Sleepy Treaty

Watch below to see Ronnie and Derek stirring from their slumber for some ratty apple treats.

Ronnie and the crisp

Ronnie had half a crisp this evening as a treat – he seemed to enjoy it!

Gagging for cucumber

Ronnie and Derek enjoyed having their cucumber tonight!

Training with noises

Ronnie and Derek now associate a ‘clicking’ noise with food, as I’ve always made the noise when feeding them. Even if they’re dozy in their house and I click, they’ll now drag themselves out and over to the cage door as they know they’re going to get food (maybe a treat!). They also come over when I open the plastic boxes I store their food in, as they recognise the noise now.

They’re also now used to the noise of the front door being unlocked, so if they’re in their house when I come in, they’ll pop their heads out to see what’s going on. It’s a welcome sight to come back to!

This info about training and noises has been added to the Habits page.

Resting, sleeping (and praying?!)

Some recent photos of Ronnie and Derek resting, sleeping and (apparently) praying!

Click thumbnails to enlarge. More photos on the Photos page.

Clicking

Ronnie and Derek respond to a ‘clicking’ noise, as do many other animals, when they’re going to be fed a treat. Watch this below and see how excited they get when they hear the clicking!

Eating again

Enjoy some photos of Ronnie and Derek eating!

Click thumbnails to enlarge. More photos on the Photos page.

Derek and the pea, Ronnie and the bean, the ‘Ratty Plumbers’ and the Gravy Train

Yesterday, Ronnie enjoyed a green bean and a bit of leftover gravy, while Derek sat in one of the coconut shells holding a pea in his mouth! They then enjoyed a plum for dessert.

Click thumbnails to enlarge. More photos on the Photos page.

Ratty ‘plumbers’ – enjoying a plum

Derek moaning about a wash

Ronnie and Derek had a wash in the bath. Ronnie didn’t mind too much but Derek wasn’t keen, squeaking whenever he was touched. He was fine afterwards though and enjoyed a good scratch!

Feeling the heat

With the heat of the summer arriving, Ronnie and Derek inevitably started to feel extra warm for the first time.

As the inside of their house is probably too hot, one of them (usually Derek) has often been sleeping elsewhere in the cage.

Although rats don’t benefit from fans in the same way as humans (as they don’t sweat), Ronnie and Derek appreciated the cooling effect of a fan which had an ice pack attached to it and was blowing on their cage.

They’ve also been given some ice cubes to eat, and an old jam jar with cool water and ice was put in their cage. Supervised explorations in the garden is another thing they’ve appreciated.

See a video of them reacting to the fan, as well as other photos of them coping with the heat, below.

Click thumbnails to enlarge. More photos on the Photos page.