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Roxy and Dewey at home
(This is a
clickable image map - just point and click on the picture!) Hammock : they have two, so I can wash them occasionally - the other one is more of a fabric "house" that they can sleep IN, this is supposed to be for them to sleep ON - but in practice they actually sleep UNDER it! Bedding : we use shredded paper bedding for them, which they them "customise" by tearing it up to the size they want. It isn't dangerous for them, as it's non-toxic, will tear easily if they get any wrapped round them, and they have no inclination to eat it (and it is harmless even if they did.) On the floor we use Hutch Hemp, as the jury is still out on whether or not softwood sawdust is toxic or causes respiratory problems in rats, and having lost several rats to respiratory disease we have decided to err on the side of caution. Food Stick and food dishes : rats like to gnaw so I keep them supplied with specially-produced food sticks, which are nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc., on a wood stick (which they can gnaw when they get through to it) and dried food (Reggie Rat mix, from just about any pet shop) in a small earthenware dish. Keep dishes scrupulously clean, and provide fresh water in a demand-feed bottle (not seen in this photo - it was being refilled.) Our rats sort through their food dishes and take their favourite morsels down to store in secret hidey-holes to eat later, so don't think that just because the dish is empty that the rats have eaten it all! Catches for doors : rats are escape artists AND they are very clever, which is a deadly combination.... hence the springs on the door catches! We've even had one rat whose cage we had to padlock to stop her from going walkabout! Ramps : mesh ramps in this cage, although some cages have ladders or wooden ramps (which are more difficult to keep clean.) The rats sometimes use them to get from floor to floor, but as often as not they simply climb up the sides! (The ramps are very useful for sliding things DOWN, however......) Dewey and Roxy : Dewey on the left, the much bigger Roxy on the right. Notice the difference in the ear positions of the two varieties!
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