when I got her, she had next to no hair on her, had often been attacked by her previous mate and needed a lot of reassuring. Chloe grew with confidence and had a happy life, was always spoilt and was easily one of the most loved in my collection.
Today is a sad day for me, and I hope I can get some more Short-Tailed Opossums in the future, but Chloe will never be forgotten and she will be off to the crematorium tomorrow, so I can get her ashes in a small urn and keep them as a memory forever more. She certainly ignited a passion in me to take on rescues and small mammals, and I'll miss her terribly.