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Invalid Octopus posted:Liners are the best. Have you tried using binder clips to hold the fleece down around the edges? I haven't, but it seems like a pretty popular technique. I've tried that in the past - it just resulted in the liners being ripped apart where they were bound to the metal (Pandora  ). This time I'm just lying the liners flat on the tray, and there's more liners than necessary (two per tray folded), so WE'LL SEEEEE. I'm expecting them to be thoroughly shredded but oh well, these are old ones anyway.
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May 27, 2013 19:29
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Invalid Octopus posted:Liners are the best. Have you tried using binder clips to hold the fleece down around the edges? I haven't, but it seems like a pretty popular technique. How often do liners need to be changed? I'm new to this critter nation and fleece liners poo poo; I've always used normal bedding in rat cages before. I usually clean cages once a week, but with fleece liners, mine reek by the end of the week and tbh I am way too lazy to change them more often and want to go back to pans/bedding. Does anyone know of some decent pans that will fit a CN? I've been looking but I can't find any plastic bins or anything that will fit the dimensions. 
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May 27, 2013 20:27
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I managed to get my rats to sit still for a few seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXvSPKZJvUo
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May 27, 2013 20:38
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Superconsndar posted:How often do liners need to be changed? I'm new to this critter nation and fleece liners poo poo; I've always used normal bedding in rat cages before. I usually clean cages once a week, but with fleece liners, mine reek by the end of the week and tbh I am way too lazy to change them more often and want to go back to pans/bedding. Does anyone know of some decent pans that will fit a CN? I've been looking but I can't find any plastic bins or anything that will fit the dimensions. I generally change the cage about once every 5-7 days, and cleaned it a little more frequently when I just has the single. There are several options for CN if you want to use normal litter: scatter guards, steel pans (these need to be cured for two weeks), and some people use cement mixing trays as well.
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May 27, 2013 20:44
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Invalid Octopus posted:There are several options for CN if you want to use normal litter: scatter guards Any idea if a) these scatter guards are available in the UK, and b) if they'd work with the Aventura cage? I wouldn't mind unscrewing the drat door frame from the cage each week to clean if I could have deeper substrate again.
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May 27, 2013 20:52
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Cute rats, Extra Smooth Balls! I love the way rats shell peas, so fussy. Blackberry will do this indefinitely until food arrives or I shut the door: 
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May 27, 2013 22:41
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killerwhat posted:Cute rats, Extra Smooth Balls! I love the way rats shell peas, so fussy.  I'm still getting mine used to being picked up without running away, pinky twigged that brief indignity = treats pretty quickly but brain is still in "OH GOD, it's the CLAW!" mode. I'm not sure if pinky is cleverer, lazier or just a fat greedy bastard.
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May 27, 2013 22:49
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killerwhat posted:Cute rats, Extra Smooth Balls! I love the way rats shell peas, so fussy. What are you using to make anigifs with?
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May 27, 2013 23:02
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daggerdragon posted:What are you using to make anigifs with? GifCam I have a few poor quality baby rat pix. It's late, they're flighty, and my partner shooed me away after a few snaps because he didn't want me too bother them. More tomorrow eve once everyone's settled in  . Meanwhile, the downstairs rats got several pieces of rawhide to hopefully tide them over. The littlest rat is quite small, she's only 5.5 weeks and the breeder was iffy about letting her go home, so we're holding off on introducing them for a little bit, probably til the weekend.    Possible names: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather (the fairies from Sleeping Beauty) Regina, Gretchen, Karen (if I want to spite Fraction) and then a few more that my bf's nixed or I have (uh, definite pass on Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato thankyouverymuch).
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May 28, 2013 03:40
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Omg babies  Regina, Gretchen and Karen are fantastic names (and I will use them anyway eventually t ). Feel free to spite me :iamafag:
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May 28, 2013 13:25
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daggerdragon posted:What are you using to make anigifs with? Photoshop, actually. That GifCam looks cool but it's PC only.
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May 28, 2013 17:39
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Rat dump!            
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May 29, 2013 00:44
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More of this little lady forever. 
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May 29, 2013 02:34
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Amiss posted:More of this little lady forever. Definitely! They are a bit of a flighty batch. I made the deposit on the lot when they were only a couple weeks old, so I had to go based off appearances instead of personalities, and none are especially gregarious. They're all warming up though – still a bit hand shy, but were fine with napping next to me (that one especially!) while we worked through some of the new Arrested Development episodes . They're just so teeny tiny.
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May 29, 2013 03:15
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Got a couple of girls this past Sunday: A beige hooded named Milli, and a white one named Vanilli. I'll post some pics whenever I get the chance to take some. Although neither of them were particularly socialized, Vanilli is learning to trust my girlfriend and I pretty quickly and is starting to take treats when being handled (after she lets out half her body weight in poops of course) and coming to the door when I even come close to the cage. Milli is really energetic and adventurous in her cage, but she's a total weenie around people and will usually run away and hide in her house if I'm doing anything other than changing the water or refilling the food dish. I'm planning on cleaning the cage tomorrow (I've been spot cleaning at least once a day, but I quickly purchased some Goodbye Odor for the future  ), and I'm going to have to get Milli out of there. What can I do to get her out? I've been trying to avoid flipping the house over and just scooping her up (she's not a biter, just really shy), but I don't know what else to do.
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May 29, 2013 04:04
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Flip the house over, scoop her up. Forced socialization is the way to go with rats. Handle them as much as you can.
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May 29, 2013 04:21
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Invalid Octopus posted:Flip the house over, scoop her up. Forced socialization is the way to go with rats. Handle them as much as you can. Thanks! I've been using forced socialization with Vanilli up to flipping the house over, but if it won't break any trust I've already developed I don't have any problems with doing it.
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May 29, 2013 04:38
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Uuuuugh had the opportunity to pick up a nekkid rat that my friend had. Had to resist because I have a separate room for my animals already. FML. I have a soft spot for the nekkid ones. So hard. First world problems. I've bought too many geckos this month already.
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May 29, 2013 06:53
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Oh my goodness, Octopus, you have such a cute batch of rats there. I wish I could find naked rats in my area but the only place I can find rats (other then Petco/Smart) only has black and light brown (fawn?) rats. And there are never Craigslist posts for rats. I would have picked them up in a heartbeat! I assume most people in this thread are getting their rats from breeders because a lot of you have very exotic looking rats that I have never seen before.
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May 29, 2013 07:14
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Don't be jealous that my rat has some kind of hair follicle problem, but no seriously what makes them hairless?
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May 29, 2013 07:49
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IO your new ratlets are adorable. I'm jealous. I've just been to my nearest pet shops and all I could find was two black hooded and two roan females. And a black hooded, roan, and PEW male. I'm so bored of seeing black hoodeds, roans and PEWs. That's literally all I see ATM. All I want is some paler hoodeds, Siamese, selfs - anything that isn't one that I already have! Even the BYBs only have those sorts. Roan popularity has bored me to tears on them lately. 
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May 29, 2013 12:15
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May 30, 2013 00:33
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My mom calls my two PEWs creepy, but doesn't think others she's seen that have black eyes are as creepy. Stinks cause my two are rather affectionate, especially Teresa, she'll lick your fingers to death. I think the biggest "complaint" I have is how quickly their little foot-needles (claws) grow back! Feels like I'm filing and clipping quite often to save my neck from looking like a scratching post. 
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May 31, 2013 04:13
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Is it recommended to clip their nails? All mine have super long, painful nails and they always leave red scratches all over my shoulder that tend to break me out. I'm scared to clip them wrong and hurt them, or make them too short when they need them or something.
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May 31, 2013 05:25
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Ghost Party posted:Is it recommended to clip their nails? All mine have super long, painful nails and they always leave red scratches all over my shoulder that tend to break me out. I'm scared to clip them wrong and hurt them, or make them too short when they need them or something. I use the sandpaper marketed for trimming birds' claws, just let them run over it for a while during play time. Some people use a brick in high traffic areas, eg. Under the water bottle. Mine are far too squirmy to clip.
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May 31, 2013 06:53
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My vet clips rodent nails for about $5 a rat so I just prefer to have it done there. Rats are way to squirmy for me to feel comfortable in clipping their nails. Also $10 for guinea pigs which is awesome because one of the guinea pigs I adopted about a year ago has really overgrown dark nails so I'm afraid to clip them. 
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May 31, 2013 16:44
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    Moxxi status: fail.             Alice status: pretty much still a fail!!!
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May 31, 2013 20:41
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Hahaha, oh geez, what did you try to dye them with?
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May 31, 2013 20:56
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Food colouring.  We diluted it with Moxxi, didn't work. Poured it straight on Alice and worked a little better but she's ~~barely~~ blue.
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May 31, 2013 21:02
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I didn't see the bin of dye at first and was wondering just how much porphyrin your rat was putting out and how the heck was it still alive  ?!I've heard of other people using Kool-aid, and I've seen dog-people use Manic Panic dye on their dogs, maybe try one of those next? (Very, very carefully...)
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May 31, 2013 21:14
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The smell of manic panic can be a little strong depending on what kind you get, but that tends to work best. Just have to use really tiny amounts and really dark colors on light fur otherwise it'll end up not doing anything.
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May 31, 2013 22:43
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daggerdragon posted:I didn't see the bin of dye at first and was wondering just how much porphyrin your rat was putting out and how the heck was it still alive Oh god no Moxxi is definitely alive and well. She was certainly pissed at me though, and I have the scratches from her and Alice to prove it. I've got some kool-aid en route for the dogs so if I have any left I'll use it on the rats
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Jun 1, 2013 07:46
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Fraction posted:Food colouring. Mehndi is the only thing I've ever coloured rats with. It's essentially made of plant matter so it won't be toxic. Takes about 10 minutes to have any effect and dyes it a sort of brown to red depending on the the hair/fur. I used it so I could quickly distinguish different rats quickly. Best place is right between the shoulder blades. You could try hair dye if you are very very careful. I wouldn't reccomend it.
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Jun 1, 2013 12:40
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Slidje posted:
Manic Panic is nontoxic (for humans, of course - I doubt they've tested their product for rats), and a nice thick paste so it won't run everywhere like other hair dyes.
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Jun 1, 2013 17:22
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RazorBunny posted:Manic Panic is nontoxic (for humans, of course - I doubt they've tested their product for rats), and a nice thick paste so it won't run everywhere like other hair dyes. Probably the biggest risk with manic panic is getting covered in it yourself when an unhappy rat shins up your arm and down your top.
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Jun 1, 2013 18:30
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Haha yeah I'd imagine I'd end up with brightly coloured arms. As shown in the pictures, my rats aren't shy about climbing all over me to escape Colourful Water.  Slidje posted:You could try hair dye if you are very very careful. I wouldn't reccomend it. Kool-aid would be safe though, right?
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Jun 1, 2013 18:33
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   Rats are officially Flora (dumbo rex), Fauna (agouti), and Merryweather (black).
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Jun 1, 2013 21:26
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A month shy of her second birthday, Amelia's suddenly sporting a squishy lump on her chest. It doesn't seem to be bothering her, at least. She's always a drama queen about being handled but she doesn't seem to mind it being poked at. I'll have to figure out when I can get her to a vet to have them look at it.
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Jun 2, 2013 16:40
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RoboRodent posted:A month shy of her second birthday, Amelia's suddenly sporting a squishy lump on her chest. It doesn't seem to be bothering her, at least. She's always a drama queen about being handled but she doesn't seem to mind it being poked at. I'll have to figure out when I can get her to a vet to have them look at it. That's like the third PI rat to have gotten a neck/chest lump in the last couple months. Depending on size/location, it might end up being a cyst or something. Moo's lump went down after a couple days, so I never talked to the vet about it. Or it might be a tumor. Good luck.
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Jun 2, 2013 16:54
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Invalid Octopus posted:
It seems introductions went well? Is it just a British Thing that "proper" ratladies refer to buying a rat from them as 'adopting' a rat? It reminds me of people buying puppies from pet shops and claiming they 'adopted' the puppy. IDGI.
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Jun 2, 2013 21:47
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