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First Time Caller posted:Is it OK to have the ramps and middle floor in a rat cage be made of wire or do they need to be solid ( can that cause bumblefoot?) or does just the floor of the cage being solid matter? Wire floors won't cause bumblefoot, DIRTY floors cause bumblefoot (wire or solid). For two rats one bowl/bottle is fine as long as you keep them clean and stocked.  Serella posted:Seriously, this thread has made me want the gently caress out of rats. Alas, I own ferrets and hope to get a cat in a few months, so I continue to live vicariously and demand more pictures. I have both. The cages are about 6 feet away from each other. I don't think I'd get a cat too because that's just too much pets, but the rat/ferret combo works fine for me. (do it do it do it)
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Jul 24, 2010 23:59
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 08:30 |
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Momma rat is getting quite fat and has been grooming her lady bits quite a bit, laying in odd positions, and stretching a lot today, so looks like we're very close. I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up to babies in the morning, but she could hold out a bit longer. We're getting down to the wire either way. She started showing very early, but doesn't have a massive belly. I can feel lots of squirming when I palpate her though. 
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Jul 25, 2010 02:08
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CompactFanny posted:I have both. The cages are about 6 feet away from each other. I don't think I'd get a cat too because that's just too much pets, but the rat/ferret combo works fine for me. (do it do it do it) I could see myself considering it if I decide against getting a cat, but ferrets are tragic enough for me, I think. I don't know how to deal with animals that are not only fairly cancer-prone but also extremely short lived to boot. A friend of mine recently had the last of her original trio or ratties die and it made me sad because she got her rats a few months before I got my ferrets. The ferrets were already a few years old when I got them, and still have a few left in them. It's bad enough knowing that they've only got less than half the lifespan of a dog and around a third of a cat's, but two or three years? That's so unfair. 
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Jul 25, 2010 05:32
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I live in a basement apartment, small ground level windows means very little natural light. How much natural light should rats get per day? Also, we have a nice backyard and use no chemicals on the lawn, would it be OK to take the rats outside and put them in a wire enclosure (supervised of course)?
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Jul 25, 2010 19:13
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Yarn! posted:I live in a basement apartment, small ground level windows means very little natural light. How much natural light should rats get per day? Also, we have a nice backyard and use no chemicals on the lawn, would it be OK to take the rats outside and put them in a wire enclosure (supervised of course)? will it have a cover? cause they can scale that :] i don't see why taking them outside would be an issue otherwise.
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Jul 25, 2010 22:13
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this is Reece, he's a little camera shy... fortunately sometimes he falls asleep in my dressing gown when I'm on the computer and I can snap some shots of him snoozing;  and this is his housemate Alonso. he's bigger now, but hasn't grown out of the adorable habit of sleeping on his face :3  We got them about 10 months ago at our house at uni, and i've taken them home for the summer because my house mate's mum is allergic... rather annoyingly i've started reacting to them now though; scratches swell up really red and itchy, i can't breathe sometimes, and my nose runs... i'm hoping its either the new bedding (actualy, i'm not, because it was cheap and last ages!) or my parents new house in the middle of the countryside... either way, they still get lots of hugs and computer time with me. i'm going to change the bedding tomorrow and see if that helps...
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Jul 25, 2010 22:39
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eig posted:will it have a cover? cause they can scale that :] i don't see why taking them outside would be an issue otherwise. If they're supervised, I would think this isn't too much of a problem. I had one climber and one non-climber, and the only time there was ever an issue was when I made the mistake of walking away for two minutes when I had it set up indoors. The climber had made the leap to the nearby couch and from there to the floor, and had scuttled under an armchair and wouldn't come out. Of course this was a day when I was all dressed up to go to someplace and had a skirt and heels on. He wasn't fast enough to make it up and over before I could grab him if I was watching.
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Jul 26, 2010 00:38
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I just noticed that one of my rats was having a hard time eating a Yogie. Turns out that his bottom two teeth look...broken? They are much shorter than the other rat's teeth and have a gap between them. I had noticed he's lost a little weight in the past few weeks, but I figured it was due to age (they're over two years old). The injury is really confusing because I have no idea how it would've happened. I'm going to go out tomorrow and get some cottage cheese to help fatten him up, probably some pudding or baby food too. Hopefully his teeth grow back a little faster than they have been.
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Jul 26, 2010 01:38
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Got my rats today Adopted from someone needing to re-home on craigslist. 2 males, one white with a black stripe down his back, and another solid grey. I'm calling them Ender and Bean. They seem to like their new cage, however one has been on the top floor of the 3 story cage the entire time. Is this a normal thing? When should I start to be worried if he just continues to stay up there? I've had them for about 8 hours now. I don't think he's eaten or used the water bottle at all yet, should I put a food dish / 2nd water bottle up there if he refuses to use the one on the first story? Also how much bedding do rats need? I know hamsters like to have 2 inches, same for rats? (It's at one inch right now, wasn't sure)
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Jul 26, 2010 02:21
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First Time Caller posted:Got my rats today It's perfectly normal for them to utilize only the top level. Sometimes just until they get more comfortable, sometimes forever, usually the former. Use as much bedding as you want. They aren't going to burrow under it like a hamster or gerbil might, so 2 inches is probably just wasted money. Use enough to soak up the pee. Also, Lucy didn't have babies. 
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Jul 26, 2010 02:48
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CompactFanny posted:It's perfectly normal for them to utilize only the top level. Sometimes just until they get more comfortable, sometimes forever, usually the former. Should I keep the second food dish & water bottle up there for him or not? I fear if I take those away he won't use the ones on the bottom level and just go hungry and get dehydrated  There's not much room up there where he stays, its not an entire floor its just a balcony that ramps up from the second floor. It's the Petco Rat Manor cage.
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Jul 26, 2010 03:26
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First Time Caller posted:Should I keep the second food dish & water bottle up there for him or not? I fear if I take those away he won't use the ones on the bottom level and just go hungry and get dehydrated Rats are pretty dedicated to keeping themselves fed, he won't starve himself. I had one boy who would camp out on the top shelf too. They are nocturnal animals after all, so he'll probably come down and eat and drink tonight.
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Jul 26, 2010 03:33
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First Time Caller posted:go hungry and get dehydrated It`s a bad idea to move his food and water supply around. Once here learns where the food is he wont forget it. If you ever lose him just leave the cage door open and youll find him back inside wherever the food and water is. First Time Caller posted:There's not much room up there where he stays also: Yarn! posted:Thanks to this thread I've been inspired to adopt rats WHAT HAVE I DONE. Try and get the friendlier ones to start with. Bad rats may never change. I`ve got so many tooth shaped scars its unbelievable. The worst injury was Bigguy. He bit my arm in the center, his tooth went an inch down straight though the artery. I was pissing blood everywhere. He settled down though it was worth it
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Jul 26, 2010 10:08
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Slidje posted:He settled down though it was worth it RATTY PATTY
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Jul 26, 2010 10:41
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Ahah, both of my rats also sleep on their faces ! It's half cute, half psychotic.
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Jul 26, 2010 11:48
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Amiss posted:RATTY PATTY I got trolled out of the livejournal ratties group and 2 rat forums for posting that video. Apparantly i was abusing my rat by overfeeding him. I told them all to gently caress themselves they dont know what theyre talking about, and got banned from each one for sticking up for myself. It was funny at the time the amount of insane rat ownwers out there. Not one of them ever registered the fact that he was adopted like that and he was huge when i got him, thats why i named him Bigguy. The funniest one was this woman telling me about how his obesity will give him cancer and diabetes and lead to an early death. good advice, except for the fact she was the most grotesque obese horrible blob of flesh I`ve ever seen infesting livejournal.
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Jul 26, 2010 19:56
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Slidje posted:I got trolled out of the livejournal ratties group and 2 rat forums for posting that video. Apparantly i was abusing my rat by overfeeding him. Ratladies are batshit and there is a reason I've learned to stay far, far away from internet rat communities. I was once banned from a rat forum that I'd been a member of for years for daring to voice the opinions that *just maybe* keeping reptiles as pets is not the worst thing and *just maybe* using rats as feeders was not the highest form of injustice in the world. Not only was I banned, but they then decided that I must have been a troll in hiding all along. Yes, I'd bred and done rescue for years, posted on rat forums for years....all so that I could one day troll them by saying that snakes eating prekilled rodents was an okay thing. They patted themselves on the back for finally outing an obvious troll.  To be fair, it was one of the creepier, crazier forums at the time, but still.Anyway, Momma rat currently resembles a beached whale and I wish she'd hurry up and pop already.  
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Jul 26, 2010 20:09
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Since Bean never comes down from his balcony, Ender decided to pay him a visit... ...and teabag his face with his enormous nutsack. 
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Jul 26, 2010 21:12
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Slidje posted:Not one of them ever registered the fact that he was adopted like that and he was huge when i got him, thats why i named him Bigguy. See, this makes perfect sense, and in any case, he's adorable. Wanna poke that tum.
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Jul 26, 2010 22:31
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My rat who always chills on the top floor all the time? Could it be because he doesn't like the bedding I'm using? It's Carefresh Ultra and as soon as I put him in the bottom floor he started sneezing like crazy.
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Jul 27, 2010 06:03
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First Time Caller posted:He`ll be on the on the top floor cos its a hiding spot. Get an igloo and he`ll hide in there. Give him time and be nice, he will settle down and be friendlier. Male rats are verrrry lazy though. Mine have always spent 90% of the daytime sleeping or hiding unless i grab them for play. Evenings is the best time to get them out for play and when theyre most active.   
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Jul 27, 2010 12:31
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I adopted 2 sister rats from a animal rescue yesterday. That are a dusty brown with white bellies and white gloves. I was only planning on visiting the rescue but when I held them one curled up in my pocket and the other say on my shoulder and chittered at me Now for my question: My aunt requested that I house sit for her for a few days. I want to take the rats with me, but I won't if the hour and a half drive would be too stressful. I do have a housemate but she isn't a pet person and her life is extremely busy right now. What should I do rat goons?
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Jul 27, 2010 13:04
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I've taken my rats on like 6 hour road trips and they didn't seem to mind. They just all went to sleep in their box. So just give them somewhere to feel safe since they can't wear seat belts!! 
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Jul 27, 2010 13:16
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Yeah, my two girls don't seem to mind car trips, either. My Mom theorizes it's 'cause they are in their own territory in their cage so they still feel safe. Not like stuffing a cat into a hated carrier. Woo boy my cat hated that. First Time Caller, Slidje is right (as usual!). They're just sneezing and sitting up top 'cause you just got them. Mine didn't stop power sniffing and sneezing for the first few days after I got them, it's pretty normal. Slidje, I can't believe how much time & attention you give your rats. But one of your older videos totally pushed me over the edge into getting Ripley and Vasquez, your rats are always so squishable and take the petting so well. My girls very rarely hold still for face mushing, hopefully they'll chill more as they age. Superconsndar, I came here for rat baby pictures now WHERE THEY AT?
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Jul 27, 2010 16:10
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so i just adopted a friend's roommate abandoned rats, cage & all. they're 2 boys and i already have 3 girls. my girls were kinda going whacko when they were near so for now i put the boys' cage in my roommates room since he's on vacation and i dont want crazy rat hormones everywhere!!!! so how much should i keep them separated? i def shouldn't let my girls & boys be friends right <___< esp my like 8 month old girls who seem to be horny as heck!!!!! the boys are full grown, i'm not exactly how old they are, probably like a year. edit omg the white guy is already bruxing an boggling :3 eig fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Jul 27, 2010 |
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Jul 27, 2010 19:46
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Squid posted:Superconsndar, I came here for rat baby pictures now WHERE THEY AT? Ugh THEY ARE STILL IN THE OVEN i am seriously getting ready to just wring her out like a towel and make them go *plop* everywhere IRL she's very close, it just seems like she's taking ages because she started showing so darn early. eig posted:so i just adopted a friend's roommate abandoned rats, cage & all. they're 2 boys and i already have 3 girls. my girls were kinda going whacko when they were near so for now i put the boys' cage in my roommates room since he's on vacation and i dont want crazy rat hormones everywhere!!!! Don't let them come in contact with each other EVER. Rats mating take like 3 seconds tops and can happen before you so much as blink. They can be caged in the same room, but no play time. They can even mate through the bars (I have personally had this happen) so don't let them climb each others cages either.
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Jul 27, 2010 20:07
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Superconsndar posted:Ugh THEY ARE STILL IN THE OVEN i am seriously getting ready to just wring her out like a towel and make them go *plop* everywhere thanks. thats basically what i wanted to know. :-D the girls have had free range of my apartment but i guess ill have to figure something new out .... i dont think i want the boys kept in the basement O___O ill just need to make it so they cant get under my door and leave:)
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Jul 27, 2010 20:11
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eig posted:When you have males and females in proximity, the males and probably the females will start to get a bit more violent towards each other. When i had lady rats, a friend came with her boy rat. My girls instantly flocked towards him for a sniff and started squeeking. I put them in their cages but they started fighting each other really violently. When she left i let them all loose but they were really fighty for the next 3 days.
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Jul 27, 2010 20:21
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Thank you again. I am actually considering keeping the boys at my uncles since my cousins LOVE my girls but these guys are so much calmer an ill promise to go there to actually clean them and stuff... I dunno if my uncles would appreciate that though!! I just want thee lil rat dudes to be happy. My basement is unfinishe and smells musky so really that is a way last resort :-/ And also ahah that explains why maggie got so squeaky!!! But they seem to be calming down. I really didnt let them interact all.
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Jul 27, 2010 20:53
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There's really nothing wrong with keeping them in the same room. It may cause them to scuffle at first just because of the new smells, but once they're used to it it's no biggie. I've always kept my males and females in the same room and everyone I know with both sexes has too. There's nothing wrong with keeping them apart, but the basement or another house entirely is totally overkill. Keeping them in the same room wont cause them to fight constantly or even more at all.
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Jul 27, 2010 22:31
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I would pick neutering as my first option so then i would keep them all together rather than seperate cages.
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Jul 27, 2010 23:37
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Slidje posted:I would pick neutering as my first option so then i would keep them all together rather than seperate cages. x__x too bad its so expensive for a lil rattie. rather just keep them separated. The thing is I let my girls have free range and if the boys' cage is accessible well, that's no good!!! I will figure something out I'm sure. I think I'll just need to make a blockade for my door case the girls can fit under it.Again, thanks for the advice. These boys were rather unexpected !! No time to plan esp since I asked if they had huge balls and the guy was like "oh maybe they're girls" and then when he brought em over I was like yo those are balls. Good thing they're so lazy and fat and cute that I don't mind
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Jul 27, 2010 23:53
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Whenever I see a rodent with gigantic balls who has been misidentified as female, I have to wonder what the person sexing the animal thought those two giant things were, exactly, if not testicles. 
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Jul 28, 2010 00:55
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RazorBunny posted:Whenever I see a rodent with gigantic balls who has been misidentified as female, I have to wonder what the person sexing the animal thought those two giant things were, exactly, if not testicles. In my experience, it comes from people being dumb and sexing rodents by lifting their tails instead of just holding them normally. When that happens, males will retract their testicles so it can look like there's nothing there, especially if they're young. HOWEVER, a male with retracted testicles still doesn't have a vaginal opening and males don't have nipples, so even someone with little experience sexing rodents shouldn't gently caress it up. Then again, I have seen shelter workers of all things gently caress up sexing 6 week old kittens (this was when I was working at a shelter, I saw two workers both looking at a kitten trying to figure it out and both of them together still came to the wrong conclusion  ) and a few months ago at a vet visit while waiting a woman came in with a JRT puppy she'd just bought from some godawful local pet store. She wanted to know both what breed the puppy was and its gender. So, apparently there are people in the world who can not tell the gender of something as obvious as a dog. 
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Jul 28, 2010 01:51
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Superconsndar posted:So, apparently there are people in the world who can not tell the gender of something as obvious as a dog. Ovaries go on the outside, right?
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Jul 28, 2010 02:15
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Skutter posted:Ovaries go on the outside, right? Those are pedipalps, duh.
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Jul 28, 2010 02:17
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That long penis shaped thing in front of the two external ovaries is the birth canal
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Jul 28, 2010 02:18
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RazorBunny posted:Whenever I see a rodent with gigantic balls who has been misidentified as female, I have to wonder what the person sexing the animal thought those two giant things were, exactly, if not testicles. Until she met me, and I set her straight, my girlfriend has always been convinced that male rodents just had really, really big butts.
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Jul 28, 2010 10:24
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I did have someone surrender a female guinea pig to me before that had "late stage cancer" around "her" groin. They flipped when I extruded a penis and explained that they were testicles and not tumors.
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Jul 28, 2010 12:01
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Moms in labor now. Not sure when she started, I hadn't checked her since around 10AM. She's only had two so far, so she'd got a long way to go. This was her this morning:  Aaaand these were taken about 5 mins ago:    I'm gonna leave her alone for now to do her thing; this is her first litter so I don't want to get in her face too much. I'll count the babies and check sexes tonight once she's done, and I'll get some better pictures then. Right now I'm mixing up some Ensure, baby cereal, fish oil, and chicken baby food to give her a boost once she's through. edit: aaaaaa 3 more popped out while i was posting this, theyre all big and fat and look great Supercondescending fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Jul 28, 2010 |
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Jul 28, 2010 20:05
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