|
Do you raise the roaches or buy them as feeders? I have never given my crew bugs because we put out baits and poison. I worry about what roaches or other bugs might have gotten into... Even if not us, potentially from the neighbours.
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2012 09:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 08:21 |
|
|
I too wouldn't feed wild insects. That said, I'm pretty sure Olive Bar is just culling her herd(s) of roaches. EDIT: An exception to that rule is whenever I catch a carnivorous insect from the wild - I figure it's no big deal if I keep a centipede or something for a while to watch and feed it other wild insect. It's pretty much what it would be eating anyways.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2012 09:48
|
|
|
On the subject of rats eating bugs, has anyone fed crickets to theirs? The big pet chain shop nearby sells 'em, and I'm totally wanting to buy a couple and let my future ratties go nuts if it'd be safe. Also, did somebody post that they made a no-sew cube for their rats recently? I was trying to look for it but couldn't find the post. If anyone has instructions for a *good* no sew cube, I'd like to hear them. Mine come out pretty mangled!
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2012 15:18
|
|
|
I bought the boys one of those rubber "activitoys" from the bird section, it's a little sphere made up of polygonal openings that hangs on a chain. I pulled the clapper out of the bell and stuffed the ball with fruit, and hung it up over their top shelf. They seem to be enjoying it!
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2012 21:58
|
|
|
Yeah, I have massive colonies of all kinds of roaches, so every now and again I toss some their way. I have bad news... again. Dean was completely fine yesterday, eating, drinking, running around. This morning when I woke up he was gone. I have no clue what happened. I'm taking his brother to the vet this week to have him checked out for peace of mind. Dean showed no signs of being sick, no porphyrin or anything. Nothing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2012 01:32
|
|
|
Finally, but uh...I think I ended up with a brand other than Critter Nation, because I went and got a cage on craigslist. Granted I still got a really nice cage, but can anyone make out what brand this cage is? It's still quite spacious so I'm not too worried about it, but I need to put more things in it today. I also decided to get a rat that will eventually be joining my bigger girls, but she's very young and small right now, so it probably won't be for a while. She has the cage I was using for my adult females all to herself (at least while she's isolated, I may try to find her a smaller companion sometime). She's a mostly solid blue dumbo, I'll try to get a decent picture of her soon. Her name is Muffin. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2012 11:30
|
|
|
That looks to be a pretty big cage! It's hard to tell, where are the doors on it? There are quite a few cages that look similar to the Critter/Ferret Nation, but they all have the same doors, so I'm not sure what this one is. Looks pretty good though!
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2012 16:57
|
|
|
It has the exact same front door as the ferret cage I owned, which was All Living things: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4470999 But no big side openings like the Midwest. Just that one door, and a slide-in plastic pan. It was only like $150 though so that's pretty cool.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2012 18:18
|
|
|
I have two questions 1. I think my rats are bored. They might actually be content and just sleep a lot of the day away, but the way they react when I walk into the room (trying to squeeze through the bars and letting me know they are ready for 'out time') I just get the feeling they aren't stimulated enough. How do I fix this? 2. I want to introduce them to hamster balls so they race around my room and not get into trouble with the cat or get into tight spots that I can't reach. I know they generally don't take to the ball and find it a bit of a waste of time, so I was wondering how I could make it appealing to them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2012 06:02
|
|
|
Have you ever seen American Gladiators? If so, I think you know what you need to do.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2012 06:32
|
|
|
You could also get them an x-pen and just shut the cat out of the room while they're in it. That would keep them from getting into any tight corners. I used to take a couple of cardboard boxes and cut flaps in them, then scatter them around upside-down inside the pen and drape a blanket or towel over it. It made a little jungle gym of sorts, and I would hide treats around underneath for them to find. Ugh, the boys are determined to chew holes in all the fleece in the world. Guess I'm going to be doing some darning... RazorBunny fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Jun 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2012 15:26
|
|
|
The vet says Sam, now known as Gus, is in perfect health, which is a relief. But how do I stop being paranoid that I'll wake up and he'll be gone like his brother? I'm so freaked out. Two losses in two weeks, its been rough.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 01:27
|
|
|
Ugh Olive that sucks  I'm not sure there's anything you can do but try not to worry too much. Fingers crossed for you. I'm sorry you had that happen.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 01:45
|
|
|
Thanks big bug hug I will try not to worry so much and just enjoying my time with him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 01:59
|
|
|
Crappy quality, but here's a first look at Muffin. She's in the decently cage my girls were in because she's being isolated (just got her/small size) - but I'm a little concerned, namely with her being alone, because I have no idea how long it will be until she gets to be my adult rats' size. Should I consider getting another small rat from the same place so she won't be alone for weeks/months, or just chill out and wait? On another note, she's incredibly social and affectionate, so that kinda makes me feel worse I can't spend more time with her. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 06:01
|
|
|
Bear Rape posted:
I'm not sure why you feel the need to wait until she's bigger to move her in with the others. Babies and adults can live quite happily together. My two girls were a year old when baby Eli moved in with them and she was tiny compared to them, but there were no issues after the first introductions. Now she's literally twice the size of one of them which is hilarious and adorable. Just get her moved in now, she'll be fine.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 06:09
|
|
|
As long as she's not under 6 weeks old she should be fine to be introduced. Rats accept babies more readily than adults. What a cutie!
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 06:12
|
|
|
What are some foods I can feed my elderly rat that will make him gain weight? He had a surgery to have 2 small masses removed about 2 weeks ago and he has been lost some weight since. He was at 445ish, now he is about 411g. Now sure how much of that was weight loss from both masses and how much has actually burned off but I would like to have him gain some of that weight back. I hope he isn't going through the old rat weight loss transition.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 12:33
|
|
|
Thanks for the tips, I was just worried since she's smaller than the others and a friend of mine had issues with their smaller rats being bullied, but that might have been an issue of cage size at the time. I'm still keeping her isolated for another week just to make sure she's okay medically before I put her in since I don't know her background too well, but after that she'll be moving in. So many rats.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 12:57
|
|
|
Baika posted:What are some foods I can feed my elderly rat that will make him gain weight? He had a surgery to have 2 small masses removed about 2 weeks ago and he has been lost some weight since. He was at 445ish, now he is about 411g. Now sure how much of that was weight loss from both masses and how much has actually burned off but I would like to have him gain some of that weight back. If you're just going for weight gain, I'd feed him things like custard or KMR. Anything high in simple carbs and fat would cause him to gain weight quickly. Of course if we're going for healthier weight gain, I'd still be look foods high in fat and carbs. Maybe things like hot comfort food. If he likes seeds, my rats go cuckoo for flak and sunflower seeds.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 14:30
|
|
|
My guys must be weird, they barely touch flax seeds. They're also not big on quinoa or bulgur wheat, but they'll scarf up rice, barley, or oats. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 16:22
|
|
|
I've been borrowing my friends telephoto/macro lens for a few days and decided I needed some super close up shots of Marley and Xerxes, apologies that some of the pictures are blurry, the lens had no built in image stabilisation and I didn't want to bump the ISO up to 1600, but enjoy!    
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 16:56
|
|
|
Those are super gorgeous photos!
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 17:03
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:My guys must be weird, they barely touch flax seeds. They're also not big on quinoa or bulgur wheat, but they'll scarf up rice, barley, or oats. Mine dislike flax but love oat as well. not sure about rice but they adore barely. At least they all kind of like the same thing though, I couldn't imagine trying to arrange diets based on completely different individual preferences.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 19:02
|
|
|
I'm going to have someone babysitting them while I'm overseas and I think I'm going to spend one evening/weekend between now and then packing up little ziploc bags and tossing them in the freezer for him to just dump in a bowl each day. Right now they get one bowl with grain and one with whatever fruit and veg I'm giving them that day, but I'm sure they won't mind if everything gets lumped in together. I hate to ask him to change out the liner and everything, do you guys think they'll be okay without a cage cleaning for twelve days? I normally spot-clean poops every couple of days and change the whole thing once a week. My friend is awesome and would do it if I asked, but it seems like a lot to haul them all out, dump out all the various nooks and crannies where they hide stuff, wash and dry the fleece, and put everything back in. Especially since he's already going to be scooping cat boxes.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 19:22
|
|
|
I don't think I ever go more than about 5 days without cleaning the cage. Could you at least have a second liner for him to swap out? If he does that halfway through and changes the litter regularly it shouldn't be too bad, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 19:52
|
|
|
I'm just using cheap blankets as liners, and I have several, so as long as I showed him what to do beforehand I guess it wouldn't be an issue. I just always feel weird asking someone pet sitting to do a bunch of the grosser stuff. This friend won't let me pay him for his services, either, so I'm already feeling kind of guilty. I really need to get a second hammock made and then no washing needs to happen, he can just swap out everything for the spares and pile it up in the laundry room for me to take care of. They're not reliably using the litter right now, so he'd need to pick up poops by hand most likely. I'm sure he'll do it, he's very reliable and adores critters, I just need to get over feeling weird about asking him to handle rat feces. His family had a plethora of hamsters when I met him, though, so I doubt he'll be weirded out by it. (They bought a female who turned out to be pregnant and kept ALL the babies, even going so far as to get every single one its own cage, it was amazing.) He's coming over for game night on Friday, I'll talk to him about all that then. The trip is at the end of the month, so I have time to get spares set up and all that. I'm sure I'm over thinking it and it will all be fine, but this is just how I am. And I think I'm going to go buy a new carrier before the trip, so he'll have an easy way to contain them outside the cage. I looked all over for the old one and can't find it. In the meantime I've been putting them in a big plastic storage tub with an old towel to burrow under while I'm cleaning, since they can't climb the sides.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 20:43
|
|
|
Changing out the liners or whatever is the least he can do. After you figure in all the fun he will have setting the rats up so that the appear to be playing poker, running them through mazes, chasing them around with a catcopter, and seeing just how many helium balloons it takes to make a rat fly... he should be paying you!
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 20:56
|
|
|
I just talked to him on IM and he is totally on board with cleaning the cage, and is actually kind of interested in getting a rundown on what they need to eat and making up meals himself. When I told him they lose their minds over a boiled egg I think he was sold. The last time he watched rats for me it was just two, and they ate blocks and were on CareFresh, and it was a short enough trip that there was no litter change needed. But he seems to be up for a challenge  I didn't tell him about putting the peanut butter flavored Kong filling on my hands and letting them lick me, he might die of the cute.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2012 21:38
|
|
|
@RazorBunny - I totally get that feeling. "No, it's okay, I'm mommy, I pick up the shits." It was hard for me to even let the boyfriend do it for me, but when I started working a lot I really hard no choice!
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2012 02:53
|
|
|
NaDy posted:I've been borrowing my friends telephoto/macro lens for a few days and decided I needed some super close up shots of Marley and Xerxes, apologies that some of the pictures are blurry, the lens had no built in image stabilisation and I didn't want to bump the ISO up to 1600, but enjoy! Oh man, these are great! Ratty glamour shots! So my 2 newer rats are finally big enough to be housed in the same cage as my adult rats. Having all 4 of them in the same space has been great and they've been getting along superbly. I came home from work the other day to find 3 of them squished into this jumbo tube in their cage:  They are just friending the gently caress OUT in there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2012 08:27
|
|
|
That FACE. He looks just like my Bigguy. Gave him head kisses all the time. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2012 20:40
|
|
|
Okay, guys, I give up. How do you keep your rats from chewing holes in the fleece and hiding under it? The blankets I've been using are cheap enough that I could just throw them away after each use and they'd still be cheaper than CareFresh, but it seems wasteful. Also, I stupidly bought a fabric and plastic carrier because they didn't have any like the wire one I can't find in my basement. They had a hole in the mesh within moments.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2012 22:22
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:Okay, guys, I give up. How do you keep your rats from chewing holes in the fleece and hiding under it? The only thing that seemed to stop mine from chewing and going under was to give them fleecey beds for them to cuddle in. If I don't give them soft shelters, they will make their own.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2012 23:33
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:Okay, guys, I give up. How do you keep your rats from chewing holes in the fleece and hiding under it? I do 2-layered fleece liners, and they only really chew up the bottom one. Also, the only hut I have inside has a solid base. I used to have a couple huts without solid bases and they consistently chewed any liner inside. Invalid Octopus fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Jun 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 00:01
|
|
|
They have fun soft cuddly spaces Maybe I'll cut one into smaller pieces and put it in their little hut, that seems to be where they're doing the most digging around. I got them a jar of freeze dried grasshoppers in the reptile department at Petsmart. Garrus was insane for them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 00:05
|
|
|
Yeah, I used the same style hut for a while and it was just such a hassle that I've stopped bothering with any like that. I have a solid-bottomed guinea pig igloo and several hammocks, and they seem fine with that. They still chew up the bottom layer of fleece, but the liners last way longer than they used to.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 00:11
|
|
|
So if you feel like getting angry at other rat owners, here's a longass thing someone linked me today from a furry site (which honestly I don't expect to be a bastion of sanity and proper pet care to begin with, but I digress). This image is huge. Here's the tanks they are using to keep their rats in, warning for avatar showing a butt. Apparently this is still going. The summary is basically someone admits to owning 50 rats in tanks (aquarium tanks) and then chaos and backpedaling happens. And apparently they own a single extremely small corn snake, so why would they need to breed that many rats for food?  I raged and you can to! Also Muffin is getting introduced Sunday since she went to the vet this week and everything came out okay! 
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 03:20
|
|
|
Mordin and Joker managed to find the edge of the blanket and pull it up, and are underneath it. I will worry about it in the morning. They were super mad because I gave Garrus a crab cake left over from dinner, and he was sitting on top of them eating it and they couldn't get to it because they were on the opposite side of the cage from the opening they had made.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 05:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 08:21 |
|
|
Bear Rape posted:So if you feel like getting angry at other rat owners, here's a longass thing someone linked me today from a furry site (which honestly I don't expect to be a bastion of sanity and proper pet care to begin with, but I digress). Holy poo poo. I wouldn't keep TWO rats in a tiny aquarium like that, let alone SEVEN. But apparently suggesting they are morons means you are "closed-minded." That's probably a fair assessment, though, as my mind is entirely closed against animal neglect.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2012 14:13
|
|
