your boys are great op. what are their names?

>>5001773
I call the big one Bitey

>>5001773
Hard to tell Kevin and Brutus apart from the picture but Giovanni is the one to the right.

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>>5001619
>tfw rat in the attic
>I only have sticky traps
>no emone to buy more traps
forgive me, zanzirrat

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>>5001720

>>5001834
these are good.

>>5001619
If you put your nose in their fur, what do your rats smell like? My boys smelled vaguely like pear but mostly like alfalfa. Then I met a friend’s girls and they stank like raw sewage, no matter what stage their cage was in

>>5001997
Most rodent traps and baits are extremely cruel but sticky traps are not a nice way to go.

>>5003323
the fucker is pretty big, so I don't think it will get immobilized, usually rats can unglue themselves just by brute force lmao
then you find the traps full of fur and paw prints.

>>5001997
>>5003327
fuck off if you wanna spin your glue trap stories in a rodent thread. seriously.

>>5003344
>thread about rodents
>nooo don't talk about these rodent-related themes reeeeee
seethe faggot
I like most rodents but wild animals better stay the fuck away from my burrow or I'll kill them

>>5003351
nevermind i take it back, you're a BASED alpha male

I've been toying with the idea of getting pet mice, but my home gets cold as fuck in winter, I'm talking lows of like 4c/40f. Is this just a pipe dream on my part? I'm reading about heating mats for lizards, but idk, sounds like a costly fire hazard.

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Drunk and high and a fucking mouse popped into my apartment of 6 years for the first time. Cat couldn't catch it because she's never dealt with one, threw her in bathroom then searched room and could not find it. Let cat back in and she cases it from behind my desk where i didnt look and I quickly lock her in my room after it escapes. Opened my front door found it behind my table and chased out the mouse seemingly unharmed. He was young.

>>5003327
The stupid question thread on >>>/diy/2923364 will get you better answers but search the index, there's nearly always a pest issue thread going as well
I'll give you useful answers on the right board
This however is a thread about keeping pet rodents healthy and alive as long as reasonable

Awe. They're so adorable. :) I own four mice, all girls. They're pains in my ass.

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>>5001619
>Why is there no rodent/rat general up?
The last couple of months have been crazy so not starting threads or contributing much. I'll try get better
Bit below about general rat care
Please reply if you have links to include in the next threads
>Rats need love
>Rats need companionship
>Rats need free roam time
>Other rodents welcome
Rat first aid: http://neratsociety.co.uk/articles/firstaid.shtml
Good and bad food: https://squeaksandnibbles.com/safe-foods-for-rats/

Pic rel is from Kassel, Germany, just behind Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station

>>5003727
mous fren

>>5003464
>They're pains in my ass.
Gave up on the gerbils, Mr Gere?

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Would your life improve if I abandoned a chinchilla on your doorstep?

>>5003796
No but my kid would probably lose his shit in a happy way. We've been looking into getting a new pet after my dog died nearly three years ago now but he only wanted ones "with front eyes" because "side eyes are weird" and I didn't want to get another dog so quickly after mine's death.
He's stopped caring about getting a new pet or, at least, he's stopped bringing it up but I think he'd probably really like a chinchilla despite his five year old protestations against prey animals as pets.
While not rodents, I'd get a sable, marten or something similar (maybe even a ferret, j just don't think they're as cute) if I could keep them as free roaming pets. I'd get rats if they didn't die so young. That's my main issue against getting small pets: they have to be caged and/or they don't live very long.

>>5003796
large mous fren

I would get some rats in a heartbeat if they lived like 10 years
Work on breeding longer lived rats please

>>5004083
I'd consider a Gambian pouched rat, which I'm not sure is actually a rodent at all, if they weren't so goddamn ugly to me. They're really very nice and live a long while

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>>5003886
Just get a cat. Easy to keep 100% indoors. Friendly enough. Use a low speed decent cfm fan unit with intake running to the covered litterbox and exhaust going outside.

The catch:
DO NOT GET A SHELTER CAT OR A STREET CAT
Buy a purebred, pedigreed ragdoll
Your sons arms will thank you

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Would it be unethical to feed a rat exclusively roaches and vegetables?
I have a theory that if I feed a rat exclusively that sort of diet, it can be used to hunt down roaches.

>>5004150
I'd be concerned about the diseases and parasites they could pick up from wild food like that

>>5004153
>I'd be concerned about the diseases and parasites they could pick up from wild food like that
It's a rat, they only live like 3 years. I don't think that's important.

>>5003796
Probably I have a good frontyard

>>5004150
>that schnoz
>"you vill eat ze roaches!"

>>5004100
Nah. I don't like cats, he doesn't really like them either since he's an active kid and the missus couldn't care one way or the other. She's not much an animal person except birds. She grew up with a BUNCH of birds. If I ever make it down to my in-laws, I should take some pics of the enormous enclosure her mother has.

>>5001619
Is it true that having pet rodents attracts wild rodents? Could they possibly be trained to repell bad rodents?

>>5004158
I don't think you're suited to rat ownership, have you considered a pet rock to throw at roaches?
>>5004707
Clean regularly, bag your rubbish, bin it the night before the bins are picked up
Pretty much the same rules for keeping your home pest free but include the cages
I live near a canal with lots of rats and mice but only had 1 mouse out by our bins years ago

>>5003459
You should probably specify that you only want to discuss pet care in the OP instead of titling it “[animal] general” then.

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I didn’t seriously think my live trap was gonna catch a mouse in the summer, but it did. It’s 90 degrees here (that’s uncomfortably hot for this region, and it’s humid) and I’m not gonna have access to a car for like six hours, so I can’t go release it til then. Do I need to worry about it dehydrating too much in that time? I’m sure the little guy isn’t exactly comfortable crammed in a tube, and that’s kinda okay with me, but I’m not planning on killing it or making it unduly suffer if I can help it.

>>5006077
Bring it inside, then.

>>5006101
He is inside. It’s a hot apartment.

>>5006060
OK I'll goes we'll include it with the links etc. here next time >>5003497

>>5006077
Update: he’s been released.

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>>5001619

>>5007980
large rat fren

>>5006569
thank you, anon

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Can anyone help me identify this wild rodent I saw?
It had no tail (or just a tiny stub), ears and eyes were small and hidden in fur. So most likely a burrowing fella. Length was about 10cm/4in. Snout wasn't long, overall looked like an anaemic turd with legs. Spotted somewhere in northern Scandinavia, next to a lake.
The drawing might look like a hamster, but it wasn't and wild hamsters aren't a thing in the north as far as I know. Moles also don't seem to be as light colored or shaped as this fella was, according to many pictures I went through trying to identify it.

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>>5009019
Lemming?

>>5009019
>>5009022
fluffy cake fren

>>5009022
Probably not; lemmings seem a bit rounder in shape, this one was very slim. The coloring is also off; tundra lemmings are multicolored, as in your pic and wood lemmings are mostly dark brown.

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>>5009019
Everything except the tail sounds like a water vole

>>5009164
Yeah, unfortunately every rodent seems to have something different going on.
>body too slim to be a lemming
>body too small to be a beaver/rat
>snout too short to be a shrew
>tail too short to be a vole
>ears too small to be a mouse
>frontal legs too normal to be a mole
>coloration too light to be anything that lives near water/rocks and not in a field (no fields anywhere near)
I guess the closest guess would be some sort of short tailed vole or a flat nosed shrew.
This is bothering me way too much; might go as far as to ask the nearest university of biological studies if they know. I know they like to keep track of everything that lives around the cities close to it.

>work at pet store
>coworkers put injured hamster in the freezer to "end it's suffering"

wtf guys

>>5009164
squishy hairball fren

>>5009019
i think you saw a tailless halo 3 rat

>>5001997
I saw a youtube video by a guy who runs a company exterminating mice. They invented a special snap mouestrap with a little "house" on it. It requires the mouse to go inside so the kill is much faster. Mice are smart and will try to grab the food with their arm, then lose their arm and bleed out.

>>5007980
where can i buy one of these fellers

my degu wants to drag everything down especially his food bowl and he only uses his mouse wheel when we watch him go, is he autistic or something

>>5009540
round marshmallow fren
>>5009582
mortarat fren

>>5009526
Chernobyl

i just got a realistic fursuit of a rat so i could feel closer to the rats. i love rats. i love these little beings from the bottom of my heart.
>>5007980
God should let man re-domesticate nutria and keep them as pets

>>5010353
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGipwoJiOM

>>5010353
zoomed up fren

>>5009019
Spalax leucodon comes to mind but that doesn't live in the area afaik

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>>5010408
how zoomed do you want

>>5011038
Can I have zoom(7) please?

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>>5011047
by all means my friend

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>>5011047
another from this set

(the rat is fine it's not getting choked lol)

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>>5010353
noticed that's an homage to him.

>>5011048
>>5011050
hand-held fren

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>working on getting my new boys not bitey/skittish
>polite bites still through tp08h
How do I fix?
Also one of the boys.

>>5011400
near the window fren

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Man, one of my babies are turning grey quickly. This is the same guy as the one on the right in the OP.

https://youtu.be/tOk9Rpk673I

:(

>>5011577
cool transformer fren
>>5011807
poor quivering fren

>>5001619
Just back from the vet with my 2 year 8 month old boys, one of them has inoperable lumps
They live short spectacular lives anons

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>>5011915

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>>5011915
.

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>>5011915
..

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>>5011915
...

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>>5011915
....

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>>5011915
.....

I am going to get some pet rats. Anything I should know besides the obvious stuff that everyone says?

>>5012879
By obvious stuff you mean >>5003497
>The 2 - 3 year life span is difficult to adjust to
>Every rat is different, take some time to get to know them
>Watch some YouTube to get inspiration about what to do for the cage
>Keep watching these threads for ideas

Why are djungarian hamster such assholes?
I started working at a pet shop recently and every day there is an injured djungarian.

If one of them is hurt the others keep hurting it.
Roborovsky and regular hamsters don't act like this.

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ah, there is a rodents thread.

Bunnies are rodents, so I'll forward a post I made in a different thread for your consideration, rodentbros.

>>5012423

I never considered getting a rat as a pet, but seeing all the based rat-owning anons' rats on this thread sure is making me consider it

>>5012718
comfy plush fren
>>5012719
basket sleep fren
>>5012720
paste rivalry frens
>>5012722
interested by camera fren
>>5012723
happy paper achiever fren
>>5012724
gap filler fren

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>>5013048

>>5013680
beauty care fren

>>5010025
Post fursuit

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>>5001619
>>5011577
Man do they grow fast. And here I was thinking "huh, can't tell if they've grown or not". Guess it's difficult when you see them every day.

>>5003497
Thank you. I tried to find an archived ret general but couldn't. Otherwise I would've made sure to include this info.

>>5012281
I'm so sorry anon. I will treasure the time with my boys as much as I can.

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>>5013813

>>5013680
>I thought you said your pussy was wet
>no, I said my rat was oiled.

>>5014132
frens
>>5014171
sneaking together fren

Has anyone had rats and guinea pigs? I'm trying to decide between the two, it seems like both have pros and cons.

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>>5014372

>>5014589
"hello over-the-table world" fren

>>5014485
Guinea pigs/cavies live longer but are less active.
While they absolutely can be, guinea pigs aren't usually very attached to you because they can't play in a similar way to what we would consider play. I even mentioned how one of mine basically just tolerated the rest of the family but absolutely adored my dad. She would freak out and hop all over the place, which is not typical guinea pig behaviour, when she heard him come home and wouldn't calm down until he picked her up so she could chew on his beard.
Guinea pigs are better for people who aren't expecting much from a pet other than cuddles and a LOT of noises. Their sounds can be either heartwarming to you or annoying. Depends on you as a person. I like their sounds. Some other folks do not.
Rats only live 1-2 years. Rarely 3. In fact, 6 is even rarer. 12 would be a preposterous number of years for a rat to live which is why they only live one or two.
While just as verbal as cavies, most sounds rats make are out of our hearing range so we can't detect the noises they make at all. As such, you have to pay more attention to their behaviour and body language to get how they're feeling.
Rats are much more active and can bond with people much more readily.
Rats can stink. They don't always, but rats have a considerably strongly odour than cavies when they do.
Guinea pigs rarely bite and never break skin. While biting is uncommon in properly cared for and socialised rats, they do it more often than cavies and are much, much more likely to break skin.
Rats can learn tricks or even simple tasks.
Rats are naturally nocturnal so while you can play/interact with them during the day and they might even acclimate to a more diurnal schedule, they will almost certainly be more active at night. Without something for them to exercise on while you're sleeping, they will get fat and die early. They also need numerous toys to entertain themselves at night. Better in pairs specifically because you're not up at night.

>>5014766 I think we cleared this up earlier as noted >>5006060
>only want to discuss pet care
That sub is too salty, I'm also concerned that rat can't breathe properly in there

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I think about this little guy daily. I wonder how he is doing now, as he is getting on in age.

One day, I will have a rat of my own and I will love him like nobody else.

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By the way, any new happenings with your rats, anons?

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pouch brothers

>>5014910
Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed answer anon

>>5014925
I thought the blood leaking out of the sandwich, the filthy coat, and the stiffness of the legs all indicated that that rat wasn’t breathing at all.

>>5015366
Well, clearly it's not healthy then

What do you think about degus /ret/?

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I love rats so much!

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Fat Rat from Dragon Quest

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>free bird comes on while I'm driving

>>5016313
>I'm sorry to drive a wedge into our relationship

>>5015366
>woah did you notice i posted animal GORE? Heh, take a second look, you might get offended!

Hamster care geeks are over the top. "Polite reminder to adopt don't shop" uh lady hamsters only live like 2-4 years and that's if you get one as an actual baby. It's downright masochistic to adopt an adult to bond with it and lose it within only a few months because it was older. Losing them is hard enough I'm not going to speed run it. Plus Syrian hamsters are so cute as babies with their giant heads and it's satisfying watching their skirts grow in. Ill never adopt only shop babies are the best. What we really need is a stronger hamster breeding community so pet stores aren't the only option. I might go a few States over for a more well bred one. My current hamster is very healthy and smart (responds when called, bright large eyes, huge and athletic) but the previous one I owned was low-key kinda dopey and unhealthy (tiny eyes, only 1 distended testicle, hated all fresh food, barely liked his wheel, no awareness). It's a bit of a gamble because all the pet store owners know is when they received them not their ages so I just go for visible babies

>>5016767
Just buy one at a pet shop.
T. I sell hamsters, they cute

I forgot people keep rats as pets.
I'm having issues witb rats from a nearby consctruction site.

The traps are great, instant kill, powerful things. But they have slain so many I believe they give off a smell of death, making the rats avoid them even if I plant tasty things in it. Going to give them a bath in hydrochloric acid to clean them up and let them sit and dry with food in them

>>5017300
The stupid question thread on /diy/ is a better place for this post >>/diy/2928217 you'll get useful answers there
It's about to reach its bump limit so you might need to ctrl+F the catalog

Guinea pigs are very cute but I don't think my tism could handle their mess.

>>5017333
>>>/diy/2928217
ftfy

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Post the rat with a gun maymay please.

>>5018248
Get a big enough cage to fit in a litter tray

>>5017300
HCl will eat at the metal parts, don't do that.
I have traps set out for chipmunks because they made a nest in my last car and ate some wires, and they keep trying to get into the house around October.

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>>5018511

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>>5018522

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>>5018523

>>5018524
This is a bad resolution!

>>5015623
you cant train them to like getting grabbed there was no reason to take them from the wild
get their buddies instead theyre snugglier

i have 3 male guinea pigs i need to get rid of. two are bonded and one his cagemate died not long ago and im not getting another one to bond him with cause i want to find them a new home. decided to put his cage next to the other twos cage so he can see them but cant get to them. everyone has been chill with this setup.
the issue is i cant find a single soul that isnt parents trying to get their 9 year old a pet. i care for the critters and dont want to subject them to that.
what do i do? how have you guys offloaded guine pigs in the past?

>>5018517
Can guinea pigs use those? I've seen a few sources say they can't really be litter trained.

>>5018844
Where are you located? I think facebook has a lot of groups for rehoming them

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Say hi to Sir Skeevil
[spoiler]My shitty building attachment is so fucked up it's basically open to the elements right now. I'm in school but I might beg my father to let the trust pay me to fix this rotted out door. Critters just walk right under it. My actual house isn't this filthy, different foundation, air conditioning, sealed off, etc.[/spoiler]
99% odds I'm going to release him. I pried him off a sticky trap this morning, gently, with vegetable oil, so he looks very sticky. I gave him a mini carrot stick.
I can't afford an actual pet with bills but just humor me today. I'll release him near the creek maybe

>>5018898
Yes and no. Like all non-lagomorph small caged pets, they can be trained to piss in a specific spot, but they shit when they need to shit. I've never heard of any small cage-dwelling animal, cavy, rat, ferret or otherwise learn to shit in a box.

>>5019165
he ate some of his carrot for anyone curious
I'll get some homework done and drive him out near a farm so a proper bird can eat him

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FREE THE ANIMALS

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Sir Skeevil is alive somewhere

>>5019307
You're a hero

>>5018901
tri cities area in tn

Had a horrible night my hamster escaped the later got his head stuck in a gap with full cheeks and his eyes almost popped out. I had to gently shimmy his head out. Christ!!! I'm putting this faggot in time out

>>5021233
Have you guys recovered?

>>5022258
Thanks for checking in, we are doing great and he is no worse for wear. I made sure the gap issue will NEVER EVER happen again. Genuinely terrifying experience like the time my dog almost choked to death on a treat. I learned dog cpr afterwards
Protip for rodent owners in this thread if your little buddy gets his head stuck in a gap with full cheeks what helped me was staying calm, embracing his behind and shimmying him out gently at an angle. I didn't force him I just angled it gently pushing the sides of the cheeks to go down
It's because I got him as a baby and he used to be able to fit through that gap and now he can't. Just shows we have to stay frosty with them and keep updating their setups

>>5019165
>>5019408
You’re the hero we need but don’t deserve anon

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Ball

>>5001720
>>5002150
>did i sniff some fucking CHEESE??

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Thoughts on this guy?

>>5023602
He already read them.

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Hello all!

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>>5022576

>>5023602
>he's telling no one
What age are they? They look great but a little pudgy

are rats the smartest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c28qWDMPBA

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rat hate is (mosque)ito propaganda
mosqueitos made the plague on purpose
1. in 1200, rats made about 50% of Egypts city population. now it's about 5%.
2. mosqueitos are the only insect still swarming in most urban environments, as the plague genocide wrongfully targeted rats, who are now disenrfanchised living in low income cities such as New York (very few get gentrified into living with middle class humans where they can stay clean and get an education to do tricks like spinning).
its called consolidation. strengthen cat owners, weaken rat families.

>>5024759
That's terror.

>>5024767
terror built into the sewer system

I went to the animal shelter today and they had two boy rats. One came right up to the bars and starting grooming my finger. Really tempted to go back and adopt them.

>>5025314
Rats are insanely social, always give them company

>>5024759
Why contain it?

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love these fat fucks

>>5025496
fat rat

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they're 2 cute

>>5025848
>I'm Eggscellent!

>>5019307
>>5019408
You've got my respect, anon. Good man

>>5019408
rats get lonely, find him friend

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Any deguchads

I can stop looking at the sad guinea pigs at the animal shelter. Send help

>>5026858
has it dawned on you that YOU can be the help? take them home

>>5026919
They are very cute but my apartment is small and they seem like a lot of work.

Do you guys use fleece for your rats? I really want rats but I'm seeing tons of conflicting information on bedding

>>5027556
A lot of things are good for bedding. Do not stress about it. Shredded paper is a good cheap option for those on a budget.

I have never heard of using fleece before, but I am sure that it is comfortable.

>>5025496
he's just like me

>>5027556
We give ours shreds of fleece about 3cm x 5cm. With any bedding if its getting eaten you need to change it out
Avoid wood chips, oils in pine and cedar are bad for them and it can be dusty

>>5001619
I pet a (wild) shrew the other day :3
watched it for a while, and it didn't seem to care, so I stroked it a little with my finger

>>5026663
Degu? More like dago.

>>5029666
>55:00
>66
Holy post. What did the shrew feel like? Was it soft?

>>5029780
yes, very
but also, it was such a small package of constant movement. really precious

>>5028013
>>5029650
Thanks. I just ordered my first rat cage, so we'll see how it goes.

>>5022576
snow ball more like

What bedding do you guys use for rat litter boxes?

>>5032434
I use paper pellets from the petshop. Hammocks mostly premade from shops and fleece from haberdashers, they usually sell cheap off cuts
I'll layer cardboard over bars making sure it's free of glue, staples or labels. They'll often tear up the cardboard for bedding so get smaller bits thrown around the cage too
Not really bedding but I have a few wooden houses and sputnik in each cage for them to nest in

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>>5035051
M-masaka! Reverse cardu?!

I found a mouse nest in my engine air filter box a while ago with a bunch of babies in it that were barely old enough to move, I didn't have it in me to kill them, so I walked across the road and chucked them into the forest along with their nest, I can only hope that they were able to fend for themselves out there, or I suppose provided meal for a different animal so that Mother Nature decided their fate rather than me.
I still feel a little bit bad about it though...

Finding a cage for rats is such a pain. Everywhere says the critter nation is best but it doesn't have a pan for bedding and would be impossible to clean in an apartment. Everything else I've looked at is too small apparently.

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>>5036390
Forgot to add, is this too small for 2 rats? I like it since it has a deep base and can be broken down easily for cleaning.

>>5036397
It might be a bit small depending on how often you let them roam outside, I can recommend "Montana Cages" very reasonable price for the quality.

>>5036848
fierce rodeity

>>5007980
if anyone's curious its just an albino nutria

>>5027556
I used fleece and it was horrible. The cage would start to smell atrocious after a few days. Switched to paper bedding (kaytee clean and cozy) in a deep bedding tray with an air purifier and the cage wouldn't even start smelling for a month. Of course, with spot cleaning in between. Seriously, do not recommend fleece at all.

>>5027556
>Montana Cages
i make fleece pads using 2 pieces of fleece with shredded denim furniture pads you can buy dirt cheap at U-Haul between em. takes like 5 minutes to sew em together. they work great. can swap em out super easy and just throw em in the wash to clean. Vet loved em when he saw em

What does /ret/ think of Ratatouille?

>>5038513
I love it, and the message it holds

>>5038513
Remy was cuter when he didn't speak and was acting more like a rat.

>>5038516
Message: rats can be cooks?

>>5039291
>>5039343
very cute

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>>5039291
>>5039343
sleeping rats are unbearably cute

>>5039560
i'll huff, and i'll puff, and i'll blow your house down!

>>5001997
use the bucket thing. but without water. Put bucket. put a board that bends/turns when they reach the tip. put peanut butter on tip. get me a pic of a bucket full of rats

>>5001997
Buy a live trap, you can reuse them

Challenge: search rat videos before:2010

>>5003323
>Most rodent traps and baits are extremely cruel but sticky traps are not a nice way to go.

Depends.
I'm an extremely clean, tidy person so there aren't even crumbs anywhere in my unit for mice to eat.
But one day the air conditioner broke down and it was an insanely hot day. My only option was to leave the door open all day. So a couple of mice go inside.
I saw them scurry around and was thinking they were just going to starve to death.
I tried everything I could to get them outside but they refused and were way too fast for me to catch.
And there are no "humane capture traps" to purchase at my local stores.
Only two days later one mouse had starved to death in the middle of the floor overnight.
So I decided to just just set a standard trap for the second mouse and snap! it took the bait just an hour later. Very hungry. Much more humane way to die than starvation in my opinion.

Apparently this is pretty normal for mice -

"While mice can typically go for 2 – 4 days without food, they may survive longer if there’s a good supply of water available."
https://merlinenvironmental.co.uk/blog/pests/rodents/how-long-can-mice-survive-without-food

They were cute. But they weren't smart enough to leave the unit after realizing there was no accessible food or water.
Like come on now...

>>5035726
Don't feel bad. You went above and beyond what most people do.

would rats be less hated if they stayed outdoors and didn't eat human food and shit everywhere?

>>5042478
yeah that's what pet rats are

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my rats died years ago
I miss having the lil bastards

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>10,000 years of cats
>300 years of terriers
>humans, deadliest species on earth, fucking hate them
>only extirpated from alberta after persistent and unprecedented mass poisonings organized by the government
>a feat yet to be repeated
Behold, the king of the mammals.

>>5012720
Male power fantasy

>>5014766
He died happy

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>>5012719
>absolute bliss

>>5012720
man. i wish i recorded my bro's guinea pigs tug-o-wars with food we used to get them to do. funniest shit seeing them pull the food back and forth.

>>5014485
i've never owned a rat, but guinea pigs are quite maintenance heavy. you often have to clean them out every two days tops. best to spot clean, pick up poo as you see it.
like humans, they're very social creatures and they really do need to be kept in pairs. people often use newspaper as bedding and flooring material but it's shit. the best is to get one of those corflute/coroplast bases, with those snap-grid cage walls. You can buy premade or make your own, but either case, get one of those, then use untreated wood pellets (no cedar, bad for their respiratory system), with a fleece blanket/sheet to cover it all, that'll allow water to pass right through. Secure the edges so they don't try to burrow under it.
The pee will go right through and get soaked up by the wood pellets, while the poo is easily vacuumed up, or if there's a lot, roll up the sheet up then just chuck all the poop in the bin. As the wood chips soak up pee they'll crumble into sawdust - simply just spread/mix it around with the intact wood pellets. the larger the cage, the less often you'll have to replace the pellet bedding since there's more wood pellets. 3-4 inches thick with a decently sized cage (depending on how many piggies you have) can easily last more than half a year.
Corflute + wood pellet + fleece setup takes a LOT of workload off you and I really wish more people knew about it because a lot of people really do not understand just how much care and attention they need and think they make good first pets.

>>5043152
There's more humans than there are rats, though, and we're bigger and don't become 50% tumors when we turn 2 years old.

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>>5001619
my little buddy lawrence
technically my lil bros hedgie but he neglects him so im the one that takes care of him

>>5043400
Love these goofy lil guys

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>>5014784

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>>5014784
.

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>>5014784
..

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Died 10 years ago but I still miss him like it was yesterday.

Rats are unreal creatures. They understand so much more than you would think and the more they keep surprising you, the more deeply you end up loving them. And they never stop doing it.

>>5043088
>>5043912
it makes me sad that these bright stars can only burn for so long

>>5043916
Would selectively breeding them for better long-term health be possible?
I'm just a retard on the internet so I have no idea what I'm talking about, but as far as I understand, it might be doable like so:
>keep population of rats
>carefully control who breeds with who
>record each rat's health problems and what age they live to
>keep this going for a few years, building records for each rat's lineage
>with this established, prioritize breeding the ones with the best family history
>???
>longer-lived rats?

>>5044514
Breeders already do this. Rats are selectively bred for longevity and temperment.

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>go into your kitchen at 4am
>see this

>>5045345
[x] Genuflect

>>5045345
pspspspsps until i can hold him and pet him and then put him somewhere safe

>>5045345
man. reminds me of the time my guinea pigs snuck out of their area and found the tray full of grass
i walked around the corner to see one happily munching away, the other was right behind but not eating any of it, just looking at her almost like she was trying to tell her sister that she'd get in trouble for doing that. we shooed both of them back to their rooms lol. man i miss them.

https://viewsync.net/watch?v=pzi0Qk53t2U&t=0&v=7fFPv-vh2cE&t=0&mode=solo

>>5046616
Tactical Pocket Rat

>>5007980
Imagine the amount of piss

>>5009230
I'm still amazed how much animal abuse is commonly tolerated as long as the target is a small rodent, like hamster, mice, gerbils, etc

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Heres one of my dudes giving me the look.

>>5007980
he's the mr bombastic

>>5046945
>The wheek shall inherit the earth

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>>5048014

>>5004100
Ferrets are better and have a convenient lifespan for when the rats eventually blacklist your home as a potential home and source of food

>>5007980
Thats the giant rat that makes all of the rules

>>5048056
>existentialcrisis.jpg

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>>5048205