Grandpa watched them for us. We left everything he'd need on the futon and said "Give each two or three treats a day. A mix of whatever's here."
Pretty normal.
We get home and the food dishes are full. The poop has been scraped up. Grandpa took an empty treat can and put a mix of treats in it. Dregs remain in the bottom. Two toddler puffs, a couple chunks of this and that, and--
an Ikea sour gummy?
She Who Must Be Obeyed left a ziploc bag of gummies on a table in the rat room. Not on the futon, but close enough that he must have thought we'd slipped up.
The guys played with us last night, sure. But they also spent a LOT of effort trying to reach that table.
My shadecloth experiment is working beyond my wildest dreams!
It's 1) grippy enough for ramps that an old rat can climb 2) easy to clean and 3) not tempting for them to chew.
I built a big spiral ramp all the way up the cage. The central atrium, as it were, is filled with many shadecloth safety nets to catch silly old buggers who like falling off edges of said ramps.
The younger rats still climb up the sides, or race round in a big spiral, so they have more running space which is great.
I made a small heated space for Maurice, and as you can see he's found the warmest spot which is actually just above the warm box.
Today, after his breakfast, I bundled him into the black plastic penthouse bed right into the top of the cage which he can't reach even with the ramps. You can't see him in the picture, he's underneath Jasper, the handsome young fellow with the whiskers.
"It's me.
Hi.
I'm the problem, it's me.
At treat time
Everybody agrees.
I'll stash my noms inside your nose
but nibble groom your ear,
it must be exhausting cleaning up after the ratty hero."
🎵 "Hello thumb-beast my old friend,
I've come to squeak at you again.
Because a brother softly sneaking,
thieved my stash while I was sleeping.
And the nut shells that were scattered in my cage,
still remain,
amidst the sounds of ratness."🎵
"So... I'm insured for this, right? You'll make good my losses, I'm sure. Of course you will, you're the thumb-beast and I'm cute."
Currently on the Council of the Folklore Society, Associate Editor of its journal Folklore, & on the editorial board of #FolkMusic Journal.
I've written on #ghostlore, folklore about #rats, #cannibalism at sea, tongue twisters (inter alia), and (increasingly) folklore's history. Was doing this through folkloresque representation in #folkhorror & crime novels (& soon #DrWho), now planning just as historical research. Perhaps...