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I wish we could mention forced socialization in the OP, the whole "don't force them to interact with you" thing is outdated and LOTS of unsocialized rats never get to the point where they're super friendly without it. I've had a lot of rats that would have remained jerks their whole lives if I hadn't just grabbed them, threw them in a hoody pocket, and made them stay there for an hour or so once or twice a day. Also I so wish we didn't push lab blocks so hard here.  They're so gross.
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Jun 23, 2010 18:54
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Yaaaayyy that's so much better, you rock! 
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Jun 23, 2010 21:24
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I never post pics of my guys so I took some today.           I'm down to just Magic and Judge now.  Temper and Justice both had horrible battles with pneumonia, resulting in Temper being put down and Justice passing very suddenly one morning. Justice was always sickly and miserable from day one, But it was pretty sudden in Temper's case and he didn't respond to antibiotics at all and, yeah. Magic and Judge have always been pretty healthy dudes though. Judge just celebrated his first birthday, as well. Can't believe I've had him almost a year.
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Jun 25, 2010 01:20
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Serella posted:Are those crawfish in that salad there? Your rats eat better than me. :P Haha yeah, I made crawfish bisque today and saved them a couple. Theres also chicken salad leftover from my lunch there, and the tops from greens and some peppers leftover from cooking.
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Jun 25, 2010 04:33
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Serella posted:Are there pics or videos of them eating the crawfish? I would love to see how that went down. I bet they ate the faces first. Haha no, I was hoping to get some but they were so disgruntled about me sticking the camera in their faces that they wouldn't eat until I put them back in their cage. They've had shellfish before, but never anything whole like that, so I had to crack them open before they got it and then they went nuts and fought over it. The heads were definitely the most coveted bits. Pickle Chops posted:The Bi-Odour finally arrived! Here's hoping it works as I've moved into a studio apartment and they are stinking the place out. Even with daily cleans! Is it still working for everyone else who has tried it? It's freaking awesome. By the end of the week, when it was time to clean the cage, I could only detect the absolute faintest smell and only if my face was practically touching the cage. Love ittttt.
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Jun 25, 2010 14:43
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Ferretten posted:I can't seem to find bi-odor in the UK but I can find it made especially for ferrets here http://www.companionschoice.co.uk/product_details_66.htm I looked at both the ferret and "small animal" formulas when I was at Petsmart and they're literally exactly the same. The only difference is the animal picture on the bottle. You can definitely use the one marketed towards ferrets.
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Jun 26, 2010 14:10
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CompactFanny posted:
Just keep increasing her protein, anything is fine within reason. High quality cat food is great, as are eggs and lean meat and that kind of thing. Some rats start showing a week before they pop, and some don't until 2 or 3 days before. Gestation is 3 weeks total, so just keep an eye on her and once she starts to show move her into an appropriate cage to birth in. I liked to use 20 gal aquariums for moms and young litters, but a sturdy rubbermaid bin with a wire top would totally work in a pinch. I very, very rarely had breedings with rats not take. If a boyrat nailed her, there's a 90% chance shes got something in the oven.
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Jun 27, 2010 01:06
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CompactFanny posted:She's a dumbo ~*SIAMESE*~ which is why they bred her. But they had a whole litter (looked like around 6 or 7) siamese kittens in a one level ferret nation cage so the rats kinda lost her interest I guess. Lmao its funny because those are literally, and I absolutely mean this, some of the worst dumbo ears I've ever seen and unless the pictures are washing her out, she looks like a himilayan, not a siamese. People are dumb.  Edit: No, on second though, she is a siamese, just a really diluted one. Still, those ears lmaoo Maybe give her some good nesting material if she's already feeling maternal, building up a nice nest will give her something to focus on and while it may make her more possesive of her cage, it'll also cut down quite a bit on her nervous mom energy so it should balance out. Supercondescending fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Jun 27, 2010 |
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Jun 27, 2010 05:07
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CompactFanny posted:This woman tried to tell me that she was 10 months old, so she's nearly full grown and her points "should turn more blue in a couple months". I hope this isn't her first litter then. Giving birth for the first time at 10 months could be very difficult for her if not fatal. The oldest rat I ever did a first litter with was I believe 8 months and she had an absolutely hellish labor, lost a ton of blood, and nearly died.
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Jun 27, 2010 16:32
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Yeah, 10 months is absolutely horrible for a first litter, geez what an idiot. She COULD do fine but it puts her at such a massive risk for complications. I'm sorry you got stuck with this. Hopefully she'll do alright, but there's no real way of knowing.
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Jun 27, 2010 20:10
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Carebear posted:Is it possible to spay her and give her an abortion? A non emergency spay might be cheaper... If you can afford it this is your best option and it's what I'd try to do, but didn't want to say it because it's a rescue and I figured it may be cost prohibitive and blahhh 
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Jun 28, 2010 01:51
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Pickle Chops posted:Has anyone got any good ways of keeping their rats cool? It's pretty warm over here and the boys seem uncomfortable. They're all sprawled out trying to keep cool. Get some cold packs (like the kind that go in lunch boxes) freeze them, wrap them in a thin towel, place in cage. Voila!
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Jun 28, 2010 14:45
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I've never seen rats anywhere NEAR me on Petfinder. Ever. I don't even think the HS here will take them.
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Jun 30, 2010 03:13
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ballgameover.mp3 posted:This is what my third rat looks like! I mean, exactly. I don't have access to a camera right now, but once I do, I'll take a pic of her. Yeah beige hoodeds are p common
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Jun 30, 2010 03:21
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Grimster posted:It was just rat colored, dark brown, seems like it had some greyish markings, more like speckles not splotches. Mighta had some white on the belly (this was 20 years ago). wild color is called agouti
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Jun 30, 2010 05:31
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I have always, always, always desperately wanted a gambian. Didn't they lift the ban on them recently?
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Jun 30, 2010 16:51
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Cucarachita posted:Yup yup, took a look and I was surprised to see the Dumb Friends League had a few so I may check them out. A lot of breeders have closed ratteries and don't allow people in to control the risk of disease being brought in. I had a closed rattery. Most people do. If people wanted to pick a baby in person I'd generally meet them somewhere. My rat room was totally clean and I had tons of pics and videos of how my rats were kept, but I didn't allow adopters in. One trip to the pet store and back was enough to kill my entire colony of 40+ rats and destroy years of work. Dunno if that was her reason, but it usually is, and it is a valid one. I'm not taking an adopters word for it just because they promise they hadn't handled or been near other rodents for several hours before coming in.
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Jun 30, 2010 17:48
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shadysight posted:How does that work exactly? I don't doubt your word on it, it's just surprising that it would lead to 100% fatalities. In 2006, I brought home SDA. As best I can tell, I must have picked it up walking through Petsmart- it's carried in mucous membranes and can live on your body for several hours IIRC. I was pretty strict about changing clothes, washing my hands, blowing my nose, and usually even showering after going to a pet store or being around someone else's rats before going back in my rat room. That one time, it apparently wasn't enough. Over the course of the 4 or 5 months I battled it, I ended up losing roughly 40 of I think 48 rats to secondary infections from SDA. It destroyed my rattery. Sendai and SDA are the main reasons most clubs no longer sanction rat shows, and most breeders have closed ratteries. Edit: In fact, my outbreak was added to the RMCA outbreak tracking guide: http://www.rmca.org/Data/#ga That Warner Robins 2006 entry was me.
Supercondescending fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Jun 30, 2010 |
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Jun 30, 2010 19:57
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Well. I just picked up a couple of cages on clearance and I think I'm finally going to switch from mice to rats for the dogs. Just fed off the last of my mice last night and will probably be picking up two girls today. I highly doubt I'll start working on my "breed healthier rats" project from these though. Partially because I'm familiar with all the pet store stock here and the fact that it's all pretty much crap and it's currently my only option for feeders, and partially because my apartment is small and I just don't have the space for more than two moderately sized cages or so. I just wouldn't be able to do it on the scale necessary to do it properly right now. Either way, whatever 2 girls I bring home will be very spoiled for supplying me with excellent whole raw meals and training lures for the dogs. I'm excited to be done with mice, they smell awful and bite and eat their babies and they suck.  Definitely looking forward to how much easier rats are to deal with.Since the girls, if not their offspring, will pretty much be pets I'll post pics today or tomorrow when I get them.
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Jul 2, 2010 13:51
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Grimster posted:What sort of training requires rats or mice? What kind of dogs? ratting and groundwork. they also make really great high-value flirtpole lures for dogs that don't give a crap about toys as lures (mine) Mostly they make excellent sources of whole prey meals for a raw diet though. I get to control exactly what they eat and what goes into them, and therefore, exactly what's going into my dogs. It's nice to break up "60% RMB, 30% muscle meat, 10% organ" prey model frankenmeals with ACTUAL whole prey as much as possible. 
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Jul 2, 2010 16:31
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Slidje posted:
ohgod its like a big fuzzy koosh ball
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Jul 2, 2010 16:33
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CompactFanny posted:Well I just put Lucy in a 10 gallon aquarium, which isn't ideal but it's what was on hand. Will the silicone hurt her if she chews on it? I really hadn't thought about it until I saw the big strips of it on the corners. She's been in there for like 5 minutes and hasn't done anything but clean herself yet but I'm watching to see if she goes after the silicone. Also I put in a water dish, and I'll replace that with a hanging water bottle later tonight or tomorrow. I used tanks for maternity cages for years and never had issues with them chewing it. If they do nibble it they probably won't ingest it. ETA: If you leave that comfy bed in there, keep in mind that it WILL get destroyed in her "oh my god shred everything" nesting frenzy. If you don't mind then that's cool, but if you'd like to still have it in a few weeks I'd replace it with something you don't mind being destroyed. I used to buy cheap sheets of felt and cut them into strips for nesting moms. They're warm and don't have any loose threads that can wrap around tiny baby legs, and cost about 25 cents a piece. 
Supercondescending fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Jul 4, 2010 |
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Jul 4, 2010 01:43
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eig posted:i hope you guys have nothing against coloring your rat with food coloring cause maggie now a dinosaur :3 (its almost all faded away after like 2 days) I used to have a cage with like 8 pew girls in it and i had them all dyed like easter eggs to tell them apart
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Jul 7, 2010 23:23
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eig posted:food coloring !!!! This
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Jul 8, 2010 00:16
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Apidae posted:I know but it's a spoonfull mixed in with 1/4 cup of oatmeal while it's hot so it's not like I'm giving them a huge gob of it. They're fine Totally fine, they'll love them.  I occasionally gave mealworms to nursing moms as a protein source and they went nuts for them.
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Jul 10, 2010 02:49
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Gravity Pike posted:Is one rescue basically as good as another? I know that you guys are super-particular about your breeders, and pet stores are a no-go, but are there different "quality" rescues, or is the one a block and a half away as good as any other? 99% of rat breeders suck, all pet stores suck, most rescues are varying degrees of suck, just get some rats i hope this helps
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Jul 10, 2010 03:37
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Amiss posted:Title of the next Rat FAQ? Yes please :iamafag:
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Jul 10, 2010 03:51
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CompactFanny posted:
How long have you had her again?
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Jul 14, 2010 14:40
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^^^^Yeah, if she's not showing by then, It's probably safe to say you lucked out and she's not preggo.
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Jul 15, 2010 00:39
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Some of their skittishness is due to being in a new environment, but for general socialization, get a hoody or a baggy sweater with pockets, plunk rat in pocket or on your shoulder and go about your business. Do this for a couple of hours a day, every day. They'll come around eventually. Don't take their box away, their cage should be a safe place and it'll just make them feel more exposed and panicky. Free ranging is something that has to be built up to AFTER your rats are very, very tame, after they know where their cage is and that it's where food is and that it's their safe place, and after they're very comfortable with and bonded to you. Don't try to free range them again for a few months at least, after loads of heavy socialization.
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Jul 17, 2010 20:46
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The female I bought a few weeks ago is starting to show as of today. I'm moving her into a maternity tank tomorrow. I know this is a ~pet~ rat thread and most people here will be barfy about hearing about feeders but since it has been literally years since I have so much as seen a litter of rats, I am in fact very excited. I can't get too attached for obvious reasons, but I am very much looking forward to getting to watch a bunch of little eepers grow. I'll be keeping one or two of the babies from this litter to breed, so once I choose them I'll at least have one or two I can allow myself to get attached to. Babies!
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Jul 18, 2010 04:46
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daggerdragon posted:If notsoape can have a humanely-raised bunny farm for slaughterings, we can put up with humanely-raised rats for feeding other critters with. Besides, rats are cuter Her mommy-belly is very subtle right now, but you can see the beginning of swelling around her lower abdomen:.JPG) .JPG) Here's mom: .JPG) .JPG) Here's her little maternity tank: .JPG) .JPG) She's just baaaarely showing now, so she's still got a few days to go. She's nesting obsessively though, so I think she's going to be a good mom. She was from a mixed feeder tank but I'm pretty sure this is her first litter based on her appearance and age, and given that she's just started showing now, Judge is definitely the father unless she got pregnant by a pet store male like, the DAY I got her. I promise not to post any feeder rat sadness ITT, just cute baby development pics.
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Jul 20, 2010 03:50
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Big Bug Hug posted:From what I've seen rat sizes can differ greatly between individuals (I'm Aussie though so our pet rats might differ a bit). Yours look like they have quite a bit of growing left to do though It does vary, but 12 months is usually the cap. I have seen rats continue to grow after that though.
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Jul 23, 2010 14:10
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Beowulf posted:I've been using Suebee's diet for about 6 months now and it works fabulously for some of my rats, but I've noticed two of mine mostly ignore the dry dog food and concentrate only on the seeds/grains. Anything anyone would recommend? Don't refill the bowl until they've eaten everything. They won't starve themselves. They may hold out for a day or two, but eventually they'll realize nothing else is coming and they'll eat what's there.
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Jul 24, 2010 16:04
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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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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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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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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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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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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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