Oh, rats!
Just one, actually. Cayla and I are going over to visit my niece Suzanna, whose fiance, Chad, has a rat. This rat needs a new home. Cayla has been asking for a rat for about 4 years. I might relent.
I went to Earl May yesterday and looked at cages. There are several options, but I only really considered two of them. One is quite vertical and has ramps for the rat to run up and down. The other one attaches to the top of a 10-gallon aquarium and also has ramps. The little bit of research I did says this is good if the room has drafts, but this type of habitat has to be changed more often.
I'm still ambivalent. I mean, a rat! I shudder at the thought. I grew up in old houses mostly - where, yes, we often had mice. And we (Kent and I and the girls) lived in a mobile home that was fine for several years but suddenly got mice one winter. So, I'm still trying to overcome that prejudice.
We'll see. I need to find out about the cost for a youth conference this month - still have no information on it except that it starts June 21. Not much time to make arrangements - in fact, it might already be too late. But if I don't have to pay for that (because we missed a deadline and she can't go), I might be able to afford a cage for the rat.
UPDATE: The youth conference doesn't cost, and I have the details about what she needs to take and when and where to meet for her ride down there. As far as the rat goes, it's not looking good. Cayla liked playing with it at Suzanna's, and when we looked at cages at Earl May, she told me which one she liked. But she's not willing to clean/rearrange her room or to keep the lawn mowed this summer to earn my approval for the rat.
I went to Earl May yesterday and looked at cages. There are several options, but I only really considered two of them. One is quite vertical and has ramps for the rat to run up and down. The other one attaches to the top of a 10-gallon aquarium and also has ramps. The little bit of research I did says this is good if the room has drafts, but this type of habitat has to be changed more often.
I'm still ambivalent. I mean, a rat! I shudder at the thought. I grew up in old houses mostly - where, yes, we often had mice. And we (Kent and I and the girls) lived in a mobile home that was fine for several years but suddenly got mice one winter. So, I'm still trying to overcome that prejudice.
We'll see. I need to find out about the cost for a youth conference this month - still have no information on it except that it starts June 21. Not much time to make arrangements - in fact, it might already be too late. But if I don't have to pay for that (because we missed a deadline and she can't go), I might be able to afford a cage for the rat.
UPDATE: The youth conference doesn't cost, and I have the details about what she needs to take and when and where to meet for her ride down there. As far as the rat goes, it's not looking good. Cayla liked playing with it at Suzanna's, and when we looked at cages at Earl May, she told me which one she liked. But she's not willing to clean/rearrange her room or to keep the lawn mowed this summer to earn my approval for the rat.
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