Rats...

DiamondPuppy0809 · June 2010

I have to get rid of my rats.

We're tight on money and they keep my dad up at night. Their bedding costs quite a bit if I don't want them to be smelly. Worst of all, I'm attached to them. If I could just keep one... but I can't, and I wouldn't be able to choose between the three anyway; they're all special to me. /end of rant.

Hibachi · June 2010

Wow. I am sorry.

How do they keep your dad up at night? If it's running on the wheel - what I do with my mice is take it out at night and leave it in all day, plus they get to run around in their ball. Or put them in a bathroom/closet at night with the door shut. What kind of bedding do you get? I know mice are smaller than rats, but if you buy in bulk you won't have to buy bedding, food, etc. for a while.

DiamondPuppy0809 · June 2010

The bedding I buy is a lot like <a href="http://www.petfooddirect.com/productimages/3063954_lg.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Carefresh</a>. Just cheaper. They use a lot of it because their cage is pretty big, and there's three of them. I tried potty training, but it didn't help much. And they run on the noisy wheel, yup, but I can't take it out at night - they sleep most of the time during the day and don't use it very often at all. Since my dad doesn't really like the rats, and my mom wouldn't allow me to keep them in their own room/closet for the night, I kind of can't do that. |: And I do buy bigger bags of food, bigger bags of bedding, but it's costing a lot because they use so much...

Hibachi · June 2010

I love carefresh.

I understand having three is harder, well, I hope you find good homes for them and get to keep at least one.

Did you ever keep the two white girls you where given?

Cybergirl · June 2010

Maybe you can talk a close friend or relative into keeping them until your money issues clear up? Maybe you guys can split the cost if youll feel bad about putting it all on them? Or if they wont keep all 3 maybe 1 or 2? Whatever you decide, I hope it all works out for you.

DiamondPuppy0809 · June 2010

Avla, no I didn't. My mom wouldn't let me (even though she allowed me to have them in the first place). She said five rats was too many and they smelled too bad. (Which they did, but I cleaned their cage regularily). Cybe, I'm gonna try all I can to keep them. Thanks for the ideas.

Cybergirl · June 2010

You could even try getting 3 people to take one each if all 3 are too much for one person

RoyalRaccoon · June 2010

Worse come to worse, you could try contacting the AFRMA or RMCA to see if they know local members or interested adopters in your area. If a member is close enough and willing to help, then maybe you could work some kind of deal out for them to live with a member so that they don't bother your family, but you could still visit.

Kaley1 · June 2010

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

The bedding I buy is a lot like <a href="http://www.petfooddirect.com/productimages/3063954_lg.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Carefresh</a>. Just cheaper. They use a lot of it because their cage is pretty big, and there's three of them.

Well, what my sister and I do, is we have a BUNCH of paper shreddings because my mom and dad have bills & checks and papers they don't need. They shred them and put the shreddings in this big bin. We just fill the cage with that and we're good to go. Lasts about a week to a week and a half before it starts to smell. (: And, obviously, you couldn't do this if you don't have a paper shredder, so, If you don't...scratch that idea. xD I don't know, I was just thinking it could help you cut down on buying expensive bedding.

Hibachi · June 2010

Kaley wrote:

 Well, what my sister and I do, is we have a BUNCH of paper shreddings because my mom and dad have bills & checks and papers they don't need. They shred them and put the shreddings in this big bin. We just fill the cage with that and we're good to go. Lasts about a week to a week and a half before it starts to smell. (: And, obviously, you couldn't do this if you don't have a paper shredder, so, If you don't...scratch that idea. xD I don't know, I was just thinking it could help you cut down on buying expensive bedding.

That's a good idea, I put a little toilet paper in my girls' cage and they shred it up and sleep in it.

You can always just use google to find cheaper ways. xD

Kaley1 · June 2010

Avla wrote:

Kaley wrote:

 Well, what my sister and I do, is we have a BUNCH of paper shreddings because my mom and dad have bills & checks and papers they don't need. They shred them and put the shreddings in this big bin. We just fill the cage with that and we're good to go. Lasts about a week to a week and a half before it starts to smell. (: And, obviously, you couldn't do this if you don't have a paper shredder, so, If you don't...scratch that idea. xD I don't know, I was just thinking it could help you cut down on buying expensive bedding. 

 That's a good idea, I put a little toilet paper in my girls' cage and they shred it up and sleep in it. You can always just use google to find cheaper ways. xD

Yeah, I do that with toilet paper or Kleenex.

DiamondPuppy0809 · June 2010

Kaley wrote:

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

The bedding I buy is a lot like <a href="http://www.petfooddirect.com/productimages/3063954_lg.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">Carefresh</a>. Just cheaper. They use a lot of it because their cage is pretty big, and there's three of them. 

 Well, what my sister and I do, is we have a BUNCH of paper shreddings because my mom and dad have bills & checks and papers they don't need. They shred them and put the shreddings in this big bin. We just fill the cage with that and we're good to go. Lasts about a week to a week and a half before it starts to smell. (: And, obviously, you couldn't do this if you don't have a paper shredder, so, If you don't...scratch that idea. xD I don't know, I was just thinking it could help you cut down on buying expensive bedding.

Thanks for the idea, but I've tried it. They just keep my dad up at night more by ripping up the newspaper and making a lot of noise. - But I agree, it does cut down on costs. So does feeding rats everything you can in the kitchen so they don't need the pellets as much. xD

Sea Oats · June 2010

I'm still confused about how they keep him up at night. o.o If the wheel squeaks, you can put vegetable oil on in and it will stop, that's what I do for my hamster. As for bedding, I bought a ginormous bag of Aspen bedding for like $17 at Petco, it will probably outlast my hamster. xD Carefresh is expensive for the little bit that you get..

Hibachi · June 2010

Sea Oats wrote:

I'm still confused about how they keep him up at night. o.o If the wheel squeaks, you can put vegetable oil on in and it will stop, that's what I do for my hamster. As for bedding, I bought a ginormous bag of Aspen bedding for like $17 at Petco, it will probably outlast my hamster. xD Carefresh is expensive for the little bit that you get..

My mice have a wheel that hooks onto the cage and it rattles, louder than squeaking. You can hear it outside of my room. I don't know what kind of wheel Ludie has though. I've heard a lot of bad things about aspen bedding, and carefresh is actually quite cheap - a small bag for $3-4 last me 2-3 weeks. And rats are larger than hamsters and mice. ;D

RoyalRaccoon · June 2010

Sea Oats wrote:

I'm still confused about how they keep him up at night. o.o If the wheel squeaks, you can put vegetable oil on in and it will stop, that's what I do for my hamster. As for bedding, I bought a ginormous bag of Aspen bedding for like $17 at Petco, it will probably outlast my hamster. xD Carefresh is expensive for the little bit that you get..

Even if you oil the wheel, when rats get running on wheels really fast they can rattle their cages and create quite a commotion. Even moving and playing around can create quite a bit of noise, and there is just no ethical way to stop them from playing at night. Just imagine all the non-vocal noises dogs make when they roll around and play together. Also, some people are just sensitive to it. I've met plenty of people that have had trouble sleeping because one wild rat or mouse was running around in their house and they could hear practically every little thing it did such as grinding it's teeth together.

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