Unfortunately, I may have to resort to a pet store if the animal shelter can’t help me out. Rat breeders are not to be found around here. And Robyn, I wouldn’t hurt you that way, seeing as you flipped out over a rubber ball that looked like a scuttling mouse.
By the way, the fish are making me want rats more and more. Our one goldfish tries to eat gravel and then spits it out- I’m amazed it hasn’t choked to death yet. Oh, how I want an intelligent pet.
He’s looking for food.
Which we gave him. He still eats the gravel.
He’s still looking for food.
That’s what goldfish do. He’s looking for food in the gravel. It doesn’t mean he’s starving, it just means he’s snacking.
Heh. This is why the fish belong to my roommate. I tend to do better with the warm-blooded animals than the icthyan ones.
When my paycheck comes in, I’m headed to the store to find my (female) rats and accompanying rat stuff. And if they have the right personalties, they shall be named Persephone and Ophelia.
Ours tries to crawl up my nose. He gets his little snout up one of my nostrils, and if I don’t put a stop to it, he’ll just start ramming–hard!–with his whole head!
I second the advice about rat-proofing. I usually let ours run around on our bed, and position myself at the headboard so that he can’t crawl down between it and the mattress. But the other day, I let him run around on the bathroom counter while I did something or other at the sink, and he took a rather oogy interest in our toothbrushes (which, luckily, were wearing their plastic helmets) before moving on to my jewelry. Imagine my surprise to find him grasping my mother’s big honkin’ cocktail ring in his little clutches, licking and nibbling at the diamonds! :eek: At that point, I saw the writing on the wall and put him away before he could gulp down one of my earrings.
And one last bit of advice . . . they’re tiny (and cute!) when you get them, but remember that they grow, so buy their toys and accommodations accordingly, in order to avoid any unfortunate incidents . . .
We must have had a very odd rat. Unlike most rat books that say rats like swimming, ours absolutly hated it and would sulk for hours if we gave her a bath. She also never tried to escape, even when the cage door was accidently left open. She also hated sitting in peoples pockets, she prefered sitting on their shoulders and making a nest in their hair! If you keep them in your pockets, watch out because they love to chew and even if you can’t catch them at it, you’ll find little holes in all your jumpers!
We found old newspapers made fantastic rat bedding, cheap and disposible.
Don’t give your rat too long a name! We found that her name had too many syllables and she wouldn’t respond, although her head would pop up everytime she heard the toaster!
I’m now allergic to rats and can’t get another one 