Update: re: Susan

Poststructural Pub
1

She died.

Apparently the city’s water is not good for fish (because of the way it’s treated?), but nobody told me that. :sniffle:

I used dechlorinator and water conditioner but it didn’t help.

I buried her in my pothos plant.

Anyway, since I am a fish murderer, I thought about getting some mice.

I can’t have mice, of course, because I live in a dorm.

But if I COULD have mice, I would have to hide them in a large dark grey sterilite container, and they would look exactly like this:

…and their names would be Mildred (white/yellow) and Pat (yellowish brown).

And they might be pregnant but, being a former hobby-color mouse breeder myself, I would know that both of these ladies exhibited a dominant red-yellow hair gene and that makes mice (and people) pre-disposed to obesity.

2

Those are very nice looking mice that you don’t have. One looks almost ‘brindle’ in coloration. Sorry about Susan.

3

The kind of yellow/red they both have is really distinct in mice. It causes obesity and is more “brassy” than the recessive yellow/red which does not cause obesity, I think.

I am so bizarre for knowing that off the top of my head.

I used to remember the symbols to represent that color. I think they were Ay/*

The white and yellow one is probably Ay/* s/s (where s/s stands for recesssive white spotting) and the “brindle” one is Ay/* A/* and/or Ay/* B/* (where the large A stands for agouti, also known as wild color, and the large B stands for solid black, although she could be just about anything because the Ay/* covers up a lot and makes for some weird patchiness in different colors sometimes).

4

Oh, gee, has your roommate not found them yet?

And, gee, I hope he’s not allergic to rodent serum proteins. Hope nobody in your whole dorm isn’t allergic to rodent serum proteins. What a load of misery you could cause for some unsuspecting student . . . who’ll have no idea what the source of his education-ruining wheezing is . . .

5

He’d be hurting anyway, because all around us are trees and in the trees (and on the ground, and in the dumpsters, and in the eaves of buildings, and on top of buildings, and in parking lots, and on benches…) are literally hundreds (mabey thousands?) of squirrels and a few chipmunks thrown in for good measure.

They are literally EVERYWHERE. I saw one the other day eating mushrooms. They must have ran out of nuts. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Sorry to hear about Susan, Cran. It happens to just about every fish owner I’ve ever known, though, so try not to feel too bad for too long.

Good luck with the mice - maybe some discreet enquiries about your dormmates’ allergies could highlight any potential problems. Or you could get a pet garden gnome, I hear they’re good company, keep secrets well, and have an aptitude for travel…

7

Hi Cran,

I wouldn’t give up on fish for good just yet. They are a real pleasure, and very relaxing to watch.

You should set up the aquarium, with an air bubbler if possible (though these can be noisy in a bedroom), to acclimatise for at least a week, and preferably two, before introducing any fish. Decholrination additives should be used when you set it up, not added to the water once the fish are in.

Every week, you should change 10% of the water in the tank. Set aside the correct volume of water, add the de-chlorinator, cover to stop dust and dirt getting in, and leave overnight to acclimatise. Then remove 10% of the aquarium water, preferably by syphoning out with a plastic tube from the bottom. This will help remove fish poo, uneated food, and bits of gunk from the bottom of the tank. Top the tank up again using the water you have prepared, carefully so as not to stir up too much bottom gunk still remaining.

A fish can be a companion for years, if you are lucky.

Now a fish tale. A year or so ago I bought nine goldfish of various sorts, making sure their combined length was appropriate for the size of my tank. Within a week, four had died. The remaining five lived happily for over many months (and sevela long absences of me, living on holiday feed blocks) until this summer, when I noticed that one had a bit of whitespot on his nose. I bought some whitespot medicine, and added a measure to the tank. Sadly I read the tiny print instructions wrong, and added 10x too much. By the morning I had five ailing fish. The basic “no frills” goldfish lasted the longest, but sadly I had poisoned the water too much, and none survived.

You should look closely at fish at least once a week, and at the first sign of illness (usually a visible growth on the scales) add the correct medicine in the correct dosage. Too little is safer than too much.

Also, I wouldn’t advise putting ivy or other land based plants in the tank, just fishweed bought at a store for the purpose.

8

I know, Martin.

I cycled the tank and I did everything perfectly (I used to have a lot of tanks running) but the city water is evil.

9

Plus, even folks who don’t like them, or find them ‘creepy’ don’t have much weight behind any complaints, and they won’t get you evicted from the dorm, and they won’t die on you… usually.

So sorry about Susan. I love the mice! So pretty, cute, and wow on that brindled one! I hope you don’t have any trouble because of their presence. I prefer rats though.

10

Fair enough. Just that sometimes fish just die, is all.

Am I the only person who read that you’d like to have mice, but can’t, because you live in a dorm? :confused:

11

Martin: That’s the way I read it, also.

12

Hahaha.

13

:confused: :confused:

Cran: Are you trying to say that Martin and I are being a bit, dense? That could be true for me, but never Martin.

Tom

14

Mabey. :wink:

15

I read that and thought we were planning SusanFx’s funeral. :astonished:

Apparently the city’s water is not good for fish (because of the way it’s treated?), but nobody told me that. > :sniffle:

Then I read THAT and realized it was your FISH that died. Sorry to hear about your fish.

Borrowing from Mark Twain, “I’m pleased to announce that the report of SusanFx’s demise has been greatly exaggerated.” [Although, coming from me instead of Suzan, it seems to lose much of it’s humour.]

Will O’Ban

16

Sorry about the fish. Hope the mouse idea works out.

17

Ah, the correct reading is that he already has the mice even though he lives in a dorm which prohibits them. And is apparently unconcerned about his roomate’s interest in living with rodents, with the health of his neighbors, and with his continued enrollment at that institution.

Sorry. Extremely low tolerance here for disrespect of others’ right to a safe living environment and justification of selfish behavior with claims that it’s ok to do so because there are already squirrels outside.

18

Well, you’re not gonna like it when I say this, but one of the other guys has a rabbit in his dorm. And it’s a GIANT rabbit. And another has a turtle, both of which are unallowed as per the rules. These are just the ones I know of, of course…

I’ve come to understand that it’s one of those rules which is overlooked and not enforced unless it causes a really bad problem (i.e. rabbits, turtles, or mice take over the town and kill everybody).

19

I dunno. After that whole BLACK DEATH THING, I sort of have an aversion to rodents. Of course THIS didn’t help much either:






Will O’Ban

20

Ah, I see. It’s ok to do something inconsiderate and uncharitable because others are doing it, too.

But you follow the teachings of . . . oh, well . . . nevermind . . .