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After nearly eight ratless years, I will soon join the ranks of rat owners again! We're saving up for a Martin's cage, then when that arrives, we will begin the hunt for a pair of little girl rats. I'm extra excited because I thought I would never be able to have rats again -- when I had rats before, I developed an allergy and it stuck around for a few years. However, it seems to have gotten better (after handling the sweetest champagne-hooded dumbo the other day and coming out welt-free!) and I've learned better ways of managing potential future allergic reactions. The main thing will be a fully open cage, rather than an aquarium and a tank topper, as well as routine nail trimming and providing nail-blunting things in the cage. Pictures to come in a couple of weeks once we get everything done, home and settled!
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Nov 26, 2012 22:09
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 04:27 |
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We got our girls last night -- a champagne capped dumbo named Amelia and a mismarked black capped named Faye! Faye is about a week younger and a little camera-shy, so this post will be Amelia-heavy. Amelia is climbing up the inside of my sleeve as I type this.  You can see a little of Faye in these pictures of them mauling my boyfriend:  
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Dec 1, 2012 22:43
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Amiss posted:This is an excellent precaution against RES, but you really can't be too careful... Pardon my ignorance, but what's RES?
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Dec 2, 2012 02:48
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Sounds like a serious condition. I'll get right on that.
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Dec 2, 2012 03:10
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Good morning, Amelia! She had a busy night of hiding all of her food and dismantling the ladders in her cage. Edited to add: Faye!  Amelia with a carrot 
Patchouli Patrol fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Dec 3, 2012 |
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Dec 2, 2012 15:19
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My dumbo, Amelia, has been sneezing since we brought the two of them home ten days ago. She's not showing any other symptoms -- she is playful, curious and active, no poryphrin on her eyes or nose, eats well, not hearing any wheezes or other respiratory difficulty. Faye is doing fine and has no sneeziness at all. Could it still be new home sneezes? Or could she just be a sneezy rat? We don't have any sort of air freshener or incense around and neither of us wears perfume or cologne.
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Dec 10, 2012 03:57
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Got some great pics of the girls at dinnertime today. The empty bowl is not because I'm a bad ratkeeper -- Amelia stashes all food at the bottom of the cage as soon as it hits the bowl, as you will see in some of the pictures. They get lab blocks in the morning, fresh veggies and other things at night. All of it gets stashed immediately in a mad dash relay race deal. I even got some pictures of Faye this time! Faye in the stash, working on some broccoli stalks and pork chop bones  Faye chilling by the house. The red on the roof was from the spaghetti they were given -- Amelia felt the need to drag it OVER the house on the way to the stash.  "Please rescue me! They never feed me," cries Amelia.  And this last picture basically captures both of their personalities. 
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Dec 13, 2012 06:59
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Sorry if I'm being a pest or an overly paranoid first-time-having-rats-in-over-a-decade person, but more questions about Amelia. Her sneezing has become occasionally... squeaky. That's the only way I can describe it. Also, she has a clear discharge coming from her nose. Should I keep with the wait-and-see, or is it now vet territory?
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Dec 13, 2012 20:39
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Day two of Baytril with Amelia -- a lot of it seems to end up everywhere but in her mouth.
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Dec 16, 2012 20:45
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I always kept a styptic pencil around for my birds in case of a situation like that one -- will the same work for rats?
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Dec 16, 2012 21:38
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Amelia has picked up an interesting new hobby -- attempting to pull our lips open so she can lick the inside. Where the hell did she even get an idea like that? I love her anyway.
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Dec 30, 2012 01:01
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Fraction posted:Your mouth smells of food, she wants that food. I would reeeeeally advise to NOT let her do that, because not only is it unhygienic, it's also potentially dangerous if she decides to suddenly chomp down. Oh yeah, we redirect her every time she tries. She's doing it less and less, though. And here's some photospam:  Post-bath towel time!   She was capped as a baby, but it turns out her adult coat is almost Himalayan? 
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Dec 30, 2012 20:52
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Nono, the black capped is a different rat. Amelia started off looking champagne capped --you can still sort of see it when she's wet.
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Dec 31, 2012 18:31
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Girls. Giiiirls. You have toys, including a badass piņata that is full of treats. Why do you insist on ignoring the toys and repeatedly ripping the roof off of your house and chewing the bars, instead?
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Jan 12, 2013 18:38
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The same reason my girls have ripped the roof off of their house AGAIN.
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Jan 13, 2013 02:00
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They ripped the roof off of the house again. They are incredibly unapologetic.  In fact, it appears not a single gently caress was given that day. 
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Jan 13, 2013 22:33
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I'm pretty sure there is nothing cuter than a sleepy, comfortable rat. Bonus points if they are in a hammock or buried up to their neck in bedding.
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Jan 20, 2013 16:49
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Okay, so Oswald is basically so cute that I'm gonna die.
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Jan 26, 2013 06:16
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Owner benefits from having at least two rats: Snuggling, antics, adorableness. Do it!
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Feb 3, 2013 01:12
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Except most middle-age ladies don't tackle the babies to make sure they know who's boss.
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Feb 5, 2013 06:31
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Fraction posted:Bumping to ask if anyone knows what the dark gunk around Pippin's eyes in the pics is - porphyrin from moving stress? It's not as obvious irl as in pictures but I want to make sure she is okay It could be. It also could just be the rat equivalent of sleep in your eyes. Keep an eye on her for other symptoms, but don't worry too much.
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Feb 7, 2013 17:12
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We're likely getting a third this weekend. The younger sister of a friend of mine got a rat for Christmas, but it seems their father is allergic, so I offered to take her. She has her own cage and our current really isn't big enough for three, so we're going to give them lots of out-of-cage playtime together until we get our new cage, but they will go back to the cages they know until then.
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Feb 14, 2013 07:34
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The newest rat, who was named Luna by her previous owner and we decided to keep the name, arrived today. The cage she's in is nearly twice the size of the one we have our two girls in right now, so we're going to move them all in there once we deem it suitable. She's agouti hooded and lovely -- currently stashing blueberries. I don't know why a single rat would feel the need to stash, but hey, rats. Pictures to come tomorrow!
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Feb 17, 2013 03:12
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Sorry, they're being adorable, difficult-to-photograph snots lately. The best picture I got was with my phone, so apologies for the quality. The one on top is Faye, the one on the bottom is Luna (who is sleeping with her eyes open). That ugly thing in the background is a roasted brussels sprout.  So we introduced them on our bed the first night and at first, Luna (the new one) was freaked right out with all of the chasing and humping and such. After a while, she and Faye decided to become BFF and make a fort out of our blankets and that was that -- we moved them all into the big cage that night. There was maybe an hour of dominance tussling between Faye and Luna, but then it was like they'd always been together. Amelia is either super happy at the bottom of the pecking order or is too dumb to care. During the dominance stuff, she was busy stashing all of the food and playing "the floor is lava" and Spider-Ratting all over the cage, which is her preferred form of locomotion.
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Feb 19, 2013 05:38
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It's available on YouTube with a soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WWWG3libBk Edited to add: So apparently my girls know that chewing on the bars is bad... and they don't care. They were chewing on the bars like maniacs last night and I said, "Girls..." and they stopped and ran off to their house. Yeah. I see your game there, rats. Patchouli Patrol fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Feb 22, 2013 |
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Feb 22, 2013 06:02
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We have a bar-chewing problem. The girls have learned that we dont like the godawful bar-chewing noise, so they wait until the lights are out, then gnaw on the bars. They have plenty of other things to chew on -- wood toys, cardboard tubes, tennis balls, a palm-leaf piņata full of treats... but they want to chew on the bars. Due to current circumstances, the cage is in our bedroom, so we are a captive audience for this nightly symphony. Any tips on how to get them to knock it off?
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Feb 23, 2013 10:00
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Beowulf posted:Mine used to do this as a "we're bored, play with us!" thing. You could try seeing if that's what they want, but otherwise I didn't have any luck getting them to stop Yeah, they wait until the lights are out, then do it ALL NIGHT.
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Feb 23, 2013 16:10
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Luna update: In the week that we've had her, I've noticed that her coat has become noticeably softer. Is this due to better nutrition? She's much less shy and doesn't mind leaving her cage every so often now, but man, our older two girls have spoiled us. They apparently potty-trained themselves (as in they only do their business in the cage and not when they're out with us), so we forgot that most rats have no problem with voluntary incontinence.
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Feb 24, 2013 22:01
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Poor baby! What happnened?
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Feb 25, 2013 05:42
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Truth. Amelia is convinced that the area behind the computer is some sort of wonderland.
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Mar 1, 2013 16:26
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SlipkPIe posted:Johnny, Lisa, and Denny Oh god, the noses
Patchouli Patrol fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Mar 6, 2013 |
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Mar 6, 2013 21:21
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I let my girls run around on the sink while the running water warms up, then wet my hand and then pet them and repeat until they are wet. I then take a little bit of the shampoo and lather them up, then hold them under the running water to rinse. Afterward, I put a towel in the sink and they love tunneling in it. They fear pooped the first few times, but now they're pretty used to it, probably because they know after bath comes TOWELS.
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Mar 9, 2013 01:33
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Big Bug Hug posted:Rats like the smell of their own pee. Why ruin their fun? Well, for me, it's more about reducing allergens, rather than just smell.
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Mar 9, 2013 04:41
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I want the one with the diagonal stripe on its face
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Mar 12, 2013 17:07
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I still can't find my real camera, but I managed to get some almost-passable shots of the girls with my cell phone camera. They got blueberries afterwards for being such patient models. Faye, Amelia and Luna  Luna  Luna and Faye, mid-tussle  Faye, Luna, and Amelia's butt  Amelia  Faye
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Mar 15, 2013 17:31
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Your Pandora seems to have a lot in common with my Amelia. Smaller-than-average, adventurous climber, up in everyone's business (and nose)... On the flip side, Amelia is also the most tolerant of being snuggled and played like a ukulele.
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Mar 15, 2013 21:45
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Ukulele evidence will come later, but this morning I found out how many rats can fit into a hammock sized for one:
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Mar 16, 2013 18:02
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I make my own hammocks with double-reinforced supports. They don't chew on this one, surprisingly.
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Mar 16, 2013 19:59
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SlipkPIe posted:I bought my little dudes the biggest Wodent wheel and all they do with it is constantly gather a bunch of bedding and fill it up "You got us a thing with holes in it. We fixed it!"
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Apr 3, 2013 04:08
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 04:27 |
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Careful with plastic carriers. I once had a rat chew her way out in a single night.
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Apr 8, 2013 01:19
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