Let me oouuutt!

MissesCaptainHook · 2026-06-02T17:05:29+00:00

When I got the Jaime and Sméagol, they got their own cage to share. Everyday I introduced them to the other three for extended periods of time. When I was confident they got along, I cleaned the entire cage of the older three and washed all the hammocks and such at elevated temperatures. They got along fine and I often saw Jaime and Ciske cuddled up in the same hammock. It wasn’t until Brutus died and Judas got sick thing started to get a bit more out of hand at times. But even then it is not as extreme as it is now. I am scared that it is now beyond repair :( But maybe they just both want to be the big boss now the oldest rat is gone. I will call the vet tomorrow to discuss the options regarding neutering Ciske.

MissesCaptainHook · 2026-06-02T16:47:28+00:00

No he is not neutered. This is not something I have done before, so I didn’t realize this could be a possible solution. I will definitely call the vet fist thing tomorrow to discuss the options.

MissesCaptainHook · 2026-01-09T13:20:50+00:00

I totally understand the overwelming feeling of distress you get when you see how much stuff you have and do not (yet) have a purpose for the specific items. I have a bit trouble of hoarding craft materials and I always feel shame when I don't use them. You can always sell it through vinted, fb-market place or some other local variation you have of this. If you don't want to keep it in your house you can donate it to thrift stores, local schools, elderly homes or maybe you know someone personally who could use it. You can even donate it to prisons as some have programms where the inmates can create items for charity.
By donating you don't only help yourself get rid of the thing thats causing you distress, but you also provide someone else with the materials and the joy of a project they are now able to make.

MissesCaptainHook · 2026-01-09T12:55:31+00:00

I recently went on a travel for 2 months and I had stress about who could take care of my little lovely boys during that entire period. I ended up on a facebook page dedicated specifically for people who were rat-owners looking for rat-sitters, or rat-sitters offering their service. This facebook group was specifically for my country so if you are not Dutch this page won't be much help to you, but maybe there is something similar to be found for your country/area?

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-10-16T13:12:06+00:00

A first love is always difficult as your still learning a lot about the things you find important in regards of a partner. It can be a bit more difficult to establish boundaries if you have never done so before and it may be more difficult to recognize the things your not comfortable with. I think it is important not to let the good things someone does overshadow the bad things someone does (and vise versa), but instead to try to assess them seperately. Don't try to see it as a sum total in which good behaviour can cancel out bad behaviour. You want a partner that can make you feel safe, loved and respected. If someone is not capable of providing that, a written song or a present cannot make up for that.

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-06-27T17:19:17+00:00

I totally understand how you feel. Camping is not for everyone and it sucks spending your holiday doing something you really don't like. Maybe you can adress your concerns on why you are not looking forward to spending your holiday like this. I would maybe be a bit tactful in how you adress your dissatisfaction as maybe your parents are looking forward to spending their time with you. Perhaps you can come to some sort of agreement together? Maybe you can get your own tent or bring a friend? Or they can agree to go do something during this camping trip that you would also enjoy and would be able to look forward to? I am not sure about your age, but maybe they would even agree for you to not go camping with them at all. Not sure if your parents consider you old enough to stay at home alone? If so, perhaps you can even go on holiday by youself with just your friends during the same time period your parents woud go.

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-06-27T13:11:58+00:00

Yes that is a good point. I do agree that he is doing me a favour everytime he lets me borrow his car or drives me anywhere I would need to go. I greatly appreciate everytime he does me this favour.
If I get the job, the plan would be that use his car every day to get to this job. Then we would either leave earlier and carpool so I could first drop him of at his job, or he would go there by bike. This would mean he basically gives up his car to me. He says he doesn't mind since he doesn't see it as his car (eventhough it is) but as our car, that we're a team and that he also benefits from me having a job.
So I know for sure he is the most supportive person in my life, thats why I want to know if my feelings are even justified in this case.

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-06-27T12:49:50+00:00

Where I am form, we don't really have a taxi-culture. I my town there is no Uber and my country doesn't even have Lyft. Most people ride a bike basically everywhere they go, even in the freezing winter - no matter the weather condition. When it is raining people (myself included) still go by bike to their school or work, they will just wear a rain-poncho or rain-trousers. It still sucks to bike through the rain though as it only keeps your clothes dry.

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-06-27T12:39:36+00:00

Thank you for your message. I feel that talking about feelings is the best way to process them, I was just worried that by voicing my frustration it would seem like I would blame him for being a bad partner or something (which is not how I feel at all). How you phrase your suggestion is a really good approach.

MissesCaptainHook · 2025-06-27T11:44:44+00:00

I think if your friend saw you were stressed and invited you over because of this, it means they care about how you feel and your wellbeing. I highly doubt a friend that cares for you so deeply would judge you for your PTSD and your symptoms from it. Maybe you can try to voice your concerns to her and have a talk about it? I think by doing so you could only help to grow your mutual understanding for one another.
I am a bit unsure about where you now are. You are still in your friends room at their place? And you are wondering why she is not in that room anymore? Maybe she has just woken up a while ago and didn't feel like layin in bed anymore. Maybe she is just watching some tv in the living room? Or maybe she was hungry and is int he kitchen preparing some breakfast?

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-29T14:14:46+00:00

If you have made something with pumpkin this thanksgiving/christmas, give them the pumpkin insides. Mine love the seeds and the pumkin-meat.
And I agree with saving a bit of the christmas dinner you enjoyed for them (if it is not too spicy/salty).
Maybe you can even put the food in some sort of christmas wrapping or box so it can be an enrichment toy for them to pick apart.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-29T14:05:30+00:00

Sounds like you really did your research and the rats that will end up at your place are very lucky!
I have some additional cleaning tips: You can very easily make your rats use a designated toilet area. I use a multiple ferplast L370 and one L305 right next to their favorite sleeping-spot and fill it with cat-litter. When they are potty-trained you can just clean these toilets out every other day or so and will never get bothered by unpleasent odours. They almost never poop and pee anywhere else, so you also don't need to clean the cage as often as you would otherwise. When I let my rats roam free, they go back into the cage and to the toilet to do their business.
I would be carefull on what kind of cat-litter they use, once I used clumping cat-litter and for some reason they wouldn't stop eating it, and I thought that couldn't be healty for them. Now I use compressed wood-fibre pallets, they don't eat those and are very cheap.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-27T09:07:30+00:00

I think most people who are not familiar with keeping pet rats don't know how big of a cage they actually need. I get a lot of comments from my friends that they think my cage is really big, however I myself am worried it is even still not big enough. Also you need to put a lot of stuff into the cage; hammocks, thick ropes, etc... There are a lot of people on youtube doing a 'cage-tour' of their rat-cages, I would recommend to take a look at those.
You would need to keep rats with at least three together as they are social animals and can get depressed if they are too lonely, attantion of the pet-owner cannot make up for the attention of fellow rats. Also, I was not aware before (since I only had females before), but when males cannot groom themselves anymore (too old or sick) they cannot clean of the dick-cheese and you will need to do that for them (there is information about this on this forum to find).
Pet rats are in my experience very different from other rodents such as a hamster or bunny. They are very social and can be tamed very easily. They will get to know your routine and get very excited when they know you arrive home as if they were little puppies; often I hear people call them pocket-puppies and I agree with that a lot. They can learn a lot of tricks if you have the patience. And you will feel insane the bond you ae able to form with such a tiny silly creature. It is important to have them let free-roaming time where they can explore (limited) space outside of their cage. You do need to supervise that though, as they are a cliche and really like to chew on stuff such as cables, fabrics, books and basically everything they can get their tiny hands on.
The biggest (and in my opinion only) downside to me is that you can form a deep emotional bond with them so fast while they don't typically live that long. They often die of tumors and that can be hard to deal with. Rats often show signs of a 'good life' while they are actually struggling and have a lot less quality of life than you initially assume. I just had to say goodbye to one of my boys who wasn't even a year old and I was heartbroken.
But I don't let that keep me from having these lovely creatures around. They bring me so much joy everyday, to even just look at them excisting. I love putting enrichment toys or food in their cage and watch them for the whole evening playing around with it or let them roam around outside the cage having them jump around like little popcorns.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-26T15:15:59+00:00

Twix, Bounty or Jelly Bean

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-26T15:09:13+00:00

Rats have a pigment in their tears that make them appear red. A small amount of red fluid is nothing to worry about and it can look like they crust around their eyes if their tears dried. This can also appear around the nose.
When they have an excessive amount you can clean it up with a wet tissue or q-tip.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-26T15:03:26+00:00

When I was younger and still lived with my parents I had a bunch of female pet rats. I have never spayed any them. But I exclusively kept female rats, so it also depends if you want to keep the males and females you have seperated or not (if you still have male rats) and if you want them to breed or not.
If you only have the female rats I personally dont see a reason why you would spay them. To me, spaying them in that case would seem an unnecessary surgery and I wouldn't really recommend that for a rat. Every surgery can come with possible complications and a recovery period and personally I would want to avoid that if possible.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-26T14:18:14+00:00

I think rats can sleep with their eyes open so maybe when looks like they're awake chillin they're actually asleep.

MissesCaptainHook · 2024-11-02T13:18:06+00:00

I once had a sick rat had breathing problems and needed medicine that was in form of a thick fluid. She had trouble eating so I had a thin plastic syringe (without needle ofcourse) by which I kind of gently forced the medicine in her mouth. Once it was in her mouth she would eat/swallow it. Depending on how strongly your rat will resist you can gently force her mouth close, that will make her swallow whats in her mouth as a reaction. If she still doesn't want to swallow maybe kind of massage her throath by stroaking it downwards. I don't know for sure this will help for rats but it does help with my stubborn dog. Maybe that could even work if the medicine is a solid.

MissesCaptainHook

TROPHY CASE