u/MathAndBake

Hello frens! Is the pet rat girls Finduilas and Morwen (18.5mo) and Lalaith and Belladonna (5mo). We also has human mom.

Well, things recently has been very weird here. Mom say we "moving". But that not seem good enough explain. First, mom take stuff out ob our play space. Then we gets playtime in other space, which fun. But it getting emptier too. Then our cage go away and we put in little cage fur babies. And then weird men come and steal everything. And then mom go away. Bonus human come, which nice. But she no gib playtime. When mom come back, we get playtime, but just that one time in completely empty space. Very strange. So now, whenever cage door open, we tries to sneak out. Playtime our right and we not getting it!

Then air start smell bad and make us sneeze. So bonus human take us on adventures to university or in car. That fun and exciting, but we no get to run. We still stuck in carrier or small cage.

Now we at bonus human's house wif big cage (but not normal cage). Mom sleep in same room as us again, which very reassuring. But, we still only gets bathroom playtime, which boring. There be some rotten wood we think is cool, but mom say we not allowed chew it. Has been whole week since proper playtime! We is getting desperate! Jump off people, sneak out ob doors, refuse treats. We is on strike!

Mom say we TC. She doing her best and trying set up our new home. And it not her fault wildfire smoke get in the way. But we says she clearly coulds control that if she want. And now we wants to splore bonus human's house. Or at least chew rotten wood.

Anyway, what you think?

In light of all the people sharing negative interactions with others about their rats, I thought I'd share some positivity.

So the air quality around here has been absolutely awful in the past few days due to wildfires up North. I'm in the middle of moving so I don't have my good air filter. The AC unit is keeping my room from getting too bad, but it's still not ideal for the rats. My mother is visiting to help with the move and she has really bad asthma.

To give all of them some respite from the smoke, I put the rats in the big carrier and had her drive them to the nearby university campus to hang out in the clean, climate control air. Again, this was an indoor escapade, plus they were in an all-metal carrier with the door closed the whole time they were out of my apartment. For the brief walk in from the parking lot, they had a wet sheet on the carrier for protection from sun and smoke. Safety was the first priority. I've taken my rats on campus before and it's always been great. There are indoor passages between most of the buildings and I have a little cart for their carrier.

Dozens of students came up to meet the rats, as well as some staff and one prof's kid. My girls are specifically trained to accept treats through the bars, so the students were able to do that. The rats had a ton of fun meeting everyone. They got to the point where they didn't even want treats, they just wanted to lick everyone's fingers. The students were so excited and full of questions. They all said the rats were super cute and improved their mood immensely. My mother is a college teacher on summer break, so she really enjoyed all the interactions. It was a positive experience for literally everyone involved. Plus, the rats' breathing got a lot better, as did my mother's.

Now they're back home in their cage and just sleeping. They probably won't need free roam tonight, which is good because my room is a dusty mess.

So wven if your current community is being unpleasant about your rats, there are people out there who will appreciate them. You just need to find them.

I have some clothes that no longer fit and I'm looking to donate. Ideally, I'd like them to go to other students. Wusa thrift isn't replying on instagram. Any suggestions? Thanks!