Reptile & Amphibian Forums

..Yes she's still alive and well. I haven't had anything to talk about..but thought you might get a kick out of this...as well as an answer to a question I have.

Well Isis recently has found a strange fascination with the metal bar thingy that holds her water bottle up. One day I just looked in and saw her water bottle fell off. I tried to find the metal thing and was afraid I lost it. I looked into the cage...and there it was...buried under the carefresh...most likely stashed for future enrichment.

As I am typing this I have realized she has done it again...guess a new water bottle with a more secure fastener thing is in order.

Well I have two questions.

1)What strange items have your rats had fascinations with?

2)Obviously Isis is looking for some toys for amusement by taking this metal thing. I know of typical "home made" rat toys like cardboard tubes, boxes, PVC pipes, old clothes ad such. What are some other things I can use for toys for Isis?

>>Well I have two questions.
>>
>>1)What strange items have your rats had fascinations with?
>>

hmmm can't think of anything off hand, although I can't leave paperwork around the playground where they can reach it or else it'll end up shredded.
I remember someone once talking about leaving the cage too near a window with new curtains.. they lost the new curtains. LOL

>>2)Obviously Isis is looking for some toys for amusement by taking this metal thing. I know of typical "home made" rat toys like cardboard tubes, boxes, PVC pipes, old clothes ad such. What are some other things I can use for toys for Isis?
>>

Hobby stores- sometimes they like to play with shiny small marbles, jingle bells of various sizes that you can buy for little money in small packages.
I like to give mine the golf practice balls that look like little wiffle balls, they can move those around the cage by themselves.
A lot of bird toys make good rat toys, you can use rope ladders & stuff that hangs down.. however I'm not too fond of those with cotton string. I "knew" a woman online who lost her lovebirds because they swallowed cotton string.. the problem we had with the dog recently was caused by cotton string.. I wouldn't want to chance it with the rats.
The rope toys are harder & may work out better than string.

This isn't a toy but a big treat, my rats love greenies for dogs! I don't let the dog have them because he'll swallow big pieces, but the rats chew in a different way- helps keep those teeth worn down.

I'm sure other people have some ideas for ya...
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PHRatz

I knew someone who kept her rats in her office at work. She had one of those flexible metal dryer vents for her rats to use as a tunnel and they loved it. I haven't tried it myself yet.

Lucy and Flower have gone absolutely berserkers over yogurt this week. I put some of mine in a little dish and they gobbled it up like they hadn't eaten in days. What a couple of stinkers. I felt guilty until I checked their supper dish and found it still full.

>>Lucy and Flower have gone absolutely berserkers over yogurt this week. I put some of mine in a little dish and they gobbled it up like they hadn't eaten in days. What a couple of stinkers. I felt guilty until I checked their supper dish and found it still full.

Yogurt is a really good food to give them when they are taking antibiotics because yogurt is a natural "probiotic" that gives them back the natural gut flora they need.
So I had been giving my old group yogurt because of the meds they were on, well Natalie got so used to it that if I don't put a teaspoonful on the regular morning veggie plate she's too disappointed.
Now all my new babies eat it daily too because I can't deny Natalie her daily yogurt fix LOL!
I give them their veggie plate with a couple of dabs of yogurt in the morning when I get up. They eat the whole thing before noon so then they don't get anything but regular rat food the rest of the day & all night. Try giving yours yogurt that way & it should solve the problem of them ignoring their food.
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PHRatz

That's funny. Maybe she's trying to amuse you? Why else would she hide it? I'm sure you were kept busy for quite some time looking for it.

My rat Fillmore has a fascination for sticking his head down the front of my shirt. Typical male, eh? Every time I get him out or stand at the door to their cage, he puts his paws on my shirt and sticks his head between my boobs. ??? After he's done that, he hops on my shoulder and is ready to go accompany me wherever I happen to be going. Crazy rat.

My boy Tchaikovsky always wants to eat. If I'm cooking something and he smells it, he is at the door to his cage wanting a bite! While my husband is at work sometimes I let Tchaikovsky sit at the table with me and eat off my plate. Jeff doesn't approve of this, though. I tried once, and Jeff said, "GET THAT RAT OFF THE TABLE!!"

Go to the pet store and get cat toys. The little plastic balls with bells or shakers inside are my boys' favorites. They carry them around the cage and stack them up and put them in their hammocks. My deceased boy Norbie used to carry his favorite toy, a green plastic ball, to the food bowl every time he ate. He put the ball in the food bowl and then he ate. Every single time. It was so cute. Get some of those toys though. I bet Isis would like them a lot. Plus they're really cheap. If you go to Wal-Mart you can get a package of them for 88¢.
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Kadee Sedtal

home of old lady Lucy (boxer/lab/garbage disposal), pretty girl Fancy (beagle), Crusher (yorkie), the rats-Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Pachebel, Fillmore, and Franz, the mice- Vivaldi, Schubert, Bartok, Johann, Giordi LaForge, Dorothy, Glenda, Em, and Rosa, and the wonderful winter white dwarf hamster- Feather
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, yahoo! I'd have all my money back." -Jack Handey

She probably hides it out of instinct. Whenever rats find something interesting...they hide it.

It didn't take me long to find it the first time. The second time it took a little longer because none of it was sticking out.

My ratties have all loved the cat toys, too. The balls with the holes and the bells, plus the bright colored foil balls -- they love those too. And they never chewed on them, which I thought was interesting.

My Nilla guy LOVES little stuffed animals. I get them 3 for $2 at one of the online pet stores, or sometimes at PetSmart they'll have them. Little itty bitty stuffed animals about 3 inches high. He carries them around, stuffs them into the doorway of his Igloo house, takes them up and down each level, then eventually he chews them to the point where they have to go bye-bye. But he gets a new one at the same time and doesn't seem to mind what color they are, or which animal they are. He's had itty bitty pigs, dogs, cats, and several bears. We wash them along with his bed until they get into too bad shape. BUT, if I want to pick up his animal, he runs over and takes it away from me and moves it into a corner of his cage. When I want to take the old one and give him a new one, I have to distract him with a Yogie first.
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Eileen
I WUV RATS