# My two new boys, and the one that got away...



## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

Hi there. On Saturday, I brought home three lovely little furry things; Fred, George and Peter. Now, yesterday we were free ranging and Fred went through the tiniest hole that I didn't even know was there. I'm 99% sure he is in the wall cavity, and having read things on here and through some of my own research, I'm confident I'm doing all I can to get him out of there. I'm sure he came out last night as some of the treats I'd put down leading from the hole to a box with bedding in and a water bowl were gone. I've put a boiled egg out, good strong smell to entice him out and easy to see if anything's been nibbling at it. I'm planning on sitting close to where I believe him to be for a while tonight, see if I can hear him scrabbling around or bring him back to his brothers if his egg resistance crumbles. I'm worried about him, but hopeful of getting him back.

Now, the two that are still here. Allow me to introduce you to Peter:














and George:














I've been wanting rats for around 6-7 years now, and here they are, finally. George is the first one that approached me and kept trying to get my attention the whole time I was there, so there was no way I couldn't take him home with me. He's remarkably confident, I held him while deciding on the others and he ran up the front of my top and settled on the back of my neck/shoulder area  he was very calm on the way home, the most willing to take treats from my hand, constantly trying to engage me. He's wonderful. I've spent a lot of time one-on-one with them today, he's spent most of the time sleeping on me or bruxing. He's also figured out he can use my glasses as leverage to reach the top of my head, I think he really loves hair. He's also found a favourite sleeping spot:









Excuse the abundance of chin, it was an awkward shot to take. I feel like we've already bonded a whole lot, he comes to the front of the cage when I enter the room and climbs right to the top to sniff out any treats I might have, and spreads himself wide on the bars so I can scratch his belly. Loves the attention.

Peter has been more effort, but I enjoy that. I think he's feeling Fred's absence a little more than George, which makes me want to get him back even more. I feel like we've made quite a breakthrough today though, he was very willing to initiate contact and was extremely active during the time I've spent with him so far today, investigating everything and running away and making me catch him (he never want further than I could reach, always stopped right where my hand was) before finally bruxing himself to sleep under my shirt. He actually went missing for a while yesterday too, just before Fred, but I found him sleeping in a bag under my bed (obviously after searching high and low, he didn't understand what all the fuss was about). George seems to always run to his favourite spot on me and climbs up my face, Peter seems a bit more inquisitive, which is the complete opposite to how they both are when in their cage. George climbs everywhere and Peter sleeps the whole time.

In short, I love these boys.


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

Oh no! I hope you are able to entice the little guy out. A couple of days ago we were having introductions on neutral ground in the bathroom which we had checked over before and thought was rat proofed. Well, 40 minutes went by and everyone was doing great but we realised we had not seen the new little boy for a while. At first we thought he was hiding under the towel or behind me but as we realised we had run out of places to look, we began to panic and frantically looked for places he could be. Turns out, there is a gap under the storage cupboard where the sink stands big enough for a tiny little ratty to crawl through. Needless to say the entire ordeal was terrifying as we had no idea where it led. When we looked under we could see a mini snout so we knew he was staying reasonably close to us. We tried to coax him with soothing voices and some yummy banana (a proven favourite in the past) but that didn't work so we sat by the cupboard until he came out on his own - which took an excruciating 30 or so minutes of us being sick with worry. My point I guess was that I know how it must feel for you right now. In terms of advice I would highly recommend getting one of those humane rat/mouse traps that is basically a one way entrance into a box that you can bait with something he likes to eat. I am sure that you are doing your best though so my apologies if this is something you have already tried. Your boys are extremely adorable, those are some lovely pictures of the little dudes. Hope all goes well.


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## ilovescience (May 14, 2014)

Oh GOD where did you find these boys?! They're lethally adorable!!

Hope you find Fred!! >_<


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

PawsandClaws said:


> Oh no! I hope you are able to entice the little guy out. A couple of days ago we were having introductions on neutral ground in the bathroom which we had checked over before and thought was rat proofed. Well, 40 minutes went by and everyone was doing great but we realised we had not seen the new little boy for a while. At first we thought he was hiding under the towel or behind me but as we realised we had run out of places to look, we began to panic and frantically looked for places he could be. Turns out, there is a gap under the storage cupboard where the sink stands big enough for a tiny little ratty to crawl through. Needless to say the entire ordeal was terrifying as we had no idea where it led. When we looked under we could see a mini snout so we knew he was staying reasonably close to us. We tried to coax him with soothing voices and some yummy banana (a proven favourite in the past) but that didn't work so we sat by the cupboard until he came out on his own - which took an excruciating 30 or so minutes of us being sick with worry. My point I guess was that I know how it must feel for you right now. In terms of advice I would highly recommend getting one of those humane rat/mouse traps that is basically a one way entrance into a box that you can bait with something he likes to eat. I am sure that you are doing your best though so my apologies if this is something you have already tried. Your boys are extremely adorable, those are some lovely pictures of the little dudes. Hope all goes well.


No need to apologise  I've made the homemade equivalent of a humane rat trap - treats on steps leading up to a bucket with paper on top, so when he steps on it he'll fall into the bucket (a short drop, but he won't be able to get out). He's been out tonight between probably 9pm and 10:30pm and seems to have eaten an entire half of a boiled egg. I sat in the bathroom (where he went missing) for a while, he's not reappeared and I doubt he will so soon after filling up on egg. I'll be checking the bucket every hour or so, I'm hopeful that it'll work. I'm not sure how effective an actual trap would be, as I've heard they need to exert quite a bit of pressure to make the door drop and he's only a baby. I'll definitely try one if the bucket trap doesn't work though. I hope he comes back soon, for Peter's sake


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

I too hope he comes back. If your trap does not work, definitely try one of the humane ones. Best wishes on finding him!


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

Awwww they are gorgeous! Keep us updated on the missing one I hope he's okay!


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

So last night Fred fell into the bucket trap...but he escaped (obviously after eating absolutely everything). I'm setting it up again but with a bigger bucket so hopefully I'll have him by the morning. At least I know he's still around, but getting the better of me at the moment. May end up sitting in the bathtub all night, but I'll get him.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Is there anyway to access the hole, so you could sort of "chase" him out and then block the hole off?

I wouldn't worry terribly much as long as you're able to catch him in the end. A member on here had his boy go feral for a week and other than being skittish for a while there weren't any lasting affects. 


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

There's no way for me to access it at all, it's under some cabinets, behind a panel, surrounded by pipes. I'm very confident of getting him back, especially after having had him in the trap last night.

Made some real progress with George and Peter this week, today marks one week of them being here and they're getting better every day. Peter has really come out of his shell and is just a wonderful little rat.


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

Oh please keep us updated as to if you manage to get your boy back! Wishing you the best, I'm glad you have been bonding with the other two ratties meanwhile.


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

He's so far managed to escape every version of the bucket trap I set. He's been out for over a week now, I'll get one of those humane traps and hope it's sensitive enough for babies (though after his week of boiled eggs, I imagine he'll have no problem setting it off). A question: will I be alright reintroducing him right away?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I would tame him first. 


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

Great news! Fred finally returned today. He seems largely none the worse for wear, although his tail is bleeding slightly. Is there anything I should do about this?

Re-introductions went great, he's currently being groomed all over by George. He was quite scared when I released him from the trap, but it didn't take long at all for him to realise I'm friendly. Actually, he's probably come out tamer than when he went in


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

Had some good free ranging time today, I think it's really helping Fred that George and Peter are so well behaved and interested in me, he wants to be a part of all the climbing on me 

tired George









rat pile (George sleeps 100% of the time)









investigating my new haircut (I shaved it off last week for charity, George enjoyed sleeping in it so he's not too impressed. But then, George enjoys sleeping anywhere).

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Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
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## Marie5656 (Jun 1, 2014)

Cool pictures. My Daisy is not much of a shoulder rat, but Roxy loves it there. She has not settled up there for a nap yet, though she may sit and look around a bit before she is on the go again. Glad you got your wandering rat home safe and sound.


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## ratty_milkshake (Feb 24, 2014)

yay!!! 

Next time you can try put out a small cage close to the hole with treats and hammocks in. you will probably find him napping in there in the morning.


I found my one girl in my laundry basket, shoe and closet this week. she loves escaping!


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## nsd (Jun 25, 2014)

I've not been here for a while so I thought I'd come and post an update. The three of them finally moved into a new cage last week and they love it. I admit that I chose badly for the initial cage; it was fine when they were babies but they were a bit on top of each other as they grew (significantly). The new one is the Blenheim Extra Tall Rat Cage and they have so much more space, they seem happier and I certainly am knowing that they have plenty of room. I've moved all the things over from the old one and I've just bought even more 

I tried to get some good pictures, but they're currently exploring the bed covers and are therefore very excited, all I managed was Peter foraging my leg:










And Fred wonders what on earth this big grey lens in his face is:



After Fred's two week bathroom excursion right at the beginning, he's still the most skittish of the three, but only with other people. He's very attached to me and only me, he will sometimes permit other people to scratch his ear for a few seconds before pushing them away. I get to see a whole other side to him and he really is the sweetest rat. Peter and George are not skittish in the slightest and will go to absolutely anyone to make friends. Peter will happily sit on my shoulder for hours, brushing my hair with his hands and greeting people as they come into the house. He's also very good friends with the dog, who likes to sit in my room and watch them run around the cage. I hadn't noticed quite how much they'd grown until I saw the other pictures in this thread. Fred in particular is absolutely huge, I'm putting that down to his boiled egg holiday under the bath (that's the only thing that would get him to come out).

It's been almost 6 months now, getting to know them has been a wonderful experience


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

You're rats are really cute and they sound like absolute sweethearts and pretty awesome little dudes! I'm glad to see they have a bigger cage and more room to get around. Bigger is always better ;D Glad to hear they're doing well!


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## Jo'nBen (Jan 2, 2015)

Adorable little ones !


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