(no subject)
Name: Becky
Age: 31
Location: Southwest Virginia
Housing Situation: Single-family, owned, house.
Are pets allowed in your home? Yes.
Rattie Roll Call (names, ages, sexes, alterations, markings): Macaroni - Black hooded, Fettucini - Black hooded, Linguini - Blue hooded. All 3 are males, all 3 are about 18 months old. We think.
Do you know the advantage of spaying and neutering: I do, yes. I also know the risks, and at the age my guys are (18 months, at least, and possibly older) and being that they're boys I'm not likely to get them fixed. If I ever have younger rats, it will be done.
Do you have any other pets? Yep. Cats and dogs and birds.
If so, do they visit one another? I'd like to say 'no', because I know it's the right answer, but the real one is 'rarely'. I'll have a rat out on my shoulder in the main part of the house and a cat will jump up on my lap and sniff it. No 'play time' though. Just seconds of incidental contact before I "eh' loudly at the cat.
How long have you had rats? Tricky questions. My first rat pair was about 11 years ago, but there's abig gap where I had none. Then I found Mac as a stray (yes, really) at a trash dump, and went out searching for another couple of adult males to keep him company. That was about 6 months ago.
Your favorite thing about rats (yours or in particular): I like how much they *love* people. That's pretty rare in a small pet.
Your Cage(s) (description and pictures [stock image or your own]): Martin's R-695 (
Your rats favorite toys: Tubes, tubs, paper towel rolls, chew toys, foraging toys, and big parrot toys -- in particular swings.
Do your rats have a wheel? If so, what kind? Yes. They've got a big comfort wheel (solid, huge). I've never seen them use it though.
Your rats silly quirks: Mac's absolutely peopel crazy. If you touch him, he's bruxing. Lin and Fet are a little more active and hyper, Lin in particular. He 'leaps' in arcs a bit like an excited ferret. Fet's biggest 'quirk' is that he loves water.
Diet ("staple" diet as well as treats [be specific and include brand names!]): Sue-Bees, with a nutro-max senior base. Treats are fresh fruits, vegetables, grain and the odd seed or two -- basically they get the parrot's fresh food left0overs.
Type of bedding you use: Carefresh.
Who is your vet? Smyth County Animal Hospital.
Are they a small animal/exotics specialist? No.
If not, we recommend providing them with a copy of Debbie Duccommun's Rat Care Health Book. Would you be willing to? Have done.
How long do you typically wait before contacting your vet when you're concerned? It depends on how concerned I am. If I think there's something really wrong, right away. If it's a torn toenail, or a couple of extra sneezes, but the rat's still eating and drinking and active, I'll wait for morning.
Do you follow your vet's advice? Unless he's having a stupid day and I know it, yes.
Do you have an emergency vet who sees small animals/exotics? YEs.
Do you plan on breeding your rats? (Note: If you're currently breeding, please fill out the breeders' application.) God no.
If so, do you know about rat genetics? Nothing, but that's okay because I'm not breeding.
Do your rats get free range time? Yep!
Where do they free range and how often? In the bathroom, for about 90 minutes in teh morning and an hour in the evening.
Do you still actively learn about rats? I do, yeah, but I've gotten pretty lazy, lately.
Pictures! Post any pictures you have of your furries here.
Sadly, I only have *one*. I don't have a proper digital camera, and the web-cam's low-quality and hard to use -- especially with hyper small animals. Anyway. The one I do have -- this is Mac, please ignore the person in the picture.
