Rest in Peace, Casper - 10/3/12 - 6/12/14

Yesterday, early evening, Casper lost his battle with his lung tumor. Though he was only with our family for a little over a month, he instantly won over our hearts. We are so sad to have lost him so soon. He was a sweet and gentle personality and had so much curiosity and love. He will be truly missed.

The steroids he was on did give him a nice second wind and I believe they offered him more time than he otherwise would have had - but if not, they seemed to improve his appetite and energy level and his general quality of life.

Play hard over the bridge, sweet boy. May you have lots of tunnels and bridges to explore.

Update on Lixit Glass Bottle Recycle Kit

In February, we blogged about our experience with the Lixit Glass Bottle Recycle Kit. After using them for about 4 months, we thought we would revisit the topic.

As we mentioned in our previous posts, our rats did not like the narrow tubes of the small (5/16" tube) kit, but were fine with the medium (7/16" tube) kit. The 7/16" tubes can be a tight fit on cages with 1/2" bar spacing. The long bar spacing of the Critter Nation seems to work just fine, but the shorter bar spacing of the Martin's cages is a tight fit, and the tube has to be squeezed through. This means that when the bottle is removed, you have to be very careful to hold the stopper while removing the bottle, or you run the risk of the stopper getting stuck between the bars and the bottle pulling off the stopper, spilling the water. I did this a few times before it became engrained in my mind to make sure I held the stopper with one hand when removing the bottle to make sure it didn't come out of the bottle.

I also found that you don't really need the mounting kit when installing the bottle in a Martin's cage because the bar spacing is both short and narrow, holding the bottle in place via the tube. You do need a spring or a piece of elastic to hold the bottle upright, but you do not need the mount that the stopper rests on. This also makes it easier to remove the bottle from the Martin's cages. Since the stoppered tubes can be purchased separately, you can save some money by skipping the kit as long as you have a spring long enough to hold the bottle in place.

The other thing that I noticed is that if you do not change the water frequently, bacteria can build up on the stopper. This is not unique to this bottle - the same can happen with the gasket in standard water bottles, but you won't notice it because you rarely touch the gasket. In fact, any time you have water left standing too long, bacteria is going to start to build up. I normally change the water every day, but sometimes miss a day. I have noticed no build up under either circumstance. But I left a water bottle on a carrier once, and several days later, when I went to remove it, I noticed a slimy feel to the end of the stopper that was inside the bottle. That slimy substance is bacteria buildup, and if you notice that forming on the stoppers, you are not changing the water/cleaning the equipment frequently enough. Fortunately, the stoppered tubes are dishwasher safe, so after changing the bottles, I rinse the tubes out well and put them in the dishwasher with the Snapple bottles to sanitize everything. As long as you change the water regularly and keep the parts clean, you won't have a problem. If you do have a problem, at least it is easily recognizable, and you can make adjustments to your practices to correct it.

Aside from those issues, the water bottles work great. They have never become jammed and they have never once leaked. They will be a relief when we go on vacation, since I won't have to worry about water bottle problems happening while I have a pet sitter watching our rats. My only remaining reservation is that I am not sure how well these wide tubes will work with babies, since all of my rats are in the 1-2 year old range at the moment, but I do have the original 4 stoppered tubes in the smaller size that I can use for younger rats if they have problems with the wider tubes.

Related Posts:
A Better Water Bottle: Lixit Glass Bottle Recycle Kit
Installation Instructions for the Lixit Glass Bottle Recycle Kit
Lixit Glass Bottle Recycle Kit - 7/16" Tube Size (Medium)
A DIY Mount for the Lixit Recycled Water Bottle Kit

Ferret Nation (and Critter Nation) Exterior Ramp

 

If you have a Critter Nation or a Ferret Nation cage and you allow your rats some free range time in the same area as their cage, this exterior ramp is a cool accessory to have. It is available from Ferret.com for an after shipping cost of somewhere close to $15 (prices and shipping tends to fluctuate, so check your cart for the actual price).

Our rats love the freedom of coming and going as they please and the ramp provides them access to their water bottles and litter boxes during play time, so I do not need to provide additional ones in the room. And when they are tired of running around and playing, they each make their way back into the cage on their own to snuggle in a hammock and take a nap.

Note that the description claims that the doors can be closed with the ramp in place. I do not believe that is the case. I can see no way to close the doors without damaging them or the ramp. Also, the description lists the compatible Ferret Nation cage models, but does not list any Critter Nation models. The Critter Nation is perfectly compatible with the ramp (and is even printed on the box the ramp comes in).

On an unrelated note, I found a little time to line the furniture pad I had on the floor of the Rat Room with leftover fleece and fleece remnants I had on hand. The result is this bright and cheerful rainbow floor mat. It is easy to clean, absorbant, soft and warm.

Rat Room Floor Mat

Bela Gets Spaghetti All Over the New Mat - Good Thing it is Washable!

The Rat Room - A Room Just For Rats!

 

One of our dreams has finally become a reality - we have a Rat Room (dubbed Ratropolis, of course!). 

Our Rat Room is a large room in our basement. The full size of the room is 18 ft by 12 ft, but currently the rats only have access to half that space (10 ft by 12 ft), as part of the other half is currently in use and not rat safe. The other part of the other half is dedicated to storing rat things (extra toys, food, hammocks, towels, blankets), so everything we need for the rats is in one convenient place.

Storage space on the other side of the room.

The Rat Room has a cement floor, a drop ceiling with florescent ceiling lights, and some cement walls and some wood walls. There is a ventilation fan that runs on a timer that keeps the air circulating. We also have two air cleaners running to keep the air fresh and clean for both rats and people. There is a sump pump in the room, but we have blocked it off with a wooden wall.

Patio Love Seat Near the Cage and Across from the TV

Because the Rat Room will get more use if it is people friendly, we added a small love seat with end table. We chose a piece of inexpensive patio furniture, since it will be more durable, easier to clean, and hard for a rat to get lost inside or underneath. Also, the cushion covers are removable and washable.

For entertainment, we have a TV on a banquet table, connected to an X-Box 360 (mainly to connect to our media center PC/Cable) and a Roku player. All wires and cables are off the ground and safe from rattie mischief. Under the banquet table, we have a large storage box with rat toys not currently in use (the rat toy box).

TV, XBox, Roku, and Two HEPA Air Cleaners

 There are a number of things still to be done. Right now, we have a U-Haul furniture pad on the floor. I would like to get a second one and line them both with fleece for a thicker and softer pad to play on. And it would be nice to add pictures of our rats, past and present to the wooden walls. I ordered some mice wall decals for my son's birthday and he can decorate the room with those when they arrive. I also have ordered a ramp that will allow the rats to exit and enter their cage as they please during supervised play time.

But in the mean time, the rats are really enjoying the extra room and the many places to explore. They seem to appreciate their freedom. We appreciate being able to let them out without constantly having to be on guard - wondering what is the next trouble they will get into. Of course, they still must be supervised, but they really can't get into any trouble of significance in this room.

Below are some pics of the rats having a good time in their new room.

I can't believe they let me back here!

This is not allowed. Leave it to Jo to find a way to get into trouble.
We moved the box they used to get onto the side of the cage and climb up,
so no more rats on top of the cage.

Burt takes a bite out of the love seat.

Look what I found under the cage! Why isn't this out?

Casper has a look around. He loves to explore.

Casper needs a rest. His lungs can't handle too much activity.

Okay, ready for another go!

A Fun Rat-Themed Hammock Set

 

I found this novelty fabric at J&O Fabrics. I have seen it before, but this is the only vendor I can currently find it from, so I suspect it may have been discontinued. I hope not. I really like it.. At the moment, they have 8 yards left in stock. It is designed by Patrick Lose and sold under Timeless Treasures.

This is perfect hammock making fabric. The mouse (rat) theme is one that is not easy to find - or when I do find it, it tends to be too mousy for my tastes. But theme aside, the bright primary and secondary colors set off against the black background make the coordinating fleece colors really pop.

I used some of the Rigilene designs in this set. The tube is held open by rings of Rigilene, keeping the openings from collapsing flat when hung. I am trying out a tunnel with a strip of Rigilene across the top to keep the entrance from falling backwards when left unattended in the cage. We will see how well that holds up. I also used a strip of Rigilene sewn into the cuff of the snuggle sack to keep the sack open in the cage. My rats have never been especially fond of snuggle sacks, so I thought I would try this and see if it is more inviting this way.

Example of how to size the frame

And finally, I made a cuddle cup with a Rigilene frame to keep it from collapsing. Bela is really a fan of the cuddle cup, especially when it doesn't end up squished and flattened in the cage. I made the cuddle cup as described in the tutorial, but built a Rigilene frame like the one shown to the left, and sized it to fit perfectly inside the cup before sewing the cotton/batting cup (outside) to the fleece cup (inside lining), ensuring enough fabric is left above the frame for the seam connecting the cotton to the fleece. Once sized, the frame is removed from the cuddle cup and the cotton/batting cup is sewn to the fleece cup as described in the tutorial, only making the opening through which the cuddle cup will be turned right-side out about 3 1/2" wide. After turning the cuddle cup right side out through the opening, I inserted the frame (it is flexible) inside the cup through the opening, then slip stitched the opening closed once everything was positioned correctly. The only problem I have with this cuddle cup is the top stitching. For some reason, I can never top stitch this item neatly when the Rigilene is in place.

 I couldn't resist the opportunity to create a Peek-a-boo hammock with a rat-shaped opening. I added a zig-zag stitched spiral tail to complement the spiral tails on the fabric.

The following is the DCN decked out in the mouse/rat themed hammocks. I am in the process of making some for Casper as well.

Memorial Day 2014

Who's a Cancer Rat? I Don't See Any Cancer Rats!

Casper has been on steroids for a week now. I am not sure whether it has had any effect on the tumor, but it has definitely helped his appetite. He still is not eating dry solid food, but he is eating more of the softer foods. He takes yogurt with strawberry Ensure very well, so that is helping him get his nutrients. He is also eating quite a bit of turkey and sweet potato baby food. He accepts scrambled eggs, hard boiled egg - particularly the yolk, and even an eggfood I make for my birds, consisting of finely grated hardboiled egg, breadcrumbs, and finely grated carrot. He will also have a bit of oatmeal. And he will occasionally pick from other foods (broccoli, banana, grapes, sunflower seeds, lettuce) - the other day, he swiped a piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch from my son and ate the whole thing. Okay, Cinnamon Toast Crunch isn't high on my list of rat treats, but when you have been diagnosed with a massive lung tumor and your time here is short, you can have a piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch if that is what you want. Anyway, he is broadening his dietary horizons and is eating more of the things he was eating before.

I weighed him last night and he had gained 20 grams over what he weighed at the vet a week ago, so it is not just my imagination. And to be putting on weight instead of losing it is a really good sign. I always fear with advanced illness like this that malnutrition from poor appetite is likely to do a rat in before the illness itself. So it is really good to see him eating better and putting on weight.

Casper was looking really good Thursday morning, so I took him out for some photos, hoping to get something I can use for a Memorial Day picture. Wow, does the camera love him! He looks so good that I don't see any hint of Cancer Rat in him! It is so wonderful to see him looking so good, I wanted to share some of his photos.

 

NOTE: Since these photos were intended to get a good Memorial Day picture, I originally wanted to use a pot of red and white geraniums, which would have been more patriotic looking. However, after researching geraniums on the poisonous plants list, I found them listed, so I switched to a pot of yellow pansies instead. Not as patriotic as the geraniums, but non-toxic and safe for our ratties. This is just a reminder to always check the poisonous plants list before exposing your ratties to live plants for photos or play.