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Digging box-
My boys love their digging box more than any other toy! They enjoy digging in the soil, they also love to forage for seeds that haven't sprouted, nibble on the grass and dig up roots to eat. They also like to sleep in trenches dug in it during the heat of the day. If you haven't given one of these to your rats yet then you should.
1. Get a largish box or tray. I use a 40 x 30 x 20 cm (16 x 12 x 8") plastic plant tub with drain holes in the bottom. You could even use a tough cardboard box as a disposable one, I suppose.
2. Half fill with clean soil. Get a sterilised soil from the garden shop, with no added fertilisers, chemicals or stray bugs.
3. Toss in a handful of birdseed (I use a parrot mix) and water lightly.
4. Wait a few days until the seeds sprout. You'll have a nice crop of "grass" in less than a week. I prefer to give it to the rats when it's at least a little root bound, otherwise they fling soil everywhere. And I don't water it for
the last two days so it's not muddy when the rats climb in.
5. Place the digging box in an easy clean location (e.g.. bath, shower base or place down some plastic sheeting)
6. Add rats
You may want to toss in (or bury) a few of their favourite treats to get them started. They will chew on the grass and unsprouted seeds, frolic in the grass, lurk in the grass ready to pounce on unsuspecting cagemates, and dig fling dig fling dig fling... Yes, they will end up with filthy feet and noses. And yes, the room will be a mess afterwards, but the sheer joy with which they fling the soil around is well worth a little cleaning up.
For baby rats, you can create a safe clean "digging box" by filling a tub with fabric strips and tissues.
Fishing for peas-
This is a fun game for cooling rats down on hot summer days.
1. Get a shallow tray big enough to fit your rats in. A paint roller tray is perfect as it has a deep end and a handy slip free ramp into the "pool".
2. Shallowly fill with water
3. Place somewhere water-proof (like the bathroom floor or on a plastic sheet)
4. Keep a towel handy to nab wet rats before they sneak off to sleep in a soggy pile on your antique leather sofa
5. Toss in a few frozen peas (or corn, if your rats prefer)
6. Add rats
The water loving rats (or those insatiable pea addicts) will jump/wade right into the pool and dive under to nab the peas. The more nervous ones will fish for peas with their hands from the pool sides. Either way they'll enjoy it
The Wading Pool-
A wading pool is lots of fun for summertime... splashing about getting cool, digging, and searching for treats!
1. Get a heavy pot plant dish or bowl.
2. Add some smooth pebbles - these are available from garden and homewares stores.
3. Fill up the dish with water.
4. Scatter in some frozen peas or corn, hiding them under the pebbles.
5. Add rats.
Your rats will have a wonderful time digging in the pebbles in search of treats! And they'll cool off at the same time
if you have any questions about rat or any animal in that matter leave me a commont i'll get back to you!
My boys love their digging box more than any other toy! They enjoy digging in the soil, they also love to forage for seeds that haven't sprouted, nibble on the grass and dig up roots to eat. They also like to sleep in trenches dug in it during the heat of the day. If you haven't given one of these to your rats yet then you should.
1. Get a largish box or tray. I use a 40 x 30 x 20 cm (16 x 12 x 8") plastic plant tub with drain holes in the bottom. You could even use a tough cardboard box as a disposable one, I suppose.
2. Half fill with clean soil. Get a sterilised soil from the garden shop, with no added fertilisers, chemicals or stray bugs.
3. Toss in a handful of birdseed (I use a parrot mix) and water lightly.
4. Wait a few days until the seeds sprout. You'll have a nice crop of "grass" in less than a week. I prefer to give it to the rats when it's at least a little root bound, otherwise they fling soil everywhere. And I don't water it for
the last two days so it's not muddy when the rats climb in.
5. Place the digging box in an easy clean location (e.g.. bath, shower base or place down some plastic sheeting)
6. Add rats
You may want to toss in (or bury) a few of their favourite treats to get them started. They will chew on the grass and unsprouted seeds, frolic in the grass, lurk in the grass ready to pounce on unsuspecting cagemates, and dig fling dig fling dig fling... Yes, they will end up with filthy feet and noses. And yes, the room will be a mess afterwards, but the sheer joy with which they fling the soil around is well worth a little cleaning up.
For baby rats, you can create a safe clean "digging box" by filling a tub with fabric strips and tissues.
Fishing for peas-
This is a fun game for cooling rats down on hot summer days.
1. Get a shallow tray big enough to fit your rats in. A paint roller tray is perfect as it has a deep end and a handy slip free ramp into the "pool".
2. Shallowly fill with water
3. Place somewhere water-proof (like the bathroom floor or on a plastic sheet)
4. Keep a towel handy to nab wet rats before they sneak off to sleep in a soggy pile on your antique leather sofa
5. Toss in a few frozen peas (or corn, if your rats prefer)
6. Add rats
The water loving rats (or those insatiable pea addicts) will jump/wade right into the pool and dive under to nab the peas. The more nervous ones will fish for peas with their hands from the pool sides. Either way they'll enjoy it
The Wading Pool-
A wading pool is lots of fun for summertime... splashing about getting cool, digging, and searching for treats!
1. Get a heavy pot plant dish or bowl.
2. Add some smooth pebbles - these are available from garden and homewares stores.
3. Fill up the dish with water.
4. Scatter in some frozen peas or corn, hiding them under the pebbles.
5. Add rats.
Your rats will have a wonderful time digging in the pebbles in search of treats! And they'll cool off at the same time
if you have any questions about rat or any animal in that matter leave me a commont i'll get back to you!
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We generally can't ear them when they are laughing, because it's ultrasonic laughs.
What could be fun to build, it's a device that convert ultrasonics sounds into human audible sounds. That would be so funny to listen to your rats when they are playing =o)