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Enzer posted:Really late update. Lorie is doing fine, turns out she cut her rear end somehow and that's where all the blood was coming from. Got her to a vet and had her checked out, health is all good and she is as happy as can be. Be careful while they are small, I can see a cat trying to eat a small rat. But they grow quickly, and once they are big I doubt a cat would see them as food. I did get my second cat as a young kitten, so the rats were almost as big as her  She sometimes batts them on the head but they don't care at all. The other cat is pretty indifferent to them - at first he would kind of follow them around but any time they approached him he'd wuss out and run away.
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Mar 20, 2011 10:22
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Finally got my lady rats last night! They seem to have picked a corner on the top level as their hanging out area. They've also taken all the paper towel sheets I put into the cage and dragged them to the top corner as a little bed. Directly opposite them is a box and soft fleece ferret hammock thing, but I guess they like their paper towels more. Don't rats like to sleep under shelters rather than out in the open? One of the girls doesn't move out of corner very often and appears pretty shy. The other is a lot more energetic and likes to run around the cage but always comes back up to snuggle with the other one. I'll try to get some pictures soon
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Mar 20, 2011 13:10
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Congrats on your girls! Looking forward to the pictures.  My girls are the same - they love the top corner and make nests there all the time. They have a hammock which they use sometimes but not as often as the nest. I usually take out the nesty torn up paper piles they make every couple of days though as they don't leave the bed to pee and paper + rat pee is the biggest contributing factor to a smelly cage, I think. Rebuilding it often gives them something to do, though! I give them lots of newspaper as I can get it for free thanks to my boyfriend's job. I'm sure your shy girl will come out of her shell a lot as she gets used to her new environment and person! I have one super confident rat and one who is a little shyer, she's just more independent and not as into people as her sister is.
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Mar 20, 2011 18:10
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Chakattack! posted:Congrats on your girls! Looking forward to the pictures. Thanks for the info! The shy one gets scared really easily too. If there is a loud noise or movement she'll freeze and start...quaking? Looks almost like hiccups. Makes me feel like a monster  She usually stops when you give her a treat then she runs around like a maniac for a few minutes before getting all shy again. I was really worried the first night because she wasn't moving around and just "hiccuping", but I think she is just easily scared.Random question: my girls are dragging lab blocks up to the top floor. Should I periodically collect those and put them back in their food bowl, or just let them throw food around wherever? I'm keeping tabs on fresh food because I don't want it to spoil, but what about lab blocks? Ok picture time (apologies for crappy camera-phone quality):  This is Willow. She is the super shy one. I think she will end up being the more cuddly of the two, since she was pretty content to hide in my pocket instead of run around everywhere. She's also a lot easier to photograph since she's not sprinting in every direction. She also does do this cute hoppy thing whenever she is excited.  This is Tessa, and pretty much the only semi-non-blurry photo I have of her. She is the adventurous one and will try to escape whenever the cage door is open. She is also methodically trying every inch of my hand to see if its food, which is pretty funny to watch. Each time she sniffs my hand she nibbles a new section, but never nibbles an already tried portion.  Tessa on top, Willow on the bottom. I didn't have much stuff in the cage last night so they spent most of their time huddled in the corner like this.  Went shopping today for cage accessories and put a cuddle cup in their corner. Willow seems to like it (but only after dragging a paper towel inside).  Tessa trying to stuff every inch of paper towel into this suspended tube. She's going nuts ripping stuff up in there.  Willow's new favorite hiding spot. She's been spending most of her time fully hidden in this ferret pouch, but I managed to snag a picture when she peaked her head out
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Mar 20, 2011 22:22
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Well, my aggressive  neutered male rat never got over his issues with my new, also neutered, male rat.I divided my Critter Nation in half and adopted a pair of 7-8 week old females as companions for the lonely new male. They were cuddling together after a few hours, but the male was snorting and puffing at the female babies as well.He lives with his brother and an older female they were introduced to when they were about 3 months old. I will keep working with him but I am not optimistic I can have one big cage anymore. The one on the right is the troublemaker. You can see the look in his eye. 
Jin Wicked fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Mar 21, 2011 |
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Mar 21, 2011 10:54
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OK, so I finally broke down and got a pair. Two female fancy rats I named Yin and Yang. One has a black head and stripe down the back, the other a sandy tan head and strip down the back. Holy crap they are precious and though I don't have an exact age, still very young. I'll have to get a camera to take pictures. Right now I have them in a big rear end cage that takes up the entirety of the top of my bookshelf, so they are 3.5 feet off the ground. Kitty has been VERY interested in them, but I've been squirt bottle training her and shes learning to try and not scale the cage (only took a day of training for that, poor cat). Whenever I'm out I just move the cat's food and water outside my room and keep my door closed. Right now I am feeding them this for right now. Beginning of next month I will be making my own mix from suggested recipes in the OP. Now if I can only get people to stop giving me weird looks when I tell them I have pet rats.
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Mar 21, 2011 17:52
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Enzer posted:Now if I can only get people to stop giving me weird looks when I tell them I have pet rats. You won't.
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Mar 21, 2011 18:14
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Enzer posted:OK, so I finally broke down and got a pair. Two female fancy rats I named Yin and Yang. "Rat Yin Yang" is the title of this one: 
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Mar 21, 2011 21:56
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Cute yin-yang you have there Yeah people won't stop thinking you're weird. Embrace it, and get used to freaking people out with giant rat nads. (I know you have females - you're missing out on the best part!)
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Mar 21, 2011 22:18
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I'm just dropping by to say that I loving love you guys! I've been lurking this thread for ages and you guys have the cutest rats, the most awesome of knowledge and you guys are....well...not insane. Which is quite a breather, because the Dutch rat community tends to be like this: Crazy rat lady:  EVERYONE should ONLY get rats from SHELTERS! And everyone who even considers getting two babies from a reputable and professional breeder should DIIE WHAT?! Are you a 14yo with only ONE??!! rat?! Omg SO irresponsible! Let me chew you out and NOT give you advise on what to do!or Another CRL: HAI GAIS! I've been trying to breed a tail-less, fuzzy, dumbo, red-eyed husky/albino mix and omg its soooooo difficult with genetics and stuff, yo. All the rittens from recent attempts have either died or look totally downsy but isn't that CUTE?! Time to show off some ratties. This:  EMMA!? Is Emma:  Yesh? She's absolutely hilarious and has been acting as my brothers sidekick since we adopted her and her sister Dita.  We currently have three ladies and four males, which isn't alot, considering we usually tend to have about ten to fourteen rats around. We mostly get rescue ratties, but we also adopt from breeders. (Emma en Dita are from an awesome breeder!) Anyho, we're going to Venice for two weeks this year and it has been a total pain to find someone responsible to take care of 5+ rats. So we're not getting any new ones 'til after the trip. Oliver Queen, who I bought at a pet store together with his brother, Bruce Wayne.  We never get rats from pet stores, but I caught some of the girls working there teasing Bruce. They were hitting him on the head, pulling his tail, poking him with a stick and just trying to get him to fall out at them or something. So I had a major meltdown, threw down €5,- on the counter, grabbed the rats and left. Ollie is the cuddliest of cuddlebums I love male rats soooo much. I just adopted two rittens, Terry Tate and Casey (guess who's the big black one), who are currently terrorising the cage.Oh and if you have Flickr; please add me as a friend so I can gawk all over your cute fuzzy pee-machines. Stockholm fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Mar 22, 2011 |
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Mar 22, 2011 02:48
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I've been struggling with some feelings for a couple months now. When it was down to my last girl late last year, I once again entered the part of the cycle where I adopt new rats and introduce them to the old. I got three young rats from a local shelter and they are as sweet as can be. But it was different this time. When the old rat finally passed around Christmas, my enthusiasm for keeping rats seems to have died with her. They live such short lives and I guess the constant grief has finally wore me down. I dutifully clean the cage and interact with them but I just cannot become attached to the newcomers. When I'm with them I just wish I had the old rats again and they deserve better than that. I think its time to move away from rats but I'm paralyzed. The best I can think to do is check this forum and then post a craigslist ad. How do I know when I find someone who will really take care of them? I live in downtown Chicago and I have this Critter Nation cage (the double size): http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21359&cmpid=08csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&CAWELAID=525387417 If I found someone I knew would love them, I would give them the cage and all supplies in a heart beat. Christ, I feel like a bad person just posting this  Has anyone dealt with this before?
Nebalebadingdong fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Mar 22, 2011 |
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Mar 22, 2011 03:26
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This rat is psychotic. He obsessively waited underneath the upper cage level, then bit off the end of the new rat's tail through the cage bars. Everything is under control and we will call the vet tomorrow. I am afraid for the babies. Do they make rattie Valium?
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Mar 22, 2011 03:37
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Nebalebadingdong posted:Christ, I feel like a bad person just posting this I gave up after a single pair, it was just too heartbreaking.
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Mar 22, 2011 03:38
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Nebalebadingdong posted:Christ, I feel like a bad person just posting this My friend dealt with this problem; after about ten years of keeping rats she got allergic and had to give them up. She contacted a few local shelters and asked them to post her story on their websites, asking for people with knowledge of rats to adopt her two ladies. A few people contacted her, she invited them, talked a bit and picked a really nice lady to adopt her rats. She still emails my friend with random updates and pictures and when one of the rats died, she buried the rat in my friends garden. 
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Mar 22, 2011 03:59
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Is it odd that I have every intention of keeping my rats in the deep freeze once they die, until the whole group has passed, so they can have a group funeral?
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Mar 22, 2011 08:27
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Glasgow posted:Is it odd that I have every intention of keeping my rats in the deep freeze once they die, until the whole group has passed, so they can have a group funeral? What if you have a significant power outage? 
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Mar 22, 2011 11:16
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Nebalebadingdong posted:Its a good idea to stop for a bit. You are grieving and you need to recover. I lasted about 3 months without rats and I was 100% certain I would never own them again. I just loved mine so much I couldn't deal with the death any more. Every time I ate something I would save a piece for my babies, then remember I didnt have any. I`d go home and sit down not really thinking about what I was waiting for, but it was my none-existant rats to pile me. Take a break and see what your heart tells you. You might want them again, you might not. Its not a bad thing if you don't. You can always come to this thread to remind yourself and look at cute pictures
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Mar 22, 2011 18:55
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Slidje posted:Its a good idea to stop for a bit. You are grieving and you need to recover. I lasted about 3 months without rats and I was 100% certain I would never own them again. I just loved mine so much I couldn't deal with the death any more. This. It's been two years since the last of my rats died, and... I just can't take any more right now. And I keep finding myself tucking away the fortune cookies from Chinese food restaurants to bring them home to give to the (non-existent) rats, then getting all It really is a shame that they don't live longer or healthier.
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Mar 22, 2011 21:01
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Yeah... Aryselin's back legs are starting to go, and he's been trying to make them work right again... climbing up the cage (and falling), trying to pull himself up onto the wheel... all sorts of things. It's pretty horrible to watch, and I'm going to have to get more as soon as the weather gets warm enough for me to take a couple rats onto the bus, because Varael is young and healthy and I can't leave him in that big cage by himself.
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Mar 22, 2011 22:09
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daggerdragon posted:It really is a shame that they don't live longer or healthier. I forget to clean the cages for weeks or change the water in their bottles. The only difference I can think is chewing up the food I give them if its stuff they will selectively eat, like the buttered side of toast. I chew it all up and roll it into a ball before I give it them. I never get sick so it must transfer to them. daggerdragon posted:And I keep finding myself tucking away the fortune cookies from Chinese food restaurants to bring them home to give to the (non-existent) rats, then getting all I need some kind of life running around my dank dark bedroom and what the gently caress else can you do with chicken bones. poo poo I just remembered I had some chicken ribs saved in my bag but that was from a month ago  I was at a party a while back and stashed some pizza for the rats in my coat. I found it 2 months later while digging for change. The horror neongrey posted:Yeah... Aryselin's back legs are starting to go My rat Ketchup gradually got worse till he could only move one arm, but I made sure he could reach things in his cage when I wasnt around and coddled him when I was
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Mar 23, 2011 00:47
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Slidje posted:When he gets a bit less mobile, flatten out the bedding in the cage and make sure he can drag himself to food and water. Yeah, I've made sure he can get to the food and water as best he can, plus pretty much any time I see him I'm shoving food right in his face by hand. It's funny in a sad sort of way because right now he's being more mobile than he had been in the past few months. He'd just been lazy for a while, sitting around like a lump and chilling, and now he's actively doing things he hasn't done in ages. Hopefully the weather will clear enough for me to get the new friends in before he goes, so he has a happy good time. 
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Mar 23, 2011 00:55
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neongrey posted:Yeah, I've made sure he can get to the food and water as best he can, plus pretty much any time I see him I'm shoving food right in his face by hand. It's funny in a sad sort of way because right now he's being more mobile than he had been in the past few months. He'd just been lazy for a while, sitting around like a lump and chilling, and now he's actively doing things he hasn't done in ages. Dawson did something like that too. He suddenly got way more active than he had been in months, despite the hind leg deterioration. Then a couple days later he holed up in his cuddle cube and went downhill so fast. This thread is depressing as hell right now. I'd love to get rats again, but I'm not in the position to and won't be for another few years, at least.
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Mar 23, 2011 03:34
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Should I routinely collect the lab blocks my girls hide and put them back in the food bowl? Or just let them continue to hoard them in their various locations?
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Mar 23, 2011 14:06
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polyfractal posted:Should I routinely collect the lab blocks my girls hide and put them back in the food bowl? Or just let them continue to hoard them in their various locations? Are they hiding them in their cage or around your house? They know where they keep them, they don't need you to find them !!
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Mar 23, 2011 14:57
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Hmm, one of my boys seems to be losing hair under his chin/chest. Is this normal? They are about 18months old. He does sound a bit wheezy. So I'll be taking him to the vet soon. 
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Mar 23, 2011 20:15
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Pickle Chops posted:Give him baby food before you start introducing meds into it if he does turn out to be sick. Might be too much protein as well
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Mar 23, 2011 22:38
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polyfractal posted:Should I routinely collect the lab blocks my girls hide and put them back in the food bowl? Or just let them continue to hoard them in their various locations? If yours are anything like mine, not long after you've finished they will look at you like you're stupid and dutifully re-hide everything.
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Mar 24, 2011 00:29
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So I googled a little bit about feeding rats watermelon and didn't get an answer to what I needed to know, which is: are the seeds dangerous? I got some cut watermelon and wanted to give them some but I know some seeds have harmful things in them and I want to make sure they're safe. They love all other kinds of fruit and veggies but they haven't gotten watermelon yet.
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Mar 24, 2011 04:05
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So I've had Galileo and Copernicus about three weeks now, and they are slowly getting more used to me. When they are out of the cage they aren't sure of my hands, and they still jump at the slightest unexpected noise. They do often come up to the cage door when I open it to see if I have any new treats for them, so I guess that's a start. Anyone have any good advice for socializing them better, outside of the normal "spend time with them" and "bring them treats"? Also, I put them on the bed today, and they seemed to have fun running under the sheets, but Copernicus makes a quick, low squeak/whimper noise when he can't get back to the cage. Is he scared or nervous or something? Also, pictures!  Copernicus, on the left, and Galileo, on the right.  Copernicus really likes tunneling under the covers.  But sometimes he's more friendly.  Galileo likes looking around as well.  Rat face!  Galileo has a treat right now, which is why he's hunched over a little. I love these guys.
DorianGravy fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 04:35
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Someone responded to my ad (like, within minutes, seems kinda odd). Its a lady who says she already has 13 rats at home. A crazy rat lady? Should I be worried or grateful? Someone else responded with a long run on sentence with no punctuation or capitalization. I guess good grammar is not required to be a good pet owner but sill... I've never re-homed an animal before, I feel like a balloon filled with anxiety.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:15
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Nebalebadingdong posted:Someone responded to my ad (like, within minutes, seems kinda odd). Ask for a letter of recommendation from their vet. If I lived anywhere remotely near you I'd take them, but I do not. Sorry.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:31
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Beluga Smoothie posted:are the seeds dangerous? They usually pick out the seeds from watermelon, I don't think they like the taste. They love white melon seeds though. The only bad foods for rats in my experience: Anything with chilli`s in. Not bad for them per-say but you don't want them making GBS threads everywhere. Sunflower seeds. They LOVE them and you always get them in rat food packs but if you give them too much it tends to cause tumors. I used to get whole bags full and treat the rats with them, but it just made them cancer factories. Don't know how much of that was genetics. Sweetcorn is supposed to do the same thing. Never had that problem myself so I give them the odd cob of corn after eating most of it. Both of these foods are only a problem if you give them abnormally high quantities. I've heard but not experienced that oranges give male rats cancer. Never understood that but I never give my boys anything with oranges in. Only affects males too
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Mar 24, 2011 22:28
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DorianGravy posted:Anyone have any good advice for socializing them better, outside of the normal "spend time with them" and "bring them treats"? That way they learn that when you pick them up you aren't always going to put them back in their cage and that they might get a treat. Before we started doing this, Joan would run away and hide in the couch and once or twice she spent like 4+ hours in there because she never wanted to be picked up. Of course now they know the sound of treats and they will run back into their cage when it's time to go up at night because that's the time I give out the best treats we have.
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Mar 24, 2011 22:48
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Boco_T posted:I posted this earlier in the thread, but the best thing we ever did was the "pick them up and set them down" routine. When they get out of the cage, immediately pick them up and set them back down. Do this every few minutes while they are out, give them a treat a few times when you do it. Cool. Thanks for the advice. Earlier today I set the cage on my bed and they came out on their own and were very friendly, sniffing around me and burrowing under the covers. I'll try your trick about picking them up. Galileo is already much better about it, but Copernicus seems to think I'm going to eat him or something.
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Mar 25, 2011 03:58
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God, I hate having to constantly monitor the cage for the sole purposes of ensuring everyone's still alive.
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Mar 25, 2011 04:27
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Slidje posted:Hell no. I used to give mine the seeds from white melons when we cut one up. If we get watermelon I always give them whats left of a slice and they neatly nibble off the red bits. Super, thanks! I'm always the one monitoring treats whenever other people come to play with my girls but I was clueless about watermelon. Happy to know there's no concern.
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Mar 25, 2011 06:42
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So what kind of treats do people give their ratties? Mine have eaten basically everything I've given them, but seem to especially like peanuts and cheerios. I don't want to give them too many peanuts as treats. Any other tasty but healthy things they might go crazy for? I'm looking for stuff that will help me train them
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Mar 25, 2011 16:04
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My rats go apeshit for scrambled egg but that's not really suitable for training. Good for the oldies, though. PetCo has tiny biscuits shaped like teddy bears at their dog treat bar. They smell a bit of cinnamon and my rats love them. Cereals, grapes, raisins and dried fruit, croutons, dry or cooked pasta, chopped veg, anything you can cut up? My new male is named Pip Cheerio, he takes them very carefully without nipping at your fingers. If you are feeling saucy you could always buy the flavoured Cheerios.
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Mar 25, 2011 16:20
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polyfractal posted:So what kind of treats do people give their ratties? Mine have eaten basically everything I've given them, but seem to especially like peanuts and cheerios. I don't want to give them too many peanuts as treats. Any other tasty but healthy things they might go crazy for? I'm looking for stuff that will help me train them Fortune cookies Rice Krispies Teddy Grahams, any flavor (mine didn't love the chocolate ones, though) The crushed chips at the bottom of the bag that you usually throw out anyway Pizza crusts Letting them lick the bowl/mixing appliance from homemade cake frosting (note: you only give them this once, then marvel at the next 3+ hours of HOVERRAT ) edit: Oh, you said healthy. Never mind then :P
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Mar 25, 2011 17:06
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Our favorite "treat they're allowed to have an infinite amount of" slash "shake the container when they're doing something bad while out to distract them" is "Little Puffs Puffed Grain Snack" from the baby food aisle at Target, up & up store brand. The container costs like $2 and has about 540 little Cheerio-size pieces in it. Serving size for a baby is 90 pieces for a total of 25 calories, and they have a ton of flavors. The ones we have are blueberry, apple, peach-mango, and their favorite is sweet potato. They also get Baby Cheez Doodles from the same product line, and Gerber or something mixed berry yogurt treats. Other treats given more sparingly include oatmeal from the can, dried pasta, dried cranberries, and Ratatouille-branded croissants from PetSmart.
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Mar 25, 2011 21:56
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