Favorite Video of the Week

I found this video on youtube that shows all the different ways rats are like tiny dogs with hands.

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"We can fit a few more in here."

*Photo courtesy of @RamblingRatz*

" I use the spit shine method of washing to get a shiny coat. Thanks for asking."

*Photo courtesy of Mary Kirkland -Me*

"Happy birthday to me." 

*Photo courtesy of Mary Kirkland- Me*

"Gimme the bag. Give it to me."

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I'll just have a small sip, mmkay?"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"You come back later, nap time now."

*Photo courtesy of MrRat395*

"What do you mean you ran out of yogies? How could you just let that happen?"

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Today I'll be showing you the rat way of making a chocolate cake."

*Photo courtesy of @rosemariehierma*

"Oh, Hai."

Review: Julienne Vegetable Peeler by Pridebit

Product Description

 EFFICIENT AND EASY TO USE - The Pridebit Julienne Peeler's sharp blades take the skin off fruit, vegetables and even squash quickly and easily. It juliennes carrots and other hard vegetables effortlessly. The two-in-one blade is versatile: peel with one side, julienne with the other. When you're done, just pop it in the dishwasher. Prepping great food at home has never been easier.

 BASIC KITCHEN TOOL FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE - Fitness experts recommend eating about 2 ½ cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit every day. Use the Pridebit julienne peeler to quickly prep the food you need to hit your nutritional targets.

 PROFESSIONAL QUALITY - The Pridebit Dual Julienne & Vegetable Peeler is made from high-quality stainless steel that maintains sharpness even after washing in the dishwasher.

 FREE RECIPE BOOK - Looking for inspiration for healthy, tasty new dishes? We offer a FREE recipe book to all of our customers so that you can get the most use out of your julienne peeler!

My Review

I opened the box as soon as it came in the mail because ever since I saw this product, I've been wanting to try it out. 

As you can see this peeler works exactly like it says it will. I was able to make julienne and thin slices of carrot so easily. Cutting this carrot into pieces you see above took me just a couple of minutes. The thin slices are perfectly thin and it cut all the way down the carrot so this will be great for things like stir fry. What I really love and am excited about is the julienne feature. Look at those great julienne slices of carrot! I like to cut vegetables up into small slices to give to my rats because rats are supposed to have fresh fruit and vegetables everyday. Well this peeler just made my work so much easier.

And the best part is my rats love the tiny rat sized portions. I could hardly wait to give Scribbles a few julienne pieces of carrot and after sniffing around my hand to make sure that I hadn't hidden a yogi in there somewhere, he took the carrots. 

Flower isn't as picky and she took the carrots right away. As you can see these julienne pieces of carrot are exactly the right size for tiny rats hands. 

This julienne vegetable peeler is made really well. This thing isn't going to break anytime soon and it comes with a cleaning brush to get into those hard to reach places especially on the julienne side. I will be using this peeler especially the julienne side for making julienne vegetables for lettuce wraps, stir fry vegetables, rat snacks, and salads. This vegetable peeler is really easy to use too, it practically glides over the vegetables and is so easy to use and cut them.

If you would like to buy this product you can visit Amazon to get the Julienne Vegetable Peeler. 

You can also visit their PrideBit website. 

Disclaimer: I was given this product for free in exchange for my honest review. 

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Weekly Rat Facts: Bathing

Most rats do not need to be bathed. I've been asked this question several times and I give the same answer every time. If they smell bad it's probably time to clean the cage instead of giving them a bath, a dirty cage will make them stinky. But sometimes a rat may need to be cleaned and some rats like water and some do not. It's not a good idea to force your rat into water if it's scaring them. But sometimes it is necessary to clean them and I'll give you tips on how to do this while not stressing your rat out. 

Rats only need to be cleaned or bathed if they get into something sticky, smelly or they are getting so old they stop cleaning themselves, which does happen to older rats. In which case you will need to help clean your rat. 

You will need:

A small bowl with warm water

2 medium size towel

A wash cloth

Unscented Baby wipes

Q Tips

Small Animal Shampoo

The small animal shampoo I've used is called Squeaky Clean and you can find it at most pet stores but you can also use Baby Shampoo or Dawn Dish soap. 

To begin you should give your rat a treat like a yogi drop and sit somewhere they are comfortable. I do this on the couch because they are very comfortable there. 

Put one of the towels on the couch next to you and put your rat on it. This is so your couch doesn't get wet. 

For small areas to clean like a spot in the fur, a dirty tail or just cleaning the genital area for older rats. You can use just the baby wipes and wipe your rat down and clean them off. 

For tougher more serious smells, a really dirty rat, just dip the wash cloth in the bowl of water, wring it out and wipe your rat with a wet wash cloth. use a tiny bit of soap and keep dipping the wet wash cloth into the water until your rat is clean. Giving them a treat while you do this will keep them distracted long enough for you to finish. 

If your rat has hind leg degeneration, you may also have to clean their ears out for them. To do this just hold your rats head under his jaw in one hand and pet him, once he is relaxed gently pull the ear slightly back and gently wipe the inside of the ear canal with the Q tip. Do not insert the Q tip into the ear canal without a veterinarian's assistance as you can hurt your rat if you go to far. 

After you're done, wrap your rat in the other towel and pat them dry as much as possible. Some rats will curl up in the towel and let you hold them until they dry. But most will start cleaning themselves right away and will keep cleaning until they are dry.

Do Rats Get Diabetes?

A friend of mine had been telling us about her rat who has diabetes and she updated our rat group about what she was doing to get him better and keep his diabetes under control. I figured most people probably didn't realize that rats just like humans and other animals could get diabetes so I asked her if she would be willing to be interviewed by me for an article. She agreed and that article is now live. Above is a picture of her rat, Boo who has diabetes.

Interview with a Rat Enthusiast: What Do I Do when My Rat Has Diabetes?

I love this picture of Boo, how sweet is that?

A To Z Blogging Challenge: R is For Rats!

If you know me at all, you had to know I would not pass up an opportunity to show off my rats and try to convince all you non rat lovers out there that rats are great pets! This is Lucky, my little three legged rat. I got him when he was still a tiny baby. A friend of my daughter who works in a pet shop called my daughter and told her that this little guy was going to be snake food or euthanized because it was against their policy to sell rats that are disabled. So she wanted to know if I would take him, which I did and he's such a great little guy. Just look at that face!

He kisses everyone as soon as they put their hands near him. He's so affectionate and loves to come out and play. 

This was Ares. I just lost him last month and he was 3 1/2 years old. That's old for a rat. He was a sweet old guy. I adopted him and his three brothers and they were such a bunch of characters. 

Here are two of Ares brothers, Jasper and Hades. I lost Hades just a couple of months ago..he was 3 years old when he passed away. They might not live a long time but they sure to give us a lot of love in the small amount of time they are with us. Hades and Jasper slept like this all the time. These two were my two biggest rats. Jasper was the biggest at 3 lbs and 19 inches long. 

Of course I had to throw in a funny picture of these two. Jasper doesn't seem to mind that Hades has fallen asleep with his foot on his face. 

This was Fang. He was my cuddler. He spent so much time sitting in my arms, on my shoulder or sleeping on my chest. He always wanted to be held, so much so that sometimes when I opened the cage door to clean the bathroom corner he would take that opportunity to jump on me and sit on my shoulder until I was done and could sit and hold him for a while. If you want a pet that will love you unconditionally, want to cuddle and sneak over to play with your hand...a rat is what you want to get.

And this is Marbles. One of his parents was a hairless rat and so he is half hairless and has patches of hair that are missing because of his mixed parentage. Some of his hair is curly, some is straight and some is gone. He's a nibbler. He says hi by grabbing your finger and nibbling on you, just like he would do to another rat in his pack. 

As you can see, I think rats make great pets and think people who have never thought of owning one should give them a chance. They are not dirty vermin, in fact they are quite clean. They groom themselves several times a day just like a cat does and they pick one corner of their cage to use as a bathroom, which makes keeping the cage cleaner for longer much easier. 

If you would like to learn more about rats, I have written a few articles that you might find interesting. 

Rats: Debunking Common Misconceptions

Rats: What is Popcorning?

How To Clean Your Rat Cage

Rats!

I wanted to share some more pictures of my boys with you all. They are getting bigger and they live for such short times, I take many, many pictures so I have a lot to remember them by. This is Bandit, my little food thief. He likes to go around and take everyone's treats. So I make sure that everyone has a treat and then I keep him occupied so they can eat theirs. He's getting better now though. If I put all the treats like carrots on a plate and all the rats are eating, he usually will sit there with them now and eat. When I first got him, he would stash all the carrots in the house and actually take any carrots right from his brother's mouths. 

Fang. That face...he is such a sweetheart. Just wants to be held all the time. I pick him up, sit on the couch and he falls asleep in my arms. He just sits on me all the time. He's not interested in playing or running around, he just wants to cuddle. I've never had a rat before that wanted so much affection and I hope I am giving him enough that he is happy. He seems to be.

Fang, Bandit and Patches. Fang and Patches sleep together all the time. They never fight, they clean each other and when one jumps down to get food, the other comes too. When I take Fang out for cuddles, patches does not like to be held at all so I give him a couple of treats and he seems happy. 

, 

Marbles. My half hairless boy. One of his parents was a hairless rat so he's half hairless and has patches of fur missing. But his fur is super soft and his whiskers are curly. He's still a little shy but super sweet.

Patches. he doesn't mind being petted as long as he's in the cage while you do it. He will not tolerate being picked up and held though, so I pet him in the cage and he is much happier than if I try to pick him up. 

Lucky is getting bigger and I am hoping to introduce him to the big cage with the other 4 boys soon. He's my 3 legged rat that I saved from euthanasia. The pet store was going to put him down because he only has three legs. He is super active, plays with us all the time. Won't sit still most of the time when we have him out.

I finally got a good picture of Lucky's face. His markings are adorable. His missing front leg doesn't slow him down at all. He's got more energy than any rat I've ever had. he's so much fun to play with because he will chase our hands and want us to chase him back. 

Some of Our Other Animals

My daughter with our very first rat, Romi. 

One of our hamsters had 5 babies and we had a lot of fun playing with them. lol 

Baby the dwarf hamster lived to be 4 years old, which is really old for a dwarf hamster. For the last few months of her life she would only eat soft human foods and even though I put a little portion for her on the table where I was sitting...she wanted to sit in my bowl and eat. You should have seen the look on my mom's face..LOL 

Romi, my first rat. She lived to be 4 years old and for the last few months could not bite through anything hard so I gave her soft human food and canned dog food. She loved her dog food.

Chance, the dwarf hamster. 

Onyx, the dwarf hamster. yes, he's sitting on my plate with a slice of my mom's pumpkin bread. LOL My mom got used to me letting the animals eat off my plates. 

Baby just a few days before she passed away, still enjoying her mashed potatoes. They were all very happy and completely spoiled little fuzzbutts.