A Ratty Condo Conundrum
This is a post that I partially composed on March 10. I didn’t realize that I had not “published” it, having been interrupted during its composition.
One of the few problems that had seemed serious enough to keep me awake some nights was that I did not have suitable housing for my daughter’s pet rats. I didn’t think that they were “happy”! Finally I got busy with the hardware cloth (wire mesh), J-clips and pliers, and converted a larger pet cage into their new home.
The funniest thing happened while the rats had their “freedom” in my pet grooming shop. When I opened, and left open, the rats’ old cage… they left, found nesting materials, and returned to the confines of their home. In the past, they had had some freedom around the shop and seemed to enjoy it for as long as it took me to clean the cage. Sometimes I would just sit and watch while they explored the room until I felt I had to get back to some task.
I think that the rats are “feeling their age”. They are two elderly males, and they sleep most of the day now; I can’t think of another reason why they would leave, find paper towels and scrap paper to take back to their home, only to sleep again in the open cage. I will sleep better knowing that they have a better space in which to spend their “golden” months.
Thank you for reading my weblog.
~Ann
