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One big happy rat family!
2008-06-06 02:04:00
I cleaned the big boys’ cage yesterday really well with vinegar and decided it was time to see if the little boys could handle living in the big ferret nation. First I put them in to explore and to see if they could get out through the bars. They poked their noses out but it seemed like they were pretty secure and couldn’t fit through. After about 30 mins of letting them play I put the big boys in with them. They had been playing together for about an hour every day for a few weeks and doing fine (not one fight), and they still did fine in the cage with each other. I can already tell Hue is going to try to move to the top of the rattie ranks. He’s already dominant over Pixel, but still a little scared of Pica. He’ll run up to Pica and poke him with his nose then run away. It’s so cute! Here are pictures from earlier today, as you can see they messy up the cage pretty quickly (this is one day after cleaning). Pics of the FN: Pixel at the water bottle, ...
More About: Family , Happy

The Little Boys Have Met the Big Boys
2008-05-27 03:48:00
Sorry for no updates in so long! The month of May is always hectic. We went to NY for vacation a couple weeks ago (don’t worry, my brother rat-sitted), then this long weekend was spent on the Indy 500 and the surrounding festivities. Well the big boys and little boys are still living separately, but hopefully not for long. They’re almost big enough to go in the Big Boy Cage. They do get to play together almost every day though. Here’s a video of them playing: Click here. Let me know if the link doesn’t work for some reason…
More About: Boys

Hue?s all better!
2008-05-04 01:10:00
He had his final vet check today and the vet said he was fully recovered. She massaged his trachea and tickled his nose trying to get the mucous to move around and make him sneeze. But there were no sneezes! Then she listened to his lungs with a stethoscope and didn’t hear anything. She said he could ...
More About: Random

More baby pictures and Hex is moulting!
2008-05-01 02:48:00
Hue is becoming quite a pudgy little guy. I think it’s because I’ve been mixing his meds with Turkey baby food. Look how big he is: Hex is moulting I think. He used to have a light gray color (not quite blue though), but now his fur on his hips/lower back and head is turning ...
More About: Pictures , Baby

Hue?s respiratory infection update
2008-04-29 01:20:00
I’ve been meaning to post this for a couple of days. Hue’s doing so much better! He had a follow up vet visit on Friday. He was still sneezing occasionally but not nearly as much as before. And now, a few days later, I don’t hear any more sneezes. In the week between vet visits, ...
More About: Health , Infection , Update

Vet check up for the new rat babies
2008-04-18 00:24:00
The new boys had their first vet check up today. Hex is doing just fine, but Hue has the start of a respiratory issue. He’s on Baytril now for 2 weeks. Poor little guy just keeps sneezing! I tried to give him his first dose of the meds tonight, but I’m having a hard time ...
More About: Health , Babies , Check

My new Easter boys!
2008-04-17 01:33:00
I lucked out and found 2 new boys on Craigslist. Their litter was born on Easter , and these were the only 2 boys in the bunch. They’re soooo tiny and adorable! And they were handled since birth so they’re super friendly. They don’t mind being held and petted, and they poke their little heads out ...
More About: Random , Boys

The Importance of Quarantine :(
2008-04-15 00:25:00
I feel so terrible to have to post this. Last night the new boys seemed okay, but this morning they were both sick. I did hear Hex sneeze a little last night, but I thought he was just nervous or possibly allergic to something. But today Hue was sneezing too and had developed some mucous around his nose and eyes. I couldn’t believe they were sick, being from such a great breeder, maybe it was something in the pet shop? Or maybe someone else who has sick rats went into the store and spread it to those rats? Who knows… So I decided to take them back to the store. When I went into the store to give them back, the woman said not 30 minutes before me someone else was bringing their rat back too with the same symptoms. Sounds like they’re having some kind of outbreak. I’m going to scrub everything down with bleach and hopefully I can find a couple of boys some place else. I don’t plan on going to any other pet stores. I had a little bit of a feeling that t...

Introducing Hex and Hue!!
2008-04-14 01:15:00
Well, I couldn’t wait any longer. I got my 2 new boys today! They’re settled into they’re temp cage at the office for quarantine. I got them from a pet shop near work that gets them from the same breeder I got Pixel and Pica from, so I know they’re going to be healthy and ...
More About: Random

Pixel and Pica are getting 2 new rat brothers!
2008-04-09 02:03:00
Well, I can’t say anything too definite yet. I don’t have any solid plans set up so far. But I know 2 new boys will be coming home soon. I checked the cage calculator and it says my cage is big enough for 4 rats, but I don’t really want it to be that ...
More About: Brothers , Random , Pixel , Pica

Playing in the Water Fountain
2008-04-04 02:52:00
Yesterday one of my coworkers gave me a little water fountain for the ratties to play with. They’ve never really been around water, so I thought it’d be funny to see how they react. The lil guys say “Thanks Autumn!!” One of these days I’ll try pea fishing…
More About: Play , Water , Fountain

Pixel Eating Baby Food Out of the Container
2008-04-01 04:15:00
A video of Pixel from earlier tonight. I thought they might have fun with an almost empty baby food container.
More About: Baby , Food , Container , Eating

A Short Update
2008-03-30 05:33:00
Actually, I don’t have much of an update, which is why I haven’t posted much lately. The ratties are doing great. We haven’t had a lot of excitement recently. Don’t forget that World Rat Day is coming up on April 4th! And here’s a cute picture from a week or two ago:
More About: Random , Update , Short

A Silly Rattie Picture and 3 More Cute Ones
2008-03-07 03:05:00
I can’t believe my camera caught this shot. I was trying to take a picture of Pixel’s belly while I had him flipped on his back on my leg. As I was taking the picture he slipped out of my hand and rolled off my leg on to the blanket. Crazy rattie. These are just ...
More About: Pictures , Cute , Picture , Silly

Two cute rattie pictures
2008-03-02 02:57:00
Here are two pictures from play time a few days ago. Pixel is so photogenic Pica loves to show Pixel how much stronger he is by pushing him on to his back about a dozen times an hour. Pixel doesn’t seem to mind much. I think this picture would make a good lolrats with ...
More About: Pictures , Cute

Rats Have Amazing Balance
2008-02-21 03:47:00
Here’s Pixel showing off his awesome balancing skills. It’s hard to believe this was my clumsy tilty boy not long ago. He still has a slight tilt, but it isn’t affecting his balance and movement as much any more.
More About: Play , Amazing , Balance , Rats

Happy Year of the Rat!
2008-02-08 03:50:00
Today is the Chinese New Year … the year of the Rat! To celebrate, the boys got a dish of oatmeal with raspberries smushed into it. They went nuts over it! Here’s a video of them eating: Google is celebrating the New Year, too. This was their logo for today: Pretty cute! Happy New Year!! Edit: P.S. Reddit is celebrating ...
More About: Random , Year of the Rat

Yesterday?s News to Papurr
2008-02-01 02:30:00
I decided to switch litters again… I know, I really need to make up my mind! I’m trying Papurr now. It looks like a normal clay cat litter, but it’s made out of paper instead of clay. It doesn’t seem dusty at all and it has a nice fresh scent to it - like ...
More About: News , Housing , Yesterday , Purr

Rats are a lot like puppies?
2008-01-27 22:08:00
They really are. You can teach them tricks, they’ll come when you call their name, and they like belly rubs. Here’s Pica laying in my lap enjoying a good head scratch: And here’s a link to a video of someone else’s rat playing fetch! Click here. Do your rats do anything puppy-like?
More About: Random , Puppies , Rats

The Year of The Rat
2008-01-02 02:18:00
Happy New Year Everyone! Starting Feb. 7th, it will be the Year of the Rat . The boys had a fun time celebrating the new year with us last night. While we had normal, big-people, pina colada/fruit daiquiris the ratties just had some of the fruit juice that we were using to make our drinks. We’re ...
More About: Random

Merry Christmas from Pixel and Pica!
2007-12-26 03:18:00
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Christmas for my rat boys. They didn’t get any special presents (because they’re already spoiled). But they did get a big dish of baby food and a few Flat Earth Fruit Chips - both of which they adore. And their grandmom saved up a huge trash bag ...
More About: Random , Pixel , Merry Christmas , Merry

Pixel?s Head Tilt Update 2
2007-12-19 03:28:00
Pixel’s doing a lot better so far. He’s still a little tilty and off balance, but not as bad as before. He’s acting much perkier and more playful than when I first noticed the tilt. He’s basically acting like his old self again, just not as balanced. I’ve read that when rats get a head ...
More About: Health , Update , Head , Pixel , Tilt

Pixel?s Head Tilt Update
2007-12-13 02:46:00
I managed to get Pixel into the vet a day early today. They prescribed Baytril as an antibiotic and Meloxicam as an anti-inflammatory. Luckily he only has to take them both once a day. I had no problems with the Meloxicam; it’s flavored with something sweet. But he just wasn’t interested in the Baytril, so ...
More About: Update , Head , Tilt

Metacognition in Rats
2007-12-11 02:23:00
I just came across an interesting article about metacognition in rats: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007 /03/070308121856.htm Basically it says a study has shown that rats are capable of thinking about whether or not they know something. Here’s an excerpt: Researchers have believed for some time that people and non-human primates are capable of “metacognition”–reasoni ng or thinking about one’s own ...
More About: Random , Rats

My poor rat baby has a head tilt?
2007-12-10 01:51:00
I went to take the boys out to play tonight and Pixel wasn’t acting normal. Pica ran right up to my hand, but Pixel stayed in his bed. He just sat there grooming himself for a while until I finally just picked him up and took him out. He seems to be healthy besides the ...
More About: Baby , Health , Head , Poor , Tilt

Why Do Rats Like Beer So Much?
2007-12-04 03:05:00
I guess I can’t blame them, I like beer too! Before I go further, please know that they didn’t actually drink any beer except for the couple of drops left on the top of the bottle after I was finished with it. They have always been interested in the scent of beer though. I’m not sure why ...
More About: Play , Beer , Rats

Rat in the Garbage!
2007-11-26 04:16:00
Earlier I got the boys out to play and set them in the kitchen as usual. I went back in their room to fill up their food dish and wipe down the shelves. When I came back to the kitchen I heard a strange rustling noise. I look over at the garbage can and see ...
More About: Play , Garbage , The G

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Rattie Cuteness
2007-11-10 03:40:00
Here are some pics I snapped of the rat babies while they were playing tonight. I think these came out really cute! First, here they are trying to get out of the kitchen into the living room where I’m standing. Like the remodeling they’ve done to the doorway? Here’s Pica sitting in my hand. And here’s Pica being cuddly in my lap. He loves to have behind his ears scratched.
More About: Back , Cuteness

I Gave Up
2007-11-06 03:14:00
So the whole potty training thing lasted a long time didn’t it? I thought with the large blanket they wouldn’t be able to tunnel under it… yeah right. They chewed large holes in it after one day and were able to get under it again. Silly ratties. And even with the heavier dish as a ...
More About: Housing

Rattie Potty Training Update
2007-11-03 02:59:00
Well it’s only been a few days, but I now know this may be a longer road ahead than I thought. My first attempt at potty training isn’t going so well. They kept tipping over the litter box, and pulling up the edges of the fleece. And of course pooing everywhere except the box (not ...
More About: Training , Housing , Update , Potty Training , TRAI