Life is busy and bustling these days, not that I'm complaining. Just doesn't give me as much time to blog as I'd like. So here are this week's updates in a nutshell.
After losing Chance, Noby was left without a cagemate, so I brought home a new little guy named Burns. He's solid black, slightly chubby, and relatively sociable. From here on out, the mice will be on a more restricted diet, and I did furnish the cage with a new wheel in hopes that they will exercise at least occasionally. Burns and Noby hit it off immediately and spend a good bit of time grooming one another and cuddling in their igloo. A photo will be taken and posted once he has an opportunity to settle in a bit.
I also brought home a bamboo shrimp and a couple of tiny molly fry. The bamboo shrimp found his way to the clump of hornwort floating on the surface in the 28g tank where he can sit directly in the current and feed on whatever comes his way. The molly fry went into the 10g brackish tank and so far only one is active and comes to the surface to feed, but it's also the largest of the duo and is probably less afraid of the bigger fish.
The 10g tank is doing amazingly well with all of the fish, shrimp, and plants flourishing! The bumblebee gobies are even doing well and getting enough to eat. I ensure this by feeding flakes on the surface to distract the larger fish and then dropping a variety of sinking foods (Aquadine, pieces of algae wafers, and shrimp pellets). Occasionally the mollies are fed freeze-dried tubifex worms, which they make a mess with, allowing the gobies to chase the floating particles.
The 28g tank is still not quite up to par and it looks like it may again have ich. I could just scream...but... 
eh. C'est la vie, I suppose. It may be time to bring in the malachite green, but that involves removing the filter media, which I'm not keen on doing. Medications are a last resort in my tanks, but this issue just won't go away! The corydoras are all gone (and won't be replaced) due to the increased salinity. The rainbowfish appear quite healthy aside from the few white specks here and there. I just don't get it. All I can figure is that this is a result of fluctuating temperatures and another reason why this tank shouldn't have been placed so close to my sliding glass patio door. But it's been maintaining a temperature between 78-80 degrees F for at least a week now, so... 
The plants weren't doing so well, which I attributed to the raised temperatures (back when it was kept up around 86 degrees F), and algae began to take over. One of the fluorescent lights is now kept off with the remaining strip light kept on fewer hours (no more than 10) and 3 more black mystery snails were added. The sunlight coming in from the patio door is likely the culprit causing the algae growth, though it's not excessive yet. Since reducing the light exposure time, the hornwort is back to growing full-force and the red ludwigia is perking up some.
The rats are all doing better, though Jimmie continues to make odd noises and remains a bit shaky. Keefer still isn't a fan of being handled though he will come out of the cage to run around the livingroom from time to time. And Grizzle is just as playful and sweet as always. 
Bob is bored. He's taken to pestering me constantly to toss his toy mouse, which he fetches better than most dogs I know AND brings it back. The rats just don't hold his attention like they used to, though he absolutely adores watching his mice through the cage bars. The night I brought home Burns, Bob purred and begged to be held up to look into the cage, leaning back every couple of minutes to lick my lips. lol He can be such a sweetheart when he wants to be. I'm seriously considering adopting a second cat so that he'll have a playmate that is just as rough-and-tumble as he is. He gets frustrated with the ratty boys because they squeal when he's too rough, resulting in him getting in trouble. Poor Bob. Maybe sometime soon I'll look into bringing home a neutered or spayed kitten so that they can tear through the apartment and keep one another company when I'm at work or school.
(Can't help but shudder at the idea of another kitten though - that's another set of claws and teeth to destroy the furniture and my skin LOL)
It's such a sad night. Chance, my wonderful mouse, died. He was so sweet and curious, even coming up to the cage bars to sniff my cat, Bob. I discovered him in his cage last night after class, still warm to the touch. He's a chubby little guy, but now I wonder if that wasn't what led to his untimely end. Perhaps he was older than any of us realized, considering how short of a life span mice have. I wish there were some way to know.
He will be missed very, very much.
A co-worker shared a couple of 100mg Doxycycline capsules (an antimicrobial) with me to give to the ratty boys and they began this leg of their treatment tonight. According to the dosage recommendations on this site, they are to receive approximately 2.5mg twice per day mixed in with chicken and vegetable baby food.
So far, they are all showing improvement, especially little Jimmie Bo. Jimmie is eating well and has put on a bit of weight and the shakes have subsided. He's still slightly on the frail side, but his energy level is boosted considerably compared to last week. I've cut back on the Ensure since running out of the last bottle of antibiotics and he seems to be doing fine. 
For a while there I worried we might lose him, but now it appears he's going to make a full recovery.
Keefer is still quite nervous and doesn't care to be handled much. He's also developed a problem with being a bit nippy, likely due to me feeding him through the cage bars. He'll walk up and sniff me but doesn't like being held and so far doesn't respond to his name. He gets along with Grizzle wonderfully though and tolerates Jimmie (who's known for being quite pushy with the bigger rats in his attempts to cuddle).
I allow them all to play together for a few hours a day but then Jimmie is removed to his own makeshift quarantine, which he can't stand since he loves being with the other two. So long as he's still chattering and making odd noises, I prefer that he be isolated.
The sneezing has reduced substantially in all three and there's no more porphyrin discharge, though now they're all itching and scratching a lot. Might need to have that looked at next.
All in all, they seem to be doing much better, which I'm very thankful for. 
Well, we went and saw the vet on Saturday and sure enough, they all have respiratory problems. Especially Jimmie. So, they now receive some oral medication that they absolutely cannot stand! Trying to get these guys to take medicine from a syringe was just awful, so I decided to mix it in with some baby food instead. That seems to be working with everyone except Keefer.
Keefer is seriously hating on me now, btw.
Grizzle actually gave me the toughest time with taking his meds. He squealed and grunted and carried on to where I finally just had to give up and switch tactics. He's not too fond of me at the moment either.
Jimmie does appear to have a little more energy and is eating better. He drinks his Ensure without any problem and digs the new rat food mix. But the poor guy is so lonely being isolated in a separate cage (vet's orders). When let out for a moment, he immediately takes off toward the big cage and tries to find a way to climb in so he can join his ratty brothers. Poor little baby.
Hopefully their conditions will improve as the week goes on.
Last night I purchased an assortment of organic grains, oats, and nuts from Hyvee and created this hodge-podge mix for the ratty boys. Almost everything added to the mix is organic and includes:
These ingredients were mixed in with the remaining portion of Reggie Rat food and a few Kaytee blocks (not to be purchased again), dry pasta, and three types of Solid Gold dog food (thanks to receiving plenty of sample packs from work!). And it's a big hit with all of the rats and mice! 
This made a significant batch divided into three air-tight containers for easy storage. I expect it will last quite a while.
They also receive Harlan Teklad rat lab blocks (purchased from Aqualand Pets Plus) and plenty of fresh veggies and fruits.
Jimmie also receives Ensure (vanilla flavor) and organic Gerber baby food to help keep his strength up.
This mix is a modified version of the popular Suebee's Rat Diet.
In an attempt to find out what's wrong with my Jimmie, I came across an article about mycoplasmosis pulmonis, which is commonly carried in rats. Jimmie's symptoms fit the profile of a rat with myco complicated by either a bacterial or viral infection to a tee. The article claims that rats can exist in this terminal state for weeks or months before finally succumbing to the infection. And there is no cure or vaccine currently available. All they can do is treat the symptoms. 
What's really irking me right now is that Jimmie was sick at the pet store and I wasn't aware of it. After I got him home it became apparent, and later I revisited his cagemates and they're all showing similar symptoms (which I reported though nothing was done about it while I was there that night). This is why quarantining new rats is so important...and I should have known better. But I just didn't realize how prevalant respiratory problems are in rats or how contagious these infections can be. My ignorance may have exposed my beloved Grizzle (and Keefer) to a life-threatening condition. Grizzle wasn't sneezing prior to last week. 
Well...damn. What can you do at this point? From what I'm reading, all I can really do is try to make Jimmie comfortable with antibiotics while the myco organism runs its course. The others should receive antibiotic treatment as well, and I plan to supplement this with echinacea to boost their immune systems. Echinacea is reputed as helpful in alleviating mild symptoms and isn't linked (so far) to any toxicity issues in rats. You can find out more about the purported benefits of using echinacea by reading this article.
The word is that we should look for myco-resistant rats from reputable breeders. The local pet store is where Grizzle came from and he's turned out fine, but I guess the third rat pushed my luck.
Just a quick update on Keefer's situation...
He is making progress! Last night and tonight he came out of the cage to run around the livingroom for a little while alongside Grizzle (who kept abandoning him, I might add). He's not terribly fond of the cat following him around, but he appeared to be enjoying himself and even wrestled with Grizzle playfully. He still has trepidations over accepting food directly from my hand, preferring that I drop it in front of him, but he makes more of an effort to approach my fingers to sniff.
Tonight he tried peanut butter on a spoon for the first time and dug it completely!
Progress is slow, but it's progress nevertheless! 
Both Keefer and Grizzle will be checked out by the vet soon for their sneezing, which has worsened a bit over the last few days. This is a common issue that plagues rats and sometimes requires antibiotics to fight off the infection.
At this time, Jimmie's condition appears to be declining. I've been waiting for Saturday when the only local vet I know that treats rats will be offering in-store wellness hours at Petco, but he's not doing so good in the meantime. Jimmie's a little trooper though, despite his drastic weight loss and shakiness, and continues to hog out on food. For the time being, he's been separated from Grizzle and Keefer until we can determine the problem. His symptoms include: watery stools (on occasion), severe shakiness, rapid breathing, limpness, slight lethargy at times, and weight loss. He hasn't been sneezing much the past couple of days though.
It's really sad how he seeks out the other two rats just to lie against them for comfort. Poor little thing. Last night I placed him in the cloth carrier where I could place my hand inside for him to cuddle up against for an hour or so since the other rats don't seem that interested in tending to him.
At first, I assumed it was a respiratory infection brought on by mycoplasmosis pulmonis, which is very common in rats, but now it appears to be something much worse. We'll just have to wait and see what Dr. Anderson recommends.
Myself included. Bob is having sinus problems once again and appears to be running a fever, so he'll have to go in to see the vet very soon.
Keefer seems to be relaxing a little and will let me pet him through the cage wires though he continues to sneeze often.
Jimmie is awfully skinny and breaths rapidly, so he needs to be looked at by Dr. Anderson and possibly prescribed some antibiotics. I do what I can to fatten him up and he eats like a little pig, but his body feels light and limp and he shakes more than any little rattie I've ever seen.
Even the dang 28g tank has ich once again! I've considered just leaving the temperature up around 86 degrees F but then my plants all began to wilt and die. 
No new fish have been added, but the two albino corydoras catfish died recently. My water parameters all check out fine and water changes are done weekly or bi-weekly (usually 20%). No clue what I'm doing wrong here...
Grizzle seems to be the only one without a worry in the world! lol
Oh, but let's not forget Valentine's Day is just around the corner! Grizzle and I are supposed to make an appearance at Petco on Buffalo Rd. this Saturday afternoon to enter into a "best kiss" contest and possibly decorate a cookie. The other two rats may have to come along to visit Dr. Anderson during his in-store hours. If I had another pair of arms, I'd love to bring Bob as well, but alas...he's been out and about in public many times and this will be a first for the ratty boys.
Eight more days 'til Valentine's Day!
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