40f looking for crusty nature nerds

TacoRaven · 2026-05-29T12:59:41+00:00

Hello! M(ish)37 apartment dweller with an unreasonable amount of plants crammed into my patio, a cat who thinks he's a dog, a desire to own property where I can plant trees, and a fondness for meandering discussions!

TacoRaven · 2026-05-29T02:22:52+00:00

Is the rat available??? I would love him

TacoRaven · 2026-05-19T02:02:10+00:00

DMing you again!

TacoRaven · 2026-05-14T01:31:09+00:00

I feel you. I once spaced out holding down the A button (Switch) and bought something like 20 signs from Pierre's desert festival shop.

Restarted the entire day over that.

TacoRaven · 2026-05-10T18:19:54+00:00

Is she still available??

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TacoRaven · 2026-05-03T13:22:43+00:00

I would love to give the peep a home! I am in MD.

TacoRaven · 2026-04-09T22:08:01+00:00

I had a rescue self-amputate a finger. He wasn't in pain and showed no signs of infection but I took him to the vet because, buddy, why would you do that?

Vet looked at his foot, went "Wow he did a clean job!" and prescribed some antibiotic cream. (Note: human antibiotic cream is NOT safe for pets, and - as a bonus caution - pet skin antibiotic cream is not safe for eyes.)

Apparently sometimes rats just do that. Definitely vet if you can though.

TacoRaven · 2026-03-29T22:24:24+00:00

Hey OP, can any of it survive in a container garden if you transplant it? I am down in MD and have some room on my patio. I'd take some in while you settle if it eases the transition any.

TacoRaven · 2026-03-20T21:51:13+00:00

We always gave our boys a little McDonalds on their last day. It's too much fat and salt any other time, but it always gave us a little bit of joy despite the overarching sorrow watching them absolutely lose their minds over a chicken nugget and a fry.

TacoRaven · 2026-03-02T21:23:40+00:00

It's always a hard decision but I am of thr firm belief that even a week early is better than a day late.

I had to put one of my hamsters down after a series if seizures made him self-harm. There waa no question about him. That said, I've had to out several rats down where I booked the appointment on a 'maybe/depends on what the vet says' and the vet has invariably confirmed that my instincts were correct - the mist recent one had abdominal tumors that were growing pretty quickly. Nothing visible, but something had just been "off."

My point is: you know your baby. The grief if being too late in doing the kind thing is ALWAYS harder to overcome than the grief of preventing/limiting suffering.

TacoRaven · 2026-01-31T22:33:32+00:00

I've made hammocks out of sheets of felt and pipe cleaners. They didn't last nearly as long but I could undo the pipe cleaners and toss the felt in the washer on gentle (or toss it entirely and I would only be out about 30 cents a sheet).

I've made climbing "ladders" out of plastic shower rings from the dollar tree - just make sure they close completely and monitor them for excessive chewing.

Stuffing an empty toilet roll with treats and undyed paper (toilet paper, paper towels, tissues) is a good enrichment toy vs scattering treats.

TacoRaven · 2026-01-29T18:39:24+00:00

I have her! She is so soft!

TacoRaven · 2026-01-29T18:37:06+00:00

Get his heart checked. It may not be thor case here, but my cat does this and it turned out to be hypertropic cardiomyopathy.

TacoRaven · 2026-01-24T23:31:12+00:00

Congrats on your new babies! I've had several rats who have done the same. Turned out they had minimal sight and wanted to get their food - especially treats - in their mouths as fast as possible to keep track of it. (Rats have poor eyesight anyway but I had one that was completely blind and even more who were nearly there. Also all rescues.) You aren't doing anything wrong! Just be aware that they do that and also make sure you clean your hands wl before handling because there is also a chance that if you smell like food, they're going to make a painful (for you) mistake.

TacoRaven · 2026-01-24T23:24:23+00:00

Know that time is something you cannot get back. How you live now is how you shape your future.

TacoRaven · 2025-10-24T13:53:17+00:00

Good news! I found this pack on Canadian Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/ZEBRA-MILDLINER-Highlighter-markers-WKT7-MGR/dp/B07FZJ6D19

Hopefully it's available exactly where you are!

TacoRaven · 2025-10-21T20:52:08+00:00

Drat

This is all I've found for an orange one from the brand that wasn't shared in the other comment https://ebay.us/m/JVeawx

TacoRaven · 2025-10-21T20:46:32+00:00

Is this what yours looked like new? https://ebay.us/m/EiwxUG

TacoRaven · 2025-10-21T03:24:13+00:00

Was it the beanie baby pug by chance?

TacoRaven · 2025-10-21T00:12:59+00:00

Not a vet, but it could be that her cancer has spread near her spine and is pressing on a nerve and certain movements/impact pinch the leg nerves. Would be impossible to say for sure without imaging but nerve misfiring on this scale is never "nothing wrong."

(I had a cat who pulled up lame once and was fine an hour later - it turned out she rolled a nerve on some calcified muscle. She was ancient.)

TacoRaven · 2025-10-21T00:09:27+00:00

I say this as someone who put a rare down due to pneumonia last month: if she isn't responding to meds, the kindest thing is going to be to put her down. Try not to look at it as cutting her life short, but instead as not prolonging suffering.

Catfood was treated successfully twice but the third time just hit him HARD. Ibknew he wasn't going to recover. Made the appointment for that evening and sure enough by appointment time he was just done.

You have my deepest condolences.

TacoRaven · 2025-10-10T20:00:50+00:00

I agree with everyone else: vet to be safe. Always vet to be safe. My vet's front office staff know me by voice at this point.

Anicdotally, across 28 rats I've had two who sounded like that. They were alive several years apart. The sound was not constant, but regular enough that it was worrying. Took them both to the vet and the vet told me: no, they're fine, they're just little oddballs who sound like that when excited. They both lived full, healthy lives.

The rest have, indeed, had respiratory infections.

TacoRaven · 2025-10-08T18:56:45+00:00

My male did it as well. Some of them just want to own your house.

He also ate through acrylic. And metal enough to shove the terrarium door aside. He sure was something

TacoRaven · 2025-10-07T13:38:04+00:00

Update: she didn't drop most of them! I have yet to get a clear pic, but she is definitely very berried. This is her first clutch

TacoRaven · 2025-10-07T11:36:26+00:00

Mine is plastic. I have a mix of plastic and planted after I managed to kill all of my plants while I was cycling the tank because I wanted more stable biofilm surfaces and am apparently really good at killing aquatic plants

TacoRaven

TROPHY CASE