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whenever i put samantha back in her cage after she's been free for a while, she freaks out and is running around trying to get out. she's even started trying to get out when she sees movement in the room.
i have an aquarium-type cage for her (i know it's the wrong type...but i didnt know until after i bought it- am in the process of trying to convince don to buy a cage topper for her!) and she has started jumping up to the mesh-type lid. this morning she was doing that, and she grabbed hold of the mesh a couple times and was dangling from it. i'm really worried that she'll hurt herself doing this- either break a finger from dangling, or hitting her head against the mesh too hard- or even missing and hitting the edge of the aquarium. she's an only rat, and i know getting her a friend would help, but i cant afford a quarantine cage right now. hopefully at the end of the month i can get one and a friend for her. but what can i do in the meantime to discourage her jumping up like that? she has some toys in her cage, and she was fine being in there until i started letting her out for multiple hours (which i started doing because i felt bad that she was in there all alone all the time).
i'm especially worried about this because don and i are going away for 4 days, and i dont want to come back and have had something happen to her. (i've asked my mom to come over and play with samantha for at least an hour every day we're gone, but that's still up to 23 hours she can get into trouble or hurt from trying to escape. and i cant take sam over to my parents house because they have 3 cats and i know someone over there will think its a good idea for the cats and rat to all play together. i dont trust our roommate, either, to play with her because i saw how he was when i had my hamster.)
so, i guess i actually have 2 questions: how to discourage jumping and possible injury? and
any tips for keeping a rat entertained for 4 days? does anyone have a toy or something that has worked especially well for entertaining their rats?
thanks for reading my long-ish post, and thank you for any advice/tips!!
i have an aquarium-type cage for her (i know it's the wrong type...but i didnt know until after i bought it- am in the process of trying to convince don to buy a cage topper for her!) and she has started jumping up to the mesh-type lid. this morning she was doing that, and she grabbed hold of the mesh a couple times and was dangling from it. i'm really worried that she'll hurt herself doing this- either break a finger from dangling, or hitting her head against the mesh too hard- or even missing and hitting the edge of the aquarium. she's an only rat, and i know getting her a friend would help, but i cant afford a quarantine cage right now. hopefully at the end of the month i can get one and a friend for her. but what can i do in the meantime to discourage her jumping up like that? she has some toys in her cage, and she was fine being in there until i started letting her out for multiple hours (which i started doing because i felt bad that she was in there all alone all the time).
i'm especially worried about this because don and i are going away for 4 days, and i dont want to come back and have had something happen to her. (i've asked my mom to come over and play with samantha for at least an hour every day we're gone, but that's still up to 23 hours she can get into trouble or hurt from trying to escape. and i cant take sam over to my parents house because they have 3 cats and i know someone over there will think its a good idea for the cats and rat to all play together. i dont trust our roommate, either, to play with her because i saw how he was when i had my hamster.)
so, i guess i actually have 2 questions: how to discourage jumping and possible injury? and
any tips for keeping a rat entertained for 4 days? does anyone have a toy or something that has worked especially well for entertaining their rats?
thanks for reading my long-ish post, and thank you for any advice/tips!!