March 26, 2007
Critter of the Week is taking a "Spring Break" this week in order to sort through all of the fantastic supplies
donated by the
Petco Foundation
March 19, 2007          Zeus the Golden Greek Tortoise
Zeus had been a classroom pet and then a family cared for him before he
came here. He is about 12 years old and will live to be about 100! Zeus is
a favorite on our shows and fun to care for. He eat greens, fruits and
vegetables. He enjoys basking in the sun and browsing in the grass when
it is nice outside too.
We chose the characteristic
slow Tortoise this week to celebrate our big
news too- 14 months after submitting the application Critter Camp
finally
received its official 501c3 tax exempt status from the IRS!!!!!!
March 6, 2007

See the bottom of the
Home page for the Message that has been making the
rounds on our animal rescue lists!
Animals available for adoption:
3 Zebra Finch fledglings (one white and two gray) , Rick James the ball
python, and the 7 young mice ( see below) They have been adopted- March
2007
Critter Camp is a
Not-For-Profit
Registered
Charitable 501c3
Tax Exempt
Corporation

Critter Camp is a
100% NO-Kill
Shelter/Sanctuary
Operated by
Volunteers

All income
supports the
rescued animals
February 26, 2007   Derm the Ferret

Derm is a 6 1/2 year old male ferret with adrenal disease. He had extensive
fur loss when he came here but in fairly good health otherwise. Since he is
older we chose to treat the adrenal disease with a melatonin implant. It
appears that he has begun to re-grow some fur and still remains very active.
He is somewhat of a 'grumpy old man' and doesn't like to play as much as the
younger ferrets do.
We had a couple of very nice carry sacks generously donated recently to
help us hold the ferrets, and other critters, close while keeping our hands free
to do other work.
We had a blast making another video of various critters in the carry sack & we
posted it on
YouTube!!
Milo & Otis     February 19, 2007

Milo & Otis are an unusual couple! A male rat & mouse bonded pair!  They were left
at a Petco store and the manager asked if we would take them here since they would
be difficult to adopt out together and they did not want to separate them. They also
do not want to encourage such pairings as they usually are not a good idea. This is
just a rare example.  These boys are buddies, they groom each other and snuggle
up to sleep. On their ride here they huddled together for comfort. We will watch them
for any signs of aggression, but they are both mature and appear to be very happy
together.
Ferret Pre-Game Show
2-14-07

Check out our answer to
the Puppy Bowl and Kitty
Halftime Show!!
See it on YouTube too!

Other news - We have baby
finches! Three eggs
hatched and now there are
two gray and one white
healthy zebra finch
fledglings! They just
hopped out of the nest
yesterday!
Pongo Perdita Spot Streak Patch Spooky Blaze the Mice                             February 4, 2007
These adorable young rescued baby mice are available for adoption. Pongo is a male and the rest are females.
The girls can be housed together as they are litter-mates and will get along fine together. Mice can be fun and easy
pets to care for. They live about 2 years. These are now about 4 months old. They are fairly tame and should calm
down even more with some more handling. Email or call  for details.
You can also see them on our new
Petfinder.com page!
Parro & Tweety the Parakeets 1-29-07
Tweety recently came to Critter Camp to keep Parro company. Tweety had been found outside in the cold by
Animal Control. Both 'keets are boys and they get along very well, grooming each other & chattering together.
Parakeets are very social and generally need the company of another to be happy.
January 22, 2007          Brownie the Guinea Pig

Brownie is a young male guinea pig about 6 months old. He is a very handsome black and orange/brown
Abyssinian (longer haired.) He loves people, chews at his cage bars for attention, loves his head rubbed, and
does like to nibble, but not bite, fingers. We feed him pellets, oats, grass hay and fresh fruits and vegetables.
He had been given as a gift to someone who could not keep him and they could not find him a new home, so
they brought him here to Critter Camp. Guinea pigs are frequently abandoned because they require more
care than the average person realizes, and people often develop allergies to them as well. Guinea pigs are
native to South America and live in colonies in the wild.
Pinkbelly the Hairless Hamster                       January 15, 2007    (She went to the Rainbow Bridge March 2007)

Pinkbelly is a 3 year old female hairless hamster. Hairlessness is a genetic defect and they usually cannot
reproduce. Generally the hairless rodents do not live very long as they have a weakened system. When pet
stores get a hairless rodent they often ask us to take them so that we may  give  them appropriate care. We use
only Carefresh soft bedding for her and make sure she is not in a drafty area. Pinkbelly is remarkably healthy
and active. We have had to try several new cages for her because she is also an escape artist! She is fun to
watch and play with. Notice in the picture that you can see the food she stores in her cheeks. It looks pretty
unusual! We also have a video on
YouTube of her .
Critter Camp's Critter of the Week is taking a holiday season break and will return after the first of the year.

There is still time to help with our end of the year fundraiser! Donations accepted by Paypal, check money order, cash, and supplies! Visit
our website: www.crittercamp.biz

Watch for lots of exciting news coming up soon too!
And in the meantime please enjoy these websites with adorable animal pictures:

http://www.babyanimalz.com/

http://kittenwar.com/

http://www.catsinsinks.com/
Pichu the Chinchilla                                            December 11, 2006

Pichu is a young female chinchilla that came to live here about a year ago. She is the friendliest chinchilla we
have had, and right now she is our only chinchilla. She goes on our shows so everyone can feel her incredibly
soft fur! The young kids also identify with her because a character on a popular cartoon, Diego,  rescues
animals and he rescued a chinchilla once. So the kids get a kick out of petting  the same animal they saw on
TV. Chinchilla are from South America and can live up to 15 years, but they are also susceptible to respiratory
infections which are often fatal. They also need a daily dust bath to keep their fur and skin healthy. They have
orange teeth which show that they are healthy. If their teeth become white it means they aren't getting proper
nutrition. Chinchillas usually do not like to be held very much and they can hop really fast! Chinchillas are
rodents and they need to chew all of the time.
Terribly sad news: Pichu crossed the rainbow bridge within a day of showing signs of respiratory trouble.
Chinchillas can be so fragile! We will miss her greatly!
Jack & Joey the Lop Eared Rabbits                            December 4, 2006

Jack and Joey are male Lop-eared Rabbits that came to live here about a year ago. They had a wonderful
caring owner, a very mature young lady named Zoe, who had to find them a new home because of a change in
her living arrangements. These boys were introduced to our outdoor colony in the spring and fit right in. Rabbits
have a very strong "pecking order" and every rabbit needs to learn his place in the colony. Jack was the second
in command until the leader, Freckles crossed the rainbow bridge this summer. Now Jack is the top bunny in
the outdoor colony of 18 rabbits! Even though all of the rabbits are spayed and neutered they still often will pair
up with a mate. Jack's mate is Sweetie bunny. Joey is a bit farther down in rank among the other rabbits, but he
still fares quite well. He too has a mate, which sometimes changes, but is usually Smokey. The outdoor colony
of rabbits has a large building that is insulated, heated and cooled, as well as two outside runs to play and
graze in. They are very happy and healthy rabbits. Zoe and her mom came to visit this summer and were glad
to see the boys doing so well.
We hope we can raise enough funds to continue to accept more rabbits - we are up to 31 now! And to be able
to build another enclosure for the 13 rabbits currently inside the house, so they can run free and play like the
first colony. Of course they will all need to be spayed and neutered.
We are very grateful to Save a Lot Grocery store in Freeport for donating produce for the rabbits and other
critters to eat! Thank you!
Flash the Fennec Fox         November 27, 2006

Flash is five years old and had been through several owners before coming here to Critter Camp in May of this
year. We had him neutered & vaccinated and he is very healthy. Fennecs are native to Africa and were
prominent in Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Flash has free run of the house except when we are gone or asleep,
then he is in his multilevel large cage. He sees his cage as his den, a safe place where he often goes to sleep
during the daytime. He does an adorable "squealie dance" when he greets us and is happy and showing off a
toy he found. Flash is one of our more unique Critters here and we absolutely adore him! Check out the videos
of him on
You Tube too!
Quagmire the Bearded Dragon                               November 20, 2006

Quagmire is a bearded dragon lizard native to Australia. He was abandoned by a family that moved away. He is
about 5 years old. His name is Quagmire, because his head bobbing looks very much like the character
Quagmire on the Television show Family Guy. We posted a video of his head bobbing on
YouTube and it is even
mentioned on the
Planet Family Guy website! Quagmire always goes with us on our shows. We have him and
our other male Blonde D do their head bobbing for the audience. Quag also tries to catch whatever moves on
the computer screen too :)
You can buy merchandise with Quagmire's picture on it at our
Cafe Press store too!
Ferri the Ferret                                         November 13,2006
Ferri was our very first "exotic" rescue here at Critter Camp. Ferri had been returned to a pet store by someone
who had purchased him and then decided they didn't want him. The store was having trouble re-homing him
because he was an adult and we agreed to take him in. We took in his cousin Anastasia as well to keep him
company since ferrets are very social and love to play, sleep and snuggle with each other.
Ferri has a unique black nose. He has a wonderful personality. He is very friendly with people and other
animals. His favorite pastimes are sampling new treats and sleeping in a heap with G-Weasel and Smokey.
Critter Camp
Exotic Pet Sanctuary
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Critter of the Week
March 11, 2007
Update on Derm the Ferret - he is regrowing his fur very rapidly now!
He is also perkier and happier! We are very glad we chose to treat his
adrenal disease with a melatonin implant.
We also welcome Sable the Pomeranian, she will be living with
Amanda & Justin and Smokey the Chihuahua.
April 9, 2007 Happy
Easter!
See our Easter Slide
Show on
YouTube and
pictures of the new
Baby Degus too!
Come visit us at Rock Valley College in Rockford this Saturday, April 21, 2007 for the Earth Day Expo!
April 30, 2007
See new
Photo page & Dollar Drive

April 24, 2007
Help Senator Dick Durbin work for Pet Food Safety!
Click
here to write to the FDA!