[Sara_C]

Got my boys a cat ball from Pets at Home today, just a simple plastic ball covered in sisal (rope) with feathers coming out of each end...

Woah. It lasted all of 5 minutes! They went absolutely crazy over it! The feathers were the first thing to go of course, followed by the rope and now the ball isn't really like a ball any more...it's just a piece of gnawed plastic with string hanging off. I highly reccommend cat balls to rat owners if you haven't tried them with one already. It was 85p well spent, even if it was obliterated in the blink of an eye!

 

[Stephanie]

haha I get those for my boys all of the time they go INSANE over the ones with bells in them they go back and forth with who has the most bells stacked up somewhere

 

[Sara_C]

I don't even know what happened to the bell from the ball...it all happened so fast, it was a ball massacre! No doubt i'll hear it rattling about in the middle of the night lol.

 

[reachthestars]

Some rats love cat toys, just make sure they're catnip free . Now that I'm back to work I plan to get my girls some cat balls too.

 

[Forensic]

Ooo! I was just wondering if those were okay...

Catnip free, rightyo!

 

[DonnaK]

Just one word of warning on these things, from a bad experience I once had -

I bought some balls that were designed for ferrets. They were miniature tennis balls, with a bell inside. As with all new toys, I watched them carefully after I first put them in. Within ten minutes, our youngest rat started spluttering like she was choking. Obviously, I removed it immediately. I suspect it was the rubber lines on the ball that did it - she didn't get right the way to the centre.

 

[Night]

Mine like to put the jingly balls in their food dish I'll go upstairs, and find 5 or 6 of them in each bowl!

 

[Poppyseed]

Wherever I put the jingly balls is never the place they want them XD They all LOOOOOVVVVEEEE feathers.

 

[Sara_C]

This one was catnip free

Yeah, i avioded he rubber ones because i thought A) They'll be eaten in a second and B) They didn't seem very rat-health friendly. This one was hard plastic so they could gnaw on it safely.

 

[Stephanie]

sniffs has a super ball but he doesn't chew on it at all LoL he just rolls it around with his front paws. then puts it back in his food dish (that is apparently his toy box as well as his food dish.)

 

[KayRatz]

Mine have these toys that are like thinnish plastic made into swirls, and they're made for cats, but mine love them. XD They carry them around and put them in their igloo. x3

 

[2manyrats]

After reading this thread, I stopped by Family Dollar today and picked up 3 packages of cat toys with feathers, hairy bits, and shiny plastic. Each package had 3 toys. I also picked up two feather boas at the Dollar General for $1 each, a a rubber bouncy ball for them to chew on (one has demonstrated a lot of interest in my rubber cable tie around my laptop's power supply). They'll have entertainment for a while, now.

So far they haven't shown much interest in anything, but I gave just gave them their new toys and they're much more interested in begging for my dinner.

 

[Poppyseed]

Mine love those cat toys that have feather on a string. They snatch it and drag it ferociously into their little igloo and I wait until they're done and wave it around again. They run up and try frantically to snatch it back XD MAJOR FUN!

 

[2manyrats]

Okay, the cat toys are officially a hit, especially the ones with masses of feathers and string coils. They haven't been chewed through all the way yet, but they'll get there soon! This was totally worth 3/$1.

 

[JennieLove]

lol, I gave my boys a tennis ball and all thats left is the rubber from the inside...Its funny watching then move it around! Jay acually trys to carry it in his mouth >.<

 

[Sara_C]

Lmao! I'm definately getting them some more. I wish i could find some deals like the three for £1 ones...this one was only 80p but buying packs of three would be more economical for something that's demolished in a matter of seconds I'm gonna get them one of those cat wands with the feathers on too. I got them a squeaky ball last night as well and they love it! I'm convinced they think it's some sort of intruder rat because they go into attack mode! I had to take it out of their cage last night though, it was driving me nuts.

But yay for cat balls!

 

[2manyrats]

Don't they have dollar (er, pound?) stores over there?

I just looked on eBay UK and there's nothing like the ones I found. If you want, I can go back to the store this weekend, clean them out, and send them all to you. Each toy weighs .01 oz --> which means a ton of them would fit in one package, and it wouldn't be expensive to ship, especially if they fit into a flat-rate mailer.

 

[Sara_C]

I think we do have pound shops....somewhere. I haven't been able to find any yet :/ And i don't think they're anywhere near as big or good as the ones in the US - you seem to get all sorts of cool stuff from dollar stores.

You would do that for me?! That would be absolutely bloody fantastic!!!! One or two packs would be more than enough, and of course i'll give you the money for them and the p&p etc Only if that wouldn't be too much trouble, of course.

You could set up a little ratty-ball dealership, catering for all the ball-shredding rats out there!

 

[2manyrats]

Yah, it's no problem to pick up extras... all of the dollar stores are within 3-5 minutes of me! (That's actually a *bad* thing - I've gotten a bit addicted to them.) And if I'm gonna send them, I might as well get you more than one or two packs, since otherwise the p&p isn't worth it (cheapest shipping is Global Priority, $5.25 for a flat-rate mailer no matter how heavy, one that a *lot* of toys could fit in)

Here's a photo of the toys I bought yesterday. You can see which one the rats liked the most. The feathers on the sides are from boas, which they are really into destroying.

And as far as a ratty ball dealership.. no go, but I've actually been thinking about selling little glass rat pendants to build up the vet fund (I work with glass). I should make a few and post them to see if there's any interest!

Oh, and technically they're not balls.. they're mice. Maybe that changes things?

 

[OnlyOno]

haha, i bet that is just awesome to watch. ever considered those little tennis balls? or do you give them the gigantic ones just cuz it's funnier? i'd do something like that...