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Can you keep pet rats outside?

35 replies

charliecat · 04/08/2006 11:18

Have you ever?

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:19

erm, my name is charliecat too lol er, sos the cats, names are below...

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HJ06 · 04/08/2006 16:16

get rid of the stairs!
what are they called? i had max and paddy.
and i olso have a cat, his nane is charlie cat

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:11

I wouldnt LEAVE them outside...There house would be outside....I had ideas of a tunnel coming in through the window into a smaller cage if they wanted to come inside. They have a hhuuggge big cage in the garden already but the wind would rustle through it in winter which is why we thought we would kit out the outhouse.
If we do do it and they aenot happy they will be straight back in.

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:11

Oh of course, a lizard silly me.

Is it Mel Gibson who is the rat?

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expatinscotland · 04/08/2006 16:09

That's b/c DT is a lizard. Different species entirely, but still just as minging.

CC, YUK! Throw the staircase out.

Can rats be neutered? That might take care of your whiffy problem.

Of course, it's cheaper just to put them outside . . . in the nearest gutter.

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:09

Ahhh Dumbledore the rat! how lovely

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:09

Replace the stairs. Poor buggers. What have they done to deserve being left outside? Although when I had my rat, I used to let it loose in the garden knowing it would never run away. They are far more intelligent and affectionate animals than most people give them crdeit for.

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:08

Hey one of thems called Dumbledore, the others scabbers, and theres hedwig and wallace and grommit

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:07

Ooh now you are asking for trouble.....

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:07

Its because i have 5 of them, and they have wooden stair cases, and the wee, its made the wood orange...it reeks. Its ok for 1/2 a day...once yove disinfected it, but it comes back. Have ben umming and ahhing over putting them outside or DP would have already replaced the stairs.
Still umming.

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:07

Expat, a thread on rats and no mention of DT. You must be cured of your strange aversion!

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expatinscotland · 04/08/2006 16:06

Very true, DG. They might have been sneaking off to the sewers when you weren't looking, charlie! It can happen b/c they are clever creatrures.



BTW, DG, I think Harry Potter's deffo gonna snuff it in the last book.

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:06

Hmm...yep, ok, as you could down the month till hammish pegs it LOL

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DumbledoresGirl · 04/08/2006 16:05

CC, I have had a pet rat before and it never smelt a bit. Are you sure there is nothing wrong with it or with how you are keeping it?

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expatinscotland · 04/08/2006 16:04

Nnnnnnnnooooooo. 'Scrappy' the hamster was a loving little guy. He let us hold him lots.

And he didn't carry bubonic plague.

Plus, hammies have very cute eyes.

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:02

Hamsters are so frigging boring you just wait for them to die to get something with a bit more oommpphh in it BTW, and if your getting it for your child, they dont wake up till the kids have gone to bed.
And they dont sit to be cuddled/stroked, they just run off..
Get a rat, there are some BEAUTIFUL ones out there

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expatinscotland · 04/08/2006 16:00

but they smell.

and the world is full of loving pets who are non-whiffy.



DH left that part of it out. Probably b/c, like most blokes, he has a faulty olfactory bulb.

Luckily, I have MN. So now I know.

Hamish the Hamster it is!

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 16:00

Expat, if you get a girl they are not even half as smelly, and you need to get more than 1 as they like being together. I have 5 boys...they do smell. GIRLS DONT whiff half as much
Have no sawdust in the cages HJ as one of them is irritated by it and it makes his eyes water.
Could try paer on the lino to suck up wee and throw out daily..will do that

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mrsjingles · 04/08/2006 15:57

rats are very intelligent loving pets, yes they do smell, but they were great with the kids and loved being cuddled.

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expatinscotland · 04/08/2006 15:30

'I clean them out every day, emptying litter trays/swopping food, wiping lino down, but they still reek Think its the wooden stairs have sucked in the smell '

K, we are going for a hamster. DH had almost talked me into a rat, as he has had some in the past, even though I find them vile.

Now I know they are pongy, that's us getting a hamster.

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HJ06 · 04/08/2006 15:28

no more ideas then, all i did was have lots of newspaper on the bottom, and lots of sawdust. Pets at home have a lemon one that helps keep smells away.and kept everything washable or threw it out after a week or so.

Hermykne they make great pets, we had one that worked out how to get out of the cage, he woul come snd sit on our shoulder when we watched tv.

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 14:02

because they are like little dogs, except they are rats LOL...they are lovely pets, honestly.

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hermykne · 04/08/2006 13:59

why would u want rats as pets?

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charliecat · 04/08/2006 13:54

I clean them out every day, emptying litter trays/swopping food, wiping lino down, but they still reek Think its the wooden stairs have sucked in the smell

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HJ06 · 04/08/2006 13:34

Try putting a lot of bedding, and v thick layer of newspaper in the cage, and washing the cage every week, also wash/chance toys when you clean the cage.

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