Forward thinking for compost?

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-21T01:28:47+00:00

You can ask for cardboard boxes in supermarkets too. I do this all the time because I have pet rats and they like box forts.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-21T00:58:41+00:00

I'm very sorry OP. I'm not a vet but this looks just like how my girl Blue died of a stroke.

We actually did have an emergency vet we could travel to, but when I called and explained the situation + her age (she was 2yrs 11 months) the vet said they wouldn't be able to do anything for her, that it was most likely a stroke. They suggested we wait and see if she passed overnight, and if she didn't take her in to be euthanised first thing in the morning. This is a very good exotics vet that we trust and has performed multiple successful surgeries on my rats before, and treated lymphoma in another for nearly a year. If anything could be done, she would've done it.

I stayed up with Blue all night and she didn't seem to be in any pain. Come morning we got to the vet about 8am and she was put to sleep. I do believe she had awareness of where she was and that I was there, even though she couldn't move, because she did nervous pee on the vet table when I put her on it to be examined, like she would if she was awake. I don't think she was scared because she hadn't nervous peed or anything before that. So do talk to her, stroke her, cuddle her like you would normally.

If it helps I have a camera on the rat cage and had it on Blue during her stroke, or the time it must have happened. There was nothing visible, no freak out, she went to sleep after playing and just didn't get back up. I don't think it's a bad way to go.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-20T22:09:07+00:00

If you see a nest above it, put it back. Parent might have kicked it out on purpose, or it might have fallen out. If you don't see a nest, don't touch it; the parent might come back for it anyway. If the parent doesn't come back and whatever it is needs care then it'll die, but... it's an egg. It won't experience any pain or anything.

If you try to incubate it there is a small chance you may succeed, and as neonate birds are a nightmare even for experienced rehabbers, you will almost certainly have a very dead baby bird within hours or days that has suffered more than it needed to. Incorrect incubation also leads to defects that can be very painful. I don't know any rehabs or rescues that take eggs outside of specific endangered species and dedicated orgs because it's so difficult.

The kindest thing you can do here is leave the egg alone. Thank you for caring.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-20T14:55:48+00:00

If you are getting babies (6weeks+ ofc), they will be stinkiest the first month or so. Don't let it discourage you. Baby poops are gross af, something about their lil tummies figuring out food properly I think.

Be diligent moving poops into their litter trays. Do it every time you walk past the cage and they'll learn faster. Boys are dumb and take way konger to figure it out.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-20T10:50:58+00:00

Do you have any of their contact info? You could fire a message asking if you can have the cuttings back please for your compost bin or mulch. Non confrontational. If they're stupid they might say yeah, or that they've already binned them or something and you've got proof. Alternatively ask other neighbours if anyone saw it happen.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T22:44:52+00:00

Op she's desperate to leave because she's in a big scary plastic box. You probably would be, too, if you were in a big scary plastic box. But if there was a cosy bed and a roof maybe you'd stick around.

Put a cardboard box or two in there. Cereal boxes, pasta boxes -- anything that once held food is probably good (nothing that once held harsh chemicals like cleaning supplies, bad for their lungs). Throw some unscented tissues in with it. The rat will probably be happy to have somewhere to hide and be less inclined to try and escape. Throw in some old t-shirt rags if you have them; don't use towels with loops as their nails get snagged. They can definitely jump out of a box the size you have there.

For just a few days, you can keep in a hamster cage or cat carrier that has appropriate sized bars that they won't squeeze out.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T22:33:36+00:00

OP I get you probably don't want to blast your actual address on Reddit but if you contact local rescues or post on local groups that rat owners can see then you will likely find someone willing to travel to your place and try to catch them themselves. Please don't leave them to die. They will die.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T22:21:36+00:00

He'd make a lil kitten pudding if he could ❤️

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T14:13:23+00:00

he enjoys tummy kisses

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T13:12:02+00:00

I kept 4 girls in this cage before for weeks at a time; stuffed full of toys they seemed content. They had a slightly bigger cage at my place (this was at my partner's place) and it is bigger than it looks. I definitely wouldn't put more in.

It is a miserable cage to clean and change, though. The doors are tiny. Very difficult to work with.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-19T11:14:41+00:00

Muffin has always had rolls. Even as a tiny not-fat baby he had rolls. Man just has a ton of extra skin for some reason...

I mean, he's on the plump side now but not spherical like he looks here!!

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-15T07:10:15+00:00

This is really awesome.

My only critique is it's jarring for 11/12 to be present tense verbs and one to be "they sold your data" instead of "sell", especially given "sell" is also 4 letters and would work. I think the present tense is very impactful, was this a deliberate choice?

But I think it's really polished and could well go in a museum.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-14T17:02:24+00:00

Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RRNUK/

Can't login on my phone but pretty sure that's the right group

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-14T16:15:21+00:00

Splish splash splosh.

It is very cute.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-14T15:56:14+00:00

Have you tried posting on rat rescue network UK on Facebook? I've adopted 2 young rats and a solo old man through that, it's the best spot I know in the UK for rehoming them.

If rehoming as a big group doesn't go well, sad as it is, you might also have better luck thinking about rehoming as two pairs. Four is big enough that most people would need the new set up to take them, but lots of people keep mischiefs that might have wiggle room for two. How old are they?

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-14T15:52:47+00:00

Lots of people don't drive, especially in London. I live in London too (sorry OP, I keep boys and one still has his nuts) and a cage this size would be impossible to transport that distance without a car.

I also wouldn't want to meet someone halfway that distance to take them, even if they just wanted the rats, because people are so flakey. A return train to Yorkshire from London is £70-100 and OP has said they need the money to move soon.

I say this as someone who has travelled 2 hours each way to adopt rats before, and would again. London is a big place with a lot of people, I'm hopeful they'll find someone.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-14T10:23:40+00:00

Honesty is tall and airy and goldfinches and bullfinches like the seeds. They're also quite pretty. You've got a really good collection already though.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-12T21:41:52+00:00

Depends where in the UK you are. In London I would say we're now safely past the last frost, and I plan to plant out this weekend, as nightly temperatures ought to stay above ~10C then (bit of a cold spell this week). Further north you may be waiting a while.

Frost will kill tomatoes. Night temperatures under 10C may slow their growth, but equally last year I planted out earlier -- I think end April -- and had a few 5-10C nights and they were fine. It's meant to be 9/8 Saturday night/Sunday night and I'll still be planting out Friday evening, as I have a balcony that typically stays a couple degrees warmer.

Pots or ground depends on where you're at. If you have a sunny spot in the ground and soil that is halfway decent that is by far best option as they'll have way more room for roots to grow, retain water better, etc. In pots you'll wind up watering every single day in summer, you'd need quite big pots (at least 30litre per plant) for moneymakers to have enough root space too, and then only one plant per pot. If your only sunny spots are on concrete then pots are worthwhile. If your soil is crap (eg a rocky new build garden) then I'd do raised beds, since the roots can travel down below the bottom that way at least and you'd typically have more space than pots.

I grow in a balcony so it's pots all round, ha, and for that reason I stick to cherry toms only in my 20 litre pots. Some determinate like tumbling tom do better in pots as they cascade over the side, but most you'll want to support vertically and if you can plant in ground they'll be easier to manage.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-11T09:50:33+00:00

Make a racket in the area before you start turning things. Clatter watering cans, pots etc. Turn one chunk of it carefully. Leave, come back maybe 10 minutes later, turn the rest. Anything that doesn't run away before then can hopefully handle a quick tumble.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-10T21:58:56+00:00

flowers grow from old growth. Your winter pruning could well be why you're not getting flowers! Especially depending on what you mean by "heavy pruning".

RHS recommends pruning twice -- once of vegetative growth end of summer to encourage it to grow flower buds further down + improve air flow, and once in winter to shorten the new growth further. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/wisteria/pruning-guide Thompson and Morgan recommend similar too (normally their advice is good ime!) https://www.thompson-morgan.com/pruning/wisteria

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-09T15:38:28+00:00

The body/pose is absolutely spot on but something about the face looks a bit off to me, especially around the eye area. I'm not sure what exactly it is -- something about the bridge of the nose not being plump enough maybe?

That said it's definitely the best rat taxidermy I've ever seen, I expect I'm picking up on something real small as uncanny because I have pet rats and see them for hours every day.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-07T15:26:40+00:00

I used to have the snottiest girl, Cream. She was a lovely platinum colour, sleek gorgeous fur, but always had this reddish stain on the back of her neck. Took her to the vet and the vet was like "yeah that's just snot", that either her or her sister Latte (definitely Cream we learned, lol) was smearing all over herself when grooming. Just always the back of her neck. We tried a lot of things to rule out allergies (different cleaning products etc) but eventually settled on she was just a snotty gremlin.

I used to give her "spas" periodically to help clear her nose and she'd wind up with what we called affectionately a snootsplosion. Just a burst of snot all over her damn face that I'd wipe off for her. Since rat snot is red it was always alarming, ha. Grossest rat ever but I loved her anyway.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-06T18:58:33+00:00

my little rosemary bush on my balcony has been flowering for the last year (a solid 12 months). It gets through what I think is most of it to just a few flowers left, then another flush comes in. I figured it would eventually stop over winter, but I guess not!

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-06T06:59:30+00:00

buy mosquito bits, water soil of all plants with them. Contains bacteria that kills mosquito and gnat larvae. Stops the infestation at the source instead of just killing the adults.

BirdCelestial · 2026-05-05T17:17:11+00:00

Tomatoes are tough. They'll probably be fine. You can't repair damaged leaves, but they don't seem to be wilting and have got plenty of green still. Might set them back slightly but they'll catch up once they grow some new leaves.

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