I hasn't told anyone yet.... - Paw Talk

FlickeringHope · #1 08-18-2012, 06:24 PM

But I adopted an old rat from a pet store we visit who had been turned in by a family who didn't want him anymore. Here he, Rafiki is, along with his new friends Edgar and Bram :

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...92145180_o.jpg

Vladina · #2 08-18-2012, 09:29 PM

Aww! Is he the hooded rat in the photo? He is just a sweetheart! I am glad you adopted an elderly boy and gave him a new life with new friends. I can't imagine how it must feel to be "given up" and alone. I am so glad for him!!

FlickeringHope · #3 08-18-2012, 10:04 PM

Yes, he is the big lump in the middle, lol. The grayish hooded on top of him has assigned him as his "big brother". Whenever Rafiki does something, even if it's just washing his face, that little one does the very same thing,

I was just walking by the pets in the aisle in the pet store, and saw this pitiful looking guy curled up in a cage, and noticed there was a note on top of his cage that said he was to be only sold as a pet and that his name was "Rafi". And I called my fiance over and whimpered about how he had a name, and must have a history and have been pre-loved, so we took a day to think about it because I don't believe in impulse ...anything, and the next day told the employees we were coming to get him.

My fiance and I had already planned to have rats in the future ... but this felt like it was just meant to be.

He adores his new friends. I was nervous because this is my first rat ever, and though I read up on introductions and the best kinds of matches.. I didn't know his history at all. But when we let them all meet he just let them climb all over him and sniff him and poke and prod at him without batting an eye. He is such a sweetheart.

lilspaz68 · #4 08-19-2012, 06:03 AM

He is adorable.

You will definitely need a much bigger cage if that's your main cage

Vladina · #5 08-19-2012, 06:35 AM

Oh, yeah, I just opened up the photo fully and saw the roof of that cage. Lilspaz is right, you will need a much much larger home for your kiddos.

FlickeringHope · #6 08-19-2012, 07:24 AM

Oh no, I'm quite aware. He has a bigger cage, that's just a travel cage. They all just had playtime, and I needed to clean his cage out anyway, so I put them all in there while I did that, and they snuggled down together.

Vladina · #7 08-19-2012, 09:16 AM

OH! Sorry, I didn't know it was must a travel cage! My mistake!

FlickeringHope · #8 08-19-2012, 10:33 AM

S'okay, easy mistake.

Storyseeker · #9 08-19-2012, 03:07 PM

Hooray! Another old ratty to a good home.

Let us know how he settles in and feed us lots of stories about him please. We're always hungry for rat love.

somebody · #10 08-19-2012, 09:07 PM

Aww...congratulations to you all! I bet he is so happy to be in a home where he has lots of company and will be loved and valued.

FlickeringHope · #11 08-20-2012, 04:51 PM

Thanks, all! I certainly will. He(and soon to be friends) has been traveling with me. Especially to my parents' house; my mom loves him =D Just like many others, she thought rats were diseased, smelly, bitey creatures, but Rafiki has changed her opinion on them forever. She asks to hold him often, and is very curious about how he's doing.

Vladina · #12 08-20-2012, 05:05 PM

That is great that your Mom loves him! Same thing happened with my Mom. She is 73 years old and she had the same ideas about rats but when she met my two rat boys, she just fell in love with them. She would babysit them for my husband and I, buy them toys and always want to hold and kiss them. I thought, "If she can be won over by ratties, anyone can!"

Many people on this forum say that rats are their own best ambassadors of goodwill because they are just so charming, sweet, and just want to be loved. They are absolutely amazing.

FlickeringHope · #13 08-21-2012, 02:52 PM

So..is there any way to teach an old rat new tricks? Rafi won't play with any of the toys in his cage, or during cage-free time, that the baby rats do. All Rafi likes to do is climb/jump, go through tunnels(or my shirt sleeve....), and run underneath this plastic pop bottle case which turned upside down makes an AWESOME open maze. ..But no toys. I get the feeling he wasn't exposed to them in his previous home. =\

Vladina · #14 08-21-2012, 03:02 PM

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Rats are so finicky sometimes when it comes to what they think is fun or what toys they like or don't like. My own boys will turn their noses up at a toy I put out for them, and instead they love to make their own fun by doing a lot of what you already described. Running and tussling under blankets, getting rides in my shirt sleeve, and things like that. Same thing with my previous two boys. To rats, a blanket or a box fort is as much fun if not more, to them, as a store bought toy.

Storyseeker · #15 08-22-2012, 06:09 AM

So agreed! LOL. I don't buy toys anymore.

A toy idea you might want to make though, is a rat pinata. For my girls, the chewers and nest makers, I crumple up small squares of tissue gift paper and stuff them individually into toilet paper tubes. I also hang a full toilet roll in their cage. They love digging the little colorful bits of paper out, or unwinding the TP from the one in the cage.

You can also try it for boys, but they're lazy rat guts, so I had more success putting small food treats like broccoli pieces and such into a TP roll that had been folded shut on both ends. I punched a hole in one and strung cord through it and hung it up (or hold it up). It's hysterical to watch them chase the dangling treat toy in circles trying to get a tooth hold on it to figure out how to drag it down and rip it open.

Here's a thread on it staring my saddle bag toting food fattie Zmei:

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/f16/f...highlight=zmei