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rae_liz916

rae_liz916

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2014
Messages
114
Location
Sacramento, CA
Hey everyone! My name's Rachel and I'm a student in the Sacramento area of CA. Lived here my whole life too.
I've loved animals since I could talk. I always had dogs but after moving to a condo where I couldn't have any, I decided to look into small animals. Rats sounded like little tiny dogs to me so that was that.
I'm completely new to ratties, but I've been planning on getting them and have been doing a crazy amount of research for a couple years now. Today is finally the day :D
Once I have pics I will share, but for now here's my cage setup. I'm pretty proud considering these are my first babies :) (But any tips are welcome!)

With forums, I tend to introduce myself, ask a question or two, and then disappear...But I'm happy to be here and hope I do stick around!

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I am really liking your set up and it looks like some babies could be very happy there. Welcome to the wonderful world of rat parenthood! How many babies are you getting and what gender did you decide on? Don't forget to post pics of your adoptees when you get them!
 
Thanks so much for making me feel welcome everyone :)

I just picked them up. Two boys, 4-5 weeks old, fawn and blue hooded. I decided on the names Apollo and Hermes, already think I know who is gonna be who. In love already :love4: Will post pics and add them to registry once they're more acclimated to being here.
 
That cages is awesome, but unfortunately that wooden house will seem like pee before you know it. Plastic is better and lasts longer since we can wash it. Cannot wait to see the cuties - I have only had boys and we currently have 12. Hope you stick around as there is a lot to learn about rats and we are all continuing to learn even though we have had them for years. Oh, and welcome to the shack.:thumbup:
 
Do you know on the wood house thing...

It will smell like pee soon, yes. You aren't supposed to wash the wood, no, because it will warp.
HOWEVER
If you don't care about warping you can wash it weekly and it won't smell like pee. I've had the same one for months.
 
Thanks for the welcomes and tips about the wooden house. They've already declared that their favorite place in the cage so I'll probly have to try cleaning it.
They're pretty shy right now, the fawn baby Apollo will only take some egg whites (They LOVE it) from my hand and run back to the wood house. Might be a while before I get any pics, but we'll see.
Thanks again all!
 
Okay finally got some pics.
The one where they're all cuddly is from the car ride home. The rest are at my house. They're so shy it's hard to get any pics at all. They we so terrified when I took them, felt horrible. They're getting more used to me though :)
Apollo is the fawn (beige?) one and Hermes is the blue hooded. He's been the more outgoing of the two.

Man I hope the pics aren't as huge as they look in the preview...:undecided:

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Thanks :) Both take treats from my hand and Apollo is starting to come out of the cage to get them. It is only day 4 sooo yeah, guess they are doin pretty good :D
 
Sheldon said:
Do you know on the wood house thing...

It will smell like pee soon, yes. You aren't supposed to wash the wood, no, because it will warp.
HOWEVER
If you don't care about warping you can wash it weekly and it won't smell like pee. I've had the same one for months.
Click to expand...


First of all, those ratties are adorable. I never thought of washing them - once things smell like pee I toss them out. If I buy anything wood I leave it out for play time they have a less likely hood of peeing on it when its not in their cages. Sometimes I wipe them with baby wipes. Oh rattie pee isn't it wonderful :thumbsup:
 
dspch911 said:
First of all, those ratties are adorable. I never thought of washing them - once things smell like pee I toss them out. If I buy anything wood I leave it out for play time they have a less likely hood of peeing on it when its not in their cages. Sometimes I wipe them with baby wipes. Oh rattie pee isn't it wonderful :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Lol, yep yep. Fun stuff.
I like the baby wipe idea. Once they chew it up though I'll stick to plastic and cheap homemade stuff.
And thank you, they are little cutie pies <3
 
Oops pressed send lol welcome to the shack and congrats on 2 incredibly adorable fur balls :) I've only had boys I only have 2 currently, great setup!
 
littles said:
Oops pressed send lol welcome to the shack and congrats on 2 incredibly adorable fur balls :) I've only had boys I only have 2 currently, great setup!
Click to expand...

Thank you :) After researching, boys seem perfect for me. I love to watch them wrestle & play right now but I can't wait to snuggle too :love4:
 
Rae, welcome to the Rat Shack, and first off, your boys are just so precious! The poor guys, I know how it is with little babies...it is a VERY scary thing for them to go to a new home and not knowing what awaits them.

You can imagine how frightening the world could seem to a small critter, being swept away to a new house, new smells, new sounds, a new cage set up, etc. I felt the same way when I brought my first two baby rat boys home..they were so scared, the poor darlings. But as others have said, with a nice safe and loving home, and talking to them in a soft, gentle and soothing voice, and yes, hand bonding with them (handing treats, letting them smell your hands, etc.) they will get more and more comfortable with you and soon they will LOVE you. Lots of patience will reap rewards, promise! The worst thing a person can do is to get so impatient that they scoop the poor things up to hold them when it is too soon and it just makes the babies more scared! You sound like you will take it nice and easy with them though. :)

Their house set up looks beautiful! It is so nice to see someone who does their research and prepares BEFORE getting rats, good for you!! We hope to see more of you here and again, your boys look sooo sweet, I love them! I also adore their names, good choices! :D
 
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Thanks Vladina :D
Yeah, I can understand how terrifying it must be to be away from their families and have a giant living with them. They did come from a breeder (Adoption is the one thing I didn't research much, but I appreciate you saying that!) so they're warming up pretty quick now.
I wait until their in their soda box where they feel safe to bring them to their play area (my shower lol). They actually came out and explored yesterday. That was awesome :happydance:
I'll post more pics as they become more adventurous. They're just painfully cute.
 
Aww, that is a great way to do it! Letting them come out from their "safe" soda box that they feel comfortable in and having their daily outside playtime, great! I bet you just LOVED seeing them get brave to come out and explore, wonderful! :love11:

Yep, every day will get a little less scary for them and they will get so comfortable with you and learn that you are their safe person. They will love you so much, just wait and see. :love7:

By the way, one of the reasons I loved their names so much is it sounds like you gave them the ancient Greek/Roman style names, and it is very similar to my boys. One of my boys is Achilles and his brother (who just passed away on June 25th, my sweet boy) was named Maximus. ;)
 

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