[lvnoahsark]

My dilemma is what to do with my sister's rat.

I have an FN 142 for my two girls but am only using the top section. One of my dogs loves to attack small animals and he cant reach the top part so until I move out or put up hardwire cloth on the bottom section they are staying on the top.

Anyways my sister has a rat who she really doesnt take care of too well (only giving her water when she noticed it was empty...usually could be days... ) So I started feeding her because i noticed she was REALLY skinny and giving her water. She has fattened up nicely. I introduced her once to my rats and although it didnt go as well as with my two girls introduction it didnt go bad either. I would love to put her into my FN so she could have playmates and toys (and constant food and water) but my sister has decided that the rat is a "lone rat". I think she is just afraid that the rat will not be hers anymore. And I am planning on moving out soon so i dont want the rat to have a nice cage and playmates just to go back to being a "lone rat" after I leave. I have tried to tell her that most rats like to be together and that it is one cage that she doesnt have to clean and take care of (she has two hamsters and two guinea pigs also) but she doesnt hear any of it...

What should I do? :?:


(BTW i referred to the rat as "the rat" to not confuse anyone with the pronouns...not to be mean...I am not sure of her name. I think it is milkshake though...)

 

[OnlyOno]

oh how sad! do you think you could convince her to let you take the rat? i would suggest just buying her a second rat as a friend for her first one, but i'm afraid that if she doesn't check on the one often anyway, that two would just suffer more. how does she take care of her other animals? this sounds tough, i'd see if you can bribe her out of the rat. buy her a few movies or something, i dunno.

 

[JennieLove]

How old are you and your sister? Obviously your the more responsible one, so why dont you talk to your parents about it. If she cant take care of her pet and your willing to give it a better quality of life, then MAKE them give you her rat. She doesnt feed it or give it water, show it love or attention! Poor thing. Your parents really should step in, before its to late.

 

[Poppyseed]

Take that rat away from her. If she isn't taking care of it, she doesn't deserve it. No reason for her to dictate in it's care either way. Talk to your parents about it yeah, tell them how horrible she was taking care of it and you have had to take care anyway. But yeah whatever you do take that rat from her.

 

[Wench]

Convince her to let you take the rat temporarily. Take the cage and everything out of her room. She will forget about it, or stop caring entirely.

When you move, take it with you.

 

[lvnoahsark]

I have gone to my parents about Milkshake being skinny and my mom knows that my sister does not clean any of the animals (they are on a table in the family room). I usually end up cleaning all of them because I am home all day (mind you I work a full time job but it is from 2-10pm which constitues me having more time... :roll: ). My sister usually feeds and waters the guineas and hamsters and pays attention to them.

When I told my mom about Milkshake being skinny she told me that Milkshake was now mine but NOT to tell my sister. This was before I got my second girl and my FN. But now she doesnt want to get into it...My sister is 18 and there will be LOTS of yelling...

I guess I knew that you would tell me to take the rat away and worry about her reaction later. It should be easy because she goes to school all day so I can start introducing my girls to Milkshake and see how that goes. Then if/when they get along I will move Milkshake into the FN and then show my sister how happy Milkshake is. Hopefully that will convince her to let me keep Milkshake...

Or should I keep the cage on the table once Milkshake is in my cage and see how long it takes her to realize Milkshake is gone? (as sad as that is..)
That will prove my point that Milkshake is better off in my care!

 

[Sara_C]

I don't get how anyone can neglect an animal. Does she not have a conscience, or does she just ignore it? Anyways, it's a good thing that you're there to step in. If your parents understand that she's not taking care of it then i'd just do what you were planning and put Milkshake in with your girls, and leave her old cage where it is. It'll prove a point, if nothing else. Your sister sounds a tad spoiled, so i'm guessing after the initial yelling she'll forget about the rat and enjoy not having to be responsible for her any more. I suppose if she's still in the same house she can still see her. She can't be that attached or she'd take care of her properly, so i doubt she'll be too upset

 

[lvnoahsark]

Well I introduced my girls to milkshake this morning and it went really well! There was some power grooming from my oldest and that was it. So I changed the linens and rearranged all the toys and put them all into the top part of my FN. They are all exploring the "new" area and I havent seen or heard them scuffle. Milkshake seems to like it. I have to go to work tonight so Ill let you all know what happens when I get home...

 

[Poppyseed]

Lol, don't forget to buy a stuffed rat to put in there XD Or just steal Milkshake and keep the cage out and when she asks tell her 'Milkshake died' If she looks into your cage tell her you got a rat that happens to be the same color of milkshake. She won't know, she hasn't paid any attention to the rat >_>

You could also use black food coloring to make her markings different XD

 

[LizLovesRats5]

Yeah, I wouldn't let your sister take that rat back. Put Milkshake into the cage with your girls and give her a good home. If your sister puts up a fuss, tell her to #@%* off.

 

[lvnoahsark]

Girls are still doing well. My sister did not mention Milkshake being gone from the table. I told my parents what I did and my dad said that she wasnt home until late tonight or tomorrow and I said but she is home now and could check on everyone.

LOL poppyseed...a stuffed rat... :lol:

I cant tell her Milkshake died...she gets hysterical just thinking about death. Very sensitive in that area. Ill just tell her the truth that Milkshake is better off in my care.

Liz...seeing how active milkshake is I will NEVER give her back!

 

[twitch]

you'll have to tell us when she notices milkshake is gone. and of course post pictures of everyone.

 

[Poppyseed]

*eyeroll* If she is SOOO sensitive about death, she better start taking care of her animals. At least she takes care of her others. Poor milkshake.

On another note, 'My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...." HAH! Had to say it, just pictureing a rat being happy singing that XD

 

[lvnoahsark]

LOL!!!

Well my sister still hasnt said anything. Yesterday evening she fed and watered the hamsters and guinea pigs but didnt even touch Milkshake's cage. So either she has noticed and doesnt care or she HASNT noticed which is soooo sad. I am so glad I got her out of there!

I finally got some pictures! Enjoy!

 

[ladylady]

Cute and super mischifeous I see shes makeing a break for it :lol:

 

[lvnoahsark]

Well my sister now knows....because my mother hinted at it a few times.

My mom asked her if everyone was alive and she said yes and my mom said are you sure and she started naming off the animals...guineas were alive both hamsters were alive. My mom was like and your rat? Shes like "I think so..." and was like "did you take her?" and I said "no".
She said "I hope shes not dead." She said "I checked her this morning and she didnt come out so i thought i would check later tonight." She said something about not wanting her anymore and that I could have her. And I said "GOOD BECAUSE I TOOK HER 3 DAYS AGO ON WEDNESDAY" She was like "I fed her on wednesday". I was like well its 3 days from then...

She then told me that she said BEFORE that I could have milkshake (I would have taken her a long time ago if that was true...). :roll:
That she doesnt want her anymore because she wants a gerbil...she's OVER rats...I told her that she is pathetic.

So that ended better then I had expected...I just wish my mom didnt hint at it....I wonder how long it would have taken for her to realize Milkshake was gone...

 

[Poppyseed]

She should NOT get a gerbil at all D: I think her guneias and hamsters seem enough.

 

[Holly]

I'm just happy to hear that Milkshake wound up in a good home, with friends to play with. The way things have always worked in my family is that, as long as a person lives with the parents, they have to obey the rules of the parents (which is a good incentive to move out, but that's another story! ) Don't know how it works in your house, but if I were your sister, and my mom was your mom, and mom said, "NO GERBIL," then there would definitely be NO GERBIL. I agree that your sister seems to have quite enough pets to keep her busy. I would hate to see her acquire another animal, only to neglect it...

 

[Forensic]

I don't care how 'over' rats she was. You do not treat a living creature like that, apparently hoping she would die, just so you can have a bloody gerbil! *fume* *fume* *fume*

 

[Poppyseed]

Gerbils always seemed a little... dumb to me >_> And they look bitey too. I used to be interested when I was little but yeah didn't last long.