Playing with water!

the ratties got to play with water for the fist time today!
a good way to get a rat used to water is by placing some treats at the bottom of a water filled bowl and letting them either dive for them or just kinda "fish" them up.
I started off by putting things that wouldn't sink in the bowl, like apple jacks.
Garbo only wanted one but I think she might have been uncomfortable with the fact that the bowl was in the bathroom. Nixon came back for the apple jacks multiple times and waved her arms around in the water filled bowl. it was very very cute :)

I dumped out some of the water so it would be a bit more shallow and put something that would sink to the bottom in it. for that I used uncooked pasta. Nixon didn't really want to stick her head so she kinda continued waving her hands under water. she managed to get a piece of pasta that way. Garbo was more comfortable with the water when I moved the bowl into the bedroom where they roam free. she didn't care about getting her face wet. while she didn't exactly dive for the pasta, she did at least get her face wet and wasn't afraid to go in the water bowl. in fact, I saw her dipping her feet in it too :D so today's brave rat is Garbo!
after Garbo set the example, Nixon didn't really care about getting wet either and actually tipped the bowl over a few times, getting her belly and feet wet. she wouldn't let me dry her. actually, she really hated me chasing her around with a dry wash cloth :/ oh well.

I'm pretty positive that the rats will learn this game very quick and that they'll enjoy diving for treats underwater :)



also, daddy Robert and I are going away for a few days again. ratties will be staying at the comfort of their own home, but we'll have our friend Sarah come by to check on them everyday :) Sarah doesn't have rat experience but I'm not too worried because we went over all the details a few times and she doesn't seem too worried either. I'm sure it'll be fine, especially since the rats get to stay in their own home this time.


well, that's it for now.
if you didn't notice, I'm able to use a comma now. we have a new computer here at the rats' nest. Garbo has shown interest in the cord. not by chewing, but she wouldn't stop sniffing it. it probably smells like cats and dog!