Good vs Evil

So what word did you see first in the above picture?

Good or evil?

Funny how our minds work, eh?

Weekly Rat Facts: Daily Health Checks

You might not think that you need to worry too much about your rat if they seem fine when you do a daily poop patrol in their cage each morning. But the fact is most rats won't show any signs of being in pain, having a medical problem or other health problems until they are in a lot of pain or their health is so bad that they need a visit to the vet's office. 

The one important thing you can do every single day is to check your rat over for any little health problems they may be having. 

Teeth

Rats need their teeth in order to eat. If they can't eat, they will lose weight and can die of starvation. A rats teeth keep growing so they gnaw on things in their cage to keep them trimmed down. They will also gnash their teeth together grinding them together which will also grind them down.

You should check your rats teeth to make sure they aren't over growing. Some rats have teeth that grow faster than they can grind them down which will cause problems for them when trying to eat and they can grow into their jaws which is incredibly painful and can make for a costly vet visit when they have to sedate your rat and trim their teeth. 

You can make sure your rats teeth are normal and not broken or in need of a trim by holding your rat and pulling back their lips and looking at their teeth. They should not be over grown and they should be yellow. Yellow teeth are healthy teeth for rats. If your rats teeth are over grown you will have to take them to a vets office and have the vet trim them and show you how to trim them. 

Genital Area

You wouldn't think that you would have to worry about your rats genital area but especially in male rats when they get overweight or older they might not clean themselves properly and get penis plugs. You can tell if your male rat has a penis plug by a foul smell coming from that area or if their genital area looks like there's a lump under the skin/fur.

Lumps and Bumps

You should be handling your rat everyday. That's the best way to trust train them to trust you, bond with you and get them used to humans touching them. Most rats love to be petted, cuddled, picked up and played with but some rats are more shy and stand offish. I have a rat who really doesn't like to be picked up but once out will crawl on you and cuddle with you.

You should be feeling around your rats body each day for small lumps and bumps. Right now I have a rat who has a small lump on his side and I'm watching it closely because it's either an abscess or a tumor. An abscess will most times be a little squishy in the middle which this one is and as it gets bigger it will pop on its own and all I'll have to do is clean it off each day and maybe put some neosporin on it. If however a lump grown massively and is hard, you should take your rat to the vets office to have the lump removed or if the abscess won't pop open and drain on its own you can have it lanced and drained at the vets office. 

But if you aren't checking each day or every other day for small lumps and bumps you won't know how fast it's growing or it it's hurting them until it's big and you have to take your rat in for emergency surgery. 

Claws

Always check your rats claws to make sure none of the nails are bleeding or too long to where you have to clip them. You don't want your rat to be in pain.

You should be handling your rats everyday. It's the easiest way to get them used to you and the best way to check them out and make sure they aren't hurt in some way.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too.

This week I won 2 books a pin and swag (bookmarks) from I Smell Sheep. 

I received a free sample of Purina Dog Chow and a sample tube of Smashbox Foundation primer. I found the links for both of those freebies at Freebieshark. 

No More Lost Keys

My daughter and her boyfriend Josh just moved into a new apartment and now they have more keys to keep track of. They kept losing the key chains so Ken decided to make them a key ring holder something like we have. He started out with just a small piece of wood, painted it, put the lettering on and drilled holes for the little hooks and screws to attach it to the wall.

I think it came out pretty good. You can't really tell from the lighting but it's painted a light green and the lettering is a darker green with little yellow stars around the letters. 

Our daughter liked it and now they have somewhere to hang their keys. 

Drama Causers

I just want to throw this out there today for personal reasons.

The people who say they want no more drama in their lives are usually the ones causing all the drama in others lives but it's never their fault when the other person retaliates. 

How's the for strange logic?


I just love how some people will say over and over that their side of the street is clean and they've not had anything to do with the people or persons who won't leave them alone but over and over again it gets proven that they are the ones who can't leave well enough alone either by posting more blog posts calling out a person BY NAME or by making sarcastic Twitter, fb or other social media posts that they think others won't understand. 

These people are called Psychopaths/Sociopaths. They have no morals, no empathy, complete disregard for the feelings of others, lack of conscience, extremely manipulative, lack of guilt and is often accompanied by cruelty to animals as well as a failure to accept responsibility for his own actions. 

Therefore they are not worth your time. They are not worth the time it would take to prosecute them for spreading rumors about you, using your name or email address in an open forum or spreading lies about you. Because the most they would get is a slap on the wrist because the laws aren't set up for internet harassment of this sort. 

Review: Love With Food

So about a month ago I saw a post on Fb about Love With Food and checked it out. A friend of mine had just signed up to receive a box of food samples and the 1st box was only going to cost a $2 shipping and handling fee. 

If she liked the box and wanted more, all she had to to was not cancel the order and another box would come every month for $14. 

So I figured, what the heck. A box of at least 7 different samples of food for $2. That's a pretty good deal for the first box and I can cancel it afterwards if I don't like it. I like trying new foods and I love little samples and these were darn near free *just $2* and I love that too. 

So imagine my surprise when my introductory box arrived and in it I found...

All Natural Spice Rub from Dizzy Pig

Sea Salt Potato Crisps from Good Boy Organics

All Natural Salsa from El Pinto

Original Creamy Pralines from Aunt Sally

… More Amsterdam Waffle Cookie from Rip van Wafels

Snapea Crisps from Haverst Snaps

Sugar-free Fresh Mints from Project7

Crunchers from Sahale Snacks

So Ken and I started opening tiny packs of food and trying them. I opened the Waffle cookie and broke it in half and we stood there tasting it. Both of us were making faces and both said, "yeah, not good." 

The Ken opened the sea salt crisps and he liked them, I on the other hand thought they had a really bad flavor. 

We ended up trying a couple more things and I found that the only thing I really liked were the mints. We ended up giving our daughter a few of the things and are saving the spice rub for the next time we grill something on the bbq.

Now let me tell you, if I had paid $14 for this box of samples I would be a bit more than irritated. I'm not a health nut or anything and some of these things tasted really, really awful. The only thing in this box I actually liked was the mints. So of course I canceled my membership to make sure I wouldn't be charged for any more boxes. I don't mind the $2 I paid for this box, it's really not bad. But $14 for another box of similar things..I don't think so. 

So if you've been thinking of giving this a try...I'd pass. 

Dog Sitting

I think I've mentioned a few times that Ken *hubby* goes to California a few times a year to dog/house sit for his sister. Well, meet the dogs that Ken gets to go play with while he's there.
Bowie, Carly, and Fergie. 

Bowie is the light colored boy laying on the floor, Carly is the reddish girl sitting next to him and Fergie is the girl sitting in the chair.

Carly giving kisses.

Fergie in her digging hole in the back yard.

She looks pretty relaxed. It's a dogs life for sure.

Bowie getting ready to take a nap.

I've never had a dog as a pet as an adult but I did have a dog when I was a kid. They always give you those, *pet me* looks. lol 

Like this one..

She looks pretty comfortable. 

So those are the dogs that Ken gets to play with while he's gone for a week or two. So next time I mention Ken is dog sitting, you'll know what I'm talking about. He's actually going to dog sit for a weekend at the end of this month. lol 

Not What I Was Expecting

I was just googling different words to see if I could find some interesting websites for blog posts. I was going to do another post on the Living Dead Dolls but came across a page called RealDolls and clicked on it. Imagine my amazement when instead of finding baby dolls for kids, I see X-rated dolls for adults.

I blocked out the *ahem* exposed parts on these dolls. 

I had no idea that these kinds of dolls were available. And hey, if you have an extra $5000 or $6000 laying around, you too can have one. o.O

Who buys these types of thing?  smh

Weekly Rats Facts: Trimming Toe Nails

It can sometimes be necessary to trim your rats toe nails but instead of trying to hold him and do it with clippers, you can get things like Lava Ledges or bricks and put in their cage. When they run, jump, and climb on these things, it trims their nails down automatically. 

I have these Lava Ledges in both rat cages and all my boys climb on them which helps to keep their nails trimmed. They also chew on it which is good for their teeth. 

You can get a brick and put it under the water bottle so that when they go to get a drink they step on it and that will help trim their nails. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too.

This week I received 3 sample packs of Metamucil from Vocalpoint.

And a sample size bottle of Febreeze Sleep Serenity spray and I found the link to sign up for this freebie at freebieshark. 

Review: Open Door Invitation by Dee Carney

So you all know I have a Kindle now and I said I would be downloading some free books found on Amazon. While most of the books I've found and read have been meh, at best..I did manage to find one last night that was wonderful and wanted to let you know about it because as I said right now on Amazon, it's Free! 

And we all love free. 

Not only is it free, but if you like a little mysterious male action tossed with a little paranormal bite *pun intended*, you're definitely going to love this one. 

I loved Lucien and may have to leave my door open just to see if he comes for a visit. 

Book Description
Every single woman knows at least a few basic safety rules. First, don’t talk the strangers. Second, don’t invite strangers into your home. Sometimes, however, a lonely woman gets comfortable and after darkness falls, lets those rules slide. But with the darkness, if one believes in such things, might come creatures of the night. Throw an open door invitation into the mix, and anything can happen…

This short story is approximately 3900 words. Now includes bonus content from Hunger Aroused by Dee Carney

You can find this delicious little read on Amazon at this link. 

The Torture Game

Every once in a while I a come across a person that makes my inner serial killer want to come out and play. So instead of going bat shit crazy and spending the rest of my life in prison (I hear the food there is horrible) I just play The Torture Game. 

The picture I posted is tame compare to what I could have posted. My favorite weapon happens to be the saw there, but there's also nails, spikes, razors and guns you can use to beat this fake human to death. It gets bloody and calms my inner serial killer down for a while. 

Wanna play?

The Torture Game

What weird games have you played lately?

I'm A Great-Aunt!

My niece and nephew had their first child this month. Here is Sophia Liliygrace Kirkland. She's a tiny little thing, she weighed 5 lbs 14 ounces and was 18 inches long. 

Newborns are so cute. Hi Sophia. 

My nephew Billy, with his newborn daughter. 

I have A Kindle...

I have a Kindle. I bet you never thought you'd hear me say those words now did you? LOL

A few months ago Ken's sister gave him her older Kindle when she upgraded to a newer one. But he hasn't used it so I thought I would check it out. 

First off...I could not for the life of me figure out how to register this damn thing without a wifi connection, so thankfully my daughter and he boyfriend came over with one and I was able to register it. Then came the fun part...Reading the instructions. 

Ken's sister was nice enough to print out the entire user's guide and send it along with the Kindle. But it's huge!

It's more than 100 pages long!

I just wanted to know how to download ebooks from my computer using the USB cable. So I finally get to that section and try to follow the instructions...and nothing. I couldn't figure it out to save my life. So what do I do?

I Google the question. And ask a friend how to do it and she was able to simply explain how to save the book to the computer and drag and drop it into the Kindle documents folder. 

There were no words about dragging and dropping in this user's guide. I really don't have a lot of patience and I was getting reading to throw this thing across the room and smash it into a bazillion tiny pieces. Good thing I didn't. lol 

But I've now read through the entire user's guide and think I have the hang of this Kindle thingie. I even downloaded a couple of free ebooks from Amazon onto it. 

So what ebooks did I get, you may be asking yourselves?

A Bit of Bite by Cynthia Eden

 Bewitching the Werewolf by Caroline Hanson 

 Claimed (The Circulate Series) by K.R. Smith

 Ten Shades of Sexy by Shelly Thacker (Author), Kathryn Shay (Author), Patricia Ryan (Author), Julie Ortolon (Author), Patricia McLinn (Author), Julianne MacLean (Author), Wendy Lindstrom (Author), Allyson James (Author), Emma Holly (Author), Lori Devoti (Author) 

I'm still not an ebook lover and I still don't see myself buying ebooks, not when I can buy a paperback book for just a little more and have the actual book in my hands. But we were given the Kindle and there are free ebooks available, so I see no reason not to take advantage of that. 

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.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too.

This week I received a full size tube of John Freida Brilliant Brunette. All you have to do to get free samples from them is sign up for an account on their website. 

I was sent a coupon for a free jar of Best Foods Mayonnaise from Smith's Grocery store. 

I received a sample of Bounty Duratowel. 

And I received a BzzKit from BzzAgent containing a free full size Cottonelle Fresh Care Flushable wipes and a coupon for a free 4 pack of Cottonelle bath tissue. 

How To Make A Clickable Link on Blogger

Rats 101: What is Buck Grease

Are you just starting out on Blogger and wondering how to make a clickable link?

Well, I'm going to show you how. First make sure you are on 'compose' and not HTML. 

Just click on "compose" in the upper left hand side of the screen.  

Now to make a clickable link you have to write the words you want people to click on like I did for a link to my article. Once you've done that, click and hold the right mouse button and drag it across the words until they are highlighted and then let go of the button.

Now open another window or tab and pull up the page you want to make a clickable link to and copy the URL. You do this by clicking on the URL and when it is highlighted right click your mouse and click on 'copy'.

Now go back to your blogger page and make sure the words on the page are still highlighted and click on 'link' on the blogger tool bar.

A window will pop up and this is where you 'paste' the URL you just copied. All you do is put your cursor in the box and right click the mouse, when the box pops up click on 'paste' and that will paste the URL into that box. Then click on "ok" on this box. 

Your link is now clickable. 

Mine Doesn't Look Like Theirs *Subway Sandwich*

So a couple of days ago we went to Subway to get sandwiches. This is half of the footlong Turkey Bacon Avocado sandwich that I got. I got it because the picture on their website looked pretty good. 

This is what it looks like on their website. It looks NOTHING like what I got. The avocado is even on the bottom on my sandwich. and don't even get me started on the bacon. It was a joke. There were 4 tiny pieces of bacon *1/2 slices if that* that were taken out of the the fridge and put in the microwave and then put on my sandwich. They had crumbled into nothing by the time I got home. 

Look at the difference. *click on the pictures to enlarge them* You can see the avocado in the picture from their website. So where's all that avocado on mine?

Buried under a ton of lettuce! On the bottom and it was just a smear of avocado.

This is the last sandwich I will be getting from them. It's just not worth it. 

I'm Not The Only One Who Spoils The Rats...

That's Ken *hubby* with Bandit. He wasn't a rat person before we brought our first rattie girl into the apartment. But he sure is now. 

And as you can see, they love him. Bandit laid there for a while getting snuggles from Ken. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Treats

Lucky with a Yogi in his mouth.

It's ok to give rats small treats every once in a while, but it shouldn't be an every day thing. I give my rats a yogi treat or small piece of chocolate a couple of times a week. 

Unlike dogs, rats can eat chocolate in small amounts without any harm. In fact dark chocolate is good to give to a rat if they are having breathing problems because it works as a bronchial dilator and helps rat breathe a little better if they are having respiratory problems. But it should be given in small amounts. 

As long as you are feeding your rat a nutritionally complete diet, there's no reason not to give the occasional treat. 

Rats don't know what treats are, they like pretty much all food. So you should give healthy treats when possible. Things such as fresh fruits and vegetables should be a daily part of their diet along with a staple dry food. I use Oxbow Regal Rat food as the dry food they always have available and during the day I give them different fruits and vegetables to go along with the dry food. 

Any fresh foods you put in their cage in the morning should be removed by the end of the day if not eaten because it can spoil and make your rat sick. 

Some foods that can be given as treats are:

Carrots, banana, apple, pear, yogis, dark chocolate, yogurt, broccoli, corn on the cob, watermelon, cherry tomatoes, white rice, brown rice, oatmeal, wheat germ, and pretty much any other fruit of vegetable. 

My boys love oranges but because of something in the rind of the orange that can cause cancer in male rats, if you are going to give oranges as treats you should peel the orange and rinse it off before giving to rats, especially male rats.