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Haha, love that last photo, Olive :3
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Jun 20, 2012 02:09
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Clearly he's a genius, because if he smells like their pee he definitely belongs to them, so they have to accept him. Edit - so as not to double post - I stuck another boiled egg in the cage, and cracked it just a little. Garrus came up and started peeling away the shell, and Mordin noticed what he was doing and ran over to steal it. They started tussling over it. As soon as their backs were turned, Joker ran up and grabbed the opening Garrus had made in his mouth and used it to pick up the whole thing and run away with it. I had a really hard time not laughing out loud and startling them, it was perfect. RazorBunny fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Jun 20, 2012 |
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Jun 20, 2012 02:18
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 20, 2012 03:21
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Relevant to our interests Anyone ever had something like that happen?
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Jun 20, 2012 21:24
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Amiss posted:Relevant to our interests I haven't, but I have two friends who refused to come over when I did have rats because even though I told them I would leave the rats in their cage, "they could still bite through the bars!" 
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Jun 20, 2012 21:56
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The only question I get similar to that is "do they bite?" I feel like I'm missing out on people freaking out over my rats.  Send the crazy my way so I can have fun stories to tell please. Also, my two latest (and last) arrivals are healthy aside from slight eye problems with one, and a broken nail on the other because neither had been in a cage until I put them in one. She's thankfully made it easy for me because she just stays close to the water and food and doesn't run around a whole bunch, so her nail is healing nicely. A bit touchy about that foot, though. I'm waiting until they're both more used to being in a cage and Cotton's nail heals before they go in the huge cage with everyone. Also, how does everyone tell their REWs apart from a distance? I'm kind of  about that because I own three now and might need to know how once they're all in the same cage together. Friend of mine suggested marking their tails with sharpies, would that be okay or could it be harmful possibly?
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Jun 21, 2012 03:16
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That story is all sorts of ridiculous. If I ever got a rat, his/her name would of COURSE be Bubonic. I want one of those big-eared ones. I used to have rats when I was a little little kid, but I barely remember them. I do remember my mom had to help me with them because the momma had babies, then tried to eat them.
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Jun 21, 2012 03:48
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Bear Rape posted:The only question I get similar to that is "do they bite?" I feel like I'm missing out on people freaking out over my rats. At the wildlife centre I used to volunteer at, we'd use nail polish to paint the ears of the baby opossums to tell them apart.
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Jun 21, 2012 03:49
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Bear Rape posted:Also, how does everyone tell their REWs apart from a distance? I'm kind of You could dab a drop of food colouring between their ears or over their tails. I think it would stain the white fur easily.
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Jun 21, 2012 04:05
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Jin Wicked posted:You could dab a drop of food colouring between their ears or over their tails. I think it would stain the white fur easily. I think I convinced neongrey to do exactly that a couple years back, and it seemed to work out okay! They'll groom it off eventually, of course, but at least it's edible.
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Jun 21, 2012 06:56
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Where DO you get plagued rats, though? I have some enemies, and those suckers must pay!
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Jun 21, 2012 14:06
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Atmus posted:Where DO you get plagued rats, though? I have some enemies, and those suckers must pay! The American Southwest would be your best bet. There have been some cases in New Mexico recently, I believe, and when I was at the Grand Canyon a number of years ago they had signs up warning you not to feed the squirrels because they carry bubonic plague. Although I believe hantavirus is more common and is also carried by rodents.
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Jun 21, 2012 14:27
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 My boy Bandit passed away a couple of nights ago. First there was a strange fungal looking spot on his leg, then a small black cyst on his back. Brought him in and had those removed. Then a week and a half later we found two mammary tumors under his armpit and leg and had him go into surgery. 2 weeks after the surgery he was brought in again due to weight loss and respiratory issues and went on a week's worth antibiotics..then another week later his liver became enlarged and he declined from there on. They just kept coming. Makes me wonder if he did have some type of metastasizing cancer.Now I am in the market again for another boy, hoping to get one that is at least Ruby's age(1 year). Going to check out the OHS rats sometime tomorrow. One of the rats apparently likes wheels. It will be fun to have wheelie tail rats around. Speaking of wheelie rats, are they less predisposed for hind leg paralysis? Part of me thinks that because they use those base tail muscles so much, that they would be stronger and less apt to deteriorate or at least make the nerve endings stronger. I haven't really found any research on it but maybe someone on PI might know.
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Jun 21, 2012 20:58
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I'm sorry Baika What a cute (funny looking) little guy.The Snoo posted:my only problem is that she sneezes a lot. they're little sneezes but it happens quite frequently. her eyes aren't red/puffy, there's no nasal discharge, she just... sneezes. like it's dusty or something. Welcome to the thread  In regards to sneezing, I have one who is a chronic sneezer too. He's always just a little bit runny at the nose - his sneezes are like clearing his nose. Its worse if his cage needs cleaning, someone is using air freshener, or sometimes if the window is open and there's a breeze. I've tried antibiotics to clear it up with absolutely no effect, and am listening to his lungs every day in case of changes. He's just always been that way. Also he doesn't hear very well, if at all (maybe related to the sniffiness?) Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Jun 22, 2012 |
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Jun 22, 2012 05:18
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2012 18:34
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The Snoo posted:
Yeah no, you are not a rat and all of the human attention in the world will not make up for the presence of another rat that she can bond with. Forcing an animal with such complex social structures and rich social lives to live alone for no real reason is pretty cruel. Rats are not designed to live alone and they suffer terribly mentally for it even if that suffering is not apparent to you, as a new rat owner. You need to get her a friend like yesterday. I just watched a rat self mutilate for months and slowly lose his mind after the death of his brother. Even the presence of other rats did not help and he had to be euthanized because he wouldn't eat and was chewing holes in himself and nothing could get him to stop. The bonds they form with each other are not replaceable with human interaction.
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Jun 23, 2012 14:43
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 23, 2012 17:22
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The Snoo posted:
If you can't keep two rats you probably shouldn't have any at all. It really is a dick move to keep a pet regardless of whether or not their social and emotional needs are being met.
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Jun 23, 2012 17:32
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The Snoo posted:
If you can't rage up the five-spot it would take to get another rat you should reconsider having the one.
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Jun 23, 2012 18:01
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 23, 2012 18:11
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The Snoo posted:yeah, I'll just return her to the shop, right?
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Jun 23, 2012 18:22
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As someone who made the choice to keep a solo rat for about a year and a half, don't do it. In my case I lost one of my boys and couldn't bear to get more babies, and my remaining male had bonded so much with my family members that I didn't think he would do well if I gave him up. He kind of latched on to our cat, so he wasn't entirely alone in terms of animal companionship, and basically whenever I was home he was out with me, but I know it wasn't everything he needed. If I had realized he was going to live as much longer as he did, I might have made a different choice. I would support someone who made the same choice I did under similar circumstances, or if a rat had shown himself to be antisocial to other rats, but it's very different to start out with a lone rat. If you can't scratch up the cost of a feeder rat from a pet store, you really need to think about whether you can afford to have pets at all. Rats are considered exotic pets, and around here just walking in the door of the vet's office is $65. It would be better to have them be a little cramped and try to alleviate it with out-of-cage time than to hold off on a second rat until you can afford a larger cage. Yes, we're all assholes here. That's just the way it is.
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Jun 23, 2012 18:29
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The Snoo posted:
I think it's a pretty dick move to keep a social animal alone. You got the rat knowing you couldn't afford to provide her with what she needs -- appropriate companionship. This is just as retarded as buying a dog and not being able to afford a leash. The woman who helped you is stupid. Look at it this way -- the pet store insists on keeping two rats at the time. You're not meeting the same standard of care as a pet store.
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Jun 23, 2012 18:34
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I'm kind of stuck on the 'larger cage' comment - how tiny is this loving cage that two rats won't fit? They pretty much seem to cram into the same corner/house/orbital/hammock all the time anyways. I paid something like $2.75 per rat, and food would double, but doesn't seem like a second rat would be much more of an investment. ...also, it doubles the cute, so it pays for itself really.
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Jun 23, 2012 19:50
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Seriously, twenty recyclable aluminum cans will get you a buck in any decent state; you likely have enough kicking around to cover it. If not, I promise you the hobos outside haven't already gotten them all, it's not that close to the end of the month.
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Jun 23, 2012 21:57
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I'm pretty sure a rat would rather be crowded with a buddy than alone.
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Jun 23, 2012 23:56
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If you can't get a cage big enough for two rats, don't get a rat.  e: Or rats rather
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Jun 24, 2012 00:06
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Hey guys I hear rats do better with friends? These guys sure seem to think so.  
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Jun 24, 2012 00:46
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My girl's alone now after her sister died a couple of months ago. I was really worried about her, but she seriously appears to have not noticed at all. Mind you, she has breast cancer so maybe her hormones are screwed or something. She spends all day nest building and re-hiding food. I was considering getting babies just to keep her busy, but I'm not sure how much longer she'll live since she's already ~3. Snoo, deliberately getting just one rat is a bit of a dick move. Also your signature sucks and I don't know how you're getting away with it.
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Jun 24, 2012 02:39
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Does anyone else have a rat that will take snacks from you and then put them in the food bowl? My old REW does that and it's hilarious because she'll "hide" the other rats' snacks in there in there while the others spaz out like "WHERE IS MY FOOD IT WAS HERE 5 SECONDS AGO"  I guess it makes sense, food goes there. But she doesn't eat it right away, just hides it there until the other rats notice and then they all eat around the bowl. Rats are seriously smart, now if they could just use that for sniffing out cancer and bombs* instead of trolling you/other rats... *I think some rats can do that though, like those Gambian pouched rats that look for mines.
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Jun 24, 2012 12:42
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Folly especially tends to take a snack and drop it off some 8 inches away and then come back for more. At least make an effort to pretend you haven't gotten any, rat! 
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Jun 24, 2012 16:08
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My boys haven't figured that one out yet, they still take the treat and immediately run off to eat it. I need to get a picture of them all standing on the top shelf waiting for treats, it's super cute  I'm leaving Thursday and I'm still kind of nervous about leaving them with my friend. He's super responsible and I know it's silly of me to worry...
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Jun 24, 2012 16:19
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Don't feel that bad...my BF is cutting his part of a vacation short because he doesn't like the idea of boarding them at the vet's for more than a week. I'm a bit nervous as well – but not enough to keep me from going back to California!
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Jun 24, 2012 16:25
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Invalid Octopus posted:Folly especially tends to take a snack and drop it off some 8 inches away and then come back for more. At least make an effort to pretend you haven't gotten any, rat! One of mine will do that. The oldest one will take it, start to eat it, hide in the spot none of the other rats know of yet, and then come back for another. I've actually given him a second treat before thinking he'd eaten the first already.
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Jun 24, 2012 16:51
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Bear Rape posted:Rats are seriously smart, now if they could just use that for sniffing out cancer and bombs* instead of trolling you/other rats... They can also detect tuberculosis! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRvdyuHxdE
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Jun 24, 2012 19:50
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One of the reasons I got into rats in the first place was because I saw an exhibit at the Virginia Science Museum where they had trained rats to play basketball
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Jun 24, 2012 20:28
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I introduced all of my rats today. Seems to have gone over well. They're in that cage temporarily until the fleece is dry for my better cage. I'm saving this cage with wooden platforms godawful as it is to use as an isolation cage later on.
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Jun 24, 2012 23:53
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Snoo, its obvious you probably didn't know how important it is to have more than one, and people are only piling on you because we care about the ratties. It really is important for them to have company. They keep eachother warm, groom each other in ways that we can't do (without a cagemate, a rat can get fur/skin problems from not being able to groom effectively), and they literally get depressed and lonely without other rat company. The person you got your ratty from was wrong. Its really important. She'll be ok for a week or two but please get her company. Don't worry about a small cage - two can fit in the same area as one and if you let them out for exercise it won't be too bad. Just get the bigger cage when you can afford it. And keep in mind vet bills - pretty much every rat will eventually cost a bunch at the vet because they have a lot of health issues. Its just part of being a rat owner.
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Jun 25, 2012 03:58
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Just walking into the vet here costs $200. In the past year I've had multiple URIs, a pituitary tumor that needed steroids and multiple vet visits, a euthanasia (see prior), and once a thing got stuck to Angela's eye and had to be removed. Even if I split the costs evenly among the rats (which hasn't been the case, Angela and Patti [aka, older ones] take most of the visits), that's still hundreds of dollars per rat. In about a year and a half. Rats are expensive.
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Jun 25, 2012 04:35
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I do more of my rat vetting at home than most people do and I still spend several hundred a year on rat vet visits. More when I was a psycho rat lady and would fork out a couple grand for crazy surgeries. I spend more a year on rat vetting than I've spent in several years for 2 dogs.
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Jun 25, 2012 05:11
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