I don't know what to do anymore.

[TheHermit]

Penelope the Monster has struck again, the inanimate victim being the couch.
She's been in the upper cushions before but they're separate from the rest of the couch while being attached with sewing.

This time, while we removed a bottom cushion to get Maggie out of the upper cushion (they both ran up there as soon as I put them on the couch and went to get Lilly), Penny slipped into the crevice between the main couch frame and it's arm, which was only there because I was sitting on the springs. We tipped the couch over slowly and had to carve into the bottom to get her out, which was an hour long process.

So first it's Lilly's cage when Lilly hated her (all good now)
Then it's the wall (checked to see what empty space there was where the floor heater connects to the wall when we moved in, for Lilly's sake - it had maybe a two millimeter gap and Penny STILL fixed that up)
Then it's Quinn's cage (I'm surprised she survived that trespassing experience - Quinn is a very aggressive hedgie)
Now it's the couch.

I pride myself in rat-proofing things and this little beast has bested me every time. I can't let her free range, now I can't let her on the couch, and I have so much homework that I can't clean out the closet properly and I still don't have a barrier for the door anyway so I don't want to keep them in a chilly closet.

What do I do with this girl? I love her to pieces but lawd, can she be frustratingly clever. It would help if she wasn't the runt and able to slip into anything she chooses...
I've made digging boxes, provided more chew toys... I just don't know where to put her to let her out of the cage

Editing in pictures later to show you her handiwork.

Also, I keep my focus on the rats when they're out. It's always when Maggie and Lilly are fighting or the boyfriend steals a longer kiss that she disappears and I find her somewhere absurd or dangerous. I want to let her have free time and exercise (though she could use some weight gain) and would feel bad just getting Lilly and Maggie out and not her

 

[fenshae]

Oh jeez....let's hope she never meets my boy Einstein, she sounds just like him.

I do "out time" on my bed (much to my boyfriend's chagrin) but it's exhausting because every second of it is spent plucking somebody out of someplace they're not supposed to be. I think I'm going to invest in a Martin's playpen, since it has a roof, and should be the most Einstein-proof thing to run around in.

I feel you!

 

[Zooy]

Have you considered making a chloroplast pen? I know a few members have them. They can't climb up the sides I think (although I'm sure some sneaky ones can) but that might solve your issue of her getting into everything.

 

[TheHermit]

Oh jeez....let's hope she never meets my boy Einstein, she sounds just like him.

I do "out time" on my bed (much to my boyfriend's chagrin) but it's exhausting because every second of it is spent plucking somebody out of someplace they're not supposed to be. I think I'm going to invest in a Martin's playpen, since it has a roof, and should be the most Einstein-proof thing to run around in.

I feel you!

It seems that their spawn could take over the world.

Or destroy it, however they feel at the time :giggle:

LOL so I just figured it out. They can free range in my room if I take my boyfriend's playpen for his hedgie and stand it flat against the heater. It's tall enough and has bars so heat can still get in if it starts working (we had to buy a heater for that one room.. ridiculous), and I have enough objects (bedside table, dresser) I can place in front of the heater to keep it there!

:joy: my rats can all free range again! YAY!

And thank you guys! Thinking about playpens and chloroplast in front of the closet door (future rat room plans) led to thinking about the play pen in front of the heater

 

[jorats]

My Chu was like this. She sure kept me on my toes.

 

[hopefloats]

My pika did this. There was not a table I could keep her on. She would jump on anything and I mean anything to get down. I have seen her use the dog many times to get to the floor. I will say she has outgrown it, or maybe I dont notice it as much since she has a free range room now LOL

 

[KatTheHippie]

ALICE! :gaah:

That's exactly what she does! I've had to lure her out from the arm of the couch with treats before, she's such a little houdini. I swear, that's what I should make her middle name. It's at the point where I'm going to have to get a playpen to contain her, she's such an adventurer! I've put blankets on the couch to keep her from getting into the cushions, but now she's figured out that the distance from the couch, to the floor, really isn't that far.. She's also learned that about my bed, and the only safe place, the coffee table, is STILL pretty dangerous if I'm not there every single second, because of the cats.

 

[TheHermit]

I've put blankets on the couch to keep her from getting into the cushions

LOL that's what I tried, then I tried stuffing it into all the cushions so she wouldn't disappear into them.

Also I tried the playpen-against-the-heater and Maggie figured that out before Penny did.
I give up until the CN gets here. They're in a "deluxe hamster" cage right now but Maggie isn't too far off from being full grown Hopefully a very large double will keep them occupied until I have time to set up the rat room...

 

[jennifervb]

I love this thread.... :giggle:

Rats: 10 points
Parents: 2 points :cheeky: :laugh4: :giggle:

 

[temblabamomo]

Yikes, sounds like a playpen of some sort would definitely be a good investment.

I remember having to gut a mattress once to get old man Barnaby. He was a real trouble maker. I was busy tending to his sickly brother and didn't even notice him chew a hole into the mattress in record time. Sat down on the bed with his brother, eventually started wondering where Barnaby had gotten to, looked and looked and finally saw the hole in the mattress. Freaked because I'd been sitting on the bed and was positive I'd squished the little terror. Cut the mattress open, there he was, looking highly irritated that I'd just ruined the best club house he ever had.

 

[TheHermit]

I love this thread.... :giggle:

Rats: 10 points
Parents: 2 points :cheeky: :laugh4: :giggle:

LOL!
And rats gain yet anther point with Barnaby, the mattress miner!

I'd invest in a playpen but I'm stuck on my rat-room plan... plus we just bought a CN last night from FTC and it should be here tomorrow or even today. As long as I can get a project done before work tonight I can start cleaning out the rat room and the girls might have somewhere to play when I get home

 

[jennifervb]

I love this thread.... :giggle:

Rats: 10 points
Parents: 2 points :cheeky: :laugh4: :giggle:

LOL!
And rats gain yet anther point with Barnaby, the mattress miner!

I'd invest in a playpen but I'm stuck on my rat-room plan... plus we just bought a CN last night from FTC and it should be here tomorrow or even today. As long as I can get a project done before work tonight I can start cleaning out the rat room and the girls might have somewhere to play when I get home

anyone brave enough to risk becoming a rat parent should take lecithin daily to keep up with their Einsteinian counterparts.

My rats used to kill me with their antics (yes, I am one of those rare species who takes great pleasure in admitting my scholastic inferiority to the rats who owned me. :bunnydance: )

I can just visualize these scenarios! I would have died laughing if I had been the one to see Barnaby in the mattress filling. :laugh4: