♛ in love with a fairy tale

I think I just started a war in my rat’s cage.

I gave them a pinata of yummy fruits and cheerios and pieces of lab blocks and oh my god. They’ve been totally fine with other pinatas.

I mean, Sherlock has always been Mr. Dominant and a little aggressive but holy shit.

He actually knocked Watson off of a shelf and arched his back and “hissed” at him. He’s never gotten that aggressive before. Calm yo tits Sherlock.

Watson’s so pathetic, he keeps stealthily pilfering the little berries that keep falling down while Sherlock’s ripping into the cardboard and bringing them downstairs to the tissue box to eat in peace.

Neither are actually hurt, but I’ve just never seen Sherlock act like such a humongous asshole this badly before. To think I could have gotten female rats.

Just bought my ratties a new cage!

They’ve been staying in one that I know is pretty cramped for them (it fits 2 females well, but as they’re boys… it’s not awful, but I don’t like it. These are my first rats, and I didn’t realize how much space two of them really should have, considering how big they both got!) But as I had to smuggle them into my dorm room, I couldn’t get anything bigger, and I let myself feel better because I played with them a ton and let them have roam of my room every day for a good while. 

But now that they’re at my parent’s house and going to stay home for at least 7 months (since I’m going to England for a couple of months and my usual rat-sitters can’t watch them D:) I got them a lovely new 3-level for just 70 dollars! New, too.

The reviews say it comfortably fits 4 girls or 3 boys, so I hope my boys will find it very nice and roomy, especially since they won’t be played with as much without me there. So I’m going to enjoy them as much as possible while I’m home for the next four months. ;;

I feel like such a terrible person for leaving them for almost half of this year, but I didn’t expect some of this to happen (like England). I didn’t think it through for the poor things, but I do know the person who watched them these past few months was delighted and spoiled them the same way I would, so that makes me feel a lot better. If not still like a selfish person who didn’t think ahead. D:

The new cage is something I’ve wanted to do for a while but didnt’ have the money or space for, but now that both of those have been taken care of more, I got it for them. MY mom will just be very displeased (“ARDEN, THEY ONLY LIVE FOR WHAT, TWO, MAYBE THREE YEARS? HOW OLD ARE THEY? WHY WOULD YOU SPEND THAT MUCH? etc. She doesn’t know I plan to get more rats after I move out and get settled somewhere, I gathered. :S)

Anyway! Enjoy it, rattie boys! I can’t wait to see them in just two weeks and show them their new home. :’)

The Story of Watson’s Tail

Also known as: The Tail of the Nub (I’M SO PUNNY.)

3 A.M. STORY TIME, JUST GRAB A CHAIR AND SIT ON DOWN.

About 3 months into owning rats I thought I was finally getting the hang of this rat business. They were certainly more of a handful than hamsters, but I was doing all right! I thought I had it down. I was in for a surprise.

So, I called the boys back from playtime after Watson had been running around my bed area. Watson came out looking a bit— different. ;A; Watson degloved about 2 inches, and I almost threw up when I saw it. Google it, if you can handle a little gore. (looked something like this, linked because of stated reason.) I never found out exactly what happened, I can only guess what caused it. I called the nearest small-animal vet the next morning, since this took place around 10:30pm. The vet I spoke to said the only thing they could do was an amputation, which would require anesthesia, which was fairly risky and cost ~150-200 bucks total. Plus a consultation visit fee. Another 50. I called two more in the area— Same story. Only one would potentially “operate” (It was just a scissor cut) without putting him out, and even then it was a “maybe.” That, plus the risk of losing Watson forever, and still being stuck with the bill led me to search for other answers.

Ah, how I love Google. A few rat sites cited this issue, and said that often times the degloved portion would simply slough off (fall off— like an iguana tail). Since Watson was very obviously in no pain (I REALLY, REALLY DON’T KNOW HOW HE WASN’T, BUT.) and as affectionate and playful as ever, I separated the boys for a few days to keep Watson’s tail safe (THEY LOVED THAT) and kept a close eye on Watson. I disinfected his injury several times a day (and some Neosporin + Pain Relief as well) and kept his space sanitized and clean as possible. Well, ‘lo and behold. Within about 2 days part of it came off. About an inch. It just turned brown and shriveled, like it died— which is probably what happened actually. A week later, the rest came off and well, the result! This is the best photo I have of his tail atm.

It scabbed over, never got infected, and Watson bravely earned himself one of his nicknames: Nubby! (I’M SO CRUEL TO MY RATS.)

I feel so lucky that the whole situation was so painless (literally and figuratively) and didn’t even require a vet visit. ;A; He doesn’t even know his tail’s just a little on the short side!

PLUS HE’S LIKE THE REAL WATSON NOW, HE HAS A LITTLE BATTLE WOUND; SO SHERLOCK CAN CALL HIM CRIPPLE AND GIVE HIM SNUGGLES.

Nicknames

My rats’ nicknames, because I think they’re pretty darn amusing and I was thinking about this so here they are.

Sherlock: “Starbucks,” “Coke Can,” “Dickface”

Watson: “Licky Rat,” “Cuddlebug,” “Shoe,” and “Nubby” (my favorite)

And then I wonder why they don’t know their names. LOL. You can ask if you really want to know the stories behind these. Some are more self-explanatory than others.

The only things they consistently respond to is “BOYS!” in a high pitched voice and a clicking noise with my tongue that I used early on to associate with food so that I can always make it when I want them to come. :I

And they will bolt away from (almost) anything they are doing and come climb up my leg. And give me very sad faces until I give them a treat.

tl;dr - ahh I miss my rats so much. ;___;

I follow a wonderful rat blog, which— well, the internet is so craptastic here at Disney, it takes forever and a day to load pictures, let alone gifs or anything, so i haven’t been able to surf my dash as frequently.

But one blog I do keep up with is many-splendored-rat, because she is hilarious and has precious little rodent babies (mice and rats now! :D) And now that she’s talking about her rats, especially one who just died I’m like—

;A; Gosh I miss my babies. Ahhhh.

Apparently Watson lost a nail today while he and Sherlock were roughhousing/wrestling and oh gosh I want to be there to cuddle him and clean it up and tell him every thing will be okay. ;____; I know Jess is taking great care of them, so I’m not at all worried but dfjsjjjdjfl. BABBY WHY ARE YOU SO ACCIDENT-PRONE. My poor little Watson. Never as athletic or smart as Sherlock.

And then I would promptly call Sherlock an asshole which he is. (appropriately, for his name) Then he would come out and nibble my nose like he always does and start searching me for food, because really, what else am I good for? He’s never been a cuddler, that’s all Watson. Sherlock cares about mystery, adventure, and food. Mostly food. The only time he ever licks is when you’re holding him and he wants to be let down, so he tries to suck up so he can keep exploring. Or I suppose when there is Cheeto-dust or something equally yummy stuck to your fingers, then Sherlock will clean you up with his little ratty tongue.

Meanwhile another real-life friend has lost her rat of almost 2 years and just. ;o; oh goodness I’m a ball of mush about my rodents. I miss them and all their little quirks. I want to appreciate them while they’re here. They’re about a year and a half old now, so they hopefully have a while longer but you never know. ;;

I don’t even know if they’ll remember me by the time I come back from Disney to retrieve them in May. ;o; I hope they do! I picked you up and brought you home to Watson when you were all alone in the Petsmart bin, Sherlock, I especially hope you remember me!

I miss talking to them and telling them things like this too. Gosh talking to rodents, I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this. I’m just glad they have each other. They’re inseperable. I think they’re secretly gay lovers too, but then again rats just tend to hump and groom each other anyway, but I swear it’s like they’re an old married couple sometimes with the way they kick each other out of the box-bed and everything. And then Sherlock comes out like “I’M SORRY BABY, I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT. COME BACK TO BED.” And Watson reluctantly crawls back into the box. FFFF. AH I’M A CRAZY RAT LADY.

Eeee this is rambling, sorry. I’m sorry my blog seems to have become a lot of text posts, but as I’ve said, it’s the Internet I swear! I really miss reblogging stupid gifs, horrible memes and bad jokes, I do. I’m sorry! Instead you can have these for a couple of months.

Things I don’t understand.

Why on earth do my rats like to chew through new bags of bedding.

I mean.

YOU SLEEP IN THIS, IT’S NOT LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS.

IT’S NOT FOOD. IT’S NOT MAGIC AND WONDER. IT’S BEDDING. SHITHEADS.

-A-

My roommate got a 17 pound care package full of packing peanuts.

So I was a jackass and sprinkled cheerios into the massive ocean of peanuts in the big box.

> …Casually add rats.

> Happy, non-destructive playtime outside of cage for rats.

This is beautiful. I wish I could get good pictures, but they move too fast for my camera. ;c

“Homosexual behavior has been frequently observed among rats in captivity.”

/STARES POINTEDLY AT MY RATS SNUGGLING IN THEIR BOX

I love my rats.

My sister’s vacuuming right outside in the hallway and my door’s cracked.

So they’re just sitting there, side by side, noses to the crack, like “WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT NOISE?”

And then when I open to door to show them,

And now Watson’s grooming my face like “;A; that was scary.”

Derpfaces. XD