Playing in the Water Fountain
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…
Why Do Rats Like Beer So Much?
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 that is, but it is pretty funny.
Pixel: “So is this where the beer comes out??”
Pica: “Maybe it’s behind this label…”
“Aha! Found it!”
“Sweet, sweet beer….”
To be honest, they had more fun playing with the paper packet my tea bag came in than the beer bottle…
Rat in the Garbage!
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 Pixel looking back me. His little face looked so shocked that he had gotten away with getting into the trash! As soon as he saw me he jumped out and ran next to the fridge… with his prize of course. He had found a piece of pasta from dinner that I’d thrown away. Luckily the only thing wrong with it was that it landed on the stove top instead of a bowl. I’m glad he didn’t make off with something gross or rotten, or raw (like the few bits of raw chicken I threw away, which were buried under a few other things). Well now I know to make sure no boxes are too close to the trash can.
And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Rattie Cuteness
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.
Rat Freerange Playtime
Freerange playtime is so important for the ratties. First because it’s great exercise. Rats can get big and squishy and overweight pretty easily, so letting them run around a little each day helps them stay in shape. But also they’re very curious animals. Being in a cage all day can get extremely boring for them, and when they’re bored they become destructive. By giving them some time to explore and use their brains they stay in a happy mood.
Here’s what I do to give my boys some time to play in a safe, enclosed area. Everyone does playtime differently, but this works best for me. I block off the kitchen and lay random “toys” around on the floor. You can see in the picture below how I block the doors off. I got 2 sheets of “hardboard” from the hardware store and then I prop heavy objects against them to keep them from moving. The toys are mostly just cardboard boxes, other empty containers, and things that roll around. They love to crawl and climb over (and under) everything - including me. They get to run around for about 45 minutes a night before going back to the cage for dinner. Here are the two pictures:
Rattie Play Time Pictures
I finally got a new charger for my camera battery (yay!!) so I took a ton of play time pictures tonight. Unfortunately, they’re always on the run, so I only got about a half dozen good ones.
Also, when I was at Petsmart yesterday I picked up one of those kitty teaser toys, with a stick and some string on the end. Pixel was all over it!
Finally Pica warmed up to it - he was a little scared of it at first.
But mostly Pica likes to hide out in between the counter and the fridge.
He also likes to chill on my lap.
And finally, here’s one of Pixel trying to find my ear!
There will definitely be more rat pictures to come!
Crafty Rat Baby
Sorry for not posting for so long! Things have been pretty busy around here, but I had to share this story.
I had the boys out for play time tonight in the kitchen. Well, I thought I had the place rat-proofed pretty good. Apparently I didn’t. Pixel found a small hole under the cabinet next to the dish washer and crawled in! He wandered around the under side of the dish washer for a while until I managed to lure him out with a Cheerio. He’s such a little trouble maker! He was also wriggling his way in between the cabinet and the fridge. I duct taped off both of those areas, but I think I need a better solution. As long as I keep an eye on him while he’s playing it should work for now. I wouldn’t mind him going in between the fridge and cabinet except that there’s cords back there and I don’t want him chewing on them. Pica, on the other hand, is a little ratty angel.
Anyways, more pictures and info on play time to come soon!
More Rat Pictures
Some updated pictures of Pixel and Pica from play time a couple days ago. They are really growing fast! The picture quality isn’t very good because I had to use my cell phone, but I touched them up as best I could.
Pixel:
Peek-a-boo! I love ths picture!
He only stopped playing long enough to get himself cleaned up.
Pica:
“What do you think? Can I jump all the way over to the table?”
Sometime this week I’ll try to make one or two of them into LolRats. The one I made before seemed to go over really well.