Crumb and I were having a nice calm moment when Chickpea came over and ruined it! Lol Chickpea says "there is no moment without me!" - and anyone who disagrees will be shown otherwise! 😂

Some recycling work with Crumb! Its been a bit since we practiced this one, but Crumb is now back to being a responsible ratty citizen!
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This week’s paw paintings by my sweet rats Crumb and Feta - they and all their buddies did a great job!
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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: ratpaintings.etsy.com

One of the cutest things about having dwarfs and standards is seeing them sleep side by side - in this case I was doing intros (hense the small cage) and Blueberry and Toast chose the CUTEST spooning position! Which of these girls do you think ruled the cage (hint: It wasn't Blueberry!)?

Pistachio working scent work! This one is a bit of a work in progress, but Pistachio is doing a great job and has really started to get it down (she's looking for the cinnamon scent!)
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Terrible video clip because my ipad did NOT want to focus, but one of the things that I love about Coffee is that she loves to sleep on her back! Its always hilarious (and terrifying) looking into a hide just to find Coffee sprawled on her back - she truly is a weird rat, but I love her for it!

"To be loved is to be changed" - ft Carrot!
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I was looking back at some baby photos of Carrot and its amazing to me how much she has changed - she has more of a "well loved plushy" look to her now (maybe not the best description lol). Anyways I love this sweet bean so much ❤️

Chickpea is learning to rebound off a wall! This was her first session and she did really well - bonus points for her being completely unfazed when my unsecured "wall" managed to move mid-jump 😬
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I have a rat training book available here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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Carrot and Jellybean showing off how much they love the dig box - my rats all use the dig box from time to time, but some rats definitely like it more than others! In my current group Pumpkin Seed, Jellybean, and Chickpea are the biggest dig box fans, but they all enjoy the occasional burrowing ❤️

Carrot is learning to weave a figure-8 pattern! This is one of my favorite tricks to teach, and Carrot is well on her way to getting it down!
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Nothing makes me feel more bittersweet than looking at videos of my current senior rats as babies 💔

Cracker combining her 2 favorite tricks, those being weaving between cones and walking backwards on a rolling barrel! Great job Cracker!
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Today I made the grave mistake (in Pumpkin Seed's mind!) of trying to show the rats some of the outside world. Pumpkin Seed was NOT a fan and I'm thinking I'll have to bring out some pretty good treats to get forgiveness (see her glaring at me post-expedition in the last photo!)

Carrot doing a fun agility course! Rats are such stars at agility, it really plays to their strengths and most rats (aka not Tofu lol) really love it!
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Oh man, I almost forgot to post my tribute to Neil day! Happy 20 years Neil, Feta banged out the tunes in your honor!

The angry orb guarding her loot!

This was a fun variation on basketball that I worked with Omelet (white) & Olive (black)! Each girl had to grab the ball, circle the cone with it, then put it back into the center.
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I have a rat training book here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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This week’s mini paw paintings by my sweet rats Crumb and Pistachio - they and all their buddies did a great job!
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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: ratpaintings.etsy.com

Its been a bit since I did a new cage setup, so it was definitely time to switch things up! For 3 of the units I did a completer overhaul, moving everything around and adding in the rats Ratmas presents (better late than never lol)!

Butter doing a fun trick generalization, that being turning basketball into putting these mini carrots into a wheelbarrow!
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VS basketball with Coffee and Cracker! These 2 girls absolutely love their ratsketball games and are always quick to steal the ball from other rats, so they are a great match for each other lol
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I have a rat training book here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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A tribute to my sweet rat Cinnamon - RIP sweet bean 💔 YouTube video by Shadow The Rat

My sweet Cinnamon is gone :( Unfortunately she just didn’t respond to treatment, or it was too little too late, and I think her heart just gave out. I'm so sorry Cinnamon, you had so much life left and I wish I could have given it to you 💔

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxdM...

Ahh look how cute the girls are being 😍 I love when they pile up like this, they are such sweet girlies ❤️

Pistachio combining her fetch trick with jumping over a hurdle! Pistachio had really come to enjoy fetch and seemed to really enjoy this combo in particular!
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I have a rat training book available here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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This week’s paw paintings by my sweet rats Crumb and Pistachio - they and all their cagemates did a great job!
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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: ratpaintings.etsy.com

Rounding out the rat health issue week from hell, we have miss Feta. Thankfully Feta's health issues are very minor, just your standard URI (honestly not even that, she clearly feels just fine and hasn't lost any energy or weight). Anyways she's on antibiotics now and has already shown improvement!

A blast from the past with Carrot, Cinnamon, Pistachio, and Jellybean spinning as babies! I can't believe they were so smol, just look at Pistachio in particular, she was basically a lint ball!
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I have a rat training book here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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Recently I noticed that Jellybean was acting off, and given her symptoms it became clear she was dealing with a pituitary tumor. Jellybean has been put on prednisone & cabergoline, and is currently doing better- but we won't know for a few weeks if the cabergoline is working :(

Craker combining a default "leave-it" with flyball! Not an easy combo and it sorta threw off her flyball trick at first lol, but with a bit of help she figured it out!
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I have a rat training book available here! www.etsy.com/listing/1605...

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Continuing our rat health week from hell we have Pumpkin Seed badly sprained her foot during free-range - thankfully this is something rats heal quickly from, so after a few days of cage rest and anti-inflammatories, she is well on her way to a full recovery!