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patchesboo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
185
Location
Halifax, MA, USA
I may be new here, but not new to rats. I recently acquired 4 rats, all boys, back in August, after a long hiatus from owning any. Several years ago I had owned a few female rats. I've learned that boys are not nearly as clean as females, as they urine mark everything. I've also learn that not all rats are good about not urinating and defecating on you. I have 2 that usually wait till they get back in their cage to do that, and 2 (both Dumbos, a rex and a regular) that will pee and poop on me at the slightest disturbance. Anyhow, no matter, as I love them all, and can not even consider life without them. :)
 
WOO HOO! Welcome to the shack!!!

When I first got Matilda, she was terrified of everything, and anytime I tried to hold her- she would release buckets of the most vile-smelling fear poops ever. It was horrible, I probably didn't have her on my lap/chest/body more than twice for the first month of owning her. xP
Now she never even tinkles on me, and uses a little box inside the cage, too.

What did you name the kiddos?
 
Welcome! :) I'm sure they'll stop as they get more comfortable with you.

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Welcome to the shack.
We'd love to see picture of your ratties! :cheeky:
Hope you enjoy your time on the forum.
 
thank you for all the welcomes everyone! this is the first time I've had a chance to get back on since I've posted this.

anyhow, my hairless rat's name is Merle. I just love him to death! his pink skin is so soft and warm and kissable, and he has peach fuzz on his face. he rarely ever pees of poops on me, unless I've had him out for too long. He usually will wait to do it when he gets back in the cage. here is a picture of my sweet Merle. it's not the best picture. I need to get some better ones.
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Then there is Daryl. he's mostly grey with a white belly. he pretty much never poops or pees on me either, and he loves hanging out with me. here he is!
gu5u6usa.jpg


Then there's my Dumbo Rex, whom I named Rick. Rick seems to like me to least, but he seems to tolerate me. he'll hang out on my shoulder just fine, but he really doesn't want me to pick him up at all. sometimes he can be quite vocal. here's Rick!
e7y9a8us.jpg


last but not least is Glen. he's a sweetie and will let me pet him in the cage, and he doesn't mind too much being picked up. he does pee and poop on me just like Rick will do. I hold them nearly every day, and I've been doing that since August, so you think they would be over that by now. makes me wonder if they're ever going to stop. Glen is the most slender of the bunch. here he is!
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Thanks you two! today was a first for both Rick and Glen, neither one of them pooped or peed on me. Yay! I'm hoping I'll have more days like that with them. tomorrow I'm going to be picking up some litter boxes for them. I'm hoping they'll actually learn to use them.

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Hey Patches,
Just saw the photos and I LOVE your boys, they are darlings!! Glad you directed me to this post or I would have missed the photos from your intro. Give your boys kisses for me! :hugs:
 
Thanks Vladina, I will!

Rick peed and pooped on me again today. I have him on my shoulder while I was doing things in the kitchen. must have been a little too much for him. I put them on my shoulders a lot while I'm doing things in the house (not vacuuming, though) to get them used to the normal things that go on around here.

I would eventually like to put harnesses on them and let them have a little bit of outside time on a leash. I would also like to rig up some kind of pouch that I can use to put them in to take them with me when I go out taking my dogs for walks. I have a fanny pack but I've put around my chest before, but it's a little small, and can only hold one rat at a time. I would like to have something that has a waterproof liner, I may be in it for a while, and I wouldn't want any pee to soak through to my shirt. obviously I would also put something soft in there for them to cuddle up in.

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Yeah, if they are peeing and pooping a lot on you, I would definitely guess that it is just too scary for them to be riding on your shoulders while you do housework and the pees and poops are from being nervous. When Marc and I adopted Achilles and Maximus and got them used to going up on our shoulders, we would only do that for a short period while we were just standing still or sitting on the couch, etc, but not moving around everywhere because it was too stressful for them trying to maintain balance, etc, and rats are afraid of heights and do not want to fall, just like us people!

I bet if you just do some shoulder riding without moving around tons and trying to do things around the house, and make it a bit more of a careful position, maybe standing or sitting still, you will see the pees and poops go down a lot. I think they are just scared and nervous and that can cause a lot of pees and poops. Not the reason for ALL of it, but a lot! :wink2:
 
P.S. on my last post...Marc and I normally also always like to have one of our hands cupped alongside our boys if they are shoulder riding...besides making them feel more secure with a hand on them, it is sort of a built in safety net in case they lose their balance and start to sort of wobble off our shoulder. There may be some others on this forum who think we are overprotective, heh heh, but..guilty as charged! We just always want our babies to feel safe and not be nervous or scared of anything. :wink:
 
yeah, I was pretty sure it was from nervousness. I think it would be so cool if someone could design some kind of the shoulder harness for them. something that has like a little decks with short walls on each shoulder, and a connecting wall that ran around the back of your neck, behind your hair, so they could easily go from one shoulder to the other. it would have to strap on securely too. too bad I'm not good at designing things like that.

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