u/Rattrixs

This week’s paw paintings by my sweet rats - all the rats did an amazing job!

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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: https://ratpaintings.etsy.com

You're lost in a forest, cold, hungry, and looking for help. You wander into a clearing, the moon shining brightly down upon you, bathing everything in a cold gray light. In the middle of the clearing sits a large stump, the purpose of your quest. And on that stump sits your spirit rat, ready to bestow its ancient wisdom upon you. Which rat do you see?

Ok guys, today I have a very important question for you: Which Pumpkin Patch Rat is coming home with you? (disclaimer, no rats actually available lol).

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Your choices are as follow: Goth rat, Cow rat, David Bowie rat, Small Grumpy Chicken rat, Batrat, Squash rat, Cotton Ball rat, Sassy rat, Large Grumpy Chicken rat, Caffinated rat, Rusted rat, Scruffy rat, Happy rat, and Chocolate rat - who will you choose?

Chicken Soup has started to learn basketball! She may have run off with the ball a few times, but after a few reps she decided to play along with my strange request :P Great job Soupy, next up, the actual basketball hoop!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

This week’s paw paintings by my sweet rats - all the rats did an awesome job!

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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: https://ratpaintings.etsy.com

Ok guys, so I know some of you also have rats, and I thought it'd be interesting to share some of what I think are my more controversial rat opinions. Now I've been part of the rat world for over 12 years and generally think there are many ways to care for rats properly, but I still have my preferences as I'm sure everyone does, and I thought it would be interesting to share a few.

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1. Starting off easy, I think standard ears are cuter than dumbo ears and should be selected for more often (you can rarely even find them in my area anymore, its all dumbos...and they are still very cute, but I love my perky eared rats! Also no, ear position doesn't effect personality or intelligence, I just like the standard eared look more.)

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2. I don't think the carrier method is the best intro method, and I think it actually leads to more stress and fights in the case of difficult to introduce rats (sadly personal experience speaking here - carrier method has given me my worst intro injuries ).

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3. I think bin cages are fine for housing rats, and while I love the critter nation cages I don't like that people now often seem to think they are the only good rat cage.

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4. I think vertical space should also count when judging a cages space and deciding how many rats it can realistically support (that being said I do think you need a good sized horizontal base as well, but vertical space is still space and should count!)

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5. I think lab blocks are an appropriate main food - making your own diet is fine so long as you do your research and make it nutritionally complete, but lab blocks are totally fine for those of us that can't or don't want to do that.

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6. I think feeder rats make good pets, and while I rarely get them anymore due to mine having more health issues and shorter lifespans on average, all of mine have had fantastic temperaments and were so sweet (not always the case, but more often than not feeder rats have fine temperaments and are good pets).

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7. I think dwarf and standard rats can live together safely, and that any standard rat with a decent temperament should be safe with dwarfs.

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8. I think that wheels are appropriate for rats and are fantastic enrichment as long as they are an appropriate size (12+ inches for dwarfs, 14+ for standard females, 15+ for standard males...and all of mine including the dwarfs love the 16 inch ones!)

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9. I think burrowing opportunities are essential for rats, and that a cage either needs bedding that can be burrowed in or an appropriate sized dig box with substrate to dig in.

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10. I think its fine to free-range separate rat groups together (same sex or altered of course!), provided you introduce them slowly and free-range them together consistently (and I have done this MANY times to upkeep bonds when for whatever reason I couldn't have 1 combined group).

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Ok I think that's it for now - I'm curious what peoples opinions on these things are, I think the pet world (including the pet rat world!) tends to have a lot of passionate people who often have strong preferences and I think its interesting how we develop those (for me its mainly been a combination of personal experience and what I've seen work for other people over the years).

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And yes Chickpea is judging you (I kid, I kid!)

Creme Brûlée has now officially had her first vs ratsketball game...and for her opponent she picked a senior citizen 😅 At over 2.5 years Coffee isn't exactly a youngin, and with Creme Brûlée only being 5 months she must have thought she'd have it easy...unfortunately for her Coffee always brings her A-game and even as an old lady she came ready to whoop some butt! 🤣

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Anyone else like to "zoom" their rats? Some of my rats really seem to like being "zoomed" (I give them a quick gentle pat on their sides and they zoom forwards, then turn and bounce back to me), and its Cheerios favorite way to play! Her sister enjoys actual hand wrestling, but Cheerio much prefers this sort of zooming - she really is too cute zooming around!

Well well well, look at what Creme Brulee and Fruit Loop are working on! These girls are officially learning their basketball sides, which means...next training session we start on vs basketball! This is one of my favorite rat tricks and so much fun for the rats, and I can't wait to see them playing together!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Shrimp is working on learning flyball! Shrimp was actually my first younger girl to learn fetch...but her issue is she has a VERY strong stash instinct and so it was always 50/50 on whether she would bring it back or run off with it. Recently I have been working on really breaking things down and heavily rewarding her for bringing it back, and as of yesterday she showed me she was ready to work on the next step, that being flyball! And of course she needed some moral support, so I had 2 of her more experienced sisters (Pinto Bean and Chicken Soup) practicing with her - great job Shrimpy (and friends!)

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Snickerdoodle has officially graduated to ground fetch! This means that 6 of my 9 younger girls have figured out fetch, and the remaining 3 girls are not far behind them! In this specific case Snickerdoodle was having a bit of trouble brining the ball fully back, so I had some of her more experienced buddies out to help show her the ropes (and to help peer pressure her into bringing it back fully 😅). Great job girls!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Crumb is so happy to chill out on my hand, its adorable! Also I love the contrast between chill boggly Crumb and the crazy dwarfs who keep running past lol - even Pinto Bean got in on it in the end, actually jumping on top of poor Crumb!

Creme Brulee is starting to learn basketball! Like many rats, Creme Brulee initially struggled with targeting a stationary target (ie the tape roll tower). So to get past this, I had her work flyball and then simply put the tape tower in front of the jump, right where she would have to lift the ball anyways to jump over it. And using this method it only took her a few reps to figure out exactly what I was looking for, and to transfer her ball targeting skills to the tape rolls! Next up, adding in the actual hoop, then developing her side for vs basketball - great job Creme Brulee!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

This week’s paw paintings by my amazing rats - all the rats did an incredible job!

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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: https://ratpaintings.etsy.com

Anyone else's rats OBSESSED with being in their shirts? Chickpea is such a shirt rat, she loves to nap in there and just chill out. I love how grumpy she looked when I puller her out briefly, she was NOT amused! Also ft Fruit Loops dramatic squeaking and Pinto and Crumb being little cuddle party crashers 😆

Fruit Loop has mastered ratty flyball! One step closer to our basketball (or should I say ratsketball :P) goal - great job Fruit Loop!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

My sweet girl Fruit Loop ❤ This girl is such a fun rat, she is crazy hyper and playful and LOVEs to hand wrestle! But she is also super cuddly and loving, and always down for some cheek rubs. She's the best of both world and I absolutely adore her!

Milk giving major Chihuahua energy - she 100% thinks she's the largest rat in the group and is so confused at how the others don't just topple before her 😅 And no, Chickpea wasn't in heat here - Milk is just a little weirdo 🙃

I'm finally getting around to training fetch with all the younger girls, and first up we have miss Creme Brulee! I usually post the end product of tricks, but today I thought I'd share how I transition from fetching off the raised "box" to fetching on the ground. This can be a hard step for some rats, and it really helps to slowly lower your "box" (if you don't have a carrier lid like me, then you can use a piece of cardboard to create the mid-steps). Anyways this was Creme Brulee's first time fetching from the floor, and I am so happy with her progress! Next up, we work on flyball - I can't wait!
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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training
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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

The face of a hardened criminal - SOMEONE has been raiding the churro bin and dragging the tubes off to chew and eat behind the playcage, out of reach of the human and any standard rats. Hmm, I wonder WHO that someone is!? Couldn't be Cheerio here, no way! 😒

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(On another note, rat proofing for the dwarfs is continuing to be a work in progress - Pinto is an angel but Cheerio and Milk continue to show their evil genius and have stashed many treats out of my and the other rats reach! I swear they are laughing at me whenever they drag off another tube that's larger than they are!)

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(2nd photo showing the evidence - and one of the guilty parties who refuses to admit guilt!)