Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
:(
I've come to realize that our ratties are afraid of strangers.
even if Robert doesn't handle them daily like I do they still won't freak out if he walks in the room but if we have guests the rats don't even really like coming out.
they just stick their heads out of their little hiding place.
I'm thinking maybe we don't have people over often enough.
this is kind of sad because the ratties have to spend two weeks away from home when Robert and I are on our christmas vacation so I'm hoping I can somehow change this in the weeks to come before our trip.
even if Robert doesn't handle them daily like I do they still won't freak out if he walks in the room but if we have guests the rats don't even really like coming out.
they just stick their heads out of their little hiding place.
I'm thinking maybe we don't have people over often enough.
this is kind of sad because the ratties have to spend two weeks away from home when Robert and I are on our christmas vacation so I'm hoping I can somehow change this in the weeks to come before our trip.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Find the bread roll!
ever had cats or dogs?
ever hidden a piece of food in your pockets for them to find?
it's kinda fun but it gets a little crazier with rats.
I was giving the rats pieces of a roll and decided I wouldn't give them anymore.
since they had no intention of going back in their cage I didn't really want to go back to the fridge and leave them unattended so I just stuck it in my jacket pocket instead.
the ladies - of course - thought they had to find it.
I had two rats climbing all over my back and shoulders.
they were inside of my jacket too but they just couldn't figure out the pocket.
I couldn't tease them anymore so I pulled out the roll from my pocket and let them chew off pieces.
I heard it's good if a rat eats in your lap because it means it's comfortable with you. I think I've seen Garbo do that once (or maybe it was Nixon? it was a while ago and it only happened once) but this time I had both of them eat in my lap :)
at first they kept going to the cage door or the floor but eventually they'd stay in my lap while eating and they let me pet them :) this is good news.
I would be surprised if the two weren't tired now.
the way they just ran around should them exhausted.
ever hidden a piece of food in your pockets for them to find?
it's kinda fun but it gets a little crazier with rats.
I was giving the rats pieces of a roll and decided I wouldn't give them anymore.
since they had no intention of going back in their cage I didn't really want to go back to the fridge and leave them unattended so I just stuck it in my jacket pocket instead.
the ladies - of course - thought they had to find it.
I had two rats climbing all over my back and shoulders.
they were inside of my jacket too but they just couldn't figure out the pocket.
I couldn't tease them anymore so I pulled out the roll from my pocket and let them chew off pieces.
I heard it's good if a rat eats in your lap because it means it's comfortable with you. I think I've seen Garbo do that once (or maybe it was Nixon? it was a while ago and it only happened once) but this time I had both of them eat in my lap :)
at first they kept going to the cage door or the floor but eventually they'd stay in my lap while eating and they let me pet them :) this is good news.
I would be surprised if the two weren't tired now.
the way they just ran around should them exhausted.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
it's funny cause it's true.
"Q: My rat sways back and forth while standing still. I something wrong with him?
A:
Rats have poor eyesight and this movement is often used to detect motion. It is more common with pink-eyed rats. "
(from the RMCA rat FAQ)
I couldn't help but chuckle a little when I read this.
Nixon, our pink-eyed white, does A LOT of this.
she looks really funny when she does that. it looks as if she's assessing the situation on the floor.
when we first got her I was a little worried too, but I later discovered that it was due to her poor eyesight. now I'm even less worried cause apparently it's typical for pink-eyed rats and I've never seen Garbo do that.
speaking of Nixon, here is a picture of her on my arm from the other night :)
I think I'm gonna go check up on the girls and see what they're up to!
A:
Rats have poor eyesight and this movement is often used to detect motion. It is more common with pink-eyed rats. "
(from the RMCA rat FAQ)
I couldn't help but chuckle a little when I read this.
Nixon, our pink-eyed white, does A LOT of this.
she looks really funny when she does that. it looks as if she's assessing the situation on the floor.
when we first got her I was a little worried too, but I later discovered that it was due to her poor eyesight. now I'm even less worried cause apparently it's typical for pink-eyed rats and I've never seen Garbo do that.
speaking of Nixon, here is a picture of her on my arm from the other night :)
I think I'm gonna go check up on the girls and see what they're up to!
rattie cuteness and cleanliness.
Garbo was being really nice and cute yesterday (until she escaped under the couch and decided that it was fun to play the you-chase-me-away-from-there-and-then-I-go-back-there-and-we-do-it-all-again game. it's becoming her favorite and I'm not a big fan of that game).
she hopped up on my shoulder all by herself and hung out there for a while.
she doesn't do that very often and I think this was only the second time she's ever done that.
she also seemed to enjoy hanging out in my cleavage. she was looking out from there. she looked so cute :D I wish I had gotten a picture of that.
Nixon is still as nice as usual. she really likes the large hoodie I've been wearing cause she can fit inside the sleeves and go on adventures inside of it. she's stretched out two of my cardigans by crawling inside the sleeves. it's her new favorite hobby I guess.
potty training has been successful although I think we need two litter boxes since they always use two corners to poop in. this of course means that they don't always poop/pee in the litter box. I'm actually surprised that not only do they poop in there but they also pee in it. I don't know how often you're supposed to change the litter (cause all me and robert really have to compare is a cat's litter box which we both thought is cleaned once a week) so I did it yesterday when I cleaned the cage and everything in it. when we got home last night I noticed that there weren't any droppings anywhere in the clean bedding - only in the litter box :)
(except now they've gone back to the two corner system that I was talking about before)
speaking of the cage and everything in it...
the rats really love having a lot of stuff in there. the more the better. they like having multiple hiding places and lots of things they can climb on and play with.
but what does that mean to rat mommy? well...it means A LOT of cleaning.
here's the list of things I scrubbed and disinfected yesterday:
+ the bottom of the cage
+ the top of the cage (which I don't clean that often but it had gotten really dirty)
+ food dish
+ litter box
+ tree house
+ igloo
+ upstairs platform
+ ladder
it doesn't really sound like that much but a good amount of time goes into rinsing and scrubbing and disinfecting all of these things. on top of that I usually wash the temporary cage that they were in during the cleaning.
the girls were both on their best behavior when I put them in the temp cage and didn't squirm or try to fight. as a reward they both good a couple of pieces of bread each :)
today they've been super active and crazy. I think they're excited for playtime!
she hopped up on my shoulder all by herself and hung out there for a while.
she doesn't do that very often and I think this was only the second time she's ever done that.
she also seemed to enjoy hanging out in my cleavage. she was looking out from there. she looked so cute :D I wish I had gotten a picture of that.
Nixon is still as nice as usual. she really likes the large hoodie I've been wearing cause she can fit inside the sleeves and go on adventures inside of it. she's stretched out two of my cardigans by crawling inside the sleeves. it's her new favorite hobby I guess.
potty training has been successful although I think we need two litter boxes since they always use two corners to poop in. this of course means that they don't always poop/pee in the litter box. I'm actually surprised that not only do they poop in there but they also pee in it. I don't know how often you're supposed to change the litter (cause all me and robert really have to compare is a cat's litter box which we both thought is cleaned once a week) so I did it yesterday when I cleaned the cage and everything in it. when we got home last night I noticed that there weren't any droppings anywhere in the clean bedding - only in the litter box :)
(except now they've gone back to the two corner system that I was talking about before)
speaking of the cage and everything in it...
the rats really love having a lot of stuff in there. the more the better. they like having multiple hiding places and lots of things they can climb on and play with.
but what does that mean to rat mommy? well...it means A LOT of cleaning.
here's the list of things I scrubbed and disinfected yesterday:
+ the bottom of the cage
+ the top of the cage (which I don't clean that often but it had gotten really dirty)
+ food dish
+ litter box
+ tree house
+ igloo
+ upstairs platform
+ ladder
it doesn't really sound like that much but a good amount of time goes into rinsing and scrubbing and disinfecting all of these things. on top of that I usually wash the temporary cage that they were in during the cleaning.
the girls were both on their best behavior when I put them in the temp cage and didn't squirm or try to fight. as a reward they both good a couple of pieces of bread each :)
today they've been super active and crazy. I think they're excited for playtime!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
2 quick additions to previous updates:
1. someone had pooped AND peed in the litter box over night! looks like it's working already!
2. Garbo has completely adopted the upstairs space. I seem to always catch her up there. actually just now - she grabbed a pellet from the food dish and took a while to decide where she'd go eat it. she kept looking back and forth between her usual corner in the very back of the cage and the stairs that lead upstairs to her new favorite spot. she finally decided on her new spot and climbed up the stairs with a pellet in her mouth.
2. Garbo has completely adopted the upstairs space. I seem to always catch her up there. actually just now - she grabbed a pellet from the food dish and took a while to decide where she'd go eat it. she kept looking back and forth between her usual corner in the very back of the cage and the stairs that lead upstairs to her new favorite spot. she finally decided on her new spot and climbed up the stairs with a pellet in her mouth.
Potty training.
potty training has officially started today.
Jamie gave us some of her old rat things which included a litter box and some potty litter. so far it's gone both well and not so well: Garbo peed in the litter box which is good but both Nixon and Garbo seem to think that the potty litter is meant to go in their mouths. I caught both of them munching on the litter and when I tried to take it away from them they'd just run away from me or turn away so I couldn't get to their little hands. hopefully they'll stop doing that and keep doing the pee and poop thing. I've heard that they don't really pee in the litter boxes but apparently Garbo does. good job rattie!
speaking of Garbo - she is nuts.
I may have mentioned before that she is quite the stunt woman.
tonight she really outdid any stunt she's ever pulled before.
Robert had her on his shoulder when he was sitting in front of the tv and Garbo decided to jump all the way from his shoulder to the tv stand. it was quite a flight. I've never seen her jump that far! I'm worried she's going to hurt herself one day doing all these crazy stunts :s
also I got some stuff for Nixon's tail so when she wakes up I'm gonna dab some on it.
hopefully I will have good news about the potty training sometimes soon.
and since this is a rat blog I suppose this would be the appropriate place to mention that we just watched ratatouille on tv (and it was during the movie when Garbo decided to display her talents as a stunt woman)!
Jamie gave us some of her old rat things which included a litter box and some potty litter. so far it's gone both well and not so well: Garbo peed in the litter box which is good but both Nixon and Garbo seem to think that the potty litter is meant to go in their mouths. I caught both of them munching on the litter and when I tried to take it away from them they'd just run away from me or turn away so I couldn't get to their little hands. hopefully they'll stop doing that and keep doing the pee and poop thing. I've heard that they don't really pee in the litter boxes but apparently Garbo does. good job rattie!
speaking of Garbo - she is nuts.
I may have mentioned before that she is quite the stunt woman.
tonight she really outdid any stunt she's ever pulled before.
Robert had her on his shoulder when he was sitting in front of the tv and Garbo decided to jump all the way from his shoulder to the tv stand. it was quite a flight. I've never seen her jump that far! I'm worried she's going to hurt herself one day doing all these crazy stunts :s
also I got some stuff for Nixon's tail so when she wakes up I'm gonna dab some on it.
hopefully I will have good news about the potty training sometimes soon.
and since this is a rat blog I suppose this would be the appropriate place to mention that we just watched ratatouille on tv (and it was during the movie when Garbo decided to display her talents as a stunt woman)!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Loft!
Robert has been asking me when am I actually going to post some pictures.
well tonight would be a perfect time for that since I was just cleaning the cage and I gave the rats a new loft and took a few pictures.
we've had this piece for the cage with a cup hole in it and we use to have it at the bottom of the cage back when the girls would drink out of a cup. since we got a bottle for them that piece hasn't been used and it's been laying around in the closet.
I always thought it was meant to be a loft since the cage also came with a set of stairs but I could never fit it in the cage until today when I decided to cram it in there - and it worked! and the stairs attached perfectly to it.
I made sure to put something cozy up there too so I took a piece of an old t-shirt (I used the same t-shirt to make a hammock for them but that hammock is long gone)and Garbo started arranging it around immediately.
I noticed Nixon has a tiny sore on her tail :/ I read that if it's just a small surface wound like that and it's not bleeding it should heal up but you need to clean it every now and then. it doesn't look bad but it's a little red like it may have bled when she first got it. I also read that you aren't supposed to use hydrogen peroxide to clean rat wounds since it burns off the tissue or something like that :/ unfortunately that's all I have right now and I don't know which would be worse - not cleaning the wound or using the 3% hydrogen peroxide. maybe I should just wait till tomorrow and go pick up something more suitable. I need to go supply shopping this weekend anyways so it would be appropriate.
oh and I just realized that these texts look really confusing and annoying - it's cause my keyboard hasn't worked normally for months :/ some of the keys on the right side (such as the comma) are completely dead. bear with me!
the loft and Garbo trying out the new loft. Nixon was up there for a little bit too and actually used the toy in the middle of the cup hole to climb up there! I've never seen her do that before. Nixon decided that the best place to go pass out at the moment was behind their little kleenex box while Garbo decided to stay up stairs.
pictures from yesterday. Nixon was being cute.
the first picture is from today and that's Nixon in my lap :) bad quality though cause I reeeeaaally don't want to blind my rats by using the horrible flash on my camera. it leaves people blind for a little bit - so I really don't want to find out how my rats would react to it!
well tonight would be a perfect time for that since I was just cleaning the cage and I gave the rats a new loft and took a few pictures.
we've had this piece for the cage with a cup hole in it and we use to have it at the bottom of the cage back when the girls would drink out of a cup. since we got a bottle for them that piece hasn't been used and it's been laying around in the closet.
I always thought it was meant to be a loft since the cage also came with a set of stairs but I could never fit it in the cage until today when I decided to cram it in there - and it worked! and the stairs attached perfectly to it.
I made sure to put something cozy up there too so I took a piece of an old t-shirt (I used the same t-shirt to make a hammock for them but that hammock is long gone)and Garbo started arranging it around immediately.
I noticed Nixon has a tiny sore on her tail :/ I read that if it's just a small surface wound like that and it's not bleeding it should heal up but you need to clean it every now and then. it doesn't look bad but it's a little red like it may have bled when she first got it. I also read that you aren't supposed to use hydrogen peroxide to clean rat wounds since it burns off the tissue or something like that :/ unfortunately that's all I have right now and I don't know which would be worse - not cleaning the wound or using the 3% hydrogen peroxide. maybe I should just wait till tomorrow and go pick up something more suitable. I need to go supply shopping this weekend anyways so it would be appropriate.
oh and I just realized that these texts look really confusing and annoying - it's cause my keyboard hasn't worked normally for months :/ some of the keys on the right side (such as the comma) are completely dead. bear with me!
the loft and Garbo trying out the new loft. Nixon was up there for a little bit too and actually used the toy in the middle of the cup hole to climb up there! I've never seen her do that before. Nixon decided that the best place to go pass out at the moment was behind their little kleenex box while Garbo decided to stay up stairs.
pictures from yesterday. Nixon was being cute.
the first picture is from today and that's Nixon in my lap :) bad quality though cause I reeeeaaally don't want to blind my rats by using the horrible flash on my camera. it leaves people blind for a little bit - so I really don't want to find out how my rats would react to it!
Crazy rats!
this morning the girls were so full of energy!
it was almost impossible to keep up with the two.
I could tell they wanted to come out of the cage so I thought I'd let them out for a little bit. well....trying to get them back was nearly impossible.
they were running around all over the living room (but they were being nice too: they didn't go anywhere far and came back when I called on them)and when I tried to grab them they both started climbing up and down my arms and running back and forth from and to my lap. it was like a big sniffing attack from two ratties.
eventually Nixon went back to drink some water and while she was there I managed to put Garbo back there.
after I had showered I went back to see what they were up to and they were both standing by the door probably hoping to play some more but when I opened the door Nixon crawled back inside their little playhouse and Garbo picked up a pellet and started eating.
speaking of playing - I've mentioned before that Nixon likes to play with me but Garbo doesn't usually do that. well yesterday she did! she doesn't play with me outside the cage like Nixon does but inside the cage she will. I stuck the old piece of shoelace in there yesterday and she was chasing it around :) this is good since I always worry about them being under stimulated.
today is cage cleaning day and I think there's enough bedding in the bag for today's cleaning session. I really hate this bedding we're using right now. it starts stinking pretty bad and some spots need to be scooped out daily because of that. plus it makes me sneeze when I put it in the cage. the rats are fine - but it makes mommy sneeze :( carefresh is the best one we've used so I'm going to stock up on that. I'm also hoping to buy something I can use as a litter box for them so I can start potty training the girls. another thing that we're running low on is food so we need to stock up on another bag of lab blocks.
that's it for today. I really need to start capturing their crazy moments like earlier today. they are just too funny and precious :)
it was almost impossible to keep up with the two.
I could tell they wanted to come out of the cage so I thought I'd let them out for a little bit. well....trying to get them back was nearly impossible.
they were running around all over the living room (but they were being nice too: they didn't go anywhere far and came back when I called on them)and when I tried to grab them they both started climbing up and down my arms and running back and forth from and to my lap. it was like a big sniffing attack from two ratties.
eventually Nixon went back to drink some water and while she was there I managed to put Garbo back there.
after I had showered I went back to see what they were up to and they were both standing by the door probably hoping to play some more but when I opened the door Nixon crawled back inside their little playhouse and Garbo picked up a pellet and started eating.
speaking of playing - I've mentioned before that Nixon likes to play with me but Garbo doesn't usually do that. well yesterday she did! she doesn't play with me outside the cage like Nixon does but inside the cage she will. I stuck the old piece of shoelace in there yesterday and she was chasing it around :) this is good since I always worry about them being under stimulated.
today is cage cleaning day and I think there's enough bedding in the bag for today's cleaning session. I really hate this bedding we're using right now. it starts stinking pretty bad and some spots need to be scooped out daily because of that. plus it makes me sneeze when I put it in the cage. the rats are fine - but it makes mommy sneeze :( carefresh is the best one we've used so I'm going to stock up on that. I'm also hoping to buy something I can use as a litter box for them so I can start potty training the girls. another thing that we're running low on is food so we need to stock up on another bag of lab blocks.
that's it for today. I really need to start capturing their crazy moments like earlier today. they are just too funny and precious :)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Nixon's eye is fine :) PHEW!
she's been acting a little weird lately.
she hides in her little house all the time and hardly comes out.
she's been doing this for a few days now but yesterday I finally got her to come out :)
and she actually came and sat in my lap and climbed over my hands so I guess I have nothing to be worried about.
Garbo is as crazy as usual. always running around and trying to dig tunnels everywhere.
Nixon has gotten in on the tunnel business too. I've never seen her dig like that before!
we gave them some crumbs from some crackers yesterday. Nixon vacuumed the whole tray by herself! Robert had to give Garbo some extra treats because of that. it was cute.
tomorrow it's that time of the week again: cage cleaning.
she's been acting a little weird lately.
she hides in her little house all the time and hardly comes out.
she's been doing this for a few days now but yesterday I finally got her to come out :)
and she actually came and sat in my lap and climbed over my hands so I guess I have nothing to be worried about.
Garbo is as crazy as usual. always running around and trying to dig tunnels everywhere.
Nixon has gotten in on the tunnel business too. I've never seen her dig like that before!
we gave them some crumbs from some crackers yesterday. Nixon vacuumed the whole tray by herself! Robert had to give Garbo some extra treats because of that. it was cute.
tomorrow it's that time of the week again: cage cleaning.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
sometimes I just want to write about cute things that my rats do and today Garbo did something I thought was really adorable! (as she often does)
I had given them some crackers and as I stuck my hand in the cage to pet them Garbo stood up on her hind legs and started pulling at the sleeve of my jacket.
she did that a couple of times. she seemed so determined that I couldn't help but go "awww" :)
Nixon's eye looks better already and I haven't even cleaned it yet.
that's good news!
the rats are asleep and I'm hitting the sack too.
night!
I had given them some crackers and as I stuck my hand in the cage to pet them Garbo stood up on her hind legs and started pulling at the sleeve of my jacket.
she did that a couple of times. she seemed so determined that I couldn't help but go "awww" :)
Nixon's eye looks better already and I haven't even cleaned it yet.
that's good news!
the rats are asleep and I'm hitting the sack too.
night!
Monday, November 15, 2010
I've never really had this problem with pets before as I've always lived in small cities where there is one vet available.
in fact I've only had to call a vet once but was lucky enough to get really good service with the vet that I turned to.
so I've been researching vet clinics a lot lately.
not all of them will see smaller animals like rats but I think I've found (based on people's experiences. I even looked this place up on rmca.org)the one where I'll be taking my rats if they need medical attention.
and speaking of which...Nixon might need that.
I noticed yesterday that she doesn't want to open her left eye. I've seen her open it but most of the time she tries to keep it close. it could be that she has debris or an eyelash in her eye so I need to get some terramycin and try to clean around the eye but if that doesn't help then I better contact the vet and take her in :/
I read that good pet stores might have terramycin so I guess I'm gonna have to go look. and if not I know you can purchase that from vets. if I'll have to take her in anyways I might as well pick some up on the same trip.
I feel bad for Nixon. hopefully it's just some debris. I did notice she had some around that eye but I didn't think it would be a problem :/
I will keep you posted on how Nixy's eye is doing.
in fact I've only had to call a vet once but was lucky enough to get really good service with the vet that I turned to.
so I've been researching vet clinics a lot lately.
not all of them will see smaller animals like rats but I think I've found (based on people's experiences. I even looked this place up on rmca.org)the one where I'll be taking my rats if they need medical attention.
and speaking of which...Nixon might need that.
I noticed yesterday that she doesn't want to open her left eye. I've seen her open it but most of the time she tries to keep it close. it could be that she has debris or an eyelash in her eye so I need to get some terramycin and try to clean around the eye but if that doesn't help then I better contact the vet and take her in :/
I read that good pet stores might have terramycin so I guess I'm gonna have to go look. and if not I know you can purchase that from vets. if I'll have to take her in anyways I might as well pick some up on the same trip.
I feel bad for Nixon. hopefully it's just some debris. I did notice she had some around that eye but I didn't think it would be a problem :/
I will keep you posted on how Nixy's eye is doing.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Salad dinner with my rats.
today was certainly a good day for my little ratties as they were treated to some really yummie food!
a lot of rat sites that I've looked at and a friend of mine who is good with rats have recommended a raw diet instead of lab blocks for rats.
when we got our rats at the pet store, the clerk recommended a specific brand of lab blocks that she said she gives her rats. perhaps it was just another way to sell a product, who knows?
the thing is, I've never eaten much vegetables and fruits.
I want to be the best rat mom I can be, and having rats has given me an excuse to eat some greens myself.
so today as I was fixing up a small salad to myself, I decided to treat my rats with some lettuce, tomato and carrots. the girls loved it and it made me so happy to see them constantly return to their food dish to grab some more delicious vegetables :)
every time I go to the store now I try to pick up at least one type of vegetable and some type of fruit or berries to feed them. I've been doing a mixed diet so far (some days lab blocks and other days fruit/veggies/lab blocks in the morning, fruit/vegetables at night.) it's been working out fine. the good thing about vegetables and fruit is that the rats never seem to get tired of them and they will come and grab their food from my hands.
tomorrow I think I'll give them some apple bits. I wonder if they'll like those.
they haven't rejected any food yet, except they do get a little bored with the dried blueberries since I used those as treats when I wanted to reward them.
well that's it for today.
I think I'm gonna go check what my little ladies are up to and perhaps give them a treat :)
a lot of rat sites that I've looked at and a friend of mine who is good with rats have recommended a raw diet instead of lab blocks for rats.
when we got our rats at the pet store, the clerk recommended a specific brand of lab blocks that she said she gives her rats. perhaps it was just another way to sell a product, who knows?
the thing is, I've never eaten much vegetables and fruits.
I want to be the best rat mom I can be, and having rats has given me an excuse to eat some greens myself.
so today as I was fixing up a small salad to myself, I decided to treat my rats with some lettuce, tomato and carrots. the girls loved it and it made me so happy to see them constantly return to their food dish to grab some more delicious vegetables :)
every time I go to the store now I try to pick up at least one type of vegetable and some type of fruit or berries to feed them. I've been doing a mixed diet so far (some days lab blocks and other days fruit/veggies/lab blocks in the morning, fruit/vegetables at night.) it's been working out fine. the good thing about vegetables and fruit is that the rats never seem to get tired of them and they will come and grab their food from my hands.
tomorrow I think I'll give them some apple bits. I wonder if they'll like those.
they haven't rejected any food yet, except they do get a little bored with the dried blueberries since I used those as treats when I wanted to reward them.
well that's it for today.
I think I'm gonna go check what my little ladies are up to and perhaps give them a treat :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
The rats.
time to meet the ratties!
Garbo.
when we first got our rats Garbo was the shy one.
she didn't really like coming out of the cage and she'd always run under the couch.
luckily she has gotten used to us by now.
Garbo likes to climb on my arms. sometimes when I put my hand in the cage she will actually come sit on it. she isn't shy anymore and she loves to trick me!
she's a sneaky little rat but she can be very sweet too.
I often find her sitting in my lap when I let her out of the cage.
Garbo's favorite thing to do is to dig tunnels in the bedding. sometimes if I put my hand next to her she'll give me little "gifts" by carefully placing a piece of bedding in my hand. (and sometimes these "gifts" aren't that pleasant. she once put rat poop in my hand)
Garbo loves digging outside of the cage too but isn't allowed to do so since our carpet probably doesn't really like that. when I put my hand in front of her as a sign that she needs to stop, she'll carefully grab my hand and push it away. it's kind of cute even though I've read that they shouldn't be encouraged to do that.
Garbo is the bigger rat out of the two.
Nixon.
Nixon is out little baby, being the smaller rat.
when we first got our girls, she would boss Garbo around.
she wasn't afraid of coming out of the cage at all and still isn't.
Nixon is the homemaker out of the two and loves to bring in all kinds of junk to put in their little house. she actually tried to grab my pencil once and put it in their house but I took it away from her. while Garbo does come out of the cage and tries to be very sneaky sometimes, Nixon will actually go farther when exploring the living room. she listens to me when I call her name and will usually come sit next to me. she doesn't climb on my arms like Garbo does but she does sit in my lap quite often and sometimes if I'm wearing a dress or a cardigan she'll go hide inside of it.
Nixon has recently started playing with me and likes hand wrestling.
I think Nixon likes treats a little bit more than Garbo does!
the two boss each other around an equal amount these days. I'm still not quite sure who is the more dominant rat in their little rat "pack".
they are quite lovely little ladies and I like observing them. they've both displayed some unique personality traits :)
today is cage cleaning day and the rats usually hate it.
well, they mostly just hate the part where I have to put them in their temporary cage. no hard feelings though, because they love exploring their clean cage, especially if I've moved their stuff around so it's like coming to a completely new place!
time to clean up!
Garbo.
when we first got our rats Garbo was the shy one.
she didn't really like coming out of the cage and she'd always run under the couch.
luckily she has gotten used to us by now.
Garbo likes to climb on my arms. sometimes when I put my hand in the cage she will actually come sit on it. she isn't shy anymore and she loves to trick me!
she's a sneaky little rat but she can be very sweet too.
I often find her sitting in my lap when I let her out of the cage.
Garbo's favorite thing to do is to dig tunnels in the bedding. sometimes if I put my hand next to her she'll give me little "gifts" by carefully placing a piece of bedding in my hand. (and sometimes these "gifts" aren't that pleasant. she once put rat poop in my hand)
Garbo loves digging outside of the cage too but isn't allowed to do so since our carpet probably doesn't really like that. when I put my hand in front of her as a sign that she needs to stop, she'll carefully grab my hand and push it away. it's kind of cute even though I've read that they shouldn't be encouraged to do that.
Garbo is the bigger rat out of the two.
Nixon.
Nixon is out little baby, being the smaller rat.
when we first got our girls, she would boss Garbo around.
she wasn't afraid of coming out of the cage at all and still isn't.
Nixon is the homemaker out of the two and loves to bring in all kinds of junk to put in their little house. she actually tried to grab my pencil once and put it in their house but I took it away from her. while Garbo does come out of the cage and tries to be very sneaky sometimes, Nixon will actually go farther when exploring the living room. she listens to me when I call her name and will usually come sit next to me. she doesn't climb on my arms like Garbo does but she does sit in my lap quite often and sometimes if I'm wearing a dress or a cardigan she'll go hide inside of it.
Nixon has recently started playing with me and likes hand wrestling.
I think Nixon likes treats a little bit more than Garbo does!
the two boss each other around an equal amount these days. I'm still not quite sure who is the more dominant rat in their little rat "pack".
they are quite lovely little ladies and I like observing them. they've both displayed some unique personality traits :)
today is cage cleaning day and the rats usually hate it.
well, they mostly just hate the part where I have to put them in their temporary cage. no hard feelings though, because they love exploring their clean cage, especially if I've moved their stuff around so it's like coming to a completely new place!
time to clean up!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Some sort of introduction.
so I finally decided to create a rat blog so I wouldn't have to bore uninterested people with my rat stories.
I've had my rats for maybe two months now.
they're still pretty young and full of energy and I feel like we're still getting to know each other. that is kind of what this blog is going to be about.
I'm going to introduce my rats in the next entry and then we'll go from there.
I know the background is kind of lame but I thought it was appropriate since the blocks look like the chewing blocks we give our rats :D
so that's it for now.
expect lots of pictures and stuff.
I like trying to capture their cute and funny moments :)
see you later.
I've had my rats for maybe two months now.
they're still pretty young and full of energy and I feel like we're still getting to know each other. that is kind of what this blog is going to be about.
I'm going to introduce my rats in the next entry and then we'll go from there.
I know the background is kind of lame but I thought it was appropriate since the blocks look like the chewing blocks we give our rats :D
so that's it for now.
expect lots of pictures and stuff.
I like trying to capture their cute and funny moments :)
see you later.
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