Margaret, Escape Rat

[Mania]

We own two rats: Ana, who I posted about earlier, and Margaret, a slightly younger rat from the same bloodline that we bought to keep Ana company. Ana and Margaret live on two card tables pushed up side by side in a corner of our office. There are two complete cages on the card tables -- we let them each choose which one they want to sleep in each night -- and we leave the cage doors open while we are working and can keep an eye on them. We keep their food and treats and some toys in a rolling wire rack under the tables, and we've recently started putting a folding TV dinner table by the tables to give them a tiny bit of extra space.

Last night I went to bed before my husband did. When I woke up, I had the following e-mail from him:

Be careful! Margaret has learned to reach the ground via various schemes and is desperate to find new ways to escape. She hopped down via the wire rack. So I moved that, and she used the bars inside the folding table as little platforms to reach the wire rack. So I moved it further, and as I type this she is literally shimmying down the ... there she goes. She shimmied down the damned TV tray!

So far she hasn't just leaped off... but she's experimenting with the blinds now, and she seems to think she can make it down onto the bags at the other end of the table... in short, she's decided that it's all too easy to escape. Hopefully it's just a phase... but if you let her out tomorrow keep an eye on her. And don't move the TV tray back

... followed four minutes later by:

Aw man! Now she's just sliding down the legs of the table like a fireman.

[Nevar]

LOL that is one talented rat! Should tape her doing it I'd love to see that haha

[Nelium]

Haha! Rats are such fun!

I have had rats for most of my life, until recently. I lost my last rat to a tumor and it really had me depressed for the past few months. Not too long ago I bought a rat for my snake to eat and I usually only look at them long enough to make sure they are A.) Non-ablino as Jazz and Drizz will not touch them B.) In a clean enviroment before being bought and with no lice/fleas or skin problems.

My heart flopped out of my chest and onto the floor when I saw that there was only a few rats in the pin that were not white or too small. I spotted a scared looking one in the corner, I picked her up and she stared right into my eyes, I was hit but had to get her as she was the only one that was going to work for my snakes.

I set her down gently into the cage with her back to my snake so she would be oblivious. To my surprize they both turned around and sniffed each other. Jazz turned his head up and slithered up my arm and the rat hopped onto the edge of his cage. They have never shown any signs of aggresion towards each other since and now I have a new little angel.

WoW! I totally did not mean to type all of that! I swear it!

[Mania]

I'm sorry to hear you lost a rat to a tumor, but I am glad you have found a new friend.

We let Margaret out to run around the office while we were working today. We thought she was pretty safe on the floor, so long as we kept her away from our wires. Then we heard a noise and looked up to find her on top of a six foot tall bookcase ...

We have no idea what we're going to do with her.

[Rhyela]

Yep, this sounds just like Biggs. I call him Houdini because I swear I have NO IDEA how he makes some of the escapes he makes. He's always trying to find new ways to wiggle out of wherever he is. He's such a handful, but yet I adore seeing the strange ways he manages to escape.

[Pawtrack]

Heehee! That is awesome!
We used to have two rats, they were such fun!

Maybe you could try and "Rat-proof" a room?
People do it for their rabbits (making sure there aren't any cords to chew on, ETC.) so it could be possible for rats

[Mania]

An update: Based on a suggestion on a rat website, we bought a couple of boxes from U-Haul and built a fence around the rats' tables. This way we could let them out while we were in the room and they could climb down and play in their own area. This actually worked really well, although it took up a lot of space.

... So much space, in fact, that I could no longer comfortably get to my desk. So we decided to move the whole office -- rats and all -- into the living room and make the old office space, in the den, into the living room with the TV and game consoles.

Unfortunately, that ended up moving the cardboard fence about three inches closer to the rats' tables. And within 24 hours, Margaret learned that she could make the jump. It's adorable to watch her poise herself on the edge of the table, getting the angle just right, leeeeaning out so she can see where she's going better, then hunching back and suddenly flinging herself into space. Less adorable when she misses ...

So. Since this whole problem started with the legs on the folding table, we're headed out to Ikea today to find a table with one central pillar that she can't possibly reach to slide down.

... we hope.

[Mania]

We failed to find a table with one central leg that we could afford. So we did the next best thing -- we bought a much bigger cage, so that when we aren't able to watch the rats we don't feel bad about them having to stay in their cage.

And because we didn't want them to be bored in the cage, we bought two more rats.

[Nick]

We failed to find a table with one central leg that we could afford. So we did the next best thing -- we bought a much bigger cage, so that when we aren't able to watch the rats we don't feel bad about them having to stay in their cage.

And because we didn't want them to be bored in the cage, we bought two more rats.

Ooo, do you have pictures of the new arrivals?

[Mania]

Not yet, but I'll try to get Eric to take some tonight. They don't have names yet either, but both are hooded, one in a chocolate-y color and the other just a few shades darker than Ana's very light cream. So all together we have a range from dark brown to very light, all hooded.