*Insert 'Great Escape' Theme Tune Here*
The rats have been utter shites lately.
The other morning, when I was trying to have a lie-in, I heard panicked voices downstairs. Nathan asking Dad to give him a hand, because one of the rats had escaped. Thinking he'd been a doofus, opened the cage to fuss them and then let things get out of hand, I threw on some clothes and ran downstairs to see what was happening.
Had he had them out? No. Had somebody left the cage open while they were being fed? Nope, the cage had been closed all night. So we grabbed the escapee (Kali), put her back in, and sat there for a while baffled as to how she'd gotten out.
Two minutes later, I see movement out of the corner of my eye. Kali, running along the back of the couch without a care in the world.
The little shites had only gone and chewed a hole in the corner of the cage base, hadn't they?
So, suspecting Petunia (a notorious chewer), I swapped the cages round so that the newbies were in the chewed cage, and I MacGyvered a patch for the hole out of sticky tape and a bird suet block cage.
That was five days ago.
This morning, another day where I was planning on a much needed lie in, I was awoken by a knock on my bedroom door. My dad.
I rolled over, rubbed droom from my face. "What?"
On the other side of the door, my dad said "we have a problem."
My heart lurched. My immediate thought was oh god one of the rats is dead oh no who is it please let this be a dream but I collected myself and asked "what is it?"
"Well, I've got Florence on my shoulder," said my dad.
Oh god. The adorable little shits had made a second attempt at a jailbreak.
So I threw on some cycle shorts and a tank top (the first clothes I could find) and ran downstairs, to find the top cage now had a hole in it - too big for Violet, Miley, Petunia or Burrito to get through, but perfect for a certain three tiny stooges, one of whom was sitting pretty on Dad's shoulder. I put Florence back in and turned the cage so that the hole was over open air - they could poke their heads out, but there was nothing to climb onto. I did a quick head count - onetwothreefourfive... there should be six!
Kali. Dad spotted her immediately, running along the back of the window couch in a heroic attempt to complete what she had started five days ago. Dad and I lunged for her, but she was away, down the DVD rack and into a pile of stuff we had behind the couch.
Thankfully, Kali is a pretty well behaved, sociable rat. I was only there for a few minutes, gingerly lifting stuff out when I spotted her, she heard my voice and clamped onto my hand, licking me. I lifted her out, put her back with her siblings and then dug out another suet block cage to tape over the hole for now.
The extremely makeshift patches are holding for now, and I've moved chew toys over the holes to give them an alternative to opening them up further. Ideally, I'd like to get some garden wire to go over the holes - but it's that time of year where we put on a huge garden sale at work and, naturally, the very thing I need is all sold out. I mean, rats are pretty good at getting through shit and a determined rat can chew through a cinder block if they want, but it would be something at least if I could put wire over the gap.
So now I need two new cages. I've tried looking for the bases on their own because it would be cheaper and I'd have less spare parts sitting around, but no such luck. I've e-mailed the manufacturer (Ferplast) but nothing from them so far. The cages are at least £45 and that's if you get very lucky. ;_;
Rats, I love you, but you are complete shits sometimes. Why you can't just chew the toys I've provided for you SPECIFICALLY FOR CHEWING, I have no idea.
The other morning, when I was trying to have a lie-in, I heard panicked voices downstairs. Nathan asking Dad to give him a hand, because one of the rats had escaped. Thinking he'd been a doofus, opened the cage to fuss them and then let things get out of hand, I threw on some clothes and ran downstairs to see what was happening.
Had he had them out? No. Had somebody left the cage open while they were being fed? Nope, the cage had been closed all night. So we grabbed the escapee (Kali), put her back in, and sat there for a while baffled as to how she'd gotten out.
Two minutes later, I see movement out of the corner of my eye. Kali, running along the back of the couch without a care in the world.
The little shites had only gone and chewed a hole in the corner of the cage base, hadn't they?
So, suspecting Petunia (a notorious chewer), I swapped the cages round so that the newbies were in the chewed cage, and I MacGyvered a patch for the hole out of sticky tape and a bird suet block cage.
That was five days ago.
This morning, another day where I was planning on a much needed lie in, I was awoken by a knock on my bedroom door. My dad.
I rolled over, rubbed droom from my face. "What?"
On the other side of the door, my dad said "we have a problem."
My heart lurched. My immediate thought was oh god one of the rats is dead oh no who is it please let this be a dream but I collected myself and asked "what is it?"
"Well, I've got Florence on my shoulder," said my dad.
Oh god. The adorable little shits had made a second attempt at a jailbreak.
So I threw on some cycle shorts and a tank top (the first clothes I could find) and ran downstairs, to find the top cage now had a hole in it - too big for Violet, Miley, Petunia or Burrito to get through, but perfect for a certain three tiny stooges, one of whom was sitting pretty on Dad's shoulder. I put Florence back in and turned the cage so that the hole was over open air - they could poke their heads out, but there was nothing to climb onto. I did a quick head count - onetwothreefourfive... there should be six!
Kali. Dad spotted her immediately, running along the back of the window couch in a heroic attempt to complete what she had started five days ago. Dad and I lunged for her, but she was away, down the DVD rack and into a pile of stuff we had behind the couch.
Thankfully, Kali is a pretty well behaved, sociable rat. I was only there for a few minutes, gingerly lifting stuff out when I spotted her, she heard my voice and clamped onto my hand, licking me. I lifted her out, put her back with her siblings and then dug out another suet block cage to tape over the hole for now.
The extremely makeshift patches are holding for now, and I've moved chew toys over the holes to give them an alternative to opening them up further. Ideally, I'd like to get some garden wire to go over the holes - but it's that time of year where we put on a huge garden sale at work and, naturally, the very thing I need is all sold out. I mean, rats are pretty good at getting through shit and a determined rat can chew through a cinder block if they want, but it would be something at least if I could put wire over the gap.
So now I need two new cages. I've tried looking for the bases on their own because it would be cheaper and I'd have less spare parts sitting around, but no such luck. I've e-mailed the manufacturer (Ferplast) but nothing from them so far. The cages are at least £45 and that's if you get very lucky. ;_;
Rats, I love you, but you are complete shits sometimes. Why you can't just chew the toys I've provided for you SPECIFICALLY FOR CHEWING, I have no idea.