Tomorrow August 17, 2013 is BLACK CAT APPRECIATION DAY

This is an old photo of Doc who passed away this spring from old age.  I guess I could have scrounged up a photo of Philip whose my current black rat.  But, Doc is special.  He was a true black rat.  He went a tad grey in his old age, but he didn't have any patches of white hair.  He was a black self.

So, since tomorrow (August 17, 2013) is Black Cat Appreciation Day, Doc in the spirit of inter-species cooperation is my posthumous spokesrat.

In the photo, Doc is smiling from ear to ear as he's nomming his favorite pumpkin seeds.  You can even see his ears crinkling.

Apparently, black cats are difficult to adopt because of our cultural beliefs that black cats are unlucky.  This reminds me of the general public's attitude toward rats in general.  But, in addition, rat rescues have problems getting plain rats adopted.  Indeed, Doc is the epitome of plain rat.  And, he was adopted from Mainely Rat Rescue.

So, next time, you see a black cat give them a hug for Black Cat Appreciation Day.  Indeed, Little Bit, my dog, I'm sure will hug the next black cat she sees since she's buddy buddy with the neighbor's black cats.

What's that?

That is Doctor imitating an orange.  He, apparently, made a wrong turn when he was sneaking into his stash of pepitas.  Doc loves his pepitas.

Success.  He found his way to the right bag.  Here, he enjoys nibbling on his pepitas.

He's my only rat with a passion for pepitas, and we've been keeping a little bag of pepitas on the counter over the couch where the rats play.  Doc frequently finagles his way up to the bag, knocks it down, spills it.  He's always making a mess with his pepitas.  But, the other rats leave the pepitas alone.

By the way, orange rinds are another of the rare foods that you don't want to feed to rats, specifically male rats.  Orange rind contains a carcinogen, d-limonene, which is a problem for male rats, but not female.  Here's a post about that at RMCA.

And, if anyone is wondering, no, he did not nibble on the oranges.

Daytime and Rats

Sam says, "Seriously, I'm try to snooze here."

I just read an interesting article from Popular Science about how rats exposed to lots of light become depressed.  Rather, they prefer darkness.

This is a bit of a no brainer to me, but I have to think about how my current rat room is set up.  They have a night light on all night for my benefit.  Poor little guys.

Oh, and I have one criticism of the article.  It is my understanding and experience that rats are NOT nocturnal, but rather crepuscular.  They prefer dawn and evening hours and prefer to sleep during the night and daytime.  I definitely see my guys more active during those hours, but they seem to party all night, too.  (Indeed, last night they knocked over their litter box.  sigh.)  And, Doc snoozes in the afternoon as i frequently spend some time with him during the morning hours.  He eagerly waits for me to take him out for his morning romp, but if I bother him in the afternoon, I get the Doc's patented evil eye.

Regardless of whether rats are nocturnal or crepuscular, if they develop depression when exposed to more light than darkness, that's something to consider for pet rat owners.

Easter 2013 - Peeps S'mores

We had Peeps S'mores for Easter and, of course, the rats had to share.

Disclaimer - S'mores are NOT healthy, but this is a treat.  Also, chocolate is not poison for rats.  Indeed, chocolate can be therapeutic.

 Sam and Carl are investigating the strange yummy.  Doc is lurking in the background.

 Here, Sam goes for the peep.

 I just love this picture of Carl.  He's like, "WHAT???  Where did it go?"

 Doc enjoying the chocolate.

And, here's a Peeps S'more going into the oven.

It's 2 squares of graham cracker, some chocolate, and a yellow peep.  Baked at 350 deg Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes.  For the rats, I made sure it cooled a tad so none of my guys would get burnt tongues.

My fuzzy version of Finger Puppets

Here's my version of finger puppets.  It was originally done by Kathy Marie Smith.  And, this was my attempt to reenact.  As always getting good pictures from my always moving rats is a challenge.

Christmas 2012

Christmas photos better late than never.

Here's Sam being awfully cute.

Jimmy, "Do you have something I can nibble?"

Walter, "Is that Santa Paws?"

Doc, "I wonder if I can use this to explore the world."

Lemme Out

Doc tends to dash to the door jam and stare at you until you let him out.

Doctor in the Snow

Doctor in the Snow.

This photo was a one shot deal, and Doctor definitely was not in the mood to model for the camera. So, I kept the whole experience short and sweet and let him play on the bed afterwards. He was happy and bouncy.

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Pumpkin Festivities - Day 2

Report from the Pumpkin Cage-

Well, it's Day 2 of the Pumpkin Festival.

Nighttime is when most of the excavation occurs.




Here we find the starter hole has mostly been ignored.




However, a fairly significant excavation is occurring in the roof of the pumpkin.




So, we have made a minor alteration to the starter hole, and we shall see over the next 24 hours how this affects pumpkin excavation operations.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pumpkin Festivities 2012 BEGINS

Pumpkin time is a special and eagerly awaited for time in my household. And, this year's festivities has officially begun.




First, the pumpkin.




This year's start hole is ... small.




And, this photo was taken within minutes of placing the pumpkin in the cage. Yes, Lily has already begun the excavation festivities.

Not So Awesome, Doctor

I caught Doctor being very, very bad, and, of course, I had to grab the camera to document his misdeed.

    Ok, that may seem strange, but one does develop an odd reaction to rat's modification of objects.  It sort of becomes your fault if you leave something that they shouldn't chew on in reach of their chompers.  In Doctor's case, he isn't a chewer typically.  He is much more interested in getting places and exploring.  Lily, on the other hand, is incorrigible when it comes to chewing.  She is never left unattended near fabric otherwise, she WILL make lace.  She's already nibbled holes in a couple of my slacks.  So, I've learned to not let her squeeze into my pants leg.

So... I will be mending the quilt on my bed.  LOL

Cucumber Slices Make Delightful "Watermelon" Slices For Rats

Here's Doctor eating a cucumber as if it's a watermelon slice.





And, another picture because he was just so cute.




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The Doctor Undergoes Clicker Indoctrination, er, Training

Here is a short video of The Doctor's clicker training.

Reattempting Clicker Training

I stumbled across this blog, and it has motivated me to restart clicker training.

Here's Doctor getting his chocolate fix during training.




In my previous clicker training attempt, I'd found that the syringe worked for providing a very small reward. I'd struggled with the food reward for such a long time that it essentially turned me off clicker training. For awhile, I'd use a chocolate bar with Patches until she figured out how to bite big pieces. Then, it would take minutes for her to finish it, and just don't even think about taking chocolate from a rat. Anyways, waiting for a rat to finish their treat just ruins training.

So, I'm using Hershey's chocolate sauce in a syringe and just giving them a drip of it. Ok, it's not the healthiest, but it's BIG on the motivation.

Also, rats are really really smart. Training them is so similar to when I trained my Australian Cattle Dog, Throck. Throck, once he figured something out, would start testing it. This meant I had to really pay attention, because I may only get one perfect response, and then, he would start modifying his response.

I'm also used to using a lot of visual cues. Hmmm. Has anyone heard the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice? Well, they ain't kidding. Rats, also, are essentially blind.

My big take home message from my previous rat clicker training experience is that the individual making mistakes is always me. So, it can be very frustrating, but I'm going to try again. This time, I will try to "Be in the moment" and really listen to the rats (not watch, listen).

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