Hey, here is a question to all my fellow Canadian rat parents... if you have a FN cage.

Where did you buy it from that can ship to Canada? I just spent 10 minutes on the phone on hold and then giving out my shipping info only to have the girl tell me that she couldn't ship the FN142 to Canada (even though the first thing I said was that I needed it shipped to Canada).

I wanted to buy through ferret.com since it is on sale for $174.99US.

The only other thing I can think of is to ask any of you guys in the States (near the British Columbia border) if I can have it sent to you and if you can get it up to me on Vancouver Island straight up or through what would normally be a rat-train... but have it be for a cage instead.

Hi all!
Do any of you other long-hairs find that your hair picks up a lot of ... junk?

It feels like my hair picks up smells very quickly (everything from smoke to food to cleaners to the smell of my workplace). And every time I brush or comb it, there's a TON of dust and various little things. I sometimes brush out itty bitty bits of paper, lint, cat fur, and even once a staple.

I feel like that kid from Peanuts with the dusty blanket! Is this normal or am I just messy? =)

(xposted to long_hair_girls)

So I was in a pretty epic bike wreck this weekend, and long story short, I had a ton of blood in my hair. I was not looking forward to washing it at all (length+pain) but the ER doctor said the secret was to put a ton of KY jelly in your hair, work it in, and then wait 15 minutes, then shampoo as usual. It worked like a dream! Has anyone heard of this before? What's the science behind it? Was it "bad" for my hair? Any insight would be great.

First of all, thanks to everyone for their replies on my last post (re:Baytril)

I just order (and received) Blu Kote for my rat, he has some very persistent and nasty bumbles on his feet and I've tried so many things to try and clear them up (I think its partly because hes overweight...you try putting a rat on a diet!)

For those of you who have used Blu kote before...how many times do you apply it? (the bottle says 1-2 times each day)...but for how many days? the product didnt come with any instructions, and since it was made for use in dogs & horses, I am a little hesitant. The bottle says 'dont let dogs lick affected area....what about rats! how can you stop a rat from licking when you put something on their feet?

I've treated him 4 times with the Blu kote already, and I wait until its dry to let him free-range or put him back in his cage...but he can still lick his feet and get some off!  Im guessing its not (too) toxic because he seems fine to me. The first day I put band aids on his feet b/c I was worried about him licking them, and he was pissed!

Any personal stories w/ Blu Kote usage would be much appreciated!

PS- The bottle didnt lie when it said' Blu Kote will stain anything, wet or dry' ....I look like a damn splotchy smurf! ...and Remy has permanent blue booties on :P

I thought I would update ya'll on the pregnancy issue (thank you all for your responses, reminds me why I love this community <3)

I have decided to keep the baby :)

Though I have felt S* mostly in the afternoon it has been manageable It's a different kind of S* feeling, that can be controlled by eating small amounts of food. and just resting. and of course staying away from smells that trigger it.

Im already in week 9...so from what ive read...I should be in the thick of Morning S*. Im extremely proud of myself of not letting my phobia control this aspect of my life...And I consider myself having a pretty moderately severe case.

Now I just need to hope I can make it through child birth...and hopefully my child getting S* :(

Ryans assured me that a lot of things that kids get...aren't easly passed on to adults due to our immune systems. *crosses fingers*

Pigs and... stuff.

( Not too many, I've been lazy )

Happy second birthday, Agents Mulder & Scully!

They're getting their birthday gifts next weekend, when we're combining their second birthday with Moo & Dr. Zoidberg's first birthday. Since we don't know when Schmutzhaken and What? were born, we've given them the arbitrary date of July 25 so we can throw one big rat party.

( Today's birthday girls... )

We've got plenty of new hammocks and we're going to make rattie pinatas for them. If I'm really lucky, the gentleman will make his patented rattie oatmeal peanut butter and banana cookies for them.

Is this(the Canadian one) the best site for forbidden foods? Are there any more?

I was watching a show on Animal Planet today and it was about the Giant African Rat. I tried to find the actual show on Animal Planet's website but couldn't. I found another website to show you what they look like.

On Animal Planet they were helping to detect mines. Way cool.

http://www.80stoysale.com/gambian.html

Hello everyone. I saw that fanart was allowed, and I guess that fan videos count too? So, here I am, posting my fanvideo. It has clips from Legend, Anniversary and Underworld, so here be SPOILERS. Hope it's ok to post it and that you enjoy it.

I remember reading (I think even in this community) about something that I've not been able to find information about anywhere on the web, since. I tried to do an ljseek to see if I could find the post relating to it and couldn't.

Anyway: Tail Claws. I KNOW I'm not crazy and I've read about this before - I don't know if it's a mutation or just a... thing that happens, but it's almost like a build-up of keratonin on the tip of some rats' tails that causes a claw to grow out the end. I don't have a rat with this trait, I was mainly just really curious where I could find more information/photos!

Even Google couldn't help me. :( So thanks for any help. :)

So, I'm looking into getting some rats way, way down the line -- talking six to nine months at least -- since I want to have a good job in preparation for inevitable vet fees and supplies, as well as saving up for a Critter Nation double-decker. (I have two great rat-lover friends as mentors, so I'm getting tons of information on what to do and buy and prepare with.) But I want to take this time to research breeders in the area or, even better, rat rescues. But the problem is, all the ones I've found either won't email me back or are long gone. Does anyone know a good place with healthy, friendly rats in mid-Missouri?

I'm also interested in finding out what good rat-informed vets might be in Cole County.

Recently, my Myles, who was previously reserved and not too cuddly, has become very licky. A few days ago, I was lying on my bed and all of a sudden I feel this little tickling sensation. I look down and there he is, gripping onto my fingers and licking them. Now he does it every day, and today when I tried to pet him he refused. D: Instead he rolled onto his back, grabbed hold on my index finger and began to lick each finger and clean underneath my nails (lol).

What's with the dramatic attitude change? I don't mind, in fact its very cute, but it came out of no where.

Anyone else have dramatic changes in attitudes with their rats?

( A few pictures of my Myles )

I'm looking for a list of UK rat breeders if anyone can help. I did have one but seem to have lost it.

This is absolutely not a competition, but who has the longest hair (what is the longest length) on this community?  Has anyone reached ankle length?  Floor length?  Beyond???

I posted before about my youngest rat and my oldest rat fighting a lot, and we got a bigger cage (and coincidentally two more rats) and everything is fine. However...

1) Our oldest rat, Eva, has never been one to bite us or other rats. But recently, in the past couple of months, she has become much more violent towards us and the other rats. She actually bites them, producing blood. She only bites the two smallest rats. And will only bite us through the cage bars. (sometimes she gives us kisses though) Should we isolate her or rehome her?

2) Are there any "silent" water bottles out there? We found one online called Ferplast, but it's not really found in the states and we haven't gotten a reply via email yet from the company.

3) For those of you who have fleece over shelving: our shelves are solid so we've attached the fleece with velcro. But the rats know that the fleece "shouldn't be there" and they keep removing it. Any other way to keep them down?

4) Our newest and youngest rat, Topaz, has a head tilt! We are going to take her to the vet this week, but is there anything we should do beforehand?

That's it for now, thank you so much!

I work at a Petsmart, and we've had a hell of a lot of problems with the rats lately. A couple of rats have been in the isolation room since the beginning of the year, first with respiratory infections, then mites, then ringworm, then mites again. The two left have just gotten over their mites, but were considered too old to put back on the sales floor. So I adopted one of them, an EXTREMELY tubby brown and white dumbo I named Hubert. He is all clear now, medically speaking. He got a thorough check at the vet's.

After quarantine, Hubert lived in his own cage for a week at my house, in the same room as my other two rats, Puck and Leo. I frequently let them out on my bed for some interaction and introduction. Hubert had pretty poor social skills, as to be expected from a rat that's been kept alone for probably half his life. The other two were very interested and friendly, but he would turn his body sideways at them and run and hide. Then when the other two ran away, he would come out and try to groom them. By the last couple of days, Hubert was coming out more and there were even groom-fests going on.

Last night, after a thorough cage cleaning, I put them all in together. Hubert immediately took command of the igloo on the bottom level and wouldn't let either of the boys in. He would display the sideways, arched-back posture, but this time it seemed much more aggressive than scared. He had tussles with both of the boys, but espcially Puck, as Puck is very much in-your-face-hey-what's-up kind of rat. However, no blood no foul, so I figured they were just sorting out their differences.

I went upstairs to make some tea, and came back down to find the cage covered in blood. Puck was laying on the second level with several bite wounds. One on his back leg, another on the base of his tail, and on his testicles. Hubert was still guarding the igloo. I took him out, put him back in his own cage, and cleaned Puck's wounds. Puck bounced around, ate a yogie, and cleaned himself, seeming no worse for wear. I put him back in with Leo, after cleaning the cage. This morning, he seems perfectly normal and hyper, just like always. I'll be keeping a close eye on him, of course.

Now, what to do with Hubert? Were the introductions too soon? Is he always going to be like this due to his previous circumstances? Hubert is okay with people, but I'm not sure how I can ever trust him with other rats. I admit that I'm new to introducing rats to each other. Leo and Puck got along great when they were put together. If it comes down to it, I have no problem keeping Hubert by himself. I'm just not sure what to do now. Any ideas?

I am working a horrible job in health care that is just sucking the life from me. My parents (well, mainly my mom) will not allow me to quit since I am living under their roof. I cannot even think about what I am going to do with my future (I have only a few weeks left to decide if I'm staying at my college, or transferring to do something else), because I am so preoccupied with my horrible job (in thoughts, in having my schedule randomly manipulated so I work more, etc.).

It is probably the worst job in the entire world. I need to get out. There are no jobs where I live and, sometimes, I think the only answer is that, maybe I'll get lucky, and kill over so I don't have to go to work anymore.

Last week I adopted a rat that is missing one eye. I've been putting eye drop on his eye and medication like the vet told me to and he seems to be doing fine.

I only have him right now but I would like to give him a companion. I worry about eye socket being hurt if he fought with a potential buddy (during introductions) and well basically I just want to know if I should wait until his eye socket heals.

Also, does anyone have any experiences with a one eyed rat? (Just curious about the healing and susceptibility to infection.)