Derek enjoying more scratching

Derek definitely enjoys a good scratch. Here he is having some in the recent hot weather.

‘Sofa, so good’ for Derek

Derek enjoyed roaming around the sofa and ended up finding a nice hiding place between the cushions!

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

Derek enjoying a stroke and a scratch

Watch below a video of Derek enjoying a stroke and a scratch, while he was sleeping outside of the cage during recent hot weather.

Fat rat!

Yesterday I weighed Ronnie and Derek by getting them to stand on digital kitchen scales. It took a few attempts, plus ‘Diva’ Derek got spooked by a noise that the scales made when I moved them across the floor, so he zoomed up my body and shot down my top for ‘safety’!

Derek weighed about 330g when he visited the vet in April, but had increased to 450g when I weighed him yesterday. Ronnie, who’s always been slightly heavier than Derek, came in at 470g. This is at the upper limits of what male pet rats should weigh (apparently 270g to 450g).

When rats are in their infancy, it’s advised to feed them well. However, now Ronnie and Derek are six months old and have just about reached adulthood, it’s probably time for them to go on a mini-diet to ensure they don’t get too heavy. I’m always careful not to overfeed them, but it looks like fewer treats and smaller portions of their nuggets will be necessary!

Garden exploration

Ronnie and Derek enjoy occasional supervised garden explorations! Watch a short clip of them exploring, below.

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.

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!