Many people do not understand what it is like having an animal sanctuary in your home. A lot of people think that it is something that is easy to do and requires very little time or effort. If only this were true. Here is a basic run down of my day.
8:00 a.m. - Go into the sanctuary to make sure that everyone is doing okay and in their cages. 5 out of 7 days I have to find whoever escaped...usually Leo. If I can't find them within a few minutes I let Kali go in and search them out. Once everyone is in their cage I go through each cage to make sure there is water and food.
9:00-5:00 - Technically I am at work, but I take calls from people who want to adopt a hamster or surrender a hamster. I do errands to the pet store for food, bedding, cages, etc. Many times I have appointments schedule to take in a hamster. About twice a month I am at the vets office.
5:00 - Once I am off work, I do the usual errands many people do on the way home. I go to the grocery store, I stop at the resale shops along the way to look for cages, shelves, towels, blankets, etc.
Evening: Once I get home the evening chores start. The first thing I do is unload anything that I brought home with me. I go into the sanctuary to make sure everyone is okay, there are usually no escapes during the day since most of them have slept all day. If any of them are on medications they are given their meds, the rats are allowed out of their cages for the evening. I start my dinner, Tau & Kali's dinner and decide what the animals are getting that evening for dinner and snack. I try to get a little house work in, if I am on the phones that night then I answer those as they ring.
About 8 o'clock is when all the hamsters start to wake up. Everyone is given the chance to get out of their cages for exercise. Some times they are not interested in getting out and I don't force them. While they are out running around I clean their cage, give them fresh water and food. This is also when they are given their dinner for the night. The little hamsters usually get a piece of fruit or vegetable, the bigger hamsters a bit more and the rats are given their staple of dry dog/cat food, a cooked meal of either rice and vegetables or pasta and vegetables. For snack they get yogurt.
It is usually around 10 or 11 before I am completely finished in the room and the lights are turned out and everyone is happy eating their dinner. Once they have eaten their dinner, I realized I did not get mine so I re heat it while I run a bath. After the bath, I try to settle down and go to bed before 1am.
So as you can see it is not just a matter of watering a small animal it is a very time consuming yet reward experience.
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