Oi! Service, please! (Rats)

Member Name: Plumptious

Product:	Rats
Date:	24/01/01 (223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They really do keep themselves very clean, even grooming each other.

Disadvantages: The rats are very clean, but the cage is another matter altogether!

Roland and Rodney arrived to stay with me when they were still very young. The names were not my choice, and they were a "surprise" arrival.

Not an auspicious start, I know, especially as they spent the first week cowering in the depths of the deluxe four tier hamster cage I got them.

Roland, the larger baby, was bolder and would periodically creep out to grab some food. With his hands and mouth full of food, he would scuttle back to their hidey hole. What I found immensely touching was the fact that he would share it with his brother. It definitely seemed to be intentional sharing as on the ocassions he only had one chunk of food with him, he would come out for another after Rodney had grabbed it from him. Extra tasty morsels such as ham were the exception to this rule, and Rodney would only be permitted this delicacy after Roland had devoured several pieces. Being larger and bolder, Roland was perfectly capable of defending his food from his brother when he had a mind to.

It was also Roland who made the forays into the frightening open spaces in the cage, where I had positioned additional bedding to tempt them out. The bedding would then be transported, piece by piece, back into their hidey hole, where Rodney would remain, cowering. It was a fortnight before I saw Rodney outside their nest. The care that Roland seemed to have accorded him for all that time still amazes me, and I think his care and patience would do a human credit.


Over time, both rats became more friendly, although Rodney remains rather nervous to this day. When Roland accepts treats from me, it is snatched most of the time. Rodney, on the other hand, very carefully and slowly removes morsels from my hand. I know that it is probably simply extreme caution, but the overall effect is one of extreme courtesy.

Their stable diet consists of premixed complete rat food. However, taking the view that I would personally find an unchang
ing menu totally unacceptable, I make a point of giving them something else every day.

They adore grapes and lettuce, and so receive a grape or two each a day, or barring that, a lettuce leaf. The exception is during pomegranate or lychee season, when they get that instead. Pomegranates were a bit of a puzzle at first, so I began by giving them individual pomegranate seeds. We then progressed on to quarter slices. By the end of the week, we had graduated to half slices, which were an absolute dawdle by then. They would spend many a happy hour gnawing away on them, and never seemed to stain themselves, something which I have yet to achieve.

Baby tomatoes, sweetcorn and papaya are also well received. The way I judge how much to give them is by the size of their hands. I think about how much of the foodstuff I would consume in relation to my hands, and then scale it down to their hands. Wierd, I know, but I haven't come up with another way to judge.

Rats are unable to burp, so I never give them any fizzy drinks. Apparently, doing so causes excruciating pain and can actually kill them. On the advice of a book, I also avoid spicy foods. With these exceptions, they receive a heaped tablespoon of whatever I eat. On the subject of cuisine, they are a whole lot more discerning than my dogs. They haven't become overweight despite their adamant refusal to use exercise wheels. I have bought four different ones, and all have been rejected.

They have now grown into handsome young men, resplendent in their white outfits topped by a black waistcoat and morning suits with dress tails. In honour of their coming of age, they have moved into more spacious quarters. This is a "small animal" cage the size of a puppy pen. I was advised by their vet not to use wood shavings. He informed me that the shavings can contain all kinds on noxious chemicals, depending on what the scrap wood had been treated with. This came as
a shock as I had fondly imagined the shavings to originate from "fresh" wood. Newspaper is also best avoided as it can contain undesirable chemicals.

After experimenting with various other materials, including cat litter which was rejected as being too dusty, I hit on the perfect solution. Three IKEA paper bags are exactly the right size for the tray at the bottom of the cage, with no cutting or folding required. Sorry IKEA, but it's true. They're also just absorbent enough and very easy to change.


I've tried buying various toys and houses for m, but have given up. They were all very much one day wonders, and soon ignored. Food containers, tissue boxes, cardboard fruit trays, cardboard boxes, together with the obiquitous IKEA paper bag, are what's exciting. Always have been and always will be. Apparently.

So every week, I simply remove all the old boxes and paper, rinse out the cage with Milton's Fluid, and put in a fresh selection, together with some treats hidden at random and shredded paper from the office for bedding. Finding suitable boxes has made me look at cardboard containers in a new light, and all contenders for the recycling bin are now prescreened for "ratty compatibility".

It's what they want. I know because anything which is not acceptable is put by the door of the cage for removal. This freaks me out a bit, and I still haven't managed to explain it.

Some of their food is served in bottle caps, bottle lids and cut-out milk cartons. These, together with unacceptable bedding such as shredded material, cotton wool in socks(cushions, I thought), are arbitrarily rejected and stacked in front of the door for removal. I know that the stack is not their nest, as that will be elsewhere in the cage, where they will have dragged the shredded paper.

I've tried reorienting the cage, moving their nest, etc, but to no avail. Rejected materi
als are heaped in front of the cage door. I would like to know how they got hold of the council leaflet explaining about rubbish collections.

And it's still freaking me out. This is a serious question - if anyone knows of rats clearing out rubbish, please let me know. I've never read about it before, and I still find myself staring at Roland as he struggles to pile rejected material as closely to the door as possible.


~~~ Update ~~~
I seem to have generated some horrified awe with regards to the types of food I feed them. I really don't spoil them as much as it may seem. As I said in my comments, they live right next to the kitchen. I simply wander out there with whatever I'm eating. For instance, breakfast cereal is great. They really appreciate a single flake of Special K each, especially when fished out of my bowl, dripping with milk.

At least I hand them their portions. There's a chap at work who simply lets his rat take a couple of nibbles, in situ, out of everything he eats.


~~~ A "Doh!" moment ~~~
I accompanied Roland and Rodney to the vet for a checkup. The sedate and venerable head of the practice saw us that day. Whilst he gently examined Roland, he chatted with me about the things the rats got up to.

During a pause in the conversation, he turned 'round to Roland and said "You just want to be back in your sewer, don't you?", and held Roland up to his ear, listening. Long moments went by.

I watched, fascinated. I hadn't realised that rats could communicate in this fashion. This was truly remarkable.

Seconds ticked by.

It finally dawned on me that he was listening to Roland's breathing. The fact that he had asked a question prior to that was incidental.

Doh!

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