# taking my rats outside



## my~lil~zoo (Nov 22, 2009)

I love taking my rats outside and was wondering if any of you take your small pets outside?


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## Phenobarbie (Sep 28, 2009)

When it's warm and dry outside i like to put hamster in my garden and watch her wade through the grass and eat dandelions


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## my~lil~zoo (Nov 22, 2009)

lol hamster... what a name. I would love to have a garden.... sadly i live in the city and the only grass we have outside is where all the dogs poo, so i have to clean up everyones dog messes b4 i let mine run around. I let them out one by one and they follow me, except for chuckie, he just takes off exploreing. does hamster try to eat the plants?


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## Phenobarbie (Sep 28, 2009)

She nibbles on the grass and dandelions, but if she goes near the roses or the pond i swiftly move her in the opposite direction.
I don't think she'd enjoy the pond


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## mzdolittle (Nov 5, 2009)

Corrina, you know my rats go outside. I like to take them to the parks. I always put a harness and leash on them, though.


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## lozza84 (Jul 19, 2008)

only small animals i let outside are my gp's


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## CharleyRogan (Feb 20, 2009)

I wouldn't let mine outside.... too scared they would run off!


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

All mine go outside, even the Robo's( i have a playpen for them) 

Fatrat like to go for walks and i 100% trust him not to run off, after about 5 mins he gets bored and tries to climb up my leg so i pick him up and he falls asleep in my arms  

its cute.


xx


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

how come you only have the one rat?

you-look-like-a-hamster


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

I got him from red(akai-chan) and she got him from someone as a lone FAT rat.

I do feelsorry for him being by himself but he is happy when he is in his cage and i can give him loooots of attention he spends 6-8 hours out of his cage 
4 of that is going for walks/drives/ running round the room he always has water dotted about and snack when he is out, he is toilette trained to tap his paw on my face 2 times if he needs to go back in his cage to do his buisness

he is a lovely rat, i would love to get him a friend but i think he would be jealos if he spent time with me.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Fancy Rats | Information | Why Rats Need Company

amy


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

I would be scared a bird would grab one of my rattys . If I got an enclosed play area would they like the sun or would it be to bright ? Sorry for the retard questions, just curious


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

thanks for sharing that with me, i am well aware of why he needs company. 

He has lived with other rats before, when he was with red, but they both died.

I would buy a pair of rats and introduce them but i dont have the space for another rat cage, i no it would only be temp having 2 cages but if they didn't get on i would have to keep 2 big rat cages when i didnt have the room in the first place

it just isn't practical.
When i take fatty for a walk we sumtimes go to jacobs house to play with tedy the rat, tbh they dont even notice each other whilst running round the room.


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## my~lil~zoo (Nov 22, 2009)

You can get the play pens that have a cover on the top . If you put it in an area that has sun and shade your rat will be fine. the sun wont bother them too much as long as they have a choice of sun or shade,although they can over heat. watch out for heavy breathing and drooling. have water ava at all times and sun is a great source of vitamin d ( i think)for them. mine dont have one, im still looking cause around here they are like $60. I took mine outside when they were babies and started from there. you never want to stray away from your ratty, just incase they pick something up and try to eat it. Just follow them around and let them explore. Also if you do decided to take em out, scan the area first for, nest?, cats? holes in the ground (since they will crawl into anything) and just preety much know your surroundings and the different noises. It you hear something different then just simply pick it up and wait a lil while and try again. Also, it will be your ratties first time so more than likely it will stay real close to you.
I have a trainig technique with mine, try this.....
When you put your ratty on the ground, get to its level. Give it a treat. stand up and scrape your foot on the ground,(BE SURE NOT TO STEP ON YOUR RATTY) then repeat it again, this will teach them that your feet are its safe place. Once you get that down a few times, take a step back see if it follows you (more than likely it will). If not then just go back to the first step. all of my rats follow me around the grass except for chuckie, he likes tag lol (or me chaseing him down).
Good luck and if you have anymore qs about it let me know



waterlily said:


> I would be scared a bird would grab one of my rattys . If I got an enclosed play area would they like the sun or would it be to bright ? Sorry for the retard questions, just curious


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## Sophie_xxx (Feb 21, 2009)

u-look-like-a-hamster said:


> I do feelsorry for him being by himself but he is happy when he is in his cage and i can give him loooots of attention he spends 6-8 hours out of his cage
> 4 of that is going for walks/drives/ running round the room he always has water dotted about and snack when he is out, he is toilette trained to tap his paw on my face 2 times if he needs to go back in his cage to do his buisness
> 
> he is a lovely rat, i would love to get him a friend but i think he would be jealos if he spent time with me.


Thats so cool, rats are such clever things! I wish I could train my girls but they are so skatty, they are never in one spot for more than 2 seconds  Thats really good that he's out of the cage for so long aswell, i work full time so my girls only come out when I get from work at about 7pm.

I have put my girls outside when it was hot in the summer, but even then they were in a little pen. Our garden has too many hiding places and a big shed that they could easily get under so I dont feel safe letting them run around freely, which is a shame 

Ive always thought about getting them a lead so i can take them for walks though, my girls are still quite small I think. They are nearly a year old now so fully grown, they are a nice chubby weight but just not very long! The leads I have seen look too big. I guess you just walk them around the house to get them used to it?


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

Sophie_xxx said:


> Ive always thought about getting them a lead so i can take them for walks though, my girls are still quite small I think. They are nearly a year old now so fully grown, they are a nice chubby weight but just not very long! The leads I have seen look too big. I guess you just walk them around the house to get them used to it?


That would be hilarious to put em on a lead and walk em round the park, to see the expressions on the rodent haters faces


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

HAAAA 

Its sooo true if you take your rat fora walk you get funny looks

one lady came up to me and said, 'you should be ashamed having one of those disgusting creatures' i laughed in her face and said Rats are very clean animals, fatrat is always cleaning himself, he poo's and wee's in one corner of the cage, never poos orwees out of his cage, he is such a friendly little man, if you have a problem with me taking my CLEAN, HYGENIC rat for a walk then stay indoors as the wild ones might get you 

she looked at me as if i had just thrown a pieve of dog poo in her face and walked on.!!
what a silly little oldlady! get with the times yeh (Y)


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## mzdolittle (Nov 5, 2009)

The harness I use is a harness and leash combo. It will actually fit any size animal from hamster to cat. I use the same lead on my rabbit and ferrets. I've used it on my iquana in the past. It is made by Coastal. They are very inexpensive here. I have a half dozen of them. I don't know if they are available in the UK or not but this is what they look like.Buy Ferret Lead/Harness Blue - Ferret Leads and Harnesses Online at Arcata Pet Supplies

And on my rat









We do get strange looks but the children will come up to me and after getting permission from their parents, I let them hold my ratties and answer their questions. The adults are really surprised at how nice rats are. Of course, there are always those who aren't going to get anywhere near "those nasty things". Oh well, we can't convert them all, can we?

*Alica*


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