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Anonymous
oh rats!
>> Anonymous
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fuck yeah rats!

i had a pet rat a few years ago, he was awesome :)

taught him tricks, like how to walk on his back legs and stuff.

fucking sucked when he died :(
pic related
>> Anonymous
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A challenger appears!
>> Anonymous
Never had one, but I just built a cage for a pair of males I hope to get in September. It's 22Lx15Wx15H with a shelf, 19 gauge Vinyl coated hardware cloth with a 4" plastic base. Should work pretty well for 'em. Thoughts?
>> Anonymous
>>251058
why are you waiting so long?
>> Anonymous
>>251068
Moving to a new dormitory; my roommate wants to make sure it's feasible. I know it will be, so I figured I'd give myself something to do for a few days before I start work and save myself some money.
>> Anonymous
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rats - oh nom nom
>> Anonymous
Yay rat thread! My current mischief is at 7 housed in a Ferret Nation 142 with modified bar spacing. Spoiled little bastards but oh how I loves them.

Also>>251058
make sure your hardware cloth is 1/2" by 1/2" spacing, as anything bigger than that is trouble if you get young ones.
>> Anonymous
>>251058

If you've got that long to wait, check your area for breeders to buy your pair from. They're usually MUCH healthier and MUCH more socialized than if they're from some shitty pet store.
>> Anonymous
I've been doing a lot of research and I LOVE the idea of a pet rat. I'm just worried about one thing... the marking ?_?
>> Anonymous
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJUouFIEYI

Stumbled across this video. Assumed it was another mediocre tribute vid...

it absolutely destroyed me. I had to leave my computer and go watch TV hoping that would help me stop crying. You can see the progression of her illness, the slightly red discharge in her eyes as she stares back in pain. Perhaps it reminded me of the few pets I've lost in my lifetime or the mortality of the people I love.
>> Anonymous
>>251121
Guh. Respiratory infections are the scourge of pet rodents. My own little mouse fell ill over Easter, but antibiotics cleared it up. It was three touch-and-go days before she began to recover, though. They live so fast that they can fall ill, get worse, and die by the time you notice anything's wrong.
Rodents have conquered the world - one in four mammals on the planet is a rodent. But individually they're rather frail. At best you only ever get so much time with them.
I'm gonna go give my mice treats.
>> Anonymous
>>250921here again

he was a male, and i didn't get any marking problems.

after about a year his cage was looking too small for him, so i thought 'why not' and just let him run free in my bedroom.
put a few boxes around, stuffed with old t-shirts and he made himself a nest and slept there, only went to his cage to get food and water.
he only shit and pissed in one corner, so all you have to do is put down some newspaper and they're fine.

he was about 3 and a half when he died, he had a brain tumuor, and lost all the muscles in his legs in literally a couple of days.
took him to the vet and held him as he went, tottaly sucked.
>> Anonymous
>>251144
actually, i had one problem with letting him rome free, for the first few weeks he'd jump on me while i was sleeping, but i broke that pretty quickly by putting him on the floor twice, then back in his cage the 3rd time he did it.

rats are smart :)
>> Anonymous
>>251091
i have moral problems with feeding intellegent animals to fucking stupid ones, feed it a bunny
>> Anonymous
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lol, rats
>> Anonymous
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wuts goin on in this thred
>> Anonymous
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I want a pretty blue rat.
>> Anonymous
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Here's my rat's home. Excuse the mess.
>> Anonymous
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>>251258
The rats who live in said home.
>> Anonymous
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First encounter with Jell-O.
>> Anonymous
Mice = cuter than rats

Rats = more personable than mice
>> Anonymous
>>251058
Is 22x15x15 big enough?
>> Anonymous
I checked out /an/ and what did I see?
A RAT dancing in JELLO. Holy cow, that made my day.
>> Anonymous
>>251373

Funny story, I set down the plate of Jell-o and Scooty (the rat in the pic) comes running across the table and accidentally steps in it, stopping him in his tracks. I got the picture just as he was turning around with his WTF DID I JUST STEP IN face.
>> Blackarachnia's giant robot tits !bXU0gE0lts
>>251258
So, they don't run away/explore places they don't belong without enclosing them?
>> Demyx's Landmaster !!LRYbbMT7F9I
God, now I miss my rats. Had three, a completely gold one (Link), a black hooded (Ellaran), and a blue hooded (Lumine). Loved them to bits, I had them in a multi-story ferret cage and they loved it. With a big igloo, tree branches to climb and gnaw on, a wheel and some toys.

Had them two years, then sickness took them all together. ;_;
>> Anonymous
...dude

anime wall posters? shit load of rats? crappy room?

...
>> Anonymous
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My three girls. :)
When I first got them. They are full grown spoiled things now.
>> Anonymous
>>251258
>>251263
>>251265

awww
:3
>> Anonymous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WemGyRnjNxI

Our rats like toilet paper. The video gets much brighter after 2 or 3 seconds. The paper is good because it covers the metal grate on the second floor of the cage and keeps their feet from getting stuck.
>> Anonymous
I fucking love mice, and they are less work than rats, but rats are a bit easier to get along with. Plus, you can play with a rat without being afraid of accidentally hurting it.
>> Anonymous
>>251606
their lack of toys makes me sad... what do they do all day when you aren't playing with them?
>> Anonymous
>>251609

They have a ball and a tunnel and a hut and whatever else we give them. They have a little ramp leading up to the second floor and they like to roll their toys down it for some reason. The video mostly shows the second floor which they don't like to have any of their stuff on.

We try making hammocks and stuff for them and they just ignore it or pull it down. The best thing we've found so far is a box with a hole in the top so they can hide inside. Stuff like that usually lasts about two or three days before it is chewed to hell.
>> Anonymous
>>251611
... it just seems so empty, they need lots of stuff to chew all the time because their teeth keep growing you know...
>> Anonymous
>>251613
Isn't the whole point of everyone crying "get two rats or you're going to hell" so that the rat can have the best kind of stimulation - another rat? These videos are also very dark and there's no telling what's down there in the litter. There isn't food or water easily visible, why don't you give them shit for that?

My rats would do the same thing when I had a similar cage. The upper levels would be completely bare of stuff because they dragged it all down to stick in their igloo. The term is pack*rat* for a reason.
>> Anonymous
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>>251568

Nope, the table they're on is high enough that they don't attempt to jump off or go anywhere, It makes it so much easier to interact with them. When my alarm goes off in the morning they all wake up and line up at the edge of the table for their morning pettins.
>> Anonymous
>>251613

You can't see the first level at all in that video. They push all their stuff down the ramp for some reason. It's full of toys, and they go down there when they want to play with them.

Even if we put things back up top, they roll it back down the ramp. I think they like the amount of noise it makes. They also have a hut and a tunnel made of plant fiber to chew on, so quit whining.