The Plan

by CinnamonPearl Tue 04 Oct 2016, 11:39 am

Hello everyone! I guess I should apologize for being so inactive again. Applying for college and prepping for a craft fair will take up your time!

But anyway, this post is gonna be rambly, but I finally have a plan for the future in terms of pets. Right now, it's just me and Henry. That boy is an absolute joy! He's high strung, but he's funny and he loves to climb. I always thought having only one mouse would be scary, but it's been nice and relaxing. But unfortunately, as of now, he will be my last mouse for a long time, at least if everything goes according to plan. Because the mouse bug is leaving me! This is the first time that one of my mice has passed away and I haven't felt an immediate drive to adopt ten more. I actually feel ready to move on and try new animals. And a bug that has come back for me harder than ever is the bunny bug! I really wanna try bunnies! I made my mom promise to let me foster a bunny in January after college stuff is over and my schedule's freed up. It's gonna be my last chance to try bunny care hands on for a while, so I'm excited! Right now I have no plans to adopt, but that might change~

I found out that one of the colleges I'm applying to, Cornell University, has PET FRIENDLY HOUSING AVAILABLE FOR FRESHMEN! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! It's an absolute reach school, but if I can get in, I won't even have to take a break from animals for a year! So I'm fighting hard for it. If I get in, Henry is in line to come with me to college. But if he's not alive by then, which odds are he won't be, then I'm absolutely going to adopt a bunny and bring them with me. I'm so excited about it! Of course, if I don't get in, that'll be a huge let down. But I'm going to try!

Anyway, sorry to ramble. You guys probably aren't interested in watching someone talk about how eager they are to not have mice, but it feels good to outline my plan. Done for now!

by Snootietoots Tue 04 Oct 2016, 12:08 pm

I hope everything goes well for you! Good luck !! Smile

by MouseLover Tue 04 Oct 2016, 4:23 pm

Pet friendly housing would be AMAZING Very Happy

it would be so cute and lovely to have either Henry or a bunny with you. I wish you the best of luck Very Happy

by MooMouse Tue 04 Oct 2016, 5:10 pm

Wow, I didn't know that about Cornell! If you don't mind me asking, what are you going for? I still have a couple years to decide on colleges and Cornell is one of my many options. I hope you get in! Pet-friendly housing would be amazing!

by CallaLily Tue 04 Oct 2016, 5:24 pm

That would be great if you could have a pet with you! I hope that even when you're mouse free you pop in here now and then. Very Happy

by EverythingAnimal Tue 04 Oct 2016, 5:55 pm

I feel like a pet, especially a rabbit, would be very difficult to have time for in college. But knowing the commitments you have taken with your mice, I'm sure you can make it work! Best of luck.

by CinnamonPearl Tue 04 Oct 2016, 6:26 pm

Thank you all for the support! It really means a lot. Smile

Moomouse, I'll be going to be an animal science major and eventually apply for their vet school through the early registration program. Cornell has a wide variety of options, but in terms of animal science, they're the best in the country.

Calla, of course I'll pop in! Time will be hard to come by, but I owe it to the people who helped me along so much through my mouse journey! And of course, Henry isn't the end of the story when it comes to me and mice. I'll have them again! I'm just ready for a breath of fresh air.

EverythingAnimal, I've honestly found that time is really an illusion. When people say they're too busy to do something, it's both because they're busy but also because deep down, they don't really want to. That's especially true for me. But I'm passionate about animals and keeping them, so if I don't have time, I'll make time. Haha! Admittedly mice would be easier in college since they're very easy to keep and take hardly any time to care for. But I really want someone new (and longer-lived). The aim is to foster animals starting in January to get a feel for how much time they take to keep and see what I want. My mom gave me permission to foster a rabbit, but I'd also like to try guinea pigs. :3 I'm between them right now.

Of course, if Cornell doesn't happen, I'll go on break for a year, which would be very sad. Sad

But I'm trying my hardest.

by Peachy Tue 04 Oct 2016, 10:23 pm

Good luck with everything you've got coming up. Fostering will be so much fun! My shelter always asks for experienced homes only. Sad

by MesaMouse Wed 05 Oct 2016, 12:28 am

Cornell is such an awesome school for most subjects but especially for anything in the sciences or medical fields. We'll be pulling for you to gain admission!

Re rabbits in a dorm-like setting: unless you're talking about a dwarf bun, I'd really think twice. Way back a thousand years ago when I was a student at SUNY Binghamton/Harpur College, my roommate and I first had a full-size rabbit and eventually a guinea pig. The rabbit was almost impossible to keep in fairly large dorm room: he hated to be caged when we were in class and would bang and rattle the bars of the huge cage to the point that the RA received complaints. When we were in the room, studying or just relaxing, he was free to roam about but was always trying to escape from the room. After a stressful semester of not being able to have the door or windows open lest he make a break for it, I ended up taking him home and later gave him to a breeder out in Suffolk county as a stud bunny. The guinea pig, a rust colored male named Seagrams the 7th (college students + booze ergo the name stands to reason), was an absolute joy and perfect for dorm life. He'd start popcorning in his cage and uttering his "wheek! wheek!" cries as soon as one of us came in (bearing salad from the dining hall) and was always delighted to cuddle on the bed with no thought of escaping to the noisy and scary world beyond our door.

by CinnamonPearl Wed 05 Oct 2016, 5:48 am

Thank you for sharing, Mesa! I could be wrong, but that sounds like more of a personality issue than a species-based issue though. That's why I plan to foster the rabbit I intend to adopt first, though, and I'll definitely choose a small species. They don't even allow large breed rabbits cause the maximum cage size is 25 cubic feet (which works cause for dwarf rabbits, a cage of 4'x3'x2' is pretty perfect).

I am considering Guinea pigs too, though. I'm in between them now, and though I'd prefer to finally have a rabbit, I am open to options! You guys are more experienced than I- do you think Guinea pigs would be a better pet for a college setting?

by MooMouse Wed 05 Oct 2016, 1:57 pm

From personal experience, I think that a guinea pig would definitely be better. When my best friend had rabbits a few years ago I remember that you couldn't even put them on the ground outside their hutch (they lived outside) without them trying to run under the deck. I think that rabbits will just try to escape more in general, they will try to chew through wood or plastic and dig under fences to escape. As for guinea pigs, they are much more content with their environment. Once, I forgot to close the door on my guinea pig's cage before school and when I came home and he was still in the cage (thank goodness). They also will snuggle with you! It's adorable! I would definitely recommend guinea pigs over a bunny for a dorm room.

by CinnamonPearl Wed 05 Oct 2016, 4:15 pm

Seems like guinea pigs are the initial consensus! I should start doing some research on them. I'll wait to see if anyone else has anymore input though.

by River Wed 05 Oct 2016, 5:57 pm

Seems like those were rabbits with personality problems. I've owned mostly large breed rabbits, particularly New Zealands, and I've never had any problem with them. They like to be out, of course, but they're content in their cage so long as it's truly big enough. I found the bucks to be the calmer out of the two genders in rabbits. Maybe that has something to do with it?
I'm gonna recommend rabbits over guinea pigs. Guinea pigs can be fairly vocal, and they're not as longlived. Smile

by CinnamonPearl Tue 18 Oct 2016, 6:31 am

So I know I said the mouse bug had left me and I was ready to move on...... But I guess when you least expect it, it comes for you twice as strong! I've now become tempted to adopt a colony of five girls. XD I submitted my application to Cornell, so if I get in, I've got a lot to think about then. But if not, it'll just be me and Henry still!

by CanadianExport Tue 18 Oct 2016, 11:27 am

I understand the need for change. My recommendation personally would be to take a quarter/semester to just get a feel for school before making a commitment to an animal. I have been in school full-time for the last 3 years both as an undergraduate and a graduate student and taking care of my senior dog throughout that time has been a huge struggle and I think a rabbit would be about the same level of time commitment. If you get a feel for college and still decide that you want a rabbit/guinea pig than that would be wonderful to be able to have but that way if college is more overwhelming than you thought you do not have to stress about having taken on such a huge commitment. Don't get me wrong, I love my dog and have made it work but it has not been the ideal environment for either of us and we have lived in a large two bedroom townhouse with a yard.

But this is just my two cents, Very Happy

I wish you the best in your future endeavors and hope you get into Cornell!

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