Weekly Rat Facts: Grooming

Rats will groom themselves much like cats do, they will also groom each other to show that they know who is in their pack. They are social animals and the pack mates will often groom the alpha in the cage to show they know who is the dominant one.

Rats will also groom their humans and when they do, they are letting you know that they consider you to be part of their pack. Scribbles has just recently started grooming my hands when I pet him. He'll lick my fingers and then use his teeth and very quickly use them to scrape against my skin, like he would to other rats. He'll groom *bite off* my finger nails and even scrape off and eat any little scabs or pieces of dry skin he finds. Yes, I know that's kinda gross but that's what they will do. 

Scribbles and Lucky are the only two rats that I have that groom Ken and I right now. Marbles is old and grumpy and he never really was very social. He's more likely to bite me if I pet him when he doesn't want it, then he is to lick or groom me. lol And Flower is still getting used to us and really doesn't sit still long enough to do much grooming of anyone but herself.

Lucky on the other hand has always been very friendly and started licking and grooming our hands within 2 weeks of us getting him. As soon as our hands are within reach, he start licking. He's such a friendly little rat. Ken installed a 40 gallon hot water heater for my dad last week and his arms got beat up pretty good. So Lucky has been trying like crazy to bite off Ken's bandages and get his teeth on his scabs and wants to lick all his little boo boo's. Ken isn't really wanting him to do that though because as he said, "Ouch, that hurt." lol 

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. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received a box from Sample Source. In order to get occasional sample boxes from them all you have to do is sign up for an account and when they send you an email saying they have samples ready, you just take a couple of small surveys to see what samples might be a right fit for you and then confirm your address. Very simple. 

This week I received: 

Garnier Fructis shampoo and condition

Eight O' Clock Coffee

Tums Freshers

Breathe Right Nasal Strips

Tums Chewables

Air Fresheners

I usually buy the Renizit cones, they last quite a while and are cheap. Only about $1 a piece. So when I saw on Amazon that Renizit has come up with a new product, I had to try it. It's called Renuzit Air Freshers Crystal Elements. And this is what they look like. They come in a bag and inside the bag are two smaller plastic pouches with these rocks in them. You just pour them onto glass dishes or into glass bowls and place them around your home. I put some in a glass dish.

I also keep my glass candle holders after I have burned the candles and the candle has melted. Just clean it out and you can reuse them.

This is how I reused this one. I filled it with some of the Renuzit Air Freshers and have it sitting on my shelf. The colored crystals in the glass are pretty and they come in different colors and scents. So far I've had them sitting out for two weeks and they are still putting off a good scent.

The bag of the Renuzit Air Freshers only cost about $6 and there was enough to fill 4 small glass jars or bowls. I'll be getting these from now on. 

My Published Articles

*Scribbles*

So this month and last month I was a busy writer and wrote a few more articles and now they've been published. I'd love it if you took a look at one or all and let me know what you think. I mostly write about rats and hamsters but I do occasionally write about other things. And yes, I do use pictures of my own rats in my articles. 

What Should Be In A Rat's First Aid Kit

Things To Consider Before Adopting A Pet Rat 

Which Hamster Breed is Right For Me

Rats 101: Water Bottle vs Water Dish

Alternatives To Animal Testing

It's not the first time that I've written an article about what to consider before adopting a pet rat or how much they cost me each month. The reason I keep writing on these topics is because people keep asking me questions that just make me shake my head in disbelief. Here's just a couple of the questions I've been asked on Twitter, FB and by email in the past couple of months. 

1. Can I house my rat in a hamster cage?

Answer: No, you cannot. A hamster cage is not at all big enough for even a small rat. The tubes, wheels, beds and space pods are much too small and you run the risk of them getting stuck and hurting themselves. 

2. Can I leave my rat at home alone for a week if I put a lot of food in his cage and add an extra water bottle?

Answer: No, absolutely not. Rats are social animals and require human interaction everyday or you run the risk of having an unsocial, unfriendly rat who is mad that you left them alone for so long. If you need to leave for a long period of time, you should get a baby sitter for your rat. Someone you trust to take care of your rat. 

3. Can I leave the rat cage door open while I'm at work?

Answer: Not unless you want your rat to chew through all the wires to your tv, lights, cable, phone and refrigerator and probably electrocute himself. 

Good grief, a little common sense. Is that really too much to ask for?

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 Mother's Day

I wanted to wish all of the mother's out there a very happy Mother's Day. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Cage Accessories

Scribbles and Flower needed new houses so I opted for fleece cubes to accessorize their cages. 

So I bought this one for Scribbles. 

And this one for Flower. 

They are pretty cute and soft and look comfy. Now while Flower loves hers and sleeps in it all the time now. 

Scribbles has yet to stay inside it for more than a few seconds. He sleeps under it, beside it, in front of it. But not in it. Silly boy. I might put a cardboard box in his cage and see if he likes that, all rats seem to like that for some reason. 

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. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week  received: 

Suave shampoo and Conditioner

Colgate tooth brushes and toothpaste

I also received a couple of Kindle books from blog contests.

This is an entire book set!

How To Build A 10 Year Old, A Dog House

You probably know by now that I live in an apartment complex. The doors are pretty close together and we have some courtyard space in front of our doors. The BBQ at the bottom of this picture is directly in front of my door and that is mine. But my next door neighbor, I will call her door slammer...went all out and put the chairs, flower pots and...dog house out in the courtyard in front of our doors. This picture was taken directly in front of my door. She thinks she is going to grow tomatoes, cantaloupe, strawberries and other fruits in those little pots. 

Yeah it looks nice and I wouldn't even be bringing this up but she went and got a dog house and spent all night, up until 3am building this thing outside for her 10 year old daughter who is coming to spend some time with her this summer.

See that dog house in the back? Yeah, doesn't that look like something a 10 year old girl would like? Not! I know every little girl wants a dog house to play in, right? lol 

I don't know what this woman was thinking. No kids or even dogs have gone in it. she might as well crawl in it and take a nap herself and we just found out that our apartment manager plans on adding more small rocks to the courtyard and putting in some cement slabs in the middle so people can put their BBQ's on them. So door slammer will have to move all her stuff anyway. Maybe she can set the dog house up in her apartment for her boyfriend? lol 

I just can't make this stuff up...

Chatabout.com

I think I told you all about Chatabout.com a couple of month's ago when I found it. I added it to my master list of sites that I use *just click the link to see the list*. I like to tell people about great sites they can use to make a little extra money online when I find them and this is a good one. 

A few weeks ago I cashed out enough points to get a $25 Amazon gift card and it only took me 20 days to do it. 

You get points for doing really easy things like making comments, sharing news articles on twitter and facebook, asking questions, taking surveys and answering the daily poll. I average about 100 points per day but it does take a while but it's totally worth it. 

500 points will get you a $5 gift card. 

2500 points gets you a $25 gift card. 

I waited until I had enough points for a $25 gift card so I can show others that it is possible to get that much and it only took me 20 days. I did some of the bonus activities like signing up for free accounts on other sites and that sometimes got me as much as 85 points.

So do you think you would use Chatabout now? 

Want to sign up? Here's a link for you. 

Happy Cinco De Mayo

*click on picture to enlarge*

No, this picture has absolutely nothing to do with Cinco De Mayo, but I had to share it when I saw it on fb because as you all know...the Scottish accent just does it for me. I've never hidden that fact from anyone. That, coupled with this picture and what it says just had me giggling like crazy this morning.

Happy Raturday!

*Hades*

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*

A couple of these appeared on Rat Logic's page but I made all of these meme's myself using pictures of my own rats. Enjoy. 

*Lucky*

*Flower*

*Scribbles*

*Flower*

*lucky*

*Lucky*

*Jasper*

Understanding HIV

Recently my husband had an anniversary. He passed his 21st year of living with HIV/AIDS so I thought I would take that opportunity to write a couple of articles about HIV. I always say that he is living with the disease instead of what people used to say, that people with HIV are terminally ill. Thanks to the medications people with HIV can lead long, healthy lives for 20, 30 and even more than 40 years. No longer do we fear that our loved ones who have the disease are going to get sick and die right away because the medications that are available are really good at suppressing the virus in the body. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Scritches and Other Rat Related Words

If you ever wonder into a rat forum or see rat owners talking about their rats on fb or twitter you might see some words that make no sense to you, like pancake, scritches and heart rat. We rat owners have several words to describe our little friends and I've written down the most popular ones with an explanation in one of my new articles. 

Rats 101: The Unique Language of a Rat Owner

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. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

9 boxes *3 flavors* of Triscuits Thin Crisps

A serving and dip dish

10 Triscuit Tote bags

10 Coupons for a FREE box of Triscuits

This box was from House Party.

In my box were 3 boxes of Cinnamon and Sugar, Wasabi and Soy Sauce and Sour Cream and Chives flavored Triscuits, also a serving and dip dish.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review of V8 VFusion 100% Juice

Hubby bought this because he likes V8 juice and he likes fruit juice and we have been seeing commercials about how great this tastes and how it gives you a full serving of fruits and vegetables. So he wanted to try it. He poured a glass and took a sip...all I can say is the face he made was not one of delight. 

He handed me the glass and asked me if it tasted bad or if maybe it had gone rotten. That's right, it tasted so bad to him that he actually thought it was rotten.

So I bucked up and took a sip and it was the most foul thing I've tasted in a long while. I took another sip because I knew it wasn't rotten or hadn't gone bad but what was it that made it taste so bad? So I took another sip and realized what I was tasting..there was the banana and strawberry but there was also a taste of tomato juice. That's right, just picture pouring tomato juice all over a banana and popping that succulent edible in your mouth and you might understand how this just doesn't work at all.

Some say it's like sunshine in your mouth but for me it was more like a tornado destroyed my taste buds.

And kids are supposed to love this stuff? Doubtful. 

A To Z Blogging Challenge: Z Is For Zoomania

Zoomania- meaning...a passion for animals.

If you've been visiting my blog for very long, you already know I have a passion for animals. They're just too cute not to. Am I right?

Let me share some of the reasons I like animals...especially rats

They wear hats for you.

Celebrate their birthday's with you and share their cake. 

Pose for Easter Pictures.

Wear Santa Hats.

Give you Christmas Presents.

Play Santa for the kids.

Snuggle with their duckies.

Love kids.

I can't think of any better reasons.