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Our Crazy Rat Adventure - Washington Rat Breeder
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2017 Fall Show - Hosted by RatsPacNW in Port Orchard, WA

8/30/2017

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Many of you have asked if we will be selling our fun toys, hammocks and other rat goodies at the 2017 Fall Show. For this show I wanted to volunteer where needed and with daughters now working and into horses, looks like I will not have anyone to run the table. However, I can promise you there will be tons of other great rat goodies there along with some rescues for adoption. 

Here is the new link for the show information and registration. 

15th Annual RatsPacNW Fall Rat Show

If you have not entered before and are thinking about it, I encourage you to go for it! I have linked a few posts about past shows on here.


Our First Rat Show part 1
Our First Rat Show part 2
Our First Rat Show part 3

Our Second Rat Show

Our Third Rat Show Part 1 
Our Third Rat Show Part 2

Our Fourth Rat Show


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With Us For Just A Bit - Forever In Our Hearts

8/10/2017

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PictureRats make such a big impact in such a short time. Think about it. 3 years to us is just 1 month to a rattie. Make the most of your time with yours. Do not leave them in their cage all the time. Play and snuggle. 1 day to you is a months worth of love to them <3

This is such a touchy subject for so many. When is it time? There are a lot of resources out there to give you information on when quality of life is harder on our pets than allowing them to cross the rainbow bridge. Here is one I have seen shared on many of the rat groups I follow on facebook - Quality of Life Scale. Here is one more - Quality of Life Questionnaire. Often we have to make a hard decision for our furbabies. Do we allow them to continue to suffer or do we choose to euthanize?  We have had to make this decision more times than I ever thought I would. That is what happens when you have 42 rats plus many babies over the years.  It does not get easier over time.  Here is a letter written by Veterinarian Anthony A Pilny  - When it comes to euthanasia, the hardest part is deciding when.

Some vets will offer to euthanize an ill rat but the cost may be prohibitive to some. We have found out that the local humane society offers several options which include receiving either their body or ashes for home burial.  When I called them a few weeks ago to find out their prices The Oregon Humane Society charges $5.00 for euthanasia of a rat and will give you their body to bury at home. The will charge $25 for you to receive their ashes back with options in between for them to dispose of the body.  For some this may be a cheaper option than the vet.  One thing you must ask is how they will do it? You have to make sure they do not do intracardiac (IC; in the heart) injection on a conscious rat. This is extremely painful for the rat and illegal in some states. 

So often we do not know what to do with our beloved pets when they pass away. Many live in apartments or rent and do not have a resting place for their ratties once they crossed the rainbow bridge.  Whether you choose to bury or have ashes to scatter there are a couple options I have heard a few do. 
  • Bury them in the ground - when you have as many as we do we had to come up with an idea on how to put them in a smaller area. Here is a link to an idea we came up with - multiple burial 
  • Bury them in a deep pot planting bulbs and ground cover or perennials that come back every year.  
  • Cremate them and use same options above
  • Chose to allow the vet or humane society to dispose of the body

Since we have chosen to bury our beloved pets we have been looking for the right marker where they are buried. About a month ago we found a great site Hatchet Creek Pet Memorials that will actually engrave on a small marker. They have rat images (or any other pet you could imagine) to chose from or they can try to do a custom image from a photo you submit. We just received ours today. They were great to work with, sending us proofs and changing our little requests over 5 times.   They were very patient and wanted to get it right for us. I highly recommend this company.


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Is Your Rat a Food Hoarder?

8/9/2017

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Could not figure out where they were stashing all of their food. This morning we discovered they were preparing for a flood ○_○
Our rats used to waste so much food. I would find it in their toys, hammocks, under the fleece liners and even in their litter boxes. (ewwww!)  We started using a homemade mix and found that the food isn't wasted anymore. However, I still have several people who want to use just block, ask me how to stop the food hoarding. Many breeders use food hoppers. These are not too hard to make. There are a lot of examples on line how to make them. That said, I am still one who likes simple!  I saw this idea on line and thought I would give it a try to at least show you how simple it is. The best part about having a hopper, it will make the rats have to work for their food offering them mental stimulation. 

Do not use food hoppers for ill, or disabled rats. Make sure to offer them food and water that is easy to access. 
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Take a container, cut one side off and place against cage that has 1/2" bar spacing. Simple!!! You now have a food hopper. I recommend you using a clip under the container to keep it from slipping down. *** (We placed a cup inside to move food forward because we did not have thinner container here in the house. I know the Dollar Tree and even Wal-mart have several slender containers that will work great!)
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I made another one for the boys out of a Ziploc container. It works just as well! Love the slender container much better. As usual, Doc is the first to try to anything out in the cage that has to do with food. o_o
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Fun with words - If Rats Could Talk

8/3/2017

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I am stuck inside due to terribly air quality, and overall hot temps. So I thought I would share some of the fun rat memes I have made over the years with those 'perfect' shots.  
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The look every time I asked OCRA Truffle to please go in her litter box
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OCRA Kinesis made the PERFECT model
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Our rescue girl Ruby became an amazing nanny and actually wet nurse to our large litter of 18. In this picture she is snuggle up by OCRA Aurora
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Just look at those claws! I am so glad our mischief has such great temperaments and get along so well
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I LOVE BABIES!!!
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Our Joey of OCRA telling everyone what to do as usual
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OCRA Sputnik's belly deserved to be kissed!
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Oh poor Joey of OCRA. He was always getting peed on by OCRA Beast.
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I miss Ian of OCRA so much! He is a huge part of our lines.
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Copyrat is right!! These two rescued brothers, Ham & Cheese, were so bonded, they did EVERYTHING together
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Once of my favorite candid shots. I just realized all 3 of these girls are no longer with us They just do not live long enough!
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Sweet Mabel of OCRA was a joy to have in her short time with us. She loved to snuggle right under our chins.
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More adorable baby rats!
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EmmaOreo of OCRA was our founding mama. She was the BEST rat a girl could ever have!
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Oh OCRA Pongo - Get over it. Rats pee! At least OCRA Pollywog didn't pee on you!
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Not Camera shy, just tired of the flash.
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OCRA Tesla has to be one of my favorite rats here in the mischief. She is what we have worked for over the years. Temperament A+!!!! And beauty to match.
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Mark it on your Calendar, World Rat Day is always the beginning of April!
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OCRA Velocity really does share well. She is going to make a wonderful mama!
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If you have rats you know the struggle is real! The door rush is nothing to joke about!
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Oh poor OCRA Pollywog. His expression is priceless.
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The finale is worth at least a little laugh - This was our very first 'attempt' to do photos with rats for a fun contest. My how things have changed over the years - lol
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