kat_0521
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2005
- Posts
- 412
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2005
- Messages
- 412
I recently got 2 male rats, who are about 8 weeks old and still getting used to me (i've had them less than a week).
They are in a wire cage with a 5" deep plastic bottom, I'm estimating the cage to be about 20" long, 14"wide, and 24" deep with the wire bars about 1/2" apart. I have them in Carefresh bedding, and their main food is LM Animal Farms classic mouse and rat food. (it looks like nuggets or frosted mini-wheats but w/o the frosting) I also have some treats for them like Kaytee Veggie puffs, some peanuts still in shell, and Oxbow Carrot bites (not sure on the name- little pellets). They have several hidey houses- one is a square wooden box with a corner cut out and 2 holes, 1 on the side and 1 on top. There's a small half log wooden tunnel, and I picked up a jigsaw puzzle type build-it-yourself thing - that has multiple pieces, different colors and shapes and you just make a multi layered house for them. I also have a small exercise wheel (which they don't seem to like to much) but it's the solid kind, made out of plastic. I definitely didn't want any tiny feet getting caught and stuck.
I've heard you can use variations on their staple diet and wanted to know what's OK to use and what isn't. Here's the list I've found online so far: dog food, cheerios, dry uncooked pasta, uncooked brown or long grain rice, Kashi cereal, dried fruit like cranberries, yogurt or yogurt bites...That's all I can think of for now. What foods are necessary every day and what are good treats? I've tried them on a small handful of Oxbow orchard grass hay- they completely ignored that.
I also have some questions on the behavior I've seen so far. I try to take both of them out (1 at a time) for 15 minutes of lap time at least once a day. Already being a dog, cat and cavy owner (no, neither dog or cat have access to my pocket pets) I wash my hands before I take each of them out to try and reduce stress, and make sure they don't think my fingers are food. Each of them will make small, huffy-sneezing noises immediately followed by face washings. This will happen several times throughout lap time. I'm starting to worry they have a respiratory infection or something.
And any help you can give me on body language (so I know what to look for) is much appreciated.
I read on one site that if you wear an old t-shirt all day and then leave it in their cage that will help them get more used to you and your smell. I'm still waiting to see how that turns out, as I've only put my t-shirt in last night.
Thank you all very much for your help.
They are in a wire cage with a 5" deep plastic bottom, I'm estimating the cage to be about 20" long, 14"wide, and 24" deep with the wire bars about 1/2" apart. I have them in Carefresh bedding, and their main food is LM Animal Farms classic mouse and rat food. (it looks like nuggets or frosted mini-wheats but w/o the frosting) I also have some treats for them like Kaytee Veggie puffs, some peanuts still in shell, and Oxbow Carrot bites (not sure on the name- little pellets). They have several hidey houses- one is a square wooden box with a corner cut out and 2 holes, 1 on the side and 1 on top. There's a small half log wooden tunnel, and I picked up a jigsaw puzzle type build-it-yourself thing - that has multiple pieces, different colors and shapes and you just make a multi layered house for them. I also have a small exercise wheel (which they don't seem to like to much) but it's the solid kind, made out of plastic. I definitely didn't want any tiny feet getting caught and stuck.
I've heard you can use variations on their staple diet and wanted to know what's OK to use and what isn't. Here's the list I've found online so far: dog food, cheerios, dry uncooked pasta, uncooked brown or long grain rice, Kashi cereal, dried fruit like cranberries, yogurt or yogurt bites...That's all I can think of for now. What foods are necessary every day and what are good treats? I've tried them on a small handful of Oxbow orchard grass hay- they completely ignored that.
I also have some questions on the behavior I've seen so far. I try to take both of them out (1 at a time) for 15 minutes of lap time at least once a day. Already being a dog, cat and cavy owner (no, neither dog or cat have access to my pocket pets) I wash my hands before I take each of them out to try and reduce stress, and make sure they don't think my fingers are food. Each of them will make small, huffy-sneezing noises immediately followed by face washings. This will happen several times throughout lap time. I'm starting to worry they have a respiratory infection or something.
And any help you can give me on body language (so I know what to look for) is much appreciated.
I read on one site that if you wear an old t-shirt all day and then leave it in their cage that will help them get more used to you and your smell. I'm still waiting to see how that turns out, as I've only put my t-shirt in last night.
Thank you all very much for your help.