Learn From 'Our' Mistakes

Truffles of OCRA enjoying her 'privacy' she has blocked others from joining her in her re-purposed 'ball of torture'

As I begin to type I realize that so many people have their own way of doing things. You can tell someone not to do something because you ,'Heard' it was not safe or that you 'Saw' a post that said such. Unfortunately, every possible outcome cannot always be discussed. We all learn from our mistakes. Mistakes in life are PROOF we are trying. 

Then comes the moment when that mistake effects another. It effects someone or something in such a way that could lead to injury or even death. Those are the mistakes we try to learn from others.

Today, I read a post of someone who was utterly heartbroken about the loss of their rattie. This loss was not expected. In their opinion, it was totally preventable. They URGED others to Learn From Their Mistake.  What happened? This person has had rats for a very long time. They had NEVER experienced anything like this or even heard about it before. 

As you know, rats love to snuggle is the most unusual items. Often we provide them with hammocks and other fun cozies. Some have re-purposed socks, jean, towels, sheets, crocheted with love snugglies, or like us, no-sew fleece. This rat owner has always used towels for hammocks. Today, they came home to find their rattie had chewed, gotten tangled and subsequently hung itself on a long thread. What a terrible thing to come home to. As I was reading their post comments, I read where that had happened to another rattie just that morning. 

Ratties are chewers. They LOVE to redecorate what we spend hours setting up. They love to redesign their homes to suit their needs and desires. Can you blame them? I have moved my couch so many times my kids think that is what we do each 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month. 

We have been fortunate to learn of the dangers of long threads prior to setting up our mischief. It does not mean we are not tempted to put in the cute pillow or stuffie for a photo opt and leave it because our ratties 'wuv it'. We have since decided that we do not want to loose little toes of our babies to threads (one breeder actually had a wee lil pip(squeak) loose a limb all the way past elbow joint from a single thread wrapped around it- thankfully that lil pip is doing well and has adapted with just 3 limbs) We urge you all to stop using things that have LONG threads. Actually be aware of all items in your cages. Even fleece can be a hazard if they chew it too much.

Our hope with writing this is for others to think about what they are using in their cages and check for damage each day to make sure their ratties are safe in their home. Our condolences for those that have lost ratties to such terrible accidents.