[Rose24]

Hello All! I'm new to ratties and my grandchildren think it's wonderful! They get to sit and have ratties crawl inside their clothing but they don't have to clean or feed. My son and daughter-in-law think that's pretty good too of course. Ruby is a sleek shiny very dark brown little girl. She is full of energy and is usually awake and poking her head up to see who's around. She loves her new wodent wheel. Milly is a hooded rat - light brown and white. She sleeps a lot of the time but loves to come out early morning and evening. Their home is two little bookcases joined together with a hole so they can run between. I put timber doors on the front with wire and wired the back walls as well. They can run up and down the wire to reach the top shelf. I have vinyl placemats on the shelves that wipe clean every day and they are pretty well totally toilet trained. They have a container of compressed paper pellets that's cleaned daily. Milly is a kleptomaniac. She loves to run around my desk (their home is on my desk) and steal anything moveable and take it into her house. The other night she dragged a big pair of scissors home. I set out things for her to steal now (not the scissors!). She has playing cards, pens, etc. I steal them back and it's become a fun game. They both love to climb into the sleeves of my dressing gown or fleecy top. Being girls they don't like to stop and be petted much - they're too busy - but they love to climb all over me and the grandkids. I'm off on holiday next week so the grandkids will get to ratsit! They are really looking forward to that. I've put an album on with pics of Ruby and Milly and will update when I come back. Lovely to find this forum. It's fun to share! I'm very interested in the type of litter you guys have in the US. What's it made of? I don't think we have it here but would be interested to look for it. Lots of cheer from Australia!

 

[ratwings]

Hello and welcome! I bet your girls will have lots of fun with your grandkids while your away. Here in the US we have aspen, shredded paper, and newspaper pellets for litter. Basically anything you would find in Australia but with different brand names. I peronally use aspen for my girls. Hope you have fun on holiday!

 

[Rose24]

Thank you for your welcome! It's always fun to share your passion! I appreciate the info about litter. The paper pellets work well for me - the girls are happy to use their litter box. I'd love to know what kind of rat Ruby is. She's dark glossy brown with white front feet and a white blaze on her tummy. Real silky fur - quite beautiful but then I'm a bit partial to my girls!