RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Tue Aug 16, 2005 11:06 pm

Aww thats cute...yeah diesel plays with my cats toys! my cat wont play with them so i thought i'll give them to my rattie! and he loves them....

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Current Pets~~>
-Three Male Rats
-3 bettas
-1cat
-1 canary

Tue Aug 16, 2005 11:42 pm

If you choose sticks, make sure they're suitable wood, and they're not treated with pesticides. You might also want to freeze them overnight to kill off any bugs, and give them a bit of a wash.

Check out this sticky for more toy info and ideas.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Aug 17, 2005 1:39 am

I know my girls love a cardboard box filled with shredded paper etc just pop it in there cage and it keeps them busy for a while , they'll either steal the paper for bedding or go digging lol LOL

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Phil & The Ratbags : Abba , Thelma , Louise , Arwen , Mort & Rumples ! <:3()~

R.I.P Milo , Rody , French & Saunders

Wed Aug 17, 2005 10:59 pm

My rats don't have many toys...in fact they only have one and they don't play with it.

They have their house, they like to peek a boo out of the holes in it, but they also have this wooden contraption that has a nut inside of it. The goal is to have them chew through the wood to get to the nut. They aren't bothered with it.

Is there any way to gauge good toys based on personality and temperment, or is it pretty much touch and go until you find something suitable?

Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:05 pm

It really depends on the rat - some love certain toys, some prefer others, and some prefer playing in your laundry pile! LOL

You can try things like scrunching up paper for them with a treat inside, give them piles of paper or old clothes/fabric to play in. Good toys don't have to be expensive.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:20 pm

Surely not!

However they only have an enclosed 10 gallon tank presently. It only has room for their food bowl, water bottle, house and that wooden chew toy.

They really need more time out of the cage Sad

We bought them harnesses (of our own volition) so we can take them outside to a nice safe part of the apartment garden and let them play in the clover ^_^

Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:26 pm

Yup - I know you're already planning on a cage expansion so that's great. Plenty of out time. Can you let them play on the bed, sofa or bath (without water!)? Perhaps if you have a hallway that you can close all the doors to, they can run around in there? As long as they get plenty of time out (even if they're just sitting on you) then they'll be ok for now.

The only thing I'd say about the harness is that they can often wriggle out of them - so you might want to watch that, and see that they're not going to slip their leash. Also, it's worth checking here for some things to look out for if you take them outside.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:44 am

I just got back from the petshop where I bought the coolest little balls. They're clear plastic, and were actually sold in the Ferret section. They're small, and clear (like I just said >_>) and have a cross shaped bit inside the ball. Between the spoke of the cross shape there is a tiny ball that bounces around between them. This ferret ball has actually been played with! Their first real play-with-able toy. It makes me happy!

I let them out today too..on the floor, wherever they wanted. Razzle played out for 0 minutes then went and hid behind the fish tank stand....Wigglesworth played out for 0 minute sthen went under the coffee table.

I hope there comes a point where they stop hiding. Rats that are sniffing in hidey holes are hard to retrieve ;_;

Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:12 pm

You can check out The Dapper Rat for cheap toy ideas. Search around that site; it's one of the best rat sites around.

For playtime, we let our rats out on the bed. We've bought lots of cheap fleece blankets (on sale at Target) as well as remnants from fabric shops. The bed is covered with those, toys distributed, and rats let loose. The gf likes to lay on the bed and let them crawl on her. Usually she reads (which means the rats chew the book/magazie); sometimes she even falls asleep with the rats crawling around and on her. Be warned: intact boys like to mark (pee on) everything, including you. Fortunately, rat pee won't give you anything a bar of soap and some water won't cure

There's a huge advantage to letting them on the bed: Their wandering space is limited, there's usually nothing for them to hide under that you can't extract them from quickly, and you can lie/sit with them and let them get used to playing with you.

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Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:57 am

I was hunting around wal-mart the other day just looking for random stuff that might make a great rat toy and an idea struck me in the fabric section.

I picked up a couple of cross-stitching hoops and some scrap fabric. The hoops are wood and cost 50 cents a piece. I went home, cut a piece of flannel about an inch wider than the hoop's circumference so the edge would overlap, pulled it through the inner hoop and around the edge, then attached the outer hoop over it and repeated on the other side.

The little binding that tightens the outer hoop is like a built-in hook holder so I didn't even need to reinforce the material or add any ribbon or chain or whatnot, just throw it on some s-hooks and add ratties! They love it because when too many of them pile in there, the open part splits apart and they just pour out of the top. Group Hug

Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:52 am

Great idea! Thanks! I had tried making the openings out of cut up quaker oats boxes.... This sounds much better!

Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:38 am

Not sure if this is the right section for this, so Mods, feel free to move it if it isn't.

Anyway, I was just at the Dollar Store, because they always have SOMETHING useful for my rats/mice for super cheap. I just found these nice, heavy Terracotta bird feeders that come with clips for hanging.

They're too small to use for actual food, and the openings for the seed to come out are tiny, so I thought they would be perfect for stimulating rattie and meecie minds and making them get some exercise.

I'm going to try hanging them from the top of each level, high enough that they have to climb to get to them, and then I'll hide some healthy treats and bits of food in the holes meant for seeds. I figure it'll give them something new to do, since they'll have to work a bit to get the treats out, and the climbing will be great exercise.

I got one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the boy meece and one for the girl meece.
The feeders look like they're awesome quality, and they were only $1.50 a piece.

I also found some small woven baskets for $.50 each. The tops are woven so that the opening is just a small hole, just big enough for a rat to get its head in and still safely get it out. For rats, I thought I could hang them and use them for hiding treats as with the feeders, and for the mice, they'll make great hiding places, chew toys, and sleeping baskets.

They had bigger baskets as well, shaped similarly, that'll be good for the rats to sleep in. Those were, I think, $1.75 each.

Just wanted to share some ideas for neat rat/mouse toys. Any sort of Dollar Store is a GREAT place to find stuff for them to play in/with. I always come away with some neat stuff when I go, and you can load up with all sorts of things and still not spend more than 20 bucks or so. hyper

I can't wait to go try all of this stuff out. I'll let you know how they like it. Mr. Green

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--Brittany

"He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom."

Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:35 pm

dose anyone have any DIY toy ideas because my rats seem bored of their
toys.
anyone?

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*~*RIZZO*~**~*ROLO*~*

Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:36 am

Try boxes or larger cardboard tubes
Create a dangling treat that hangs from the bars or make a homemade hammie out of a dishcloth and some shower rings

Rats like a lot of things!

Do they have plenty of space and things to climb on and play in?

Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:21 am

	holly_rizzo wrote:
	dose anyone have any DIY toy ideas because my rats seem bored of their toys. anyone?

Read back thorugh this thread.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:05 am

Well, the rats seem happy with the new cage, lots of space, but they are getting a little bored. Here's the thread about our new cage, there's a pic at the bottom...

http://www.ratpalace.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20748

We just want some suggestions for toys, layout, any advice you can give that would give our ratties a little more enjoyment out of it. We're planning a hammock for sure, and already have one large igloo and two small boxes, what else?

Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:35 am

Try reading back through this thread, lots of good ideas.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:04 pm

My rat girls love it when I put a little treat in a plastic easter egg. They chase it around the cage and try to get into it. Finaly they do after lots of fun. They love it!

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Davina, 2 Select Few Rats
~Maggie~*~Nutters~*~Nani~
~*~RIP~*~Gail~*~RIP~*~

Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:19 pm

About the hammocks, they're so easy to make. I went to the hobby lobby and got these like about 10x10 fabric squares that were for making pillows I think. They had button hole like things on the sides and corners. Then I got some key chain rings. I looped them through the button holes and then hooked it to the cage any where. I put a picture of Maggie sleeping in one.

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Davina, 2 Select Few Rats
~Maggie~*~Nutters~*~Nani~
~*~RIP~*~Gail~*~RIP~*~

Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:38 pm

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:22 am

I know so cute isn't she?

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Davina, 2 Select Few Rats
~Maggie~*~Nutters~*~Nani~
~*~RIP~*~Gail~*~RIP~*~

Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:58 am

It was time to take the hammock (which was originally bought at Petsmart for about $7) out for washing, but I didn't want my girls to be hammock-less. I had some polar fleece lying around, and made a second hammock that my ratties love even more than the one I originally bought for them. Since I've put this hammock up, they have barely left it, and last night they even dragged all their shredded paper towels up the cage and put them in the hammock too. When washing day comes for the new hammock, I might have to make them another like this, because they like it SO much more than the store-bought one.

I wanted to use two layers of fleece, since fleece is pretty stretchy and I didn't want them to stretch the hammock out of shape too quickly. Then I remember how I've seen other hammocks with pockets, and had an idea.

I cut two squares of fleece the same size, and put metal eyelets (like this) in the corners. The eyelets hold the two layers together, and provide a reinforced hole for attaching the hammock to the cage (I just use plastic cable ties). Ratties can sleep on top of the hammock, or they can get in between the layers of fleece and have a soft warm pocket.

A packet of 12 eyelets is about $2-3, and all you need to put the hammock together is an awl or pair of scissors to make a hole, and a hammer to put the eyelets in. Even at the highest price I've seen fleece ($7/yard), that's still 3 hammocks for under $10.

Rattie approved!

Kate
(& Bella, Cissy, and Andy)

Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:39 am

I have never thought of using eyelets- great idea!! I normally just attach my hammocks(just material pieces) with safety pins, but the ratties stretch the hammocks in a day or two and they come tumbling down. I'll give the eyelets a go, once again- great idea Thumbs Up

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You gotta be good at something in life!

Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:49 am

Similar to how I make mine - I use two layers (one of fleece, one of cotton to prevent stretching by fat ratty boy bums) and I use the eyelets too. Wouldn't do to pull through the fabric with all that weight on it. Mr. Green

Normally I don't bother with pockets as my lot don't go in them, so I just running stitch the two bits of fabric together, put in the grommets, and hang it up. I did make some [url=]sketches [/url]of pocket hammocks though. But those grommets/eyelets really are good for hammock making.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Oct 06, 2005 2:30 am

I made a cute little corner one the same as all my others wiht the hobby lobby squars but I folded it in half corcer to corner and hung it in a corner of the cage look at the picture how cute huh? They love to try to see how many can fit in the middle.

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Davina, 2 Select Few Rats
~Maggie~*~Nutters~*~Nani~
~*~RIP~*~Gail~*~RIP~*~