Sharing Rat Pictures

I was looking through some old pictures of my boys and decided even though I know I shared some of these pictures with you all before, I wanted to share them again. 

This is Hades, this boy sleeps really easily and soundly and so my daughter took a couple of pictures of him while he was holding a little toy duck. 

This was Brodie. The face he is making is this picture just makes me smile. This guy was such a character. 

Hades has his foot on Jaspers face. Jasper could not have cared less, he just layed there like that. 

Jasper and hades always slept together before Jasper passed away. They curled up with each other like this all the time. 

hades fell asleep like this in my daughter's hand. As long as you pet him, he's a happy boy. 

Jasper and Ares. Jasper is on the right, he was the biggest rat I've ever had. 

And Jasper posing with bunny ears for Easter. I gave him a little treat and he happily sat there eating it. 

Hades with bunny ears. They didn't even care as long as they were getting a treat or being petted. 

My daughter made those bunny ears and he sat there looking at her like, "Ok, I posed, where's my treat." 

This was one of my first rats, Oreo. This was his favorite place to sleep. 

Hades and Jasper. I swear Hades can sleep anywhere. 

Freebie Friday

This week and Freebies were light, but I received Downy Unstopables sample and Kneipp Herbal Bath sample. Both smell really good. 

I find most of the freebies I receive from Hey It's Free. They have a great site for free samples and the guy that runs the site is quite funny. 

How To Give A Rat Baytril Antiobiotics

When you have a pet rat there are certain medications that you should have on hand in case your pet needs them in an emergency. I'm going to tell you about some of those medicines. The first one is Amoxicillin. This medicine you have to get from your vet and you should know that some vets won't give you Amoxicillin because they learn in veterinarian school that it can kill guinea pigs and hamsters and will generalize this to all rodents, but it works well for rats. 

Your vet will tell you the right dosage but you should either get the liquid or capsules so that you can easily mix the right dosage with some soy milk, baby formula or something sweet so your rat will eat it. 

The second most important thing I will tell you to have on hand is Baytril, the generic name is Enrofloxacin. I have had several people ask me recently how to get this and other medications by mail without a veterinarians prescription and vet bill.  It's available here. If you can't find it just do a Google search for Enrofloxacin liquid, you'll most likely find it cheapest at Bird Supply websites. 

Because most places don't make medications specifically for rats we have to take the same medications labeled made for other animals like pigeons, horses and ferrets and adjust the dosage to work with rats. 

To use Baytril (Enrofloxacin) liquid with rats you will need to buy the liquid and mix it with something sweet to eat or drink. The dose for 10% liquid is 0.1 ml/lb BID

I figured that out to be two drops of the Baytril twice a day for my 2 lb rats. 

This works well for rats who have mycoplasma. So if your rat is sneezing, wheezing or having a hard time breathing you should start them on Amoxicillin first and then Baytril. But if you can't get to a veterinarian's office and have Baytril on hand start giving it to them. Give them this for 6-8 weeks. My little guy Brodie got a little better after giving him Baytril but his lungs were weak and so I gave him the Baytril for a year, which helped him quit a bit. Sometimes they will get scar tissue in their lungs from an upper respiratory infection and their lungs will never be the same. All you can do in this case is make them as comfortable as possible while they are with you.  

Of course if you feel better taking your rat to the vet's office please feel free to do so. This is just general help and information that I've found out from my own vet and other rat parents that have helped me out when I needed it. 

Another thing to have on hand is Ivermectin paste. This tube of paste is made as a horse wormer but it can be easily used to treat rat lice and mites and you can find it in most pet stores. I found it in Petsmart. When I saw that two of my rats had rat lice, I bought this paste and gave it to them and it got rid of the rat lice. It does not kill the mite eggs though so you do have to give them one dose each week until the mites are gone. 

Dosage instructions for Ivermectin paste: Mix a small amount the size of a grain of uncooked white rice of the Ivermectin paste with something sweet and let your rat lick it off a spoon, once a week for 3 weeks.

Important: Only give what would be the size of a grain of uncooked rice. More could make your rat very sick or even kill them. 

I ordered this from Amazon at this link.

My Week In Review

So this past week we had some excitement in my neighborhood and here you can kinda see the police helicopter up over my apartment complex. They were there because there were out searching for 2 guys that held up my next door neighbors at gunpoint. These two guys live right next door to me and after they had all their computers and phones taken, they came over to my apartment and asked to use my phone to call the police because they had just been held up at gunpoint. 

I don't know if the bad guys were caught. 

Last week we also had 3 days of thunderstorms and one night we even had hail. 

We had pea sized hail that covered the ground for about 30 minutes. The thunder and lightning were crazy and loud but of course my hubby Ken was right out there watching the lightning. We hardly ever get thunderstorms of this magnitude and he loves the lightning. 

So that was my excitement for the week.

Halloween At My House

I thought I would share some of the spooky decorations we put up this year. My daughter did most of the decorating this year because she wanted to. She loves Halloween just as much as I do. 

This is my Friday the 13th cabin and Jason Vorhees figurines. 

And something cute. 

Scary Rat

I made this pumpkin tree a few years ago. 

Do you decorate for Halloween?

What DId We Do Before Blogging?

Back before the computer, *sigh* I know some of you can't even remember back that far because that was before you were born, but for us older folks we can remember what it was like.

If I wanted to talk with someone in another state I had to call them and run up my phone bill or send them a letter, *you remember those things hand written on paper with a pen, right?* and wait a few days for a response. While I lived in West Virginia and my mom lived here in Nevada, it would take 5 days for a letter to get to her, a couple of days for her to write me back and another 5 days to send a response back to me. That's 12 days all together just to get a response to a letter... I don't think kids understand that these days.

Now I can write a blog post and reach thousands of people all over the world each day. I wrote this today because I looked at my stats counter and I just passed 200,000 page views here on my blog and that amazes me because while I don't get a lot of comments, I can see that people are reading what I write everyday. Without that stat counter I would be asking, "Is anyone reading these darn posts?"

Before blogging I hardly interacted with other people, I'm actually very introverted and even as a teenager I didn't have much to say. *I know! What teenager do you know that doesn't talk non-stop all the time?* But online I am either writing blog posts, talking with people on fb, being interviewed for other blogs...which frankly I think is awesome! Or I am leaving comments on other blogs and making friends with people I never would have met otherwise.

I'm a freelance writer and having a blog and an internet presence is considered a marketing tool for many writers. I happen to like that end of things, I can bring my articles to people who may not have seen them or even know that I write them.

So I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who read my blog, even if you don't comment I can see that you come here and read what I have to say as my stat counter gets higher. And to those of you that do comment, thank you so much I really like reading the comments you leave me.

Christmas Card Exchange

I just signed up for the Christmas Card Exchange over at Close Encounters with the Night Kind. Would you like to exchange Christmas cards with new people? Just heard over to their site, sign up for 1 or more cards to exchange and they will email you with the addresses of the people to send cards to. Sounds like fun!

10 Things That Made Me Smile This Month

I've had a pretty good month so far and for me that saying something. So I thought I would share with you the top ten things that made me smile this month.


#10
It has finally cooled off enough that I can put away my shorter sleeve shirts and pull out a few long sleeve shirts. I won't be wearing them until next month but I can pull them out of the closet.

#9
It's cooler in the evenings so not only will our power bill be lower but we can take the window air conditioner out of the bedroom and leave the window open.

#8
My daughter went to the doctor and everything looks good with her pregnancy. I'm excited to see my grandson in a few months.

#7

Finally!

I preordered this book like 6 months ago, back before it even had a cover image. I love this series and will keep reading it as long as she keeps writing books for it. 

#6

New fall shows. Can you say Vampire Diaries and Supernatural? Oh yes, 

#5

Halloween decorations. My daughter pulled out the boxes and decorated our apartment on the 1st. 

#4

Halloween Candy. Oh now come on, you know you are eating some too. lol 

#3

Horror Movies all month long. I think this is probably my favorite month of the year because there are always some sort of scary movie on at night and I love that, I've been watching them all month long and my daughter has been watching some of the older ones right along with me. 

#2

The smells of Autumn. The candles smell like pumpkin spice or licorice and there are any number of sprays that smell like cinnamon spice, nutmeg, pumpkin pie ect. 

#1

My daughter holding Ares while he eats a piece of a cookie. My two ratty boys always make me smile and they have ever since I brought them home. My daughter loves them both so much and they love her as you can tell. He's a happy camper right there.

Freebie Friday

So this past week I entered a blog contest at Like A Bump On A Blog and was a winner of these two full size bottles of Lice Shield Shampoo and Leave in spray. 

Now I was kinda excited because my grandson will be going to school in like 6 years...lol But as we all know kids love to bring home things like colds, lice, germs, chickenpox ect from school. So when I heard that this company makes a shampoo that actually repels lice, I was kinda excited about that. 

It's a fact...when I was in 2nd grade my entire class got lice from one of the kids in the class. I remember the hell I went through having my long hair combed and the smell of that medicated shampoo was god awful. So if there's something on the market that can prevent lice from coming home with a kid, I'm all for it. 

Manscaping

I didn't even know what this word, "Manscaping" meant until I watched an episode of Big brother and watched some of the girls Nair off Ian's arm pit hair. The girls thought the au natural look was gross and that he needed a shave under there.

Since when do men shave their underarms?

Then the other day I was watching an episode of Jersey shore with my daughter. Now before you ask, no I do not under any circumstances watch that show myself..*shivers* My daughter wanted to watch it and I just happened to be in the same room. lol

But the thing is one of the guys on the show was shaving his chest. Now when did it become a big no no to have chest hair?

Do men shave their legs too?

When did that start?

I remember a few years ago when the term, "metrosexual" was being used for men who waxed their eyebrows so they wouldn't have that unsightly unibrow. Or the men would go and get a manicure. I think we all like clean nails. But when did it go from having clean clothes and clean nails to, "Oh I think I'll wax all the hair off my testicles today."

O.o

I mean seriously, who decided that men and some women should be as hairless as a newborn baby? I can understand the porn stars shaving because really, no one wants to see the 70's style overgrown jungle bush's that people used to sport back then. I little trim is one thing, but to be completely bare?

Were too many people getting pubic hairs stuck between their teeth and becoming embarrassed when someone pointed it out like a little spinach between the teeth?

I happen to like a furry man. I knew a guy who had a thick pelt covering pretty much everything from the neck down and he didn't shave a thing. He did trim his nether regions but just trim. His body hair was so soft, it was like petting a cat. lol

I like seeing a little bit of chest hair on a guy, I think it's sexy. I don't know why some guys are shaving, plucking and waxing areas that men never used to shave, plunk and wax. What's up with that?

I Have A New Articfle Published

Rats: Debunking Common Misconceptions

I'm sure everyone has heard that rats carry the plaque, are vermin, are dirty and freak a lot of people out. But the fact is rats did not carry the plague, the fleas that were on the rats did. The fancy rats that we keep as pets are not vermin, but their cousins: the wild rats that can be found in New York City subways could be considered vermin. Rats are not dirty, they spend much time cleaning and taking care of themselves, much like a cat does.

While rats do freak some people out, they are also growing as a popular pet in many circles. There are rat rescues, rat shows, rat groups, rat forums, rat havens and people who spend their time breeding healthy rats and making sure they are given to responsible rat owners in the hopes that healthy lines of rats will live longer and not be so prone to tumors and lung problems that come from 'accidental' or bred rats from the same families.

If you'd like to read more misconceptions about rats, please click on the link at the top of this page.

Why Do Car Seats Expire

Finding out that I'm going to be a grandma has made me take a look at things I thought I knew about. Turns out that things have changed in the last 21 years since I was a new mother. One of the biggest changes I've noticed is that car seats now have an expiration date on them. I don't remember anything about that back when I bought my first car seat.

So I looked into it and found that there are good reasons for car seats having expiration dates.

Materials Wear Down- Have you ever left a plastic toy out in the heat of the sun over the summer and go to pick it up after 3 months only to find the plastic part is now brittle and cracked from the sun damage? Well that's the same sort of thing that happens to a plastic car seat after having been left in the car for years. The extreme hot and cold temperature changes will change the composition of the plastic, making it brittle and putting tiny micro cracks into the seat. so if you have a car crash the car seat could completely crumble, or crack apart leaving your baby vulnerable and possibly hurt.

Technology Gets Better-  Like I said, back in 1990 things were different and a lot of the new latches, restraints and materials were not available back then, things change and get better. That's another reason for the expiration dates on car seats, as technology improves the car seat safety also improves. I would rather get rid of an old car seat and buy a newer safer one that take the chance my grandson could be hurt with the older one.

How Long Are Car Seats Good For- From what I have read most car seats expire 6 years from the manufacture date. Now this is important because some people will wait a year and buy last years model hoping to get it for cheaper. But it will expire sooner also and you should keep that in mind. Some models don't expire for 10 years but that's rare and you have to read what the owners manual says about that. The expirations date will be on the manufacturers label on the bottom or sides of the car seat.

For those of you that didn't know about this I hope this information helps.

Halloween Candy

This is my daughter back when she was younger and went trick or treating. She was a Southern bell that year and I have to say I think this was probably one of my favorite costumes that she picked out. She was so cute! 

Now take a look at that pumpkin that held the candy. We would spend at least 2-3 hours trick or treating and some years we had to come back home, grab a snack, get a drink, dump out the candy she already had because the pumpkin head was full and head back out for more. Now I could only last out there for a maximum of 3 hours and she knew that so she went to as many doors as possible in 3 hours and many time we filled that pumpkin head up two times. That's a lot of candy let me tell you. 

Her father and I would raid the candy bowl after she went to sleep and she was none the wiser. lol And then she got older and wised up to what we did. 

When she was 11 years old she brought out the big candy bowl that we usually put all the candy in after we checked it and then she also brought out a grocery sack and told us that we could have any of the candy in the bowl but the stuff in the sack she wanted for herself. LOL

Now you might think we got mad, we didn't. It took a set of balls  courage to tell us that and we thought it was kinda funny actually after raiding her candy bowl for years. 

And now with my daughter being pregnant I get to watch her over the next few years stealing her own kids candy and one day looking at her and telling her that he's keeping the good stuff for himself. lol 

Ah, the circle of life.

Making Pewter Statues

I have tried all sorts of crafts over the years and when I received a packet in the mail one day about making my own pewter figurines, I sent in my check and received everything needed to make these figurines. 

Now, this was 15 years ago that I made these and I've looked for that particular company that sent this kit to me and I can't find them, so they must not exist anymore. But there are tons of pewter making kits available out there. In the kit I bought for $40 I received enough pewter to make 4 statues, the rubber molds, clamps,  the little pot and stove to melt the pewter in, the crystals and a bottle of chemicals I used on the darker wizard on top to make the pewter darker and look aged. 

I had fun using the kit and might even look into buying another one in the future. 

How To Pop Popcorn In A Paper Bag

You will need:

                                   Tape, 1 paper bag and 2 handfuls of loose popcorn.

Take 2 handfuls of the popping corn and add it to the paper bag. 

You don't need a lot. A little goes a long way. 

Next, take a piece of tape and fold over the top of the bag and secure it with a piece of tape. 

So that it looks like this. 

Put the bag in the microwave and let it go for about 3-5 minutes. 

Just like the bagged pop corn you buy. It's ready when the popping is 1-2 seconds apart. 

Carefully remove the bag from the microwave and open. 

Those 2 handfuls of popping corn made all this popcorn. 

Of course I also had to show you what is on my refrigerator door. 

Rat chow sticker. 

5 small magnetic rats.

I have three different colors. 

Cute, eh?

Freebie Friday

This weeks freebies came to me from House Party. You just sign up for the House Parties and wait to see if you've been chosen to host one. Then they send you a box of goodies to share with your friends and family at your party. This week I was chosen for a Kleenex Hand Towel party and they sent me 12 boxes of Kleenex hands towels as well as 13 of the hand soap kits you see in the bottom picture. 

This kit is going to be a real hit at any party. I have 13 *one for me* of these kits to share with my friends. The plastic bottle filled with soap is sugar cookie scented and you add the green dye from the tiny bottle and then shake it until you have the desired color. Then you pour it into the white dispenser container and put it on your bathroom sink. The dye is green so you can make it for Christmas. And each kit came in the red pouch.

Disclosure: I was sent these freebies to share with friends and family. All comment are my own.

What My Rat Is Thinking

My rat hades. This is what I think he is thinking every time he looks at me. lol 

Book Pet Peeves

We've all been there. You start reading a book and want to throw it across the room for one reason or another. I have a few pet peeves when reading and here they are in no particular order.

Characters with no common sense. There are some loopy characters and they can be written in a way that make them endearing. Then there are those characters that do everything wrong and while reading we just can't believe that there could be a person that ridiculously dumb or naive. I mean have they spent the last 20 years in a nunnery? Unless they have been sequestered away in a room somewhere for years on end, please don't make them knuckle dragging stupid...mmmkay?

Books ending on a cliff hanger. Don't do that! I am very likely to never read another of your books if you do that. I want each book to have an ending. It can be part of a series and still have an ending.

Sending the reader a message. If you have a message you want to convey then rent a billboard, don't write it into your book. I don't want to feel like I am in school and you are teaching me that abortion is bad, god is good, the devil is bad, witchcraft is evil, or the government is too big. I don't want to be preached at while reading my book.

And my biggest pet peeve is when the male character treats the female character really really bad but she has feelings for him and keeps giving him time to come around or to show his softer side. Then all of the sudden they fall in love and all is forgiven like he never really hurt her feelings or made her cry through 99% of the book. No, no no. Can you say abusive relationship? Is this really the message authors want to convey to younger women who are reading their book? It's not alright to put up with verbal abuse and then forgive the guy because he now says he's in love with you.

I'm not talking about characters that have some sexual tension and just don't get along at first and there are a few mistakes made or he's the boss and treats her a little mean because he doesn't want to fall in love and he's trying to keep her away. I'm talking about some historical type books where the guy is a total Alpha Ass and forces her to have sex with him because he tricks her into marriage and sex is his right, locks her in her room for months on end all the while telling her if she gets pregnant he's taking the kid and raising it himself with the help of a nanny because she's just a stupid woman who was too dumb not to be fooled by him...type of story but by the end of the story he sees her for the kind hearted wonderful woman she really is and falls for her and she forgives him. I call Bullshit.