I feel stuck...

[adoptaratcanada]

...on how to give my new rat boyz more
running-about time than they get right now.

Because they are so much younger and faster and
still a teeny bit timid, I'm not comfortable
letting them run around on the couch in the rat
room like my old Lennier and Chopin did. The
room is full of stuff and if they ran off, it
would be hard to get them

Eventually I'll let them play in the playground
cage (very large cage with even more toys) but
it's awkward to get them in and out of it so it
will have to wait till the day that they are
HAPPY to be picked up...and if that doesn't
happen, I'll have to figure something else out.

Come to think of it, the other thing I could do
is to pull out the old "corral" I had made when I
first got Chopin and Lennier. It was several
large sheets of that plastic corrugated sign
board, duct taped together. I can even sit in
there with them, which is a bonus. However,
Chopin was almost able to leap out of there when
he was younger, and I think Locutus and Hugh are
much more agile!!

Any other ideas on what I can do to give the boys
a change of scenery and/or room to move till they
can be trusted?

Thanks!!

Linda

[Die Fledermaus]

You know my rats and their young ages. I was thinking mself in the next 2-3 weeks I could block off the hallway near the dinette, open the bathroom door and close the bedroom door. That gives them the entire hallway and bathroom for supervised running around. It's that--or little rat leashes!

Has anyone thought of a bell around a rat's neck so if they "disappear" we can still locate them, by sound?

[pinky]

I don't have any ideas for you, Linda, but I can relate to the idea of wanting to give our rodents "open space."

My most rodent-friendly apartment was the one before this. Hardwood floors, no holes in the floor, radiators, or other places where a rodent could get lost, except for possibly behind the fridge and under/behind the footed tub. I could put Pinky down and let him run to his heart's content, and he loved it. I still had to watch him, though--my rodents are just SO small and can end up anywhere! Plus if I watched him I could see him pause to "tinkle" and so could clean up after him.

In contrast I dwell in Carpet Kingdom here. Every room has carpeting. So no hamsters running around on rugs, alas. . . . where Pinky (before he died) and Fuzz have gotten their exercise is on my bed. I don't know if it's true for most hams, but mine would almost always look over an edge, but never jump (exception: Pinky when he was about 3--he became a wild man!). Fuzz doesn't seem conscious of the bed's edges--he never goes there. He is either wandering around inside my shirt as I lie on the bed, lying down next to my body resting, playing in my hair, or doing laps around me. He does not seek to get away at all. The others were like this too--they'd run toward me, not away. This does not mean that I didn't lose track of them ever, but the recovery was often easy because most of the time they came to me. (I can still see Critter wandering out of my closet toward me after being MIA for 2 or 3 days.)

I will say, though, that after being free to run for 15 minutes in my previous apartment, Pinky did NOT run toward me!

[Die Fledermaus]

Funny stories.

I have way too much stuff here to let them have the run of the place. The hallway and bathroom will have to suffice, at least until the rats learn to come to me.

[adoptaratcanada]

Right, I forgot about the bed option. I'm worried about them being on the floor except for very limited areas...I also have alot of stuff in this place as well as the dog and 2 cats.

One of the bathrooms is ridiculously small, but it would work. The larger bathroom has the cat box in there and I wouldn't want them messing with that.

I could add a panel (or two) to the sign-board "corral" (which probably already has more floor area than the teeny bathroom). The small bathroom also is good because IF they got out of there they still have the rat room to escape from...then again, the rat room has alot of stuff and they could hide from me forever!

I've heard that some people will get a kiddie's plastic outdoor wading pool and put it on a table as a playground. I'd be paranoid of them falling out, but apparently it's a rarity.

Linda
(who apologies if I've missed tons of typos and is otherwise making no sense...I'm sooo sleeepyyy....)

[Die Fledermaus]

So the rat room is off limits and locked to the cats?

[adoptaratcanada]

So the rat room is off limits and locked to the cats?

Right.

And speaking of built-in redundancy I might be able to rig the corral in such a way that if they escaped the little bathroom into the rat room (they are connected) the would be stopped by the corral.

Linda

[Die Fledermaus]

Whatever works.

And I've seen plenty of posts elsewhere relating how a rat room was NOT off limits to a pet cat.

[adoptaratcanada]

And I've seen plenty of posts elsewhere relating how a rat room was NOT off limits to a pet cat.

With my old rats they were fascinated by the cats and dog. Normally if I wheeled their cage into the living room, I put the corral around it so the pets couldn't make direct contact. A couple of times before I could put it in place, the cats would get up on their back legs to have a look (their noses only just touched the bottom of the bars...same with the dog). The rats were very interested.

The new boys have been less interested. However, a couple of nights ago when it was really cold I had the heat turned up fairly high but didn't want the interim rat room (read "computer room") to get too warm, so I left the door open overnight, with a sheet of the corrogated plastic sign board across the door with things holding it in place. Somehow the cats and/or dogs managed to move it without my hearing. I don't know which of them was in here or for how long. However, Hugh was VERY nervous the rest of the following day (he is the more timid of the 2), but was fine by nighttime.

I was very mad at myself so I've booby-trapped the set-up to make SURE I'll wake up if that happens again. However, I will be moving them into the ratroom and a new cage (not necessarily in that order) within a few days.

Linda

[Die Fledermaus]

Please tell me about your cage: specs, where you got it, how much, etc.?

I found a huge abandoned heavy rubber storage bin in the basement last night, and it must be 35+ gallons. I have to separate out in a day or two the two males of Moet who will be five weeks o Saturday. Out they go before more babies appear! Hope they don't gnaw the sides.

[adoptaratcanada]

Please tell me about your cage: specs, where you got it, how much, etc.?

There's been a fair $ output getting started. First, to rig the first cage, then as time went on, picking up other cages on the way, trying to get it right!

First cage for Chopin and Lennier was modified birdcage. I got it because I couldn't find any decent sized cages, nor any with shelves in them (until later!) I think the dimensions are around 17"Dx 23"Wx36"H (?) In it I inserted several shelves made from plexiglass. I think the cage was about $70 (at that time, around $50 USD).

I picked up a large cage (I think it's a rabbit cage) that I filled with more toys n stuff for them to play with..that's the "playground" cage that was longer, so they could get more "horizontal" movement! The cage they lived in was tall and narrow. The larger cage was also around $50 USD if I recall correctly. I found a store I like better, and they have decent sales on.

If anything, I've learned to shop around, and try to find as many stores as possible...new things turn up all the time and they certainly don't all carry the same things. Also to find stores other than the big chains.

When Chopin started to show some weakening in his hind end, I bought a level cage...same dimensions as the first pretty much, but wide and low, rather than tall and narrow. It's a SuperPet cage and was around $30 USD, or maybe less.

When Locutus and Hugh moved in I took apart the first cage, took out a section reducing the height by half, and left just one shelf in. It was hard to get at parts of the tall version....ok for cleaning, but not for catching new, skittish ratties! Now that they've warmed up significantly, I'm working on moving them into the cage I bought for Chopin.

Since buying it, I found you could order the shelves locally so I picked up a few and I'm trying to fine-tune it so it's easy to clean and gives the rat boyz alot of horizontal room to run around as well as a happy configuration of the ramps and shelves so that I can get at them...the rats that is! ;D The tricky thing I'm finding is how to set it up so that they can't take a huge downward fall, and at the same time keep it interesting and not too cluttered.

I stuck each of them in there one at a time tonight and they are VERY interested! It's helped me figure out how to tinker with it, and to wean them into it.

Funny thing about Hugh...he's the one who's been more timid, and sometimes still seems unsure about coming out...unless I have my sweatshirt on, then he'll come out and climb onto me. Once he's been out, and is put back in the cage, it's a different story...he's ALL for coming back out again! He made me laugh last week...I had my arm resting hear the cage door and he'd run out onto my arm then rush back into the cage, then onto my arm, and back, like doing laps! "Should I? Shouldn't I? Should I? Shouldn't I?" lol Although he seemed a bit scared at first about the new cage, when I FINALLY got him out and back to the original cage, he was dying to come back out!

They both showed interest in coming to the cage door of the new cage, so that should work out. No way was Locutus coming out, so I had to take the hut out with him in it! It went very well and I dont' think they'll be too stressed about moving in, so I expect to move them in tomorrow. I probably could have today, but it's late and I have to tinker with it some more.

Would you like the long answer now? ;D

Linda
PS: when there was only one rat in the tall, narrow cage it wasn't an issue, but something happened last night that tipped me in favour of the SuperPet cage, rather than re-add the extra section to the first cage...the boys were wrestling and Locutus was on his back, wedged between the nestbox and the bars...he squeeked a bit at Hugh, but even after Hugh left him, he stayed in that position, which I thought odd...and maybe continued to squeek a moment. When he didn't move, I jumped up and was worried he had caught a leg in the bars. Soon as I got in a position to have a decent look, he'd moved along. I'm not convinced he didn't get caught but got himself out...he seemed kind of worn out afterward and I don't know if it's the fight or the maybe getting stuck that might have stressed him out. Since the bars are close together I worry about it happening if I'm not around (if indeed it DID happen) so I'm happier about the wider-spaced bars of the other cage. If it had been a cage with the little "squares" ala a Martin's cage, it would be ok because not likely a limb would go through. But with the bird cage, it's long narrow spaces between the bars...possibly enough to fit a limb through but not to get out quickly and easily if it turned while through the bars...a calm rat might figure it out,but not if it panicked, thinking it was stuck.

[Die Fledermaus]

Thanks for all the info, and cute stories.

My young ones have already shown clear personality differences.