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  1. SqueakingJellybean

    Today's rat mood: flat-out WEIRD

    Do your beans ever just go weird for a day or so? This morning, our usually social trio would barely leave their DCN for playtime. One or both of us (The Mr. and I) are in the room with them all day, most times, or at least for several hours in the morning and again at night. Today, Oleksii...
  2. SqueakingJellybean

    Something lighter-- short and funny rat videos

    It's been rough for a lot of folks lately. I thought maybe we could have a thread for funny/heartwarming rat videos for those who need a laugh or a mental hug. Rat clenches fist of rage (or, don't jump on your cagemates!) Rat can't walk with bread (hop hop hop)
  3. SqueakingJellybean

    How long did it take your ladies to heal after a spay? Dolly is getting stir-crazy.

    Last Wednesday, Dolly had a mammary mass removed. It was tiny, affecting only the lowest left nipple area. Since the vet was going to be down there anyway, I asked if a spay could be worked in. She said yes, and so it was done. Everything went smoothly! She’s healing nicely, but, given how...
  4. SqueakingJellybean

    Please check my pulse, because I am dead of The Cute (rat-on-rat kindness)

    Today, Oleksii and Lynda were curled up together in one of their igloos. When Lynda was on her way back after getting a snack, she stopped, grabbed a piece of Oleksii's favourite nestmaterial (brown packing paper), carried it up three floors to the igloo where he waited, and set it down in front...
  5. SqueakingJellybean

    Updated: Successful first intros with Oleksii, Lynda, and Dolly

    After confirming with the vet that he was good to go, we introduced everyone today. We had a Savic hut (one of the open-ended type) on the bed, along with a ball pit where they could shnuffle for treats, a "movie night" themed pull-apart paper toy, and a couple of their shared favourite toys...
  6. SqueakingJellybean

    Rat-related YouTube channels

    YouTube holds a font of knowledge. It also holds an equally powerful font of garbage. Which channels have you found to be solidly informative about rats, and which should be avoided? I like Emiology's channel (she's in the UK, so some products she mentions may not be available in all areas) and...
  7. SqueakingJellybean

    Please welcome Dolly and Lynda

    These two fine ladies arrived last night, courtesy of the amazing volunteers who make sure rescued pets get where they need to go. They were at the Ottawa Pet Rat Rescue, and seemed like the perfect fit for our family (and for Oleksii). We didn't name them; that was their foster parent. All we...
  8. SqueakingJellybean

    Sneaky pooper!

    We know every rat has their quirks. One of Oleksii's is that he very deliberately poops behind our pillows 9/10 times when he's out. He has access to his home-- with litterbox-- so this is not a lack of access problem. We remind him that poos go in the poo-box, and usually put the bed-poos in...
  9. SqueakingJellybean

    RIP James Bean

    Four months and a day after his buddy Arthur passed, James Bean was gently escorted across the Rainbow Bridge. He was two years and four months old. James Bean had developed an aggressive tumor on his left side, and it was starting to interfere with eating and breathing. Some of his favourite...
  10. SqueakingJellybean

    RIP Norm

    It hasn't even been two months since Oleksii and Norm came into our lives. It is not fair in any way that a rat so young should have a bad heart. We were still getting to know each other, but I was already looking forward to seeing who Norm would be as he grew. What got him did, in fact, end...
  11. SqueakingJellybean

    What conditions can mimic heart failure without being fatal?

    We're not sure what happened, but yesterday, we thought we were going to lose Norm to heart failure. His ears and tail were pale, he went all puffy and tiny-eyed, and he was very lethargic. He spent the day alternating between drinking and sleeping/reclining. By about midnight, he was willing to...
  12. SqueakingJellybean

    Trying to narrow down age of new boys-- anyone have a reliable age/weight chart?

    Norm and Oleksii recently became part of our family. We'd initially been told they were a year old, but on seeing them in person, it was very clear that they were much younger. We figure 6-8 months. However, given how little socialization they appear to have had, and how much they're still...
  13. SqueakingJellybean

    Please welcome Oleksii and Norm

    Our sweet boy Arthur passed not long ago. His friend, James Bean, has been lonely. We managed to find some friends via the Guelph Humane Society, which is also where Arthur and James Bean came from. The new boys were listed as being a year old, which we figured was perfect. Imagine my surprise...
  14. SqueakingJellybean

    RIP Arthur

    After a short battle with congestive heart failure, Arthur has been gently escorted over the Rainbow Bridge. He had just turned two. He was such a sweet boy. He's the first rat we've known who was possessive of me. He grudgingly put up with me also loving James Bean (all the rats, all the love)...
  15. SqueakingJellybean

    New fuzzies! Please welcome Arthur and James Bean

    Late last week, CTV News ran an article on an incident in Guelph. Someone had gone to the Guelph Humane Society and asked to surrender 25 rats because they could no longer care for all of them. Some were/are pregnant, so that 25 has become 30 and will become 40+ very soon. At the bottom of the...
  16. SqueakingJellybean

    Another agent of SHIELD's Rat Division has retired-- RIP Mara

    Fellow Mission Controllers and Agents, We regret to inform you that Agent Mara of SHIELD's Rat Division was retired from service today after a long and distinguished career. Old age claims the best of us, and it is rarely a quick and painless process. Arthritis in her hips and the gradual...
  17. SqueakingJellybean

    Elderly ratlady holding her tail to one side when she walks-- why?

    Mara is just over two and a half years old now. She's doing not too badly for her age-- arthritic, a bit deaf, and starting to lose her eyesight (such as it is-- she's a Himalayan, so she's got red eyes), but otherwise okay. Recently, she's started carrying her tail to one side when she walks...
  18. SqueakingJellybean

    "HuMom! HuMom, watch me! Watch! Are you watchin'?" Mara's new favourite activity.

    Since Della passed, Mara has been less social. She'll come out for about twenty minutes, socialize a little, have a half-hour nap on the bed, then head back to her favourite hammock. Sometimes she doesn't even want to come out in the morning; she'll come out for her banana, eat it, then head...
  19. SqueakingJellybean

    Another SHIELD agent down-- RIP Della

    Fellow Mission Controllers and Agents, We regret to inform you that Agent Della of SHIELD: Rat Division was retired from service today after a very short and sudden battle with that dragon, cancer. She was predeceased by her sister Elsa, and is survived by her sister Mara. Della was...
  20. SqueakingJellybean

    Della is going downhill

    Back in December, Elsa and Della developed lumps. Elsa's was malignant, aggressive, inoperable, and the vet gave her about a month before internal bleeding started. She went to the Rainbow Bridge on January 21. Della's lump wasn't immediately apparent. It was much smaller, slower growing, and...
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