I know I haven’t posted here in forever but here’s a Cloud Rat celebration for you ❤️❤️ Happy birthday Yzma! At 11 she is quite old but is still as sassy as ever and she loved her rodent chow/banana cake drizzled with honey and crushed peanuts 🥰
obsessed with this vid from the official smithsonian national zoo page
Waltz of the fucked up creature
that was NOT the music I expected and yet it's 100% on point
Behold, a pill bug
Resurrecting from the dead to say that this is Sherman! A Screaming Hairy Armadillo that I helped handrear after his mom stopped producing milk. He’s a maniac and also the best 😍 also idk if this link will work but here’s an equally ridiculous video of him playing with a Kong: https://fb.watch/aoEH2hFLlF/
Happy Halloween from your favorite butterfingers- Kronk the Cloud Rat
Also please turn your sound on for crunches
I heard you guys like Cloud Rats- here’s the female, Yzma, and some watermelon. Sound up for delightful munching sounds
Kronk the Cloud Rat has some important tasks on his agenda for the day
Anonymous asked:
Hello! I've been keeping up with your blog since 2013 (pre Pepperjack). I just wanted to know how you, the cats, and the last two rats (if they're still around) are doing?
Hello!! Sorry I am pretty much inactive now. But I haven’t actually done an update post so I guess I can do that here!!
I am now officially ratless :/ Goose passed away in March which wasn’t unexpected. He was just shy of turning 3 and had quite a few health issues. Which left me with Essex and she was still spunky as ever (although 2 years old). I was really conflicted on what to do with her because I didn’t want her to be alone but I also didn’t want to rehome her at her age and just selfishly not wanting to give her up. But in May, the perfect situation kind of came around and one of my volunteers at work was thinking about getting rats and was excited to take her. She took her home and got 3 young male rats a few weeks later (remember Essex is spayed). Essex is realllly happy and loving having rats to cuddle and play with. Her new owner said she is still really active and sweet but she can see her starting to slow down so I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be around but I’m so happy she has had these last few months with friends and owners who have a good set up to take her out and play with her all the time. I kept meaning to do a big post looking back at the blog over the years but I just kept...not doing it. It’s been such an amazing experience and there’s a big part of me that’s really sad to not have the rats anymore because they became such a big part of my identity but I also know I wasn’t able to give them the social attention they deserved anymore. Everything else is great! Cats are doing well and idk if you saw on my other blog that we got a new cat- Feta :) She’s settling in really well!!Work at the zoo is awesome but very busy. I am on the steering committee for our Enrichment and Training Committee now which takes up a lot of time (in a good way) and I also took on being the Studbook Keeper and Species Survival Plan Coordinator for Brazilian Agoutis. Which has been a ton of work and I am still muddling through how to get started and do that effectively so it’s daunting but exciting to get involved in population management and with rodents no less!!We are also getting some exciting new rodent species at work- the endangered Perdido Key Beach Mouse and the Northern Luzon Cloud Rat. Which I am obviously extremely excited about. I will be one of the primary keepers for both species so my life is still full of rodents, just not my home :PHopefully I’ll do a big look back post at some point soon- but thanks for checking in. It’s really humbling and amazing that people still care! I just had a new volunteer at work the other day ask me if I ran a rat blog because she recognized me from tumblr. It’s been a crazy journey...
Hey look I still exist! Rats are doing well. Slowing down quite a bit- especially Goose- but still up to the same old tricks
Updates I suppose?
Wow I didn’t even realize how many messages I’ve gotten on here recently and I was thinking about answering them but honestly it’s probably been so long since they were sent I don’t think it would be helpful. Just a friendly reminder that this is not an active blog so deepest apologies for unanswered questions. I’m still on tumblr but its @thechilidog if you need something. Also, Goose and Essex are still doing really well. Slowing down (especially Goose) but no medical issues or anything. Just blobbing around being spoiled. Goose is 2.5 and Essex just turned 2 so idk how much longer they’ll be around but I’m planning on doing a big look-back post once I’m rat-less because it makes me sad to not really be part of this community anymore and it was really special to me and that deserves some recognition! But currently I don’t have a lot of rat-related content to fill this blog up.
General life updates I’m still at my job at the zoo (and plan on being there forever more). I love it and I’ll still occasionally post pics/videos from work. I’m happy to answer questions about the zoo if you’d like but please don’t send me hateful anons about zoos/zoo discourse or anything because I really have no desire to answer those in any kind of respectful manner. If you have questions PM me and I’d love to talk your ear off about my job because I’m passionate about it and my animals are basically the best. Still married and loving that as well. Honestly not too much to report- mostly working, dog training...and not a whole lot else lol. Hope you are all doing well!
Anonymous asked:
Do you have any recommendations for “chew proof” type hammocks?
Wow I have literally not posted anything rat related in moooonths because this blog is basically inactive but this one made me chuckle. Nope no chew proof hammocks- rodents gonna shred yo. However, in an effort to not be a smartass, I’ve found that hammocks with multiple entrances and exits tend to last longer- aka the “honeycomb” shaped ones made by many small animal hammock makers. The cubes are a big waste of money the rats laugh at you when you hang them up and immediately open up the sides. Or just make hammocks out of old bras or jeans and then you’ll care less when they meet their inevitable, shredded demise. Hope that helps and hello yes followers I am alive.
I don’t have any nice pictures of Chili for Halloween but here’s a Golden Lion Tamarin that I work with enjoying a pumpkin! Happy Halloween everyone!
p.s. his name is Moe and his lady friend Izzy also loved the pumpkin but they refused to appear in the same frame for a video because they are monkeys and cooperating is not in their vocabulary.
Sorry this has turned into a death update blog apparently
Hey guys- so this blog isn’t really active anymore- I’ve been focusing more on my dog blog/haven’t been on tumblr as much in general. I also lost 2 of the ratties- it was actually a little while ago but I forgot to update. I had to put Peabody and Rigby to sleep from respiratory issues :/ Which means I only have 2 guys left- Essex and Goose. Goose is about 2.5 now so he’s really slowing down. These are going to be my last rats unfortunately. With the dog and full time job they just aren’t getting the attention and life they used to get. I don’t have a good space for them to free range (especially in the winter when they can’t go out on the screened in porch) and I just find I’m not getting the same amount of enjoyment out of them that I once did. I’ll make a big post about my whole experience on here (which has been awesome) once the other two are gone but just a notice since I’ve been getting new followers that this is no longer an active rat blog :(
Sorry this blog is basically inactive now, but I wanted to let everyone know that Tater Tot passed away this afternoon. He’s been a bit meh for awhile now, just old age and slow decline. He hated being handled so I was pretty hands off with him. He was one of my most skittish rats so I didn’t get to bond with him quite as strongly but he was a good little rat and I will miss seeing his cute blaze-y face staring dramatically from the hammock. Everyone else is doing well- Peabody is starting to look a little rough- his lungs sound ok but he is losing some weight/muscle mass. I’m going to try to get him to the vet this weekend to make sure he doesn’t need antibiotics. Everyone else is happy go lucky- enjoying that it’s nice enough now to play on the screened in porch. And since I seem incapable of updating this blog, do feel free to follow me on my side blog which is functioning more as my main now. @thechilidog Mostly dog stuff but some personal and zoo stuff too
Anonymous asked:
Do you sell pet rats or do you know someone who does? I would love to get well socialized babies :). Thanks! -Julie
No sorry! All mine are fixed. There honestly aren’t many rat breeders around me anymore. Try Rats Are Awesome on FB- they have resources for breeders based on location
Anonymous asked:
Hey, I have a problem :c I bought a big cage for my new pet rats without even thinking about it too much and just when I brought it home I noticed how far apart the bars (?) are - almost 2 cm (0.8 inch , I think). Is it too far apart for rats? Is there any way to cover the bars or should I buy a new cage?
Do you have girls or boys? ½ inch wire is generally recommended for girls, babies, and small boys. Larger boys should be fine in 1 inch so obviously 0.8 inches falls under that. Hope that helps!
So proud of my city today. I know it doesn’t necessarily change policies but what an amazing show of solidarity and girl power. The streets of DC literally flooded with people- streets overrun with crowds extended way beyond the initial march boundaries- as many as 3x the number of people as expected. Let’s keep this momentum going through the next 4 years of hell
How to draw a tree shrew:
- Draw mouse.
- HUMAN EARS.
Haha oh man I work with these guys and I never noticed this. I'm going to go stare at their ears tomorrow. Side note they are precious and actually really smart and personable. They aren't really shrews and are actually close relatives of primates. One of our males lived to be 9.5 which was the oldest on record in the US. He was incredibly sweet and would come down and sit in your hand for waxworms. He passed away earlier this year and I still really miss him. We still have a breeding pair though. To sum up, I really love treeshrews. Such an underrated animal.
Grabbed my finger thinking it was a treat, outraged upon discovering it is just a finger
Merry Christmas from the crew!! Walnuts in a wrapping paper bag (Paper is from Pottery Barn) Also excuse Tater Tot sneezing- he’s on some meds but still very snuffly