Thank you for this video! I've only had my ratties for about a month, and haven't had enough money for toys so I've just been scattering treats around the cage for them to find and in their nesting crinkly paper and had no clue what else to do. This is tons of ideas I can totally do!
omg i haven't laughed that hard in a while, when you gave them the cheerio string and rice pop thing and they were like pushing and shoving i literally like died laughing
@@HellSusan Most rats are smart enough to know that reaching out and pulling an object in by themselves is not the same as a finger being put into the cage. :) The two things also smell different and would feel different to their whiskers!
Try and find better chew toys for your rats. I find that if I give my girls new chews they stop being so destructive (though my girls aren't super destructive in the first place) sometimes I get just the normal chunky wood chews from the store.and place them in with some of their favorite treats for a while so they absorb the smell. When they seem disinterested in them I just repeat the process
I was watching this for some ideas for my rats and my cat was very entertained by this video. He was sitting in front of the TV watching the entire video. I'm now watching a different video on your channel and he's still watching the TV. Lol He seems to really like your channel. He probably likes to watching all of the movement in the videos. He almost nocked my TV over while watching this.
Omg they are sooo cute! I’m getting 2 baby dumbo rats in a few weeks and I have been binging all of your videos 😂 especially the training ones. I wanna train mine to shoot a basketball I’ve done it before with my last rat I had but she passed.
OMG! SO HELPFUL! I love ur videos! I’m getting my ratties very soon! You are one of the many who have taught me how to care for or train my soon to be ratties! Thank you so much! 😊
I'm not going to lie I never really gave my first 2 rat boys much foraging toys but since IV gotten my newest three boys IV seen how much they benefit from them. My one boy is constantly chewing everything no matter what I do, he came from a bad situation previous and I'm always looking for videos like this to keep his anxiety down and mind sharp. Thanks love your channel I never miss a video
Hi Barbara, I was just checking out the comments on this video and noticed yours hadn't been answered. I don't know what kind was used for this video, but jute string is made from plant fibers and is okay for rats to have access to. It smells a little funny but it's safe if they chew it a bit! Good luck!
Nope because they won't eat it, just chew and spit it out at most. If your rats has pica (eats non-food items - sometimes a side effect of certain medications, sometimes certain animals are just predisposed to it) then you wouldn't want to use it, but chances are if you can use fabric in the cage then your rats know not to non-food items. Rats even have a cool adaptation where they can close off their esophagus with cheek flaps in order not to accidentally swallow things they don't see as food, this is why you can give them things like wood to chew (which they can't digest) safely.
@@ShadowTheRat What! I did not know that, that's crazy (and very handy). I have definitely noticed my rats going "ptooie" with bits of whatever they were chewing on.
That's such a great idea! Foraging toys are great for all pets, even the tinier ones people wouldn't expect to enjoy them lol. Have fun making them for your mice!
Shadow The Rat haha yes. I know it’s so expensive. Also you inspired me to get my two baby’s Pinto and Sushi! You can see them on my channel! Thank you💕🐁
Not so, my rats get fed through the bars all the time but never bite hands stuck through - the difference is I’ve worked on teaching them to differentiate between hands (even covered in food) and food. It’s a myth that rats fed through the bars will bite anything out through, that only happens if you ONLY put food through the bars and never anything else. I even successfully taught my hand aggressive rat Berry to take stuff nicely and not bite through the bars using food and I can tell you that it’s better to prepare your rats for food smelling hands than just not feed them through the bars thinking that this way they’ll never lunge at food smelling hands on instinct. Here’s my video on how you can teach nice food acceptance through the bars if that’s a problem you have: ua-cam.com/video/Dgq7_C_mWVU/v-deo.html&app=desktop
Personally I use Oxbow adult rat food, despite the name its great for rats of all ages and as a quality lab block it covers all their nutritional needs and prevents them from picking and choosing only the tastiest (usually the fatty and protein filled) foods. I free feed Oxbow to all my rats and then supplement them with veggies (and occasional fruits) several times a week along with their daily treats.
For the most part they ignore it but even if they didn’t at worst they’ll chew and spit it out. Rats are really good at Not ingesting non-food stuff that they chew, that’s why we can give them wood chews (rats like us cannot digest wood or grasses) safely. They even have a cool adaptation in the form or check flaps which they use to block their esophagus as they chew non-food items, this way they can’t accidentally swallow anything they don’t see as food. Hot glue is perfectly safe for rats because of this and not something to worry about unless you have a rat with an eating condition like pica.
+Shadow The Rat Sometimes when my rats were coming off anesthesia, they would chew the towels they were lying on. I had to pull it out of their mouths.
thank you for great videos! I was wondering what to do because my rat Lila bites my other rat charlottes tail and now her tail has cuts and I'm getting worried.
Have you seen her bite Charlottes tail? If not you could be dealing with mites, they're too small to see themselves but you can often see signs of them because a rat will have scabs on their ears/back/neck/tail/belly.
My younger girls used to bite the older ones tails but neve drew blood, that’s strange that she’s actually hurting her. I’ve heard of some cases of rats doing that to cagemates rats and their cagemates just taking it, I’m not sure how you can stop something like that as you can’t always be around 😕
Hi I'm a new rat owner and can someone answer some questions for me? Does anyone know good stores to get toys? Is there any specific treats they like? (There not adult rats tho) p.s i love ur vids
The best places I've found are online places like amazon, chewy, and dr. forest and smith. Personally most of my commercial rat things I order off amazon, they tend to have a much better selection than what I see in any store. Otherwise I like to make a lot of my rat toys with stuff from the dollar tree so if your looking for cheaper toy options, dollar tree bins, dog ropes, and even some of their children's toys make great rat enrichment! This is a list I did a while back of some of my favorite rat stuff, it might give you some ideas (if you haven't I really recommend checking out space pods, rats really love them!): ua-cam.com/video/ATFnuB3HyOM/v-deo.html
Not if they’re normal rats. Normal rats know that it’s inedible and will spit it out if hey chew it (and most don’t even chew it once they get used to it). Rats with pics though eat non food objects and then it would be unsafe - however you’d know if you had a rat with pics because they’d eat fleece, paper, and so on, and you’d already have to monitor them closely. So yeah, with normal rats hot glue is perfectly safe :)
This is a totally different subject...... but what to do if your rats are always on you and you can’t do anything else and when you Get up and do something else for like a week maybe not even a minute like 30 seconds I’m just about to grab something and then go back in and they just start grabbing all over your feet and climbing up your leg like they just and then when you sit down do you wanna jump all over you what do you do I mean you might think that’s a good thing but sometimes it’s not really!?!?!?
If they’re females and really young rats they’ll be a lot more hyper, overall this is good because it means they are healthy and willing to play. If you want a way to stop it you may be out of luck because rats are very playful creatures at times. If they’re hurting you when doing this you can say a little “eep” and they’ll learn not to be as rough... if they’re just being annoying you could put them in a free range area- or inside the cage if there are a lot of toys. I’m not a rat expert, so don’t take my advice too seriously. :)
The best place to go if your new to rats would be an ethical rat breeder, this way you are guaranteed friendly rats who enjoy human interaction right away and they're more likely to be healthy long term. Otherwise some shelters will take in small rodents like rats and you could adopt that way, or alternatively you could check local sites like craigslist and get rats that way. Another option is to go on facebook and check the rat rehoming page, they always have rats in need of a home and many even come with a good cage and toys/food. And finally you can always go the pet store/feeder rat route, these rats can be awesome pets although temperament and health are more down to luck as they're bred for quantity, not quality (most of my rats have been pet store/feeder rats and while they are amazing pets, I have encountered both temperament and health issues - of course on the other hand many of these rats have been great both in temperament and health so it can vary)
You have to start simple - you can't throw them right into harder toys, as they will get frustrated and give up. Instead start by just placing some yummy treats on a tissue, and gently crumping it up. Do this a few times so they get the idea that opening the tissue gets them yummy treats. Next work to stuffing the tissue with treats in a cardboard tube with the side cut longways. This teaches them to work a bit harder for the treats. After this you can start making more complex foraging toys that involve more steps. Once your rats know how to forage you can even switch to feeding only from foraging toys (what I do when all my rats know how to forage).
Thankfully rats are very good at determining what's food and what's not - as long as the non-food item isn't flavored they won't eat it unless they have pica (usually a side effect of pain or medications and very very rare otherwise). Tissues they ust pull to their nests and tear up to sleep on - its very cute and they make some pretty elaborate nests!
Thank you for this video! I've only had my ratties for about a month, and haven't had enough money for toys so I've just been scattering treats around the cage for them to find and in their nesting crinkly paper and had no clue what else to do. This is tons of ideas I can totally do!
One of my rats would just eat the tissues in the first one and then realise there’s Cheerios and be like: Oh MaH gAwD
Is it even safe for a rat to digest that much tissue 😂
sunflower_ruby No idea but they'd sure try it 😂🤣👌🏻
omg i haven't laughed that hard in a while, when you gave them the cheerio string and rice pop thing and they were like pushing and shoving i literally like died laughing
Marshmallow is like ... This rice thingy is mine, and this bottle too !!! Lol🤣😋
THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay but when you hung the cheerio string OUTSIDE the cage I literally said out loud to my screen "oh THAT'S a good idea"
Im just afraid it will teach them anything that comes trough will be food, so theyll start to bite because they think its food
@@HellSusan Most rats are smart enough to know that reaching out and pulling an object in by themselves is not the same as a finger being put into the cage. :) The two things also smell different and would feel different to their whiskers!
What do you do if your rats eat glue?
And everything else...
Including the floor...
Help.
*LOL*
Try and find better chew toys for your rats. I find that if I give my girls new chews they stop being so destructive (though my girls aren't super destructive in the first place) sometimes I get just the normal chunky wood chews from the store.and place them in with some of their favorite treats for a while so they absorb the smell. When they seem disinterested in them I just repeat the process
i hear that mouses can eat glue... so i guess rats can?
I heard that it’s okay to use Elmer’s wood glue though I haven’t tried it yet. I hope you rats are okay
My vet just told me to put my boys on a foraging-only diet (for at least a little while). Thanks for the ideas!!
Lmao the white one trying so hard to steal that rice pop 😂😂😂
I mean hey, at least he got the water bottle! Haha
I was watching this for some ideas for my rats and my cat was very entertained by this video. He was sitting in front of the TV watching the entire video. I'm now watching a different video on your channel and he's still watching the TV. Lol
He seems to really like your channel. He probably likes to watching all of the movement in the videos. He almost nocked my TV over while watching this.
I recently bought some of those plastic c-links and they're great! My rats and I thank you for your lovely videos
Thank you so much for all your diy rat toy videos! Everything I've made from them have been a big hit with my rats :)
Cream:
MINE
cream:
MINE
cream:
MINE
cream:
MINE
Marshmallow:
HA HA MINE NOW SUCKERS
me and my brother just get mice and i have been looking at some or your other videos and i have learned so much and i can't wait to show me brother!!!
I had to subscribe these are freaking genius and creative
Omg they are sooo cute! I’m getting 2 baby dumbo rats in a few weeks and I have been binging all of your videos 😂 especially the training ones. I wanna train mine to shoot a basketball I’ve done it before with my last rat I had but she passed.
Great video and fantastic ideas as always for foraging. My girls will be so happy to try them all out, thank you
The end 🤣🐀
OMG! SO HELPFUL! I love ur videos! I’m getting my ratties very soon! You are one of the many who have taught me how to care for or train my soon to be ratties! Thank you so much! 😊
Thank you for this video telling me what is safe for my pet mice and great ideas thanks so much!!
Goshhhh this is what i needddd
Slapdashdigo they’re so cute !!
I'm not going to lie I never really gave my first 2 rat boys much foraging toys but since IV gotten my newest three boys IV seen how much they benefit from them. My one boy is constantly chewing everything no matter what I do, he came from a bad situation previous and I'm always looking for videos like this to keep his anxiety down and mind sharp. Thanks love your channel I never miss a video
poltergeist activity at 10:38 haha :D
My girl's favorite: Take a box of tissue, open it. They go crazy jumping in it, taking some of & making their own nest to sleep!
Lol yup - I can't leave an open tissue box around my girls Omelet and Sugar because they will empty it right up!
Great new ideas. Thanks. I will try them out with my boys.
Amazing love it please do more
I really could watch your rats for AGEAS
Damn the one tan one was as passionate about its food as I am . Like " NUH UH !!! this ish right here???? IZ MINE!!!"
That's such a clever idea!
Thank you!
I was literally watching ur diy you
vids yesterday hoping their would be more
What are the treats called that your using in this video?
Just plain Cheerios!
cheerios, rice pops, and I recommend a lava legend for a hangout
I think I also saw some puff baby treats in there!
Omg she was trying so hard to steal the pop and take it away
What time of string or yarn do you use
Hi Barbara, I was just checking out the comments on this video and noticed yours hadn't been answered. I don't know what kind was used for this video, but jute string is made from plant fibers and is okay for rats to have access to. It smells a little funny but it's safe if they chew it a bit! Good luck!
❤️❤️
Wonderful work! Thank you. Is there no fear of them nibbling the glue? Mine would skip the treats and go straight for the glue...Mine can be brats! :)
Nope because they won't eat it, just chew and spit it out at most. If your rats has pica (eats non-food items - sometimes a side effect of certain medications, sometimes certain animals are just predisposed to it) then you wouldn't want to use it, but chances are if you can use fabric in the cage then your rats know not to non-food items.
Rats even have a cool adaptation where they can close off their esophagus with cheek flaps in order not to accidentally swallow things they don't see as food, this is why you can give them things like wood to chew (which they can't digest) safely.
@@ShadowTheRat What! I did not know that, that's crazy (and very handy). I have definitely noticed my rats going "ptooie" with bits of whatever they were chewing on.
Gonna try these and give them to my mice =D
That's such a great idea! Foraging toys are great for all pets, even the tinier ones people wouldn't expect to enjoy them lol. Have fun making them for your mice!
for the cement mixing pan that you use to put your litter in, what size do you need for a single critter nation?
Adding a hot glue gun to my next shopping list, my 9 boys are going to LOVE these!
Wait you have 9 boys and they are not killing each other?? 😳
You should get Yt music! I’m sure everyone would enjoy your videos more!😜🤗
If your willing to pay for it then sure 😊
Shadow The Rat haha yes. I know it’s so expensive. Also you inspired me to get my two baby’s Pinto and Sushi! You can see them on my channel! Thank you💕🐁
Do you use any particular type of glue sticks?
So is hot gule safe to use for building things for rats ive been told no and yes and idk what to believe
For #10, how are they supposed to get the cheerios out?
@3:35 yea that's a great way to teach your rat to bite what goes thru the bars.
Not so, my rats get fed through the bars all the time but never bite hands stuck through - the difference is I’ve worked on teaching them to differentiate between hands (even covered in food) and food.
It’s a myth that rats fed through the bars will bite anything out through, that only happens if you ONLY put food through the bars and never anything else. I even successfully taught my hand aggressive rat Berry to take stuff nicely and not bite through the bars using food and I can tell you that it’s better to prepare your rats for food smelling hands than just not feed them through the bars thinking that this way they’ll never lunge at food smelling hands on instinct.
Here’s my video on how you can teach nice food acceptance through the bars if that’s a problem you have: ua-cam.com/video/Dgq7_C_mWVU/v-deo.html&app=desktop
It ligit looks like garbadge but i bet the rats love it
Hi! I’m having some problems finding the perfect heathiest rat food for baby rats, are there any suggestions? It would really help me, thank you!!
Personally I use Oxbow adult rat food, despite the name its great for rats of all ages and as a quality lab block it covers all their nutritional needs and prevents them from picking and choosing only the tastiest (usually the fatty and protein filled) foods.
I free feed Oxbow to all my rats and then supplement them with veggies (and occasional fruits) several times a week along with their daily treats.
Shadow The Rat thank you agian 🙏🏻
is that a pipe cleaner at 2:02
is that safe for rats?
Bubbbbbieeeessss😍😍😍
Don't the rats chew the toys? I thought the glue might be an issue? Also is it just normal Cheerios you're using or a particular kind? Thanks :)
For the most part they ignore it but even if they didn’t at worst they’ll chew and spit it out. Rats are really good at Not ingesting non-food stuff that they chew, that’s why we can give them wood chews (rats like us cannot digest wood or grasses) safely. They even have a cool adaptation in the form or check flaps which they use to block their esophagus as they chew non-food items, this way they can’t accidentally swallow anything they don’t see as food.
Hot glue is perfectly safe for rats because of this and not something to worry about unless you have a rat with an eating condition like pica.
@@ShadowTheRat Spot on. Thanks for the reply. I shall get to work on some toys for my girls!
+Shadow The Rat Sometimes when my rats were coming off anesthesia, they would chew the towels they were lying on. I had to pull it out of their mouths.
thank you for great videos! I was wondering what to do because my rat Lila bites my other rat charlottes tail and now her tail has cuts and I'm getting worried.
Have you seen her bite Charlottes tail? If not you could be dealing with mites, they're too small to see themselves but you can often see signs of them because a rat will have scabs on their ears/back/neck/tail/belly.
I have seen her bite Charlottes tail and she only bites her tail
My younger girls used to bite the older ones tails but neve drew blood, that’s strange that she’s actually hurting her. I’ve heard of some cases of rats doing that to cagemates rats and their cagemates just taking it, I’m not sure how you can stop something like that as you can’t always be around 😕
I think maybe I should separate them for a while, what do you think 🤔 also my other comment I hope did not sound mean I swear I would never be mean
The plastic bottle one is bad because they could cut them selves because of the sharp cuts in the plastic
The second one shouldn't be left alone in the cage. Yarn can be dangerous. As long as it is played with in supervision its fine though
Hi I'm a new rat owner and can someone answer some questions for me? Does anyone know good stores to get toys? Is there any specific treats they like? (There not adult rats tho) p.s i love ur vids
The best places I've found are online places like amazon, chewy, and dr. forest and smith. Personally most of my commercial rat things I order off amazon, they tend to have a much better selection than what I see in any store.
Otherwise I like to make a lot of my rat toys with stuff from the dollar tree so if your looking for cheaper toy options, dollar tree bins, dog ropes, and even some of their children's toys make great rat enrichment!
This is a list I did a while back of some of my favorite rat stuff, it might give you some ideas (if you haven't I really recommend checking out space pods, rats really love them!): ua-cam.com/video/ATFnuB3HyOM/v-deo.html
Is hot glue bad for them
Not if they’re normal rats. Normal rats know that it’s inedible and will spit it out if hey chew it (and most don’t even chew it once they get used to it). Rats with pics though eat non food objects and then it would be unsafe - however you’d know if you had a rat with pics because they’d eat fleece, paper, and so on, and you’d already have to monitor them closely.
So yeah, with normal rats hot glue is perfectly safe :)
Shadow The Rat thanks what are you stuffing them with and what string
I was using plain Cheerios and as for the string it’s just regular sisal twine :)
Shadow The Rat sorry to keep bugging you but did you use tissue paper
@@sophiaries471 I just used normal tissues but you could use tissue paper if you wanted.
This is a totally different subject...... but what to do if your rats are always on you and you can’t do anything else and when you Get up and do something else for like a week maybe not even a minute like 30 seconds I’m just about to grab something and then go back in and they just start grabbing all over your feet and climbing up your leg like they just and then when you sit down do you wanna jump all over you what do you do I mean you might think that’s a good thing but sometimes it’s not really!?!?!?
If they’re females and really young rats they’ll be a lot more hyper, overall this is good because it means they are healthy and willing to play. If you want a way to stop it you may be out of luck because rats are very playful creatures at times. If they’re hurting you when doing this you can say a little “eep” and they’ll learn not to be as rough... if they’re just being annoying you could put them in a free range area- or inside the cage if there are a lot of toys. I’m not a rat expert, so don’t take my advice too seriously. :)
I neeeeddd to know
the second
no 3rd
Golden Donut No they were the second person to comment.
Sorry for the gumble comments from me, but I was wondering where a good place to adopt rats would be?
The best place to go if your new to rats would be an ethical rat breeder, this way you are guaranteed friendly rats who enjoy human interaction right away and they're more likely to be healthy long term.
Otherwise some shelters will take in small rodents like rats and you could adopt that way, or alternatively you could check local sites like craigslist and get rats that way.
Another option is to go on facebook and check the rat rehoming page, they always have rats in need of a home and many even come with a good cage and toys/food.
And finally you can always go the pet store/feeder rat route, these rats can be awesome pets although temperament and health are more down to luck as they're bred for quantity, not quality (most of my rats have been pet store/feeder rats and while they are amazing pets, I have encountered both temperament and health issues - of course on the other hand many of these rats have been great both in temperament and health so it can vary)
I'm making these for my mice err I would be if I had any... :(
why dont you get some???
@@bones1026 my parents wont let me :(
Helppp does anyone know why my rats are soo lazy and kinda not interesting in toys?
You have to start simple - you can't throw them right into harder toys, as they will get frustrated and give up. Instead start by just placing some yummy treats on a tissue, and gently crumping it up. Do this a few times so they get the idea that opening the tissue gets them yummy treats.
Next work to stuffing the tissue with treats in a cardboard tube with the side cut longways. This teaches them to work a bit harder for the treats.
After this you can start making more complex foraging toys that involve more steps. Once your rats know how to forage you can even switch to feeding only from foraging toys (what I do when all my rats know how to forage).
First
Anyone want to be sponsered on The Rat Crusader youtube channel? Just tell me your rats name, color, and personailty along with your channel name.
I would be afraid they would eat the tissue
Thankfully rats are very good at determining what's food and what's not - as long as the non-food item isn't flavored they won't eat it unless they have pica (usually a side effect of pain or medications and very very rare otherwise). Tissues they ust pull to their nests and tear up to sleep on - its very cute and they make some pretty elaborate nests!