My ratty boys

[NZminilops]

Patch and Pirate are growing , funny to think that a few weeks ago they were the size of mice!

I was cleaning out their cage and they were goofing around. I normally have a pillowcase over the stick in the pics to make a little tent for them, but much to my surprise they loved the stick and were climbing all over it.

Patch is getting darker:

Patch:

Pirate:

Patch guarding his secret stash of empty sunflower seed husks and ratty poos:

Pirate being a birdy:

Patch "How do I get up there?"

Hanging out together:

Pirate then went off by himself going sideways...going nowhere...haha

Patch is a cutie

 

[TinysMom]

Between you & Amy - I almost would consider wanting a rat (almost)....

They are so cute - I sat here laughing and laughing at those pictures.

 

[JadeIcing]

So cute!!

 

[NZminilops]

They are really fun Peg, once you get past the "eww creepy critters" thing, they're quite cool pets . Easy to feed and house, and if you're crafty it's really fun to sew them lots of neat things...tunnels, hammocks etc. They are really playful and a joy to watch. They are really goofy, curious and affectionate.

Plus they are quiet and don't thump and tear things to shreds, unlike a certain rabbit of mine *cough cough* .

 

[undergunfire]

Wow, Michelle! They have gotten soooo much bigger. Its crazy how fast they grow. I have watched Spice's babies grow before my eyes and it is freaky.

You should take a picture of your cage set up! I love looking at cage set ups.

Get a few more rats..then they won't be easy pets . I have 13 rats under my care right now and I am going insane.

 

[trailsend]

They are adorable! They are so much fun. I've only had two but they were a lot of fun and nothing like I expected them to be when the shelter loaded them into my truck. I was picking a Pot belly pig up at the shelter and she demanded I take the rats because she didn't think they'd get adopted. The pig was kept in the same room they had the rats at the shelter and she broke them out of their cage repeatedly and let them run loose apparently.

Thanks for sharing your pictures

 

[NZminilops]

Thank you, and yeah Amy, amazing how fast rats grow :shock:. I will get some pictures of the cage, it's just a "rat starter kit" cage as the other ones I was looking at, the bar spacing was too large. Because my boys were little and skinny, they could fit through and escape the bars of the other rat cages I was looking at. We don't get the cool sorts of cages you get . Mostly people use indoor aviaries here or build their own.

I was building my own cage but, er, I sucked at it .

It's weird as the cage they have now is fairly small (it's meant for 2 adult male rats maximum). but they don't even make use of the space is has :?. It's got the base level/floor, then two smaller levels above. They only use the two smaller ones and haven't gone down the ramp to the bottom that I can tell (no food, pee or poo down there at all, or chewing, or mess). They've got various hammocks and things to hide in/play in, all the levels are covered so no reasons of "ouch this hurts my feet". Funny little things . I'm buying another cage exactly the same when they are back in stock and going to add it to the top to double the room.

I can't imagine 13! Woah! Poor you :shock:.


trailsend, you're welcome! And thank youv. They are such neat pets aren't they? My first rats and I'm already looking to get more...er...one day .

 

[undergunfire]

I think you can get "The Explorer" over there and it is just like the new Midwest Critter Nation cage that just came out. AWESOME cages! Very big for two boys, though, hehe.

Thats weird how they don't make use of the space in their cage. You should put their food and water at the bottom of their cage, then they will make use of it. If I didn't put the food and water at the base, then my rats wouldn't have a reason to go down their, either .

Don't worry, they will go down there for food....rats will NEVER starve themselves. I've heard of people giving into their rats when they won't eat certain pieces in their food mixtures (homemade ones), and then they just dump the food out and refill it. I don't do that, though, I make the rats eat every little piece before I refill it. I tell them "Now, kids, you gots to eat your vegieeeee-tablesssss!".


Uhh....yeah...13 rats. I am going nuts. The babies will be 4 weeks old this Thursday. I have Spice and the 10 babies inside a 1 level Critter Nation....so I have to clean it fully 2 times a week and spot clean it multiple times a day with the hand vaccuum. The CN will hold the girls (Spice and 6 baby girls) until I buy another CN and connect them together, then neuter the 4 boys....THEN it will hold 11 rats!

 

[NZminilops]

I do that too haha, with the food! If they don't eat it, they don't get any more until they do (unless they've peed on it or something).

I know Australia have cages like the ferret nation but not 100% sure if we get anything like that here. On a NZ rat forum there has been discussion about getting enough people wanting them so we could all go in for sharing shipping costs. I would almost die of happiness to have a cage like that! The is a critter-something too, a cage I like, I can't remember the name all of a sudden.

I confess, I did put the food and water at the bottem but gave in and moved it again :embarrassed:.


I cannot picture my life ratless now and I'm wondering why it took me so long to get them.

They do NOT like vegies or fruit, is that bad? Should I force the issue with them?

 

[tonyshuman]

Isn't it so cute when rodents act like little monkeys? I remember when my hammie Petunia learned to climb her bars. Also, one day I was socializing the rats at the shelter and letting the three girlies run around. They climbed all over the outside of their cage and held onto the bars really tight when I went to pick them back up to put them back inside! Also, two of them ran over and found a small present--a Christmas decoration they had in the adoption center. It was like one of those little styrofoam cubes wrapped in mylar with a tiny bow that looks like a Christmas present for a doll house. Anyway, they stole it and ran behind the cage and started chewing on it. I was playing with the 3rd when I heard funny noises! It was very cute, just like your guys!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Aww, they're adorable! I can't believe I had 4 rats in a huge cage full of toys and never thought to put a perch in there. Mine never had the joy of pretending to be birdies!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Michelle, those boys are adorable! I love that they like their stick!! I can't believe they are getting so big either!