Ninja and I have had lots of fun lately as we prepare to welcome home our new ratties. And if you thought our fussing over them was outrageous before, just wait till you see what we’ve done now! 
Cardboard castle maze
Firstly, Ninja began building and designing this cardboard castle with a maze of tunnels and multiple levels. It’s quite a labour of love, with each level stacking neatly on top of the previous one. Ninja made it out of strong cardboard and packing tape. I must admit I was greatly tempted to paint it with cute details all over… but first we’ll have to see how long it withstands ratty teeth and piddle puddles, hehehe! 😉 It’s not finished yet so I’ll try post more pics when it is.
Then comes the garden. This is something I’ve wanted to do for each new set of ratties we’ve brought home, but only now did I finally get around to making a little natural scratch patch for our pets.
Ratty Eden
After making drainage holes in the bottom of a large shallow plastic container, I filled it with rich potting soil and planted some pet-safe grass and lettuce for the rats. Some pebbles, glass stones and wooden flower signs finished off the effect.
Flea was our guinea pig (no species slur intended, dear ratty!) for the garden. Even with her wobbly old legs and lack of coordination, she showed her enthusiasm by climbing right in.
‘A garden for me?’
Flea seemed very curious about the interesting new smells and textures. In her short/long life she’s never experienced soil or plants, so I was glad to bless her with this little adventure before she leaves us.
A ratty scratch patch
With her in the pic you can also see that it’s not such a big garden, but I do intend to make another one in which to grow edible sprouts for the ratties to dig up. Nevertheless, since we don’t even have a garden for the humans in this place, I don’t think the rats have a right to complain!
Then, as if all these wonderful spots to explore weren’t enough, we also found the perfect pool for our pets:
Pool for pet rats
I can’t take credit for the idea, since I saw a fellow rat club member do this first, but I’m sooooo glad we also found the right tub for the job 🙂 It’s a cheap and simple plastic washing tub with a washboard moulded into it. But of course when you look at it from a rodent’s perspective, those make ideal steps leading down into the water.
Complete with a rubber ducky
Hope you enjoyed that peek into the fanatical world of pet rat owning 😀
And to think those are just the fun items for the rats’ free-range time… We still have a lot of work to do upgrading their main living quarters in the cage. Will keep you posted!
Sunshine Scrapbook 