Battery Access Hatch for LED Throwie Rat

LED Throwie Rat V2.0 has a velcro access hatch to facilitate battery changing.

Step 1: Sew in velcro

Sew in the velcro before stitching up the back. Position it directly over the battery, and make sure the velcro length is approximately 2x the battery diameter.

Sew the loop side directly under the skin, loops facing away from the skin into the rat. Sew one edge of the hook side to the other piece of skin, hooks facing away from the rat up into the air. This will prevent the hooks from grabbing onto the cotton of the voodoo doll.

Pull the loops over and place them atop the hooks. This should but the fur edges against each other, closing the gap in the back.

Now stitch the rest of the back slit shut above and below the velcro insert.

Comments

[Javin007]

I don't know why, but this strikes me as possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. I would stick a strong magnet in it and find odd places around town to hang them. As a side-note, have you made any attempts at curing the hide to a softer consistency? When curing deer hide, there are a number of methods used to keep it pliable. If the skin's too thin for any of those, then have you tried anything like the following: Keep the rat inside out, and post-curing, rub the skin with petroleum jelly (oil may well work better) and work it until it becomes pliable again. Then put it "right side out" on the "body" at this point. It seems the theory is there, but as I've never stuffed a rat, I don't know.

[bionerd]

nice work... but... the skin seems to get rather stiff when the rat dries (at least it did with mine). wont it fall to pieces if you open the battery access hatch later on...? my rat's skin feels like a piggy ear that dogs chew on now, and those are really stiff and break if you try to bend them... or did you use some "softener" on the skin prior to drying, or only borax+cornmeal? thanks :-)

[sweetkits]

yeah that happened to my guinea pig

[canida]

I didn't use anything but borax + cornmeal, so the skin does in fact dry out to rawhide, much like a dog chew toy but with thinner skin. That's why I made the hatch so big, and why this works on a rat but not a mouse. The hatch is about 2x the size of the battery I needed to remove. You can lift and flex the skin a bit without damaging it, but don't want to have to bend or crease the skin.

[bionerd]

thank you very much for the explaination, canida - i guess ill try that on my next rat :-)

[Koeln]

Do you ever need to clean the fur or anything? It seems to me like it would collect dirt and crap and such.

[bluerebel93]

holy hell canida u must like rat taxidermy

[Jack Daniels]

sweat *grabs a bear and waits for the comments*

[Thykka]

Oooh.. teach me to grab bears :O

[Jack Daniels]

*Relises he's a bit too drunk to type....*

[bubba77]

need a designated typer? :P

[Jack Daniels]

yes plz

[Rattierevolution]

Something tells me If I were to do this to a Dog, people would eat my face....Fight for Rat's Rights :P ... :|

[ikarias]

When i saw the title, i was both curious, and ... shocked. Thank god you didnt make the hatch ... below the tail... Looks good though.