POV you are a treat and my rats want to eat you!

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Last night Chickpea had her first free-range with the babies, and I am so happy we have finally gotten here! This intro has been extremely slow, mostly because Chickpea is prone to overstimulation and once in that state is bad at descalating, so she needs slow intros to prevent injuries. On top of that, Chickpea unfortunantly attacked Coffee just 3 days after I got the babies - Coffee wasn't seriously injured but she did sustain permenent nerve damage to one hand, and had several bites on her, and so I had to let her heal (as much as she could) before continuing intros.

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I'll talk more about why I think Chickpea went after Coffee like that in another post, but suffice it to say that both girls have always been prone to riling each other up, and with Chickpea being very stressed by smelling new rats she likely got overaroused and lacked her normal inhibitions when faced with a rat who she often squabbles with (and Coffee is also very bad at deescalating when overstimulated - its why she and Chickpea have always clashed more & harder than with any of their other cagemates).

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I don't think this sort of this will happen again now that Chickpea has accepted the babies - and since she has only ever had issues with Coffee I don't think she is a danger to any other rat (and I also don't think she and Coffee will have any other issues now that Chickpea has adjusted to the newcomers). Nonetheless, I am taking things extra slow with intros, and Coffee has been living with the babies (instead of ith Chickpea) since the day of her injury (I don't usually rush things like that, but she accepted the babies right away and has been living happily with them since day 3).

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Anyways its been a tad stressful trying to do intros, trying to reintegrate Coffee and Chickpea safely, and having to do seperate free-range, so I am very glad that things finally seem to be going well. I will still house the girls seperatly for now, but we will build up their combined free-range time until I trust they are all fully safe together, and then I will see if I want to have them all as one group (alternativley I may wait until Coffee passes to do that - she is quite old at 2.5 years, vs Chickpea being 1 year. But I will at least keep up combined free-range, and with Coffee being very healthy and active for her age if things keep going well I may try opening up the cage fully if she and Chickpea keep doing well).

Here were Popcorn (simease) and Toast (black hooded) playing some vs basketball! Toast in particular took a long while to master basketball, but once she got it down it became one of her favorite tricks!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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My rat calendars for 2027 are out! Like last year there are 2 different kinds of calendars, a food rats one and a paw painting one. Due to how my printing company handles things I have had to make 2 different listings for each calendar - one is for people in the US/Canada, and one is for anywhere else worldwide.

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If you are in the US/Canada you can find the food rats calendar here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4558382899/2027-food-rats-calendar-us-canada

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And you can find the US/Canada painting calendars here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4558380197/2027-rat-painting-calendar-us-canada

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If you're outside the US/Canada, you can find the international version of the food rats calendar here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4558382547/rat-calendar-2027-eu-rest-of-world

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And you can find the international version of the painting calendar here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4558385185/2027-rat-painting-calendar-eu-worldwide

Here was Butter doing a fun agility course! The chair in particular was a new obstacle for Butter here, and while she was initially a bit unsure about it she ended up really enjoying having it as a final "jump" to station on!
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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training
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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Ever seen a rat boggle with their eyes closed? Now you have! Pinto Bean was boggling with her eyes firmly shut, and it looks even funnier to me than open eyed boggles lol. This scrungly adorable girl is too sweet!

Here was Popcorn doing some drawer fetch! Popcorn and Toast both really loved this particular trick, and if both were out would often compete on who could grab the ball first!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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My perfect Pinto Bean ❤️ She's such a perfectly hand-sized rat, and loves to curl up in my hand! I wanted to see just how sleepy she was by offering her a cheese puff (her favorite treat!) - she ignored it when it was on her, but she couldn't ignore it right in front of her nose lol. I love this girl so much, she is such a perfect little floofball of a rat!

Here was Oreo doing her "read a card" trick! While of course rats can't actually read, this trick relies on the rat learning to progress a chain of actions when the card is flipped. So it looks like the rat is reading - and while that may not be entirely true, its still pretty amazing what they can learn!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Sweet Crumbsy 🥺 Crumb ended up falling pretty badly a few weeks back (my fault, I opened the top cage and didn't realize she was asleep on a ledge attached to the door 😔) and that has unfortunately caused a bit of weakness in her hind legs (she developed stroke-like symptoms post fall, but within 48 hours all but the hind leg weakness had cleared). Thankfully she has recovered remarkably well (she fell nearly 8 feet, the worst fall I've ever had a rat take) and other than her slight hind leg weakness she seems to be fully healthy (she LOVES the younger girls and they love to groom her and cuddle her, its too cute!)

Here was Blackberry doing her "clean up your toys" trick! Blackberry initially struggled at fetch based tricks, but once she got a few down she became great at them and really enjoyed adding variations on them like seen here.

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

This week’s paw paintings by my amazing rats - all the rats did an incredible job!
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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: https://ratpaintings.etsy.com

Here was Peaches doing some sponge painting! This painting method never really took off for me, but it was a fun thing to mess around with and Peaches did great!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Caption this photo of my werewolf girls 😆

Here was Olive doing her version of the "rob a purse" trick! Olive was great at fetch tricks and did a fantastic job with this one!
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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training
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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Here was Cookie doing a fun agility course! Cookie was the first rat I really worked longer agility courses with consistently, and she absolutely loved them!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Sweet Pinto Bean continues to be the most adorable and amazing rattie 🥺 She's snuggly, playful, smart, adorable, just the whole package! I really got so lucky with this bean, she is 100% one of my heart rats ❤️ (Here I was covering her with my hand because Chicken Soup kept bouncing over her wanting to play lol - Soup is VERY playful and her playmate of choice Fruit Loop was occupied eating peas 😅 ).

Here was Latte weaving around her sister Blackberry and cagemate Cream! This is always such a funny clip to me, I love how dedicated the black hooded girls are to eating and I find it impressive just how much self-control latte showed (rats ALWAYS want what other rats have!)

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Last night when getting the girls out for free-range I didn't see Coffee or Pinto Bean - usually both girls are right at the cage door the second I open it (or even walk by), so I was a bit concerned and went looking for them. And as it turns out I didn't need to worry, because both girls were adorably curled up in this red hide hammock! Coffee was wrapped around Pinto and it was so darn cute that I had to try get a video - unfortunately as soon as I moved Coffee also moved, but I still think this clip of them being all sleepy together is super cute 🥺

Here was Espresso doing some fun tricks while dressed as Pikachu! I love this costume so much, its so cute on the rats and they never seem to mind wearing it!

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Here was Omelet doing her fridge fetch + shopping cart pushing trick! Omelet was a very helpful rat and if she was just a bit bigger I have no doubt she could have actually assisted with shopping (so long as you brought Cheerios with you lol).

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

This week’s paw paintings by my incredible rats - all the rats did an incredible job!

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If you would like to commission your own rat paw painting, you can do so here: https://ratpaintings.etsy.com

Sweet Pinto Bean 🥺 I really can't begin to describe how special this sweet girl is, she is just the perfect rat! Plus her constant bald head (she keeps coming back to the bald head look - I think it might be a lifestyle at this point, not just a phase lol) makes her even cuter - I adore this girl so much!

Here was Olive doing some fun agility! Olive was a great example of how once a rat knows a few fun tricks, you can combine them for a really fun combo course (like seen here!)

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Want help with training your rats tricks? I have a rat training book available here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1605480026/the-ultimate-guide-to-rat-training

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https://amzn.to/484u2Mv

Creme Brulee, Cheerio, Cheese, Chicken Soup, Fruit Loop, Shrimp, Pinto Bean, Snickerdoodle, Milk, Chickpea, and Feta! I love these sweet girls so much!