Stuff about my pet rats who are currently Priscilla, Hoot, & Annie.
The rat rescue group I help out with (Mainely Rat Rescue) was asked to help with a hoarding situation in Holbrook, NY. This man started out with two females from a pet store and they were both pregnant. When my group arrived, he had well over 1,000 rats running around, many which were pregnant. So I took home a nursing mother and 21 little eepers. Sadly only 15 survived, but they are all doing great. The mother, whom I call…
These fine fellas were my first males. They were also my first adoptions from Mainely Rat Rescue, but definitely not my last. (I live in MA, but this rescue group has adopters all over New England). Both of them came neutered, so they could live with my girls without fear of an accidental litter. (Incidentally, if you try to get a male neutered at a local vet, I’ve found the cost to be astronomical. One vet quoted me $800! But…
I’ve had the Grotto and attachments for a number of years now. This is the most recently layout: The Grotto (main bookcase with six shelves) The Annex (secondary bookcase with two shelves) The Expansion Fort (formerly my cockatiel cage, containing the wheels) The whole thing is connected with 3″ PVC pipe which leads out to: The Playground (a big desk with toys for free range time). There’s one problem I’ve consistently had over the years. The pipe out to the…
I’m a big believer in making toys rather than buying them. After all, they’ll be chewed in no time anyway. This invention is called the Triple Decker Ratty Condo. The end result is to have three cereal boxes stacked with trap doors cut between the levels. Here are the steps. Start with the bottom box. Cut a square in the top of it big enough for your ratties to fit through. Put the next box on top of it and…
I went to a holiday rat party and they had these ‘poppers.’ In the UK, they call these crackers. With the human equivalent, you pull each end and a prize pops out. These rattie holiday gifts are really easy to make. Just take a toilet paper roll and fill it with rat goodies. Then wrap it in paper (no tape), twist the ends, and tie them up with some biodegradable twine. Your ratties will have lots of fun ‘opening’ their…
Many people use metal shower rings to hang hammocks, etc. from cages. You can get a packet from any hardware or home improvement store. I did the same thing, but noticed over time they start to look kind of corroded. Recently I acquired some new mice. I noticed Cheerio kept licking the cruddy shower ring. Hmmm….not happy with that. It was then I did some research. Those metal rings just say ‘metal’ but don’t tell you what kind of metal….
I’ve had lots of experience with different brands of running wheels. I’ve already done a summary at the bottom of my first pet exercise wheel review, but I’ve created a new summary to include one of the newer wheels. So, to summarize: The wheel to get depends primarily on the pet you have, and secondarily on how much you want to spend. I’ve included some Amazon links below for your convenience. They are affiliate links, which means if you end…
Hoot & Annie, the Nifflers, were the only survivors of a litter of 10. Their mother was my first rat Priscilla and their father was a wild rat.
Priscilla and Abagail will always hold a dear spot in my heart, for they were my first pet rats and introduced me to how cool these critters as pets are.
How they came to live with me is a little unusual.
After building the ratty grotto and annex, the biggest problem turned out to be how to keep the shelves clean. My ratties did not get the litter box concept at all, which isn’t too kind on the nose. I tried fabric liners