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Edit: Changed image file to reduce redundant-subject images in my gallery.
Finished product from the beginning WIP shot here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7651887/
I bought a navy blue hard-shell suitcase from Salvation Army, gutted, reupholstered and painted it, and then constructed a rat play area inside. I started with raw oak boards, then cut, planed, glued/clamped, drilled, and sanded all the shelves. The hardware I painted myself too.
Believe it or not, I got to do this for a school project :D
The outside is painted "Key Lime".
The shelves and dowels are dyed with food colouring for safe chewing.
A kid in my class seemed horrified at the idea of letting my rats chew on this after spending so much time and money on it. ...Well, DUH, I'm crazy about my rats..It was made to be used! :B
I did bring rats in for critique, so they could demonstrate its use.
Video of the first test run with rats in the completed suitcase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOT7h2NdXtQ
Their second introduction once I got it back from school: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndh4xAY1hgo
Finished product from the beginning WIP shot here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7651887/
I bought a navy blue hard-shell suitcase from Salvation Army, gutted, reupholstered and painted it, and then constructed a rat play area inside. I started with raw oak boards, then cut, planed, glued/clamped, drilled, and sanded all the shelves. The hardware I painted myself too.
Believe it or not, I got to do this for a school project :D
The outside is painted "Key Lime".
The shelves and dowels are dyed with food colouring for safe chewing.
A kid in my class seemed horrified at the idea of letting my rats chew on this after spending so much time and money on it. ...Well, DUH, I'm crazy about my rats..It was made to be used! :B
I did bring rats in for critique, so they could demonstrate its use.
Video of the first test run with rats in the completed suitcase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOT7h2NdXtQ
Their second introduction once I got it back from school: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndh4xAY1hgo
Category Artwork (Traditional) / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1200 x 1151px
File Size 356.4 kB
Yes, Newt is a hairless (well, mostly hairless) rat ^^ She and Belle can also be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7572116/
They feel like a warm peach. Newt is probably the friendliest rat I've ever encountered too. From the day I adopted her, she readily climbs onto whomever or whatever is nearby her, no inhibitions. I've never seen her be afraid of anything lol I've been with groups of friends before where we formed a circle of arms on shoulders of one another, and she just ran rings along us all :P I essentially built this with her in mind. She explores all over it, my other girls just check out a few shelves and then sit and wait to be picked up lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlKiej9J5U4&list=UU4PQ_4RmPWJXXKivwyodiqw&index=7&feature=plcp is a video of Newt when I first adopted her. You can see the slight fuzziness on her body really well at some points. She's lost much of that fuzz as she has gotten older though. She's probably just under a year old right now.
It is STILL trying to upload.. and it has been almost an hour and a half this time, and it's only at 55% x.x I might just forget it for tonight and upload it at school tomorrow. It'll probably take like 10 minutes or less there. Pathetic internet of mine :( I'll let you know when it is up though! n.n
It's not the best video since they only just got introduced to, but: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOT7h2NdXtQ&list=UU4PQ_4RmPWJXXKivwyodiqw&index=1&feature=plcp I'll try to get a better video example of it in a few weeks when they get the chance to become familiar with it.
...Shh, yes, I talk to my rats :P
...Shh, yes, I talk to my rats :P
Genesisw
I have little travel cages that mean my rats already don't have to just stay home though :) I'll be using one of them to bring some rats along to critique day tomorrow so they can demonstrate this thing!
I am not familiar with that artist...Do they have pet rats too? :D Such lovely little critters *buries her face in an armful of her 5 sweet girls*
I am not familiar with that artist...Do they have pet rats too? :D Such lovely little critters *buries her face in an armful of her 5 sweet girls*
Not that I don't fall in love with standard-ears just as much, but dumbos are sooo frickin' adorable!
This project took a fair amount of work, though not unreasonable.. It could be done faster the second time around now for me. Good luck if you get to making something similar :)
This project took a fair amount of work, though not unreasonable.. It could be done faster the second time around now for me. Good luck if you get to making something similar :)
I've not put Latte in it yet cuz she gets so skittish, so I figure she'd just be all *STAGE FRIGHT* on a platform :P But she's warming up to things in general, so eventually I bet she'll be kinda okay with it :P (sometimes she even sits in the top corner with the other girls when they beg to be let out!)
Oh yeah, they navigate it rather well. Newt, the pink one on top of the case here, goes all over in it, and I basically constructed it with her high activity/curiosity level in mind. She even tries to cross with the rope, but isn't quite balanced enough all the time to do so :P It gets pulled pretty taught when the case is open at least, so the rope doesn't wiggle much. The rats went over really well at school too :D One guy in my class was like "Are you actually going to put them in there??" Well, DUH, that's what it was built for! XD My prof thanked me a few times for bringing the rats in even lol
They don't usually live much longer than 3 years, and often they don't make it to even that old. You'd want to look at adopting a same-sex pair of rats, because they are social creatures and do best with at least one buddy. (Plus, rats are like potato chips; you can't have just one!). They are fairly easy to care for, and are magical creatures when given lots of human attention <3
There are many resources online for keeping happy and healthy rats. I'd happily answer some questions too.
Newt is a hairless dumbo-eared rat, yep. She's the most people-lovin'est rat I've ever encountered. She's borderline annoying with her endless quest for human attention :P She feels like a warm peach lol
There are many resources online for keeping happy and healthy rats. I'd happily answer some questions too.
Newt is a hairless dumbo-eared rat, yep. She's the most people-lovin'est rat I've ever encountered. She's borderline annoying with her endless quest for human attention :P She feels like a warm peach lol
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