Scott
Member
Hi, all. My name is Scott and I'm a long-time ferret owner, first time rat owner who just discovered the forum. I've had two very sweet rats, Mervyn and Eddison, for about a year. I also have six ferrets of varying ages and a young albino kingsnake. Obviously none of the constituents of this little circle of life ever come into contact with each other.
Mervyn and Eddison were named after two of my favorite classic fantasy authors, Mervyn Peake and E. R. Eddison. I picked them up at a pet store despite my reservations about purchasing animals at chain stores. I don't think anyone had ever bothered handling or socializing them, and they were in the portion of the store most terrorized by wandering urchins. When I brought them home, they were extremely skittish, but they learned to trust me pretty quickly - they used me as a home base, and if I picked one up and tried to hand him to, say, my girlfriend, he'd start squeaking and bruxing with increasing rapidity the closer he got to the "stranger," like a little Geiger counter.
When they hit adolescence, they got more independent and a little bratty, but I was very patient with them. Now that they're adults, they're very sweet and affectionate with me, although they don't want much to do with anyone else ... if anyone but me is in their play room while they're out, they run and hide behind a litterpan, occasionally popping up and swaying or making a break for my pants legs.
The difference in "trainability" between the rats and the ferrets is startling - the ferrets are very intelligent and well-socialized, but ferrets generally do what they want to do. The rats, on the other hand, literally trained themselves (with no prompting or reinforcement from me) to use the ferret litterpans in their play room, and if I stand up while I have them out for their play shifts, they come running from wherever and stand to be picked up.
The ferrets are much higher maintenance, requiring three play shifts per day, but the rats get out for about an hour a night to play with me in a bedroom set aside for the animals. My girlfriend loves the rats but I spend the most time with them, and they still seem to consider her an interloper.
I spoiled them far too much for too long in terms of diet. I fed them lots of brown rice, greens, corn, fat-free cottage cheese, and other treats, and they got obese. About three weeks ago, I switched to feeding them Harland lab block almost exclusively, with greens and other non-starchy veggies every few days, and drastically cut down on giving them grains, corn, etc. except as treats. This transition went fine and they don't mind the lab block at all, although they were a bit irritated with me for a few days when their corn supply got cut off. They're slowly getting down to a better body composition, although they still weigh more than my two smallest ferrets.
The bad side effect of my spoiling them into obesity is that Mervyn developed bumblefoot. I didn't notice the bumbles until a few days ago, as Mervyn doesn't like to be flipped over on his back, and I feel really guilty that I didn't catch it sooner.
However, I think we got it pretty early. He's now on antibiotics, a mild pain med once per day, and I rub a topical cream on his back feet twice a day. The bumbles already look better, but I feel awful having to medicate him. I'm the only person he really trusts, and it's impossible to make him understand why I'm pushing meds down his throat and rubbing his poor feet.
The rats live in a Critter Nation cage with one shelf and plastic flooring. They've chewed one corner of the floor pan, so I need to order a replacement shortly. I use Care-Fresh bedding, remove soiled portions daily, and clean the pans with diluted bleach and replace all bedding twice a week. I'm considering a switch to baby blankets and old t-shirts so I can rotate the bedding daily until Mervyn's bumblefoot is under control ... I honestly don't know how I could have kept their cage any cleaner, but I know soiled bedding can contribute to bumblefoot and I hope that's not the case here.
Anyway, I really love them and enjoy playing with them. I'm also pleased that they seem to trust me. I suspect that because of their early lives in the pet store, they're never going to be the sort of docile teddy bears that one apparently gets when they're raised and handled by someone who loves them from birth. When I first open their cage door, they still head for their hidey-house or a corner of the cage, but once they're out they're fine with me and seek me out. I just try to be patient and loving with them and let them hang out with me at their own speed.
I'm looking forward to talking with everyone and learning more.
Mervyn and Eddison were named after two of my favorite classic fantasy authors, Mervyn Peake and E. R. Eddison. I picked them up at a pet store despite my reservations about purchasing animals at chain stores. I don't think anyone had ever bothered handling or socializing them, and they were in the portion of the store most terrorized by wandering urchins. When I brought them home, they were extremely skittish, but they learned to trust me pretty quickly - they used me as a home base, and if I picked one up and tried to hand him to, say, my girlfriend, he'd start squeaking and bruxing with increasing rapidity the closer he got to the "stranger," like a little Geiger counter.
When they hit adolescence, they got more independent and a little bratty, but I was very patient with them. Now that they're adults, they're very sweet and affectionate with me, although they don't want much to do with anyone else ... if anyone but me is in their play room while they're out, they run and hide behind a litterpan, occasionally popping up and swaying or making a break for my pants legs.
The difference in "trainability" between the rats and the ferrets is startling - the ferrets are very intelligent and well-socialized, but ferrets generally do what they want to do. The rats, on the other hand, literally trained themselves (with no prompting or reinforcement from me) to use the ferret litterpans in their play room, and if I stand up while I have them out for their play shifts, they come running from wherever and stand to be picked up.
The ferrets are much higher maintenance, requiring three play shifts per day, but the rats get out for about an hour a night to play with me in a bedroom set aside for the animals. My girlfriend loves the rats but I spend the most time with them, and they still seem to consider her an interloper.
I spoiled them far too much for too long in terms of diet. I fed them lots of brown rice, greens, corn, fat-free cottage cheese, and other treats, and they got obese. About three weeks ago, I switched to feeding them Harland lab block almost exclusively, with greens and other non-starchy veggies every few days, and drastically cut down on giving them grains, corn, etc. except as treats. This transition went fine and they don't mind the lab block at all, although they were a bit irritated with me for a few days when their corn supply got cut off. They're slowly getting down to a better body composition, although they still weigh more than my two smallest ferrets.
The bad side effect of my spoiling them into obesity is that Mervyn developed bumblefoot. I didn't notice the bumbles until a few days ago, as Mervyn doesn't like to be flipped over on his back, and I feel really guilty that I didn't catch it sooner.
However, I think we got it pretty early. He's now on antibiotics, a mild pain med once per day, and I rub a topical cream on his back feet twice a day. The bumbles already look better, but I feel awful having to medicate him. I'm the only person he really trusts, and it's impossible to make him understand why I'm pushing meds down his throat and rubbing his poor feet. The rats live in a Critter Nation cage with one shelf and plastic flooring. They've chewed one corner of the floor pan, so I need to order a replacement shortly. I use Care-Fresh bedding, remove soiled portions daily, and clean the pans with diluted bleach and replace all bedding twice a week. I'm considering a switch to baby blankets and old t-shirts so I can rotate the bedding daily until Mervyn's bumblefoot is under control ... I honestly don't know how I could have kept their cage any cleaner, but I know soiled bedding can contribute to bumblefoot and I hope that's not the case here.
Anyway, I really love them and enjoy playing with them. I'm also pleased that they seem to trust me. I suspect that because of their early lives in the pet store, they're never going to be the sort of docile teddy bears that one apparently gets when they're raised and handled by someone who loves them from birth. When I first open their cage door, they still head for their hidey-house or a corner of the cage, but once they're out they're fine with me and seek me out. I just try to be patient and loving with them and let them hang out with me at their own speed.
I'm looking forward to talking with everyone and learning more.
