BS: Homeless Rats

Subject: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Dipsodeb
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 05:26 AM

Does anybody have a desire to own 2 lovely female Rats, 1 white, 1 brown. They are very friendly, hand tamed and have very good manners.

Unfortunately I tried to re-home them from a friend of mine, but my Terrier Cross seems to think that they are to be chased and eaten only and is driving us mad whining at the cage all day long. Not fair to the dog or the rats.

We are in S.E. London, if any one is interested you can PM me.

~Debs~

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: GUEST,SueB
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 11:07 AM

I had two female rats once. They successfully procreated anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Metchosin
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 11:34 AM

my daughter purchased a neutered young male rat from the SPCA to add to her family. Seems there was a mix up at the SPCA regarding which cage actually held the altered rats. Fortunately she realized that he really did have balls, prior to putting him in the cage with her ladies. Others were not as astute in their observations. It is sometimes a little difficult to determine the gender of young rats. They are personable and affectionate little tykes.

I have had to learn to love rats, as according to my daughter, it is probably as close as I will ever come to being a grandmother.

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 01:18 PM

If you were here in the States I would take them. They make the best pets.

You could, as an alternative, train your dog. We used to keep both mice and rats and our dogs and cats soon learned that they were pets and were not to be bothered.

The mice would often escape and the cats would just look at them and not even try to chase them. Although they would catch wild ones and bring what was left of them back into the house.

You only need one word to train your dog and that is "NO".

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Helen
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:11 PM

The night that we had brought home our two kittens, now adults, I was chopping up a carrot while making dinner and I heard a sound in the kitchen cupboard. Our kitchen was built by an idiot so the two doors in the corner cupboard have a gap of a couple of inches where they should meet and don't. So I went over to the cupboard and leaned down to listen for the noise again, and a cute rat face poked its head out of the gap with a look on his face which said, "A carrot! Is that for me?"

I found out that some kid-monsters across the road had let him escape and he may have made his way from half a block down the road into our house. Clever!

I couldn't keep him, because the combined smell of his cage and him affected hubby's asthma, but I would have kept him. The kittens would have coped.

Someone from around the corner took him but he was dead, despite his luxurious cage with upstairs downstairs and built in toilet area, because the woman refused to believe me about not using clay based cat litter because it causes sudden & massive respiratory problems. He got sick & died within a day.

I should have kept him.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 09:11 PM

I have heard of 'The Boom Town Rats', but never heard of 'The Homeless Rats'. Are they a Folk Group?

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 10:32 PM

Helen, That's interesting about the clay based litter. Does it affect cats too?

Also small mamals should not be kept on Cedar bedding for the same reason.

Use pine or cellulose.

Rats and mice in small cages have to be cleaned EVERY DAY or they will die. They also NEED an exercise wheel.

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Helen
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 01:39 AM

No Bert, it is specifically rats. The dust from the clay is too fine and gets in their lungs. Then they can get a respiratory infection which rapidly progresses to a fatal level, within one day, usually.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Bert
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 08:57 AM

Thanks Helen, I was kinda worried for my moggies for a while there.

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 10:56 AM

Metch,

RATS - Give your daughter my love - seems she has sense!!!

LOL - Sam

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 07:37 PM

There is a tale, now passed into Urban Legend, but I know it to be true - of a rat that inhabited a drain in a district of London. This rat popped up one night, out of the most obvious exit, to find that it was blocked by a large round object with a crack down it. The rat whiffled at it and was surprised when the top of the round object gave a yell, leapt up and turned to stare at him. The rat stared back, then popped down to his abode.

The next time the rat popped up his exit, he saw two round shining things like nostrils staring at him. There was a huge explosion and the rats' exit vanished into a puff of porcelain dust.

And there was a tune written about this incident, called 'The Rats' Whiskers'.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Jul 04 - 09:29 PM

So now you have to give us the song....

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Jul 04 - 09:17 AM

It's a tune on the Gas Mark 5 CD 'Guizers'. It's impossible to put into words, many have tried, including the whiffled, but nothing has come close to the hilarity of the situation.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Homeless Rats
From: Blackcatter
Date: 18 Jul 04 - 10:19 AM

I'd take them if you lived closer to ORlando, FL. I'm sure they'd give Mickey and Minnie runs for their money.