I am ridiculously proud of myself and need to share this story. Unfortunately, no one I know really gives a hoot and/or thinks I'm nuts
Yesterday, while walking my dog, I found two hamster cages: a "CritterTrail 2", a "CritterTrail Dazzle," and additional connection tubes. Someone in my apartment building snuck them out in the middle of the night and tossed them in the recycling dumpster clearly marked
Cardboard Only. I know where they came from, because the previous owner had the CT2 on their balcony since this past summer
I pulled them out of the dumpster and, oh my word, they were FILLED with soiled bedding. These cages hadn't been cleaned in at least four months (assuming there was only one syrian hamster in there).
It just so happens that I know a good amount about these cages and how to clean/restore them. I also knew the stuff retails close to $100. I took them home with me and tossed them in the bathtub to work on later.
O-M-G, when I got back to it in the afternoon the stench was incredible. Everything was frozen when I brought it in and had defrosted during the day. It was....bad. I actually started retching at one point. I wore gloves, cleared out the bedding, and then filled the tub with hot water and TONS of Clorox. I felt really bad for the animal(s) that lived in this mess. People sometimes don't realize that not cleaning their pet's habitat becomes animal cruelty at a certain point. Thankfully, they bought a new easier to clean habitat (the box was in the dumpster). Better late than never!
It took a couple hours, but I am proud to say that I have a fully functional CT2 and a partial CTDazzle (some parts were just too far gone and/or impossible to clean).
Thanks for listening! I sorta wish I took before & after photos. ^_^
FYI - I don't have any critters and don't plan to get any in the near future. If you need parts for a CT1/Dazzle, let me know! I may donate the CT2 to the local humane society.
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