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Thanks for the advice. I've never heard anything like that from them before so it freaked me out. I called an emergency vet line last night because I was worried and they said it seems like she isn't in any respiratory distress, so I should bring her in sometime during the week just to get her checked out, but not to worry about it too much because it didn't seem like an emergency. Right now she is still pretty much lying in the same place all the time, and I'm trying to cuddle with her as much as possible. She's kind of nibbling forlornly on food but I guess that's normal, I haven't really had much of an appetite either so I can't say I blame her. But she hasn't made the sound again, so...I don't know what it could be? I'll try on catch it on video again if I hear her making it again. The weird thing is, the other two seem pretty much fine. Honey Pie keeps trying to cheer up Penny though and is snuggling with her constantly, which is so :3 to see.
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Sep 16, 2010 14:48
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WALL OF RAT TEXT We got our first cool breeder rats back in early June, one 6 (dumbo irish self rex or something like that) and one 7 (russian dove) week old female. The nearest good breeder was a 10 hour drive away but we just took a little vacation and picked them up before heading home. The breeder is a great one as far as we can tell, long 10+ year history of breeding, no culling, and both she, her kid and her husband all handled the rats to get them used to humans etc. Well, these two rats are definitely the most crazy rats we've ever had. They both are extremely skiddish, the dumbo even more than the dove. Most of the time we accidentally make any sudden movements or weird noises (coughing, sneezing, dropping something on the floor, etc) they will run and hide as quickly as possible, i.e. running from upstairs to downstairs in our Critter Nation cage. Then they will peak out and come out of hiding a few seconds later. When they aren't freaking out, they do beg for food and pets just as much as our other rats have done in the past. Even if they hear the beloved "food noise" (plastic bag crinkling), or if we have a can of oatmeal and open the lid, if the noise surprises them at all they'll still take off and hide and then come out after a few seconds. Do you think it's possible we traumatized them by making them take such a long car ride coming home? We also stayed in a hotel one night with them. They seemed fine the whole time though, eating stuff and letting us pet them etc. The other factor I'm not sure about is the breeder said she had came down with pnemonia and was just recovering from it after a couple months, and due to being sick she hadn't been handling her new babies as much as she normally did. Of course her website says her husband and kid play with the rats too but I'm not sure if these particular babies got handled much at all. They were in a big Critter Nation cage with a bunch of other babies and mommies. Could 6-7 weeks of not being played with much at an early age have this big of an effect? We've had them for 3 months now and play with them daily if not more often. I digress, but right now they're living with a 2 year old pet store female who is the type that constantly wants attention, snuggles up to you a lot, and and when she's begging and we just want to pet her and not feed her she doesn't mind at all, so a pretty good rat role model. Although she is kind of dumb at the same time - we had another rat pass away and she was completely oblivious to the point of stepping on the dead rat while begging us for pets, whereas we've had other rats inspect fallen comrades and be more effected by a death in the family..
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Sep 16, 2010 23:02
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Thanks to Trudy's non healing abscess, I have the ability to say that I've been party to the removal of a pus plug from a wound. It had firmed up and had to be pulled out with tweezers.  We take her back to the vet tomorrow to find out if she needs to be operated on to fix the abscess that won't clear, or if the chloramphenicol we've been mixing with her baytril the past few days will knock it out. I'm pretty sure she hates us for all the drugs.
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Sep 19, 2010 23:41
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Sorry to pile on the "my rat died" posts but... Sgt. Avery Johnson expired a little while ago. He (and his bro) are almost three years old, and he had been losing weight and some hair, but was still eating and getting around just fine. I heard some bumping around in the cage, which sounded normal because they would tussle a lot, but it kept up for about thirty seconds, so I thought it was a serious fight. I come over to see Avery on his side, slowly dying. He died in the few seconds it took me to go get a shirt to wrap him in.  Now I don't know what to do about Hubble, his brother. Like I said, he's almost three and we don't have any other rats. My husband really doesn't want to get any more since we'll be moving in less than a year, so that's out. Hubble is very healthy so I don't want to put him down. I was thinking about just getting some small stuffed animals to keep in the cage for him to cuddle with, and then just having him out all the time when we're home for maximum socialization. Any other suggestions?
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Sep 19, 2010 23:54
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I have a rubber rat. I was taking Boo out of the cage for cleaning when the phone rang and scared the crap out of both of us. She flew from my arms, bounced off the dining room table and ricocheted off the chair and bounded off the floor like a beach ball. That's the end of my story.
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Sep 20, 2010 18:47
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I'm going crazy. I had a rat die a while back during surgery to remove a tumour. Now I can't stop seeing tumours on my remaining girls. Currently massively worried about one of them who I keep seeing lumps on the underside but when I get her out to feel her then I can't feel anything at all. It's driving me crazy - she's a big fat girl so it's obviously just rolls of fat and bumps like that, not a tumour. But I can't stop worrying. Am I the only one that does this
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Sep 20, 2010 21:52
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Nebalebadingdong posted:I have a rubber rat. I was taking Boo out of the cage for cleaning when the phone rang and scared the crap out of both of us. She flew from my arms, bounced off the dining room table and ricocheted off the chair and bounded off the floor like a beach ball. Van Buren once bounced down the stairs and off a door when I tripped while carrying him. I was bruised up pretty badly; he wandered off to explore. 
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Sep 20, 2010 22:53
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RAT LOAF I've got a 1.5 week old litter of 12 right now, and they're doing good. Need to get pics. Also today Petsmart had some fat hairless dumbo someone brought in for adoption and I kinda want him. On the one hand, I really don't NEED more rats, I've got my 2 pet boys and a handful of feeders and that's plenty, on the other, I haven't had a hairless in years and he was nice.  Plus, Judge is nearly a year older than Magic and will almost certainly die before him, so it'd be nice to have a third so Magic won't be alone when that happens. I dunno, I'll think about it.
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Sep 21, 2010 23:55
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I decided groups of 3 was better for me so there will be two left when one dies, take that as you will 
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Sep 22, 2010 05:45
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I found Noel dead last week, on the same day my boyfriend's mom backed over their deaf outdoor cat. Noel was about 25 or 26 months old. Goodbye, froglegs.  Noel and Allie, bffs  Noel being suspicious of that camera! 
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Sep 22, 2010 14:30
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CompactFanny posted:I found Noel dead last week, on the same day my boyfriend's mom backed over their deaf outdoor cat. Noel was about 25 or 26 months old. Goodbye, froglegs. Ughhh that sucks, RIP lil buddy. So, I went back to Petsmart today to see if they still had the lil nekkid dude, and they did, so I got him. Whoever had him must have handled him a good bit, he's really floppy and friendly and nice. I'll try to take some pics tomorrow.
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Sep 23, 2010 02:57
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My two girls are finally socialized enough that I've been letting them have free run of my bedroom (supervised, of course). They're both really stoked for the first 10 minutes or so, but then the shyer, smarter one (Moose) seems to go into... the only way I can describe it is I guess sensory overload? She stops coming when I call her and just hides behind the dresser and refuses to move while her sister keeps playing. Is this pretty normal? Is there anything to do about it but gradually increase her playtime? Cruddy cell phone picture: Moose learned to turn the track wheel and click the mouse at the same time. If she teaches her sister Tegan to push her around I might have to buy her an account.
Indigestable fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Sep 23, 2010 |
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Sep 23, 2010 22:57
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Indigestable posted:My two girls are finally socialized enough that I've been letting them have free run of my bedroom (supervised, of course). They're both really stoked for the first 10 minutes or so, but then the shyer, smarter one (Moose) seems to go into... the only way I can describe it is I guess sensory overload? She stops coming when I call her and just hides behind the dresser and refuses to move while her sister keeps playing. Is this pretty normal? Is there anything to do about it but gradually increase her playtime? And if they do hide, oh well they will come out eventually. The record so far was Joan hiding in the couch for 11 hours one day. But just this week they have been a lot better. We've never had problems with Trudy, that's just been her personality. If she's ever hiding, all you have to do is crinkle a treat bag and she will come running.
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Sep 24, 2010 01:37
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That helped a lot. Thank you  I cuddled with her more before letting them run around and although she still ended up hiding behind the dresser, she came out more easily. It's not that there's anywhere in the room I can't get to her but I feel so bad when she squeaks at me.
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Sep 24, 2010 05:02
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I had the same problem with Peaches. What helped was always shaking the yogies jar when it was time to go back into the cage, and then the rats would run over for treats. Even then though, she sometimes still hid. When she was the last rat left I spent way more time with her alone, and I guess she bonded enough with me that it ceased to be a problem.
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Sep 24, 2010 08:37
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I just put Neko to sleep. I did it at home (took home telazol and euthanasia, I work at an animal hospital). Her tumor ruptured last night (has anyone had this happen before?) so I decided to do it today even though she was still eating and moving around. It was a really hard decision to make, but I didn't want her to get to the point of suffering. I'm so glad I got to do it at home though. She licked me right before I took her out of the cage to do it. 
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Oct 1, 2010 03:14
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Carebear posted:She licked me right before I took her out of the cage to do it. Goddamn. I am sorry
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Oct 1, 2010 03:21
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I keep waffling about whether or not to keep doing this. Every page of this thread, there are several new deaths. (Carebear, CompactFunny, Skutter, Olifanten, and everyone else prior to this page-- I'm so sorry.) It's so hard to get so drat attached to a little furball that loves you and kisses your fingers and brux-purrs-- and then it's gone in a year or two or three. They have such fragile little lives; I would kill for someone to bio-engineer a 10-year rat. I wonder often if I can keep getting new love-ables just to have them pass away and out of my life so soon. Sometimes it seems like a constant state of worry about their health (Rathen, I know exactly how you feel). But then TheSnowySoviet says, "Well, how would you feel without them?" And honestly..? Coming home to an apartment devoid of domesticated rodents would just be terrible and sad. And for as much as it hurts when they go, every little moment where I pass their cage and they look up at me, every time they snuggle into my hands, every time they bound across the floor to leap into my lap, every time I reach in to scratch their snoozy heads when they're in the hammock and then can't stop petting them because they're so goddamn sweet... I think it must be worth it.
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Oct 1, 2010 05:10
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I went through a process of accepting the death of my rats even before I got them, I have issues dealing with death and I knew that I was going to have to endure three deaths in a short time. I know and accept my girls are going to die, but I also know that I have a fair bit of power in deciding when as I can see if they're suffering and end it. If they die naturally, well I know they'll have died after a life of absolute love and luxury and in the company of their sisters, knowing there's this huge moving thing somewhere near them that they trust enough to run to when they're feeling scared. They are all spoiled absolutely rotten and they want for nothing. A happy comfortable life and painless peaceful death is my promise to them and my thanks for them just being themselves.
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Oct 1, 2010 15:59
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Amiss posted:(Rathen, I know exactly how you feel). Turns out I was right and she's got something developing on one of the mammary glands... sigh
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Oct 1, 2010 17:46
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Hi, guys. I've owned a rat before when I was young and stupid. My mom got him for me from her College lab. I kept him alone in an aquarium on aspen shavings. I can't remember what he ate, but I know it wasn't quality. He lived to be 2 years old, and he was a great pet. Now I'm much older, responsible, and capable of caring for pets. I want to buy some sister rats from a local rattery I've found (http://www.ratzrealm.com/index.htm -- can be eyerape at times, but I get a good vibe from the site and the rats, tell me what you guys think?). She also sells lab blocks and a nice looking rat mix and a sprout mix. I want to get a cage from the first site listed on the front page of the thread, and I want them on carefresh/old towels and fleece. I have one cat and an old golden retriever (she's 15). I believe our lease says we can have 2 caged animals as well. We have a spacious one bedroom with lots of natural light. We are non-smokers, etc., you don't need my life story, but I think we are in a great position to own rats. The boyfriend is not on board. I've been trying to tell him all the great things about rats, how smart they are and how funny and odd they can be, but he gets this look on his face like 'NO' and shoots me down. I've taken to sending him facebook messages with pictures of baby rats, cages, the works. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO MAKE BOYFRIEND SAY YES. :/
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Oct 1, 2010 18:25
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obnoxious posted:Hi, guys. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. When I was in the dorms with Basil and Dawson, I got a fair number of converts: people who never would have considered rats as pets, but came to appreciate how awesome they are because my boys were wonderful examples of ratdom. They were sweet, friendly, never bit, and generally great. But there was a number of people who just didn't like them. Period. Nothing could change their minds. It ranged from mild distaste to genuine phobia, but they never warmed up to them. It's just like how some people think puppies are squirmy warm piles of cute, but others see them as drooling poo poo factories with teeth.
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Oct 1, 2010 23:44
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Hi everyone! Behavioral question here. I added two new girls a little over a month ago to my existing pair of girls. I've had no problems with fighting, everyone is best pals, great! The two new girls were, of course, kinda shy around me and were extremely resistant to coming out at the beginning but while one has warmed up, the other is still absolutely terrified by even the presence of my hand and will go and hide as soon as I open the cage or squirm awfully if I try to pick her up. I've spent ages trying to coax her out with treats, letting her sniff me, sitting in front of the cage gently talking to her and letting her become familiar with me.. nothing. When I do manage to get her out (if she's sleepy or just easily accessible and can't hide) she'll hang out with me for a minute or two before wanting to go play with the other girls even going so far as to jump off of me down to my bed. She'll sniff me for a few seconds if I'm near her in the playspace before running off and doing other stuff, no interest in exploring me or anything. I know that a lot of people encourage a degree of forced socialization but with how she reacts when I pick her up I'm worried I'll traumatize her. Is it possible that she just isn't people-friendly? I know rats, like people, have different personalities but I'm not sure if her behavior is due to some sort of failure on my part or if it's just her natural manner. She's a super cute cookies-and-cream looking little dumbo and it breaks my heart not to be able to snuggle her or even just pick her up without a fight.
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Oct 5, 2010 00:01
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^Teach her to be people friendly! Just keep her with you for about 20 minutes a day in a pocket, and give her a favorite treat when she is with you and when you put her back. She needs to learn that you are fun, not scary. My last rat Peaches passed away a couple weeks ago and it broke my heart. She was the crabbiest of the three ladies I had but she ended up being my best bud in the end. It's hard to care so much about pets that only live a few years, but I'm in an apartment situation so I can't have a cat or dog. After coming home to an empty room and getting bummed out all the time I decided to adopt another pair. I named them Skippy and Jif because they look like little peanut butter bros I've never had males, and these dudes are huge. Not to mention they bite sometimes, so it's been an experience. They are neutered though and like to be pet behind the ears. Hopefully they will stop nipping some day?  This one is Jif. He gave my hand a kiss earlier I'm pretty sure he has a respiratory infection though, so I get to freak him out again and take him to the vet this week.
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Oct 5, 2010 07:22
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Carebear posted:I just put Neko to sleep. My girl's tumor ruptured last night. Today is going to suck.
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Oct 5, 2010 11:57
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Are any of you city dwellers? What do you guys do with your deceased rats? I have no backyard for a pet cemetery. :-(
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Oct 5, 2010 19:52
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eig posted:Are any of you city dwellers? What do you guys do with your deceased rats? I have no backyard for a pet cemetery. :-( I take mine to the vet for cremation. They'll offer to give you the ashes.
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Oct 5, 2010 20:39
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eig posted:Are any of you city dwellers? What do you guys do with your deceased rats? I have no backyard for a pet cemetery. :-( I work for an animal hospital and the crematory gives employees the ashes back free of charge to us.. Its a nice perk.
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Oct 6, 2010 00:04
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Invenerable posted:My girl's tumor ruptured last night. Today is going to suck. I'm really sorry..
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Oct 6, 2010 00:05
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Ruptured tumors are some of the worst things. They're one of the reasons I decided to learn to do home euthanasia because they tend to rupture at the worst loving times and having to wait hours for the vet to open so they don't have to suffer anymore is awful.
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Oct 6, 2010 00:18
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This page is scary and sad I'm getting a (neutered) boyfriend for my two little girls. I'm so excited. Just gotta pick up a quarantine cage tomorrow and this deal is done.
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Oct 6, 2010 05:22
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Eruugh, sorry for everyone's losses! On a brighter note, my boys turn one on the 10th! All doing amazingly well and have had no issues so far. Here's hoping this will carry on. Going to repeat what everyone else has said in saying, 2yrs is not long enough for these critters to live! 
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Oct 6, 2010 12:54
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Amiss posted:But then TheSnowySoviet says, "Well, how would you feel without them?" And honestly..? Coming home to an apartment devoid of domesticated rodents would just be terrible and sad. And for as much as it hurts when they go, every little moment where I pass their cage and they look up at me, every time they snuggle into my hands, every time they bound across the floor to leap into my lap, every time I reach in to scratch their snoozy heads when they're in the hammock and then can't stop petting them because they're so goddamn sweet... I think it must be worth it. Thanks for the condolences. I feel the exact same way. I love rats because they are such a completely different pet and it's going to suck not having any once Hubble passes. Speaking of which, he's doing well by himself. He sleeps during the day and most of the night so he's active while we're home. We have him out of the cage for hours and provide food and water for him; he seems to like it. He's becoming a little chubber though. I think I'm spoiling him too much. 
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Oct 7, 2010 00:07
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Having a bit of a dominance issue over here. My boys turn one very shortly. But the two bigger ones are fighting each other for the alpha rat role. This seems to be happening more and more. They have got over the humping thing, now it's turned into proper brawls. Up on hind legs, fighting like bears. I have to distract them at least 3 times a day. They generally quit and give in, and then it starts again a few hours later. I'm well aware of which one is starting the issues. Is it time for the balls to come off? I don't overly want to have to separate him if I don't have to. They have left each other with some pretty nasty wounds from this too. Help?! Please.
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Oct 8, 2010 22:22
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I would get them neutered! You could also try bleaching the entire area that they live in, I've had that work before, but with female rats. Also, posting to shamelessly promote a new veterinarian at my hospital... Because for as long as I've lived in the tri-state area, it has always been a struggle for me to find a good vet for my rats... A lot of vets really don't know rats! If you live in the NYC area (or even NJ/PA) there is a new exotics veterinarian, Dr. Malka at the Humane Society of NY. (http://www.humanesocietyny.org/) I believe he's also board certified. This is really exciting because HSNY is a low cost clinic and animal shelter, and from personal experience I know that sometimes treating and owning exotic animals is really expensive. Plus Dr. Malka is an excellent vet. I trust my own rats with him.
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Oct 13, 2010 01:29
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Hello rat people I'm an apartment-dweller searching for a rodent friend. I've had guinea pigs, mice, and hamsters in the past. I'm open to pretty much anything at this point, and it's a ways off still, but part of me is interested in looking into something I haven't had before. Rats sound really awesome, but like I said, I've never had one (two+) before... I read the OP, but it's hard for me to envision what the reality of owning one would be like. Can anyone give me an overview?
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Oct 13, 2010 05:11
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redjenova posted:Can anyone give me an overview? Very inquisitive toddler that fits in your palm. (having pet rats owns)
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Oct 13, 2010 17:05
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redjenova posted:Hello rat people dog days are over summed it up pretty well. Imagine having a small little furry creature that can chill on your arm, will eat anything in front of it, can learn tricks and likes to snuggle. It's pretty awesome.
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Oct 13, 2010 23:43
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Ughhhh sounds amazing. I've read through this whole thread and looked stuff up like crazy and I'm all but sold. Too bad the day is still far off I won't go anywhere near the things until I've got the proper money to do it all right! Hopefully that won't be "too" far in the future. They really sound awesome. At least in the meantime this gives me time to keep an eye out for non-pet store rats, as Oklahoma is apparently completely devoid of breeders or any noticeably functioning rescues. It'd be really difficult for me to go out of state to do it, but maybe it could work out.
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Oct 14, 2010 02:30
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Cons: females will tear up anything and everything they can get their grubby little mitts on peeing all over anything that they love, including you and your belongings (mostly your belongings, mine really LOVE my alarm clock  )short life span (<3 years in most cases) cancer factories (especially females) your friends and family might be terrified of them/think you are a lunatic Just trying to cover the bases. They're really fantastic little dudes.
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Oct 15, 2010 00:17
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