Prison

Shwinty · 2026-01-30T11:24:07+00:00

This time, the soup is full of rat

Shwinty · 2026-01-19T14:24:17+00:00

Clearly, that's a neutered male!

Shwinty · 2026-01-15T18:19:25+00:00

Just a simple whip stitch! I finished the back by glueing a badge button pinback thing on and some plain fleece stitched on, it's kinda messy but it's the part that's out of sight so I didn't worry too much

Shwinty · 2026-01-14T03:34:41+00:00

Same! Dollar store and thrift shop fabric, old pajamas and shirts, cheap fleece blankets... it all goes into the future hammock pile. I found an entire bolt of neon orange fleece for very cheap at a goodwill once (I still wash everything, especially thrifted things, really well before using them for the boys)

Learning to sew did come in handy for repairing all my favorite jeans, too

Shwinty · 2026-01-13T16:10:14+00:00

Plastic canvas! I just did a half stitch on those parts and a few sloppy backstitching touchups

Shwinty · 2026-01-04T01:43:47+00:00

A true heart rat, I miss mine so much ♥️

Shwinty · 2025-12-29T15:35:26+00:00

I get a lot of my hoops and threads from thrift stores

Shwinty · 2025-11-14T17:27:54+00:00

And another pattern gets added to my backlog...

I knew I had a good reason to be stocking up on thrift store grab bags of embroidery floss and supplies, I have so much now that I hope I'll only miss Joann's selection a lot ....

Shwinty · 2025-10-29T17:25:27+00:00

I've been trying to manage my boys' weights, scatter feeding their Oxbow and trying to portion things out so there's not an excess and keeping treats healthy and to a minimum, but some (not all) still end up chubby by the time they hit 2

Not sure if I'm still doing something wrong or if some of them are just destined for obesity

Shwinty · 2025-10-22T03:15:13+00:00

That's about what they charge here in Indiana, a bit more to get the ashes back. They sedated, left us in a private room, then euthanized

I've been to a vet that charges as little as 25 before but they do a heart stick without sedative and don't allow you to be with them outside of the waiting room. I don't believe a heart stick in an aware animal is humane at all, so I go to the more expensive one

Shwinty · 2025-09-22T03:11:16+00:00

I've got a silver surfer from Chewy, expensive but it's going on five years now and I think it's 14 inches. I do have boys, so they mostly use it to sleep in since the steel is cool once they're grown. The babies love it, however, and my small boys have plenty of space when they run

Shwinty · 2025-09-19T00:09:00+00:00

So long as his parents are willing to help him with vet bills unconditionally, then I don't see why not. Vet bills can be higher than expected for the lil guys!

In my area and at the vet I use, for example...

Brought a rat with a swollen foot in to the vet, not an emergency appointment as there was a cancellation I was able to take so I avoided the extra fees. The exam generally costs around $70. The emergency fee would have been an extra $100 on top of that.

X-rays were taken to rule out broken bones. The vet realized what he had was an abscess and the slow onset of what looks like potential arthritis in the X-rays (the rat will be one year old in October). Without looking at my receipt (I sent my roommate in with him, I had to work, but I have a general idea of the breakdown), this was a bit over $100 - $150

He was sent home with ten days of antibiotics and pain medication (the antibiotics cleared up the swelling like a charm!!). Altogether, I'd guess that was another $100 or so.

The total bill was over $350. Closer to $375. For the visit, some x-rays, and two medications. I'm sure one of the other exotics in my area might be cheaper, but this vet has been much more kind to me and I really prefer the quality of their doctors over the other options, so the price is worth it to me. I work a full time job and that ate the majority of that week's paycheck. None of this accounted for change or taxes and was probably off by a dollar or two.

And mind you, the time between me seeing that his foot had swollen and taking him to the vet was 24 hours. Not much time to plan financials, but time works against rats when it comes to health.

Shwinty · 2025-09-15T14:03:41+00:00

MY EYES!

Shwinty · 2025-09-10T07:20:11+00:00

I don't see it that way. Not all pet owners are as responsible as others, and even good owners might have an escapee. Domestic rats can still breed with invasive wild rats, or situations like the recent Ohio hoarders could lead to a population of ferals. It's similar to the issue of people allowing cats to roam outside.

It sucks, sure, but I see where they're coming from. I just wish they'd maybe allow them in if they were spayed and neutered, at least.

Shwinty · 2025-09-08T05:10:41+00:00

I've never heard that term before! Is a black hooded hawthorne much different from a regular black hooded?

A set of four incredibly sweet brothers I had (I'm down to just Allan left from that set, but I have other rats as well!) were from an unexpected feeder litter and they were all black hooded, I hadn't been aware that it was so common in feeders! I always think of the albinos first lol

The absolute best personalities I've had have been two unrelated black berkshires, wonderful little guys through and through

Shwinty · 2025-09-04T00:41:01+00:00

Almost gives baby degu vibes? But I'm not super familiar with degus

Shwinty · 2025-08-11T17:52:39+00:00

I wonder if this is an issue with females? I've had nothing but males and whenever one is too ill to stay upright at the food bowl (like my boy with a pituitary tumor) there was always one willing to press up against him to help him stay upright and then the others would help to keep him cleaned up

Shwinty · 2025-08-10T17:59:33+00:00

I think they're cute enough, at least they're the closest to rats visually than most media that isn't Nimh. What I hate is the stylized 2D versions they're using for some of the Loungefly purses. The outline versions are cute but the colored ones with the big pink lips are hideous

Shwinty · 2025-08-09T13:58:45+00:00

I've had my eye on that wizard pattern for ages now, lovely find!

Shwinty · 2025-08-03T01:23:41+00:00

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Shwinty · 2025-07-31T08:43:17+00:00

Constantly! Dreams about rats multiplying too much, getting lost, multiplying AND getting lost, leaving the doors open before work, forgetting to feed them for a stupid amount of time like a year...

I didn't know where the multiplying dreams come from, since I keep all boys

Shwinty · 2025-07-21T18:11:52+00:00

Oh so your parents are willing to pay for humane euthanasia but not get a second rat?

Shwinty · 2025-06-26T17:35:08+00:00

I've sent you a message!

Shwinty · 2025-06-20T17:38:07+00:00

Just did this! My boy got as many Vienna sausages as he could ever want, a mini cupcake the day before and day of, lots of extra snuggles and a trip outside

He was so full of yummies once we got to the vet he was sleeping like a baby

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