Random catch- up

                                                        (Rudi left, Harry right)

The day after my last post I called another vet who said about the same as the one who Rudi went to see. He advised that it might be best to get the leg removed now other then later though, I also showed the x-ray and video to a friend who is a orthopaedic surgeon and he said it would probably be best to remove the leg. The joint can't properly support much weight but he only pulls his leg up quickly now and then so does not look to be causing him undue distress. That leaves me with the options of leave it, remove it, or a long painful surgery that would just make his leg look better and seeing as neither Harry nor Elspeth seem to mind his leg how it is, as in they are not alienating him I do not see the point in the last option.

(Rudi. Must ask my friend who we are staying with why he has what looks like bubble gum on his wall lol!)

After thinking long and hard about it I have decided that he will be keeping his leg, for now. I mean it is not getting in his way, it is not causing the other two to look at him strangely even though they are aware there is something'wrong' with it and it does not seem to be causing him distress. The only problems Rudi has with it being the way it is as opposed to him not having it at all he will still have if he just has a stump. For example he cannot climb as well as the other two, nor can he run as fast as the other two but he does his best. I also feel it would be unfair to him as the other two accept him how he is now and if he suddenly is missing a lag I am not sure if they will be quite as fine with it. I believe that when he is older if he does still have to have his leg amputated that as his bond with the other two will be stronger they will be okay with it.

                                                                             (Rudi)

So lets see what have they been up to. . .


Well Elspeth seems quite taken with Rudi, she acts quite amorous towards him which is odd as at the same time she does this with Harry which has started to spark arguments, not big ones but when the boys are 'talking' to each other when she is around they get quite mad! I just cannot believe how much of a tease Elspeth is! One day Harry was in my office with me and Elspeth had been in their room with Rudi but then she came to my office and started to groom Harry which in fox language is more or less kissing. When Harry thought she wanted to, make kits shall we say, she quickly ran off back to grooming Rudi! Both boys seem quite confused by her as am I.

                                                               (Elspeth on her tower)

I have learnt Rudi is addicted to television which I would not have expected any animal to be. He actually tells you off if you try to turn it off OR change the channel when he is watching it. I am sure it does him no harm as he still plays with the other two it just seems to be when he is relaxing.

                                                                             (Rudi)
Last week we started to have some work done on our house, one of the rooms getting work done was Harry, Elspeth and Rudi's bedroom so I thought it would be okay for them to maybe try out the outside enclosure I had built for them many moons ago which neither Harry nor Elspeth like. I sat with them in there for a while and they did not do much but then when I went to the house to get a coffee I returned to see my three little foxes stood in the corner of the enclosure in a puddle of their urine shaking like leaves. Before I looked up I should have known what they had seen, a bird. Okay yes it was a big bird, I think it was a buzzard but they were petrified so that was that idea out the window. I picked the three of them up and put them each in their carriers and off to stay with my friends we went. I felt totally horrid for leaving them for even 10 mins in the enclosure but I thought maybe now they are older they would be less worried.

                                                               (Harry bottom, Rudi top)
Spring being spring means more then just both boys wanting to mount Elspeth all the time but also that they blow their coat seemingly starting with Harry. Harry looks like such a runt next to both of them with his total lack of fur. You see foxes do not shed like a cat or dog they totally loose their old coat so much so that they look a little like they have mange! Harry is going in huge chunks from being a total fur bal to looking naked! Elspeth is a bit behind him and Rudi has not started to shed yet. I am constantly hovering up blonde fur and I do not think my lint roller has ever had so much use! When I was a child I had a husky and I thought he shed allot but damn, these little foxies who are way less then half the size he was put his ability to cover everything in fur to shame.


Speaking of which I have yet more hovering to do before I got to bed, wish the Dyson luck hehe!

                                                                     (Rudi - Kisses!)

X-ray

So on Friday morning I woke up and went down to pick up Rudi. I crated him up the night before as he was not allowed food prior to going to the vets incase they had to sedate him and as I had to leave so early in the morning to get him to the vets I figured he could spend the night in there with a bowl of water, pillow and blanket. (By crate I do not mean a cat carrier, I mean a doberman sized pet crate.) So while rushing to get everything sorted I popped into their room to pick him up and was greeted with an empty crate. I was a bit confused as I stood there looking at it, it was as though Rudi had vanished into thin air.


When I went up to the crate to see where he got out I saw that one of the doors to the crate was just pushed too so instead of being latched so clearly that was where he got out but how?!

I looked under the sofa and there he was curled up with Elspeth, they looked very cosy and I felt mean to disturb them but I needed to get him to the vets but then came the question of how to get him out from under there. He is not tame like Harry who comes running up to me, or Elspeth who knows her name and that if she answers to her name she generally gets something for it hummmm.

So off I went to find my other half. Upon finding him I told him of how Rudi had escaped his crate and was informed that Elspeth had been playing with the latch when he was in there with them a few seconds before coming to bed. It would seem Elspeth let him out and judging by the cuddles under the sofa I think maybe she meant to!

When we went back in the room all three of them were out from under the sofa which was a good start. Now to catch Rudi. I thought maybe food would work as a distraction but no, not today. Elspeth very quickly saw what we were about to do and herded Rudi into the corner and puffed her chest out to make herself look big, she was guarding him! This was so strange for me to see as Elspeth is a sweet heart normally, she never sees me as a threat yet she was acting like I was. Seeing as she is Daddy's little girl I got my other half to try to get her to move and she acted the same way towards him. My other half then sat on the sofa made as much noise eating some pringles as humanly possible and after about 5 seconds she cracked; there was possibly yummy food at stake! Rudi himself was easy to catch. He just sat there and looked at me as I scooped him up into my arms and off the the vets we went.

When we got there we told her of him symptoms again and said that nothing has changed. As I got a bit of a feel of the arm when putting him in the carrier I said it felt dislocated and she asked me to get him out of the carrier. Once out she really wanted to see him walk but Rudi was far to worried by the whole experience to move even an inch. The vet decided to x-ray him so we could see the problem.

One hour later Rudi was very dopey as he had to be sedated and we were looking at his x-ray. He has a dislocated elbow which was never popped back into the socket and thus it healed how it is now. . . I did not know what to feel. I was so happy that we now 100% knew it was not a birth defect as the woman who had him before us was told it was. Though, at the same time I was sort of sad that this was not the case as if it was there would be a reason it was not fixed but, this was neglect. . . Someone could not be bothered or did not see the point in getting this poor little boys leg fixed and due to this Rudi will forever have a limp. In time the vet believes he will have to get it amputated. . . Aren't humans just great? . .

If this had happened to a dog the vet said she would suggest that she operate to make it look better but weather or not it would be batter is a different matter. As Rudi is not as tame as my other two she said that it would be best if he not have it done as that would be a week of surgery that may or may not help him but would 100% stress him out.

So that you all up to date on Rudi; Elspeth seems to have a bit of a 'thing' for him and he cannot have his leg fixed. I will be taking him to a second vet for a second opinion as though the first vet says it causes him not pain I want to be sure.

Here is a video of him in action:

Rudi Von Sternberg

Okay so the other day when I asked you to guess who it was I was a little cheeky. . .

On the 14th of March we gained a new addition to our family in the form of a third Corsac fox, Rudi.
As Harry and Elspeth are named after the main character and the wife of the main character of my all time fave books I thougth it fitting for out third corsac to also be named after a character from the Flashman books. Rudi Von Sternberg in 'Royal Flash' (the second book) is fully Flashman’s equal in everything but courage (Rudi actually has some), and is the main foil for Flashman.

Rudi came to us as a rehome from someone we have known for a while, when she told us she had him there was no way that we could turn him down! So the photo was of Rudi Von Sternberg, the corsac fox and for those of you that guessed it was Harry he does look more like Harry then Elspeth and you were not to know hehe!

Rudi is a stunning boy. His brush is so long it really puts both Harry and Elspeth's to shame and he is shockingly big for a corsac measuring 600mm in length! (The largest corsac I have ever read about measured 560mm.) I am unsure of his weight at present as I have not had a chance to weigh him yet.

Now young Rudi has one problem. . . One of his legs is not quite right, he cannot walk on it or weigh bare on it at all and his original owner (not the woman we got him from) did not bother to get it sorted out so I am very worried about it as the longer you leave this sort of thing the harder it is to fix. I have not had a chance to check it out myself to even get a vague idea what it could be as he is very protective of his leg.

I shall let you all know how he is when I get back from the vets tomorrow.

When Rudi came home on Monday night we moved him from a pet carrier to a crate in Harry and Elspeth's bedroom where he spend the next day. Both Harry and Elspeth were very interested in the new arrival and wanted to play with him. Harry was the first to walk up to the crate and he had a good sniff of Rudi, head to tail through the bars. Rudi stood still during this and did not seem to mind much at all meanwhile Elspeth watched from under the sofa (which has become her domain). Upon Harry's return to Elspeth they both went under the sofa and had a chat about Rudi I think and then Harry got sent out again and he had a chat with Rudi (I would love to know what about!). Some way through their conversation Elspeth came out and joint them. She was acting very oddly going up to Rudi and sniffing his nose then showing him under her tail! Harry seemed upset by this and shouted at her.

On Wednesday Harry wanted Rudi out of the crate and Rudi wanted out so under close supervision I let him out. When I opened the door he just sat there and looked out. Harry went in and sat with him for a while then came and sat with me. About 2 hours later he came out. He was trying to use his bad leg but it was not going well for him. I wonder if he was trying to hide his problem from the other two? Harry hoped off the sofa to see him and Harry showed him all around their room; the toys, the blankets, where I store their treats and where to go to the toilet (which was amazing as he copied Harry peeing in the litter tray!). Rudi was having such fun until Harry jumped on his coffee table and thought that Rudi would follow but he could not. . . His leg was holding him back. I felt bad for Rudi as you could see it in his eyes that he wanted more then anything to follow his new friend. I think Harry felt bad for him as he hopped down and trotted around on the floor with him until Elspeth woke up.

When Elspeth came out from under the sofa she was not happy, I suppose the boys were too loud for her to sleep through she she came out so fast and charged at Rudi. She worried him SO much that he leapt on the table, his front paw barely touched it. For the rest of the day he would not come down for anything! (He even slept on the table!)

Now is dinner time in the Flashman household however young Rudi cannot have any as he may need to be sedated tomorrow for x-rays, poor boy he looks like he is drooling over their Gizmo burgers!

March madness!

Gosh February/March has been such a busy time in the Flashman house hold. The african pygmy dormice have had a total baby boom with 14 babies currently having to be hand tamed, 7 of which were from one mother so our largest litter yet! We also got a pair of asian garden dormice which I have wanted for quite some time. Though they are not much smaller then a rat I seldom see more then a tail hehe.


Inari and Kitsune have both been doing well and their new favourite food is giant grass hoppers. (They are very icky as when the foxes chew them as they are too big to fit in their mouths you see legs hanging out!)

Now to the Flashmans. Both Harry and Elspeth are doing very, very well, cheeky as always.

On March 4th I had a really bad day; first the tyre on the Jaguar burst and I could not change it as the week before when I got new tyres they did not put the thing to unlock the locking wheel nut back into my car SO I could not get the wheel off. I called the AA and said what the problem was and then I had to wait 1 hour for them and when they finally got to me the guy did not have the right tools to get the wheel off so THEN I had to call a tow truck to come and get my car and tow it to the Jaguar garage. By this point it was 8pm so the garage was closed but he put the car outside for in the morning. I then went home and noticed my engagement ring was gone! I have tiny fingers which get even smaller in the cold so I was sure it had fallen off. I then went and looked all around where I had been in the house and down the street then the next day I looked on the car and where I had to wait for the AA and it was nowhere to be found. I figured it was gone for good and we so unhappy!

A few days after I was going to wash Harry and Elspeth's bedding and as always Elspeth had a silly little fit because I was being mean and taking her bed from her but she was being more over the top then normal about it all and then I notice her Kong is in it so I try to get it out. When I was about to throw it to her I looked inside to see what goodies were in there and there it was, my engagement ring! I have no idea how it ended up even in her room as my other half had let them out when we got home that day and so I had not been in their room!

I took my ring to be made yet smaller the next day so this does not happen again and when I got home I was giving Harry and Elspeth treats and she tried to pull my ring off!

So um yes I just had to share that, seems Elspeth has expensive taste. . . I should not have expected any less from the little lady who on her first week home was already wearing my necklaces hehe.

Both of them are in that odd looking stage between their summer and winter coats. This goes on for so long and everyday I get covered in blonde fur, must be honest though I would not have it any other way!

The photos today are really, really bad as I had to format my PC and now all the card readers have stopped working so I had to take them with my work phone. Shall get the card 'thingys' sorted A.S.A.P.

£190 spent on dormice and all I have to show for it is a tail! :-P

Young african pygmy dormouse.

Harry upset Elspeth when he woke her up under the sofa, thats's his nose on the right.

I put my phone under the sofa and clicked; this is what I got!


Okay now for a game:

Guess who?

Mouse in a blanket

Yesterday a friend of mine asked that I post some more photos of Harry and Elspeth but instead of just looking through my hundreds and hundreds of photos to find which ones I had not yet posted I decided to take some more. Tonight was mouse in a blanket night and mouse in a blanket night happens but once every month.

Mouse in a blanket is basically where I get them one new toy mouse that emits a squeaking sound, some rawhide sticks and a fleece rug. I then roll the mouse and treats in the blanket sort of like sweets in pass the parcel, the mouse is always the prize in the middle.

The two of them love this game as normally they unroll the blanket and take the treats and mouse only to them bury them away from each other in the blanket and then have the mouse randomly start to squeak again and have to be re-found.

I was going to photograph them playing but they were just too fast for my camera so I took the following photos when they had calmed down.

Elspeth- " I'm built like a what? A snowman?. . . What is a Snowman?"

Elspeth posing

Elspeth- " That feels soooooo goood!"

Elspeth- " Yep I'm checking my man's tail out, and?!"

Harry- "Nom?"

 

I also took this photo for scale. It is not good at all but Harry just happened to be standing next to a Emerge can (it was empty do not worry). Seeing as everyone knows how big a Redbull can is (the standard size one, not the huge ones you can get now) and, that an Emerge can is the same size you can somewhat see how small he is next to say for example Englands native red fox (Vulpes Vulpes).

 



Inari and Kitsune - Love is in the air!

So recently when I have left the room Inari had made the oddest noise, I had no idea why he did this but it sure did sound odd.


One day last month I accidently left my video camera on for over 5 hours filming them and I had not gotten round to watching it all until the other day. (Less watch more listen). I noticed I had captured this sound!

So after I played the 'call' to Inari he started to reply weather I was in the room or not and then he started to get frisky with Kitsune. This happened for about two days, every time he would see her he would mount her.



After those two days he became the most loving mate following her everywhere, snuggling her and even letting her sleep in HIS bed! This has continued and as I type they are curled up together in his bed. (Inari being the little spoon as he is much smaller then Kit hehe!)

I think it is safe to say they love each other.

Today I played the sound for him once more and he did not reply, he also has not been calling at all since his two days of love.



Happy Holidays!



Happy holidays everyone!


We are so sorry we did not post on Christmas day but we have been very, very busy celebrating Christmas on three days with three groups of people (and animals of coarse). If I never eat Turkey again it may well be too soon and I think Harry and Elspeth feel the same as by day three they were turning their noses up at it.

So what did Harry and Elspeth get? Well they got some toys from their favourite company. Now the reason I say it is their favourite company is that they love every toy I get them from Play-n-squeak as the toys from there make the most annoying sound (or at least I find it annoying, you can hear it here: http://www.playnsqueak.com/) and they seem to withstand being pounced on, thrown across the room, shaken vigorously and chewed very well. We got them the 'Ball of furry fury', 'Dangle mouse', 'Spring fling' (which I had to screw to the wall in their bedroom as when they flipped it over they gave up on it) and a few 'mouse hunter' toys which they like very much!

Elspeth:

Inari and Kitsune got some kitten toys as the fully grown cat toys seem often to be to big for them but Sprite ran off with half of them within 30 mins. Oh well, at least they like to play together! I also got them some morio worms but they have those every other day so was nothing special really, they just had more then normal. I filmed Inari eating some a few days before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUzQYDG5dhk (You can see their "Ball of furry fury" at the back of the cage.)

Inari:

My partner got me some wonderful gifts including an ornament of two red fox kits, a plush little red fox and 'Biology and conservation of wild canids' which is a VERY interesting book, I actually started reading it the second I unwrapped it. Of coarse the first thing I read was 'Corsac foxes' (did you expect anything else?), though I have read most of it before in various other places over the years there was one thing I had not read before which was: 'One limiting factor is snow height in winter, as the species avoids areas where snow height exceeds 150mm'. Well now I know why Harry and Elspeth will not go out in the snow for love nor money and why they go nuts when they see it falling from the sky; it's what they all do! It is good to know that my kits are not totally crazy hehe!

December seems to be the season of foxy love as Harry and Elspeth will not leave each other alone. They are constantly grooming each other, curling up together and playing with each other it is so cute!

Well we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Harry:The flash woke him up so he was in a mood.