Moon's Graden

hi to everone in the discussion group, my name is tandi and i just
bought a rat yesterday. She is my second rat i have owned, and her name
is Annie. Does anyone have any ideas to share on how to make my 4 week
old rat feel more comfortable?

"...on an evening such as this it's hard to tell if i exist...i could
leave but i'll just stay, all my stuff's here anyway..."  (Bare***
Ladies, ""Pinch me"")

Another 4-week old rat. (Same gender, of course ;)

--
 Phlip
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======

Hi Tandi,

You've come to the right place.  There are lots of knowledgeable people
here who've helped me out many times with my rats.

I just have to chime in here and third what 2 other posters have said:
please get your rat a female rat companion.  She'll be much happier and
healthier, and you'll have so much more fun with 2 than 1.

Also, start reading!  Find all the books you can on rat care.  Look at
all the rat websites on the web.  Get good tips like 1) never use pine
or cedar bedding and 2) don't feed your ratties seeds and nuts and 3)
don't let her live on a wire floor (will give her feet sores).  There's
lots to learn, and even if you're an experienced rat owner, there's
still more to learn!  The more you know, the happier you can make your
rats.

Alicia

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

Also until you get a friend for her give her a tiny stuff toy that she
can cuddle up with. Believe it or not a rat will respond to a stuff toy
like it was another rattie. I have heard of ratties curling up to and
grooming the toy and even dragging it with them during out time and
dinner time. Just make her one about the same size or a little larger
out of a old sock or polar fleece also stuff it with another old sock or
extra fleece pieces because they will chew on it and I don't know about
the cotton like stuffing that is usually used in toys. This toy method
also works for when you have a single older rat that is depressed due to
loss of a cage mate or has to live on it's own because of it's age or it
won't accept another rat or another one just isn't available. But when
you are home carry your little one around with you in your shirt so she
will get use to you. And when you get another one carry two in your
shirt so they get use to you. A 4 week old baby rattie is eating on its
own and has stopped nursing at that time but still needs to stay with
the litter to help socialize it with other ratties and learn how to play
and not to bite things. At the 4 to 6 week mark they are tasting
everything including each other and when they bite to *** each other
one will squeek and that tells the other hey that hurts. So they learn
not to do that. You can usually tell this in the young ones because they
will nibble on you to hard. They still need to learn not to bite that
hard so you will have to be a rat and squeek when they do that to you to
help them learn.  I agree read everything you can about rats and join a
few rat groups and rat clubs. That is how I learned about our lovable
little friends. I am still learning  new things about them.
Have fun with your new friends
RatKid

Ratkid is right.  I tried this on a couple of my ratties, and it worked.
When I only had 2 boys and one died, I made a little stuffed rat-shaped
toy the size of the deceased rat.  The one left behind slept on the toy
until we got him some cagemates the following weekend.  Then when we
found out one of the new cagemates was a girl, we moved her out with the
toy, and she slept on it until the other girls accepted her.

Having said that, the toy is *NO* substitute for a real live rat.  It
was only used in an emergency in my rat household.

Alicia

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.