Salmon fishing in Johannesburg

It’s offishal: rats love salmon!

Recently our boys got a taste of smoked trout ribbons and salmon fish spread. (I know, they eat better than some people do. I feel bad about that sometimes. For a second or two. It’s not as though withholding a treat from my bubs will magically feed someone somewhere – it wouldn’t feed anyone at all, considering the tiny amounts it takes to please these guys…)

Anyway, they went crazy for the fishy treats, and I managed to snap a few pics of the fun 🙂

Moon grabbing and Mishka begging

Vodka testing the taste

Voddy. Must. Have. More!

Knight’s desperate flying leap to get to his fish

Definitely Ninja’s rat!

Mishka asks so nicely…

Teddy bear with his fishy feast

Those smoked trout ribbons were their best treat so far, but on a separate occasion I mixed some salmon fish spread with brown rice and veggies for their supper. That was gulped down just as quickly:

Hmmm, need a bigger bowl?

It looks like a hug, but it’s actually a warning

With Tiny out the way, Mishka’s nearly there…

MINE!!!

Footnote: Just so you know, rats are only allowed high-protein treats once in a while, and even then only in small samplings. Too much protein can cause their skin to become very itchy and scabby, almost like an allergic reaction. Under normal circumstances a pet rat only needs about 10% of its diet to consist of protein, and definitely no more than 18%. Our rats have almost no protein in their staple diet, so treats such as these once in a while are fine. And as with human diets, variation and moderation are vital 🙂

Welcome home party

Our new ratties are settling in very well so far. Yesterday I threw them a welcome home party with delicious treats… here are a few pics 🙂

Rats and snacks everywhere!

Because they’re still new and very fast and skittish when they’re out their cage, we can’t let them roam freely yet. So their party was confined to the couch. They’re on the go constantly, which means group shots are virtually impossible. Instead, I aimed for individual pics (with their body weights included, for interest’s sake).

Knight – 190g

Moon – 200g

Vodka – 220g

And the massive munchkin…

Mishka – 250g

Someone from our rat club actually asked if they were adults or babies, because they’re so big for only 8 weeks of age! An average rat (especially adult females) only weighs between 200 and 300 grams. So I’m sure these are going to grow into huge squishies 😀

I mustn’t have a favourite, and I don’t, because they each have something unique and lovable about them. But I can’t deny that I’m smitten with Mishka as my first dumbo. Those huge ears are ridiculously cute!

Sometimes they make him look all sweet and innocent…

Mishka’s “I can do no wrong” look

… and other times they make him look like an evil mastermind!

Mishka’s “scheming goblin” look

Rat cages (part two)

While we wait for the new rats to arrive (it seems to be taking forever… not that I’m all that patient 😉 ), let’s take a closer look at their new cage.

The top floor

I placed the rats’ gardens (one with grass and lettuce, the other with flourishing lentil sprouts) on top of the cage just for the photo. Naturally, these will be placed on the floor when we let the rats roam free. (You can see the small wooden log ladder there too, which we’ll use to connect the gardens.)

At the top of the cage we have a black plastic Sputnik, a plastic ferret tunnel and a makeshift hammock (an old PJ pants leg held up and open by two dowel rods). We’ve also found our best-yet solution to the question of cage levels. This time around we’ve laid thin sheets of white perspex across wooden dowel sticks. These are all removable and should be a cinch to clean each week – much better than either the metal trays or the cloth levels.

The middle levels

Most of the rat toys and accessories are on the two middle levels. This cage setup is an improvement over our previous layouts because we’ve squeezed in an extra level. Here you can see cardboard and plastic boxes lined with shredded unprinted newspaper, a rope walkway, metal ladders, a mini dome (part of a Sputnik) and an egg carton.

It’s so exciting to picture four little ‘scurries’ (as Ninja has dubbed them) exploring this cage!

And finally, the ground floor:

The ground floor

This is where the mealtime action will be. On the left we have two water bottles and a water bowl, strategically placed over the tile so they have to wear down their nails a bit. In the back left corner we’ve left space for their toilet (did you know rats can be toilet trained? Yay!). And on the right is their food bowl under another piece of grey Sputnik (rats like places to hide). Not visible in this pic but hanging from the front right side of the cage is a metal stick used to skewer fruit and veg for the rats. They love the challenge of that kind of treat 🙂

And what about Flea, I hear you ask?

She has her retirement home right below the mansion:

Hello Flea!

Since the old lass can’t climb anymore, we’ve limited her quarters to food, water, toilet and sleeping dome. By God’s grace we found the perfect-sized cage for her, which fits on the bottom of the main cage’s stand. This way Flea is kept off the cold floor. All through winter she’s also had her pink blankie to block out draughts and a hot-water bottle under her bed to keep her snug. So though her nose may be out of joint with the newcomers, at least she can’t complain that we love her any less 😉

Rat cages

I’m sorry peeps. You know, I never intended for this blog to turn into a rat blog!

It’s just that the excitement of getting new pets has been the focus of our lives for the last few weeks, and since I blog about what’s on my heart, lately the ratty love has been overflowing 😛

Anyway, as we wait (two more sleeps!) for Saturday, here’s a post on the rat homes we’ve had in the past and the one we’ve prepared this time around.

The first cage we set up for Scribble and Muesli was this white finch cage:

Our first cage

We used metal baking trays as levels, pull-tied to the cage bars and connected with ladders. It was sparsely decorated, with one dome, one hammock and one swing toy. We were new to fancy rat owning, OK. And besides, it was far superior to the first cage we kept our very first pet-shop rescue ratty (Mizu) in… we never knew better back then, so he lived alone in a fishtank with sawdust 😦 Poor boy 😦

But the upside is that we learn more with each new set of pets. So here’s the cage we set up for Coffee and Flea:

Our second cage

It’s a new black cage, but exactly the same kind and size. The major problem we found with the first cage was that wee, fur and and other interesting deposits got trapped too easily between the pull-ties and metal trays. Also, the trays quickly rusted where the holes had been drilled. So the second cage had cloth levels, as an attempt to have levels that were easy to remove and clean.

As for decor, the dome was still there and they had one main hammock, but we added a terracotta tile to help wear down their nails and often introduced temporary toys such as fruit on a stick or cardboard egg cartons filled with treats. In addition, the girls had more regular runs around our house, which also kept things interesting for them.

Despite that, when we began planning for more rats Ninja and I both wanted to do far more with the cage space and the toys and accessories. As our knowledge has improved, so have our ideas.

For one thing, we’ve had a leap in pet hygiene since I recently purchased F10 SC solution, which is an animal-safe veterinary-quality disinfectant. So the first step was to thoroughly clean the girls’ old cage with F10 and a toothbrush.

The ‘new’ old cage, freshly disinfected

Shew. Tedious and time consuming but necessary and satisfying.

And once the cleaning was done, the fun could begin! Here’s the kitted-out version that awaits Moon, Knight, Mishka and Vodka:

Home sweet home

Looking good eh? More details in my next post 🙂

Cherry on top

I just had to share this series of shots from a cute moment during Flea’s birthday party. She went for the cherry on top of the biscuit, but didn’t use her hands to grab the biscuit… 🙂

Spoilt (b)rats get a castle with a garden and a pool!

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!