These are the two baby rats we got to replace Hermione. Kylie was becoming very depressed, hiding in her sleeping box and biting/scratching at her skin, so we got her new friends. Predictably, she hates them. They’re cute ratties, though. The guy at the pet store was a real rat fan, a serious breeder of rats, which was interesting. Most people don’t appreciate how intelligent and playful they can be, and I don’t think I’ve ever talked to anyone else who loves them.
If I had the money and the space, and Phil wasn’t allergic to them, I could happily have a whole zoo. I miss having dogs and cats, but Phil just can’t live with them, so we have the rats (indoor) and the ferrets (outdoor). My dream is to someday own and train a Harris Hawk, but I would have to have a very different schedule in order to do it. I’d like to have snakes. Someday I’ll have a lurcher…or perhaps a Jack Russell. I’ve lived with a wolf hybrid, hedgehogs, Golden Mantle Squirrels and a Sharpei/Pitbull mix (now HE was a very weird dog). I love animals.
What else is happening? We just watched From Dusk Til Dawn. I remember hating it the first time I saw it, but it actually wasn’t bad. I love very black comedies. What I am not doing this weekend is working on the various site updates that I need to do…and I don’t know why. It’s not laziness, although it may be a close cousin to laziness. I think in a strange way it has to do with me being nervous about the new job. I haven’t had to use my brain for two years, I’ve been out of a high-pressure, professional e-commerce environment for the same amount of time, and I’m so scared that I’m going to fuck up somehow. I feel like a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
I had a good day at the stable today, and actually managed to ride Kip in the outdoor arena, despite terrifying things like a trio of walkers and their dogs walking through the pasture. ;)
Yes, I’m rambling. No, I don’t have anything interesting to say. Go read some smart person’s blog. I feel too scared and stupid right now.
So cute. I love rats, find them the most intelligent pets I’ve ever had. I had a rat once who lived with me without a cage, she had a shelter if she wanted it, always pooped in the same corner of her favourite room, and slept in the crook of my neck.
Leila / has two rats, Mousie and Silver, who are incredible and fun. She has separate rooms for the snakes, so they are safe.
I’m rather nervous of small furry creatures, I have been bitten a few times, sort of puts me off handling them. Snakes do make good pets, Tim’s sister Thea has one. I’d recommend them as a pet.
Thinking of scaring people, my ex once refused to walk through a field with me as there were horses in it…he said they might attack us * snort *
PS you are not stupid
Hello!
Ratties are lovely. I’ve had six, but we are ratless right now. I want more rats, but rat deaths are very difficult and I’m not sure I can face any more. They just have such short lives, and such big personalities.
I wish I could recommend the community on livejournal, but anxiety made me stop reading it. There were too many posts that started off, “Please don’t tell me I have to go to the vet, because I can’t. My rat is sick. . .” and it made me pretty upset.
Still, if you could bear it, there are a lot of cute rat pictures on there.
Yes, I admit that I was against getting more rats for exactly that reason. The rat that we had who died was my favourite of all the rats we’ve had, and I miss her a lot. She died of that common respiratory thing that they get, which causes them to lose weight and snuffle all the time. Two rats that we had in the States had it, and we had to get antibiotic into them, and also try to force-feed them babyfood; it was traumatic for both rats and us, and they died anyway, so I decided to not do that with this one. She died thin, but relatively happy, and I think we made the right decision.
lol…the horse story was funny. :) I wouldn’t want to have hamsters or mice or anything like that. Rats are a different level of pet because they are so much more intelligent, with definite personalities. I’ve only had one of our rats habitually bite (only through the bars of the cage), but I think it may have something to do with poor vision. Or just her being a cranky bitch, which she is. ;)
We have a similar setup for the ferrets when they are allowed inside, totally separate rooms for they and the rats.
Back in the States Phil’s favourite rattie had managed to escape her cage, and he woke to find her sitting on the nightstand next to the bed, looking at him. She’d managed to go through several rooms of the house until she found him, and then she sat in front of his face, waiting for him to wake up. :)
Our two open the cage door for each other, and will work together to figure out every lock. They don’t go beyond their cage perimeter, it is just the joy of escaping for them, and I swear, the excitement of our discovery.