# I'm new here, meet Layla :)!



## suitcasey (Apr 13, 2008)

Hello everyone ! I've been having a look around this forum the past few days and I'm very impressed with all the information here, it seems like such a great place for people who are open-minded enough to see what incrediple pets rats make. It seems there are very few people where I live who think this.

Well I go to an animal science course at college. It's amazing, and we have an animal room with birds, fish, lizards, snakes, rabbits, and our newest addition a few months ago, was a little rat.
We were all told not to go near it, cos apparently it bites. It has been kept in the tiniest little cage you could imagine, I would say it's too small for hamsters even. It's been living by itself the past few months, which I realise is a big no-no. It's been fed a dry mix of what looks like hamster food, not the varied nutritional diet that it needs. And it's had little to no human interaction at all.

Last week I told them I'm not letting them keep it in these conditions anymore, and I'm bringing it home and will look after it properly. I know I don't have all the knowledge I need to look after her just yet, but at least I am willing to learn and give her the life she deserves. So yeah, I'm now the new daddy to the most gorgeous little rat ever, Layla .










I have a lot of animals, and apart from my dog this is without a doubt the most intelligent, affectionate, amazing little creature I have ever met. I had heard they could be like this, but still just every new thing she does fascinates me. She's not the viscious monster we were told either, you put your hand at the door to the cage and she gets so excited to come out. As soon as you let her out she runs up your arm onto your shoulder.
I can even let her go outside, she'll run around for a little bit but once I make a noise she comes running up to me and crawls up my trousers, up my jumper and onto my shoulder or in my hood!!

All the wee scratch marks on the back of my neck are absolutely worth having such a gorgeous little creature !

Okay, so I'm here to learn. I hope no one judges me for bringing her home without doing the research first, I just couldn't stand seeing her in there being neglected, I wanted to bring her home as soon as I could. And now I'm gonna use this forum to help build her a massive cage, sort out her diet, help her get litter trained, and then when the time is right to get her a little companion.

So thanks for reading everyone, I'm really excited to get started here and give Layla the life she deserves !


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## melon (Mar 27, 2008)

she`s lovely!
congrats on saving her from such horrible conditions, everyone has to start somewhere with rats and now at least she`ll be getting the love and attention she needs


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## xampx (Dec 31, 2006)

Aww cute.

I got my first rats Brenda and Ivory (they were hoodeds too) from the college where my sister was studying to be a vet nurse. They were brilliant, they used to just sit on my bed watching TV.

There is loads of knowledge here. For example: Find a brick to put under her water bottle, that should file her nails down gradually and you will look less like a self harmer! (no offense meant)

I keep telling people to do this with a brick, but I STILL havent done it myself and my neck and arms are covered in red lines.

Also, once settled, you could look into getting her a friend so she doesnt get lonely. But you know, get used to her first!

Where are you from?


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## suitcasey (Apr 13, 2008)

Aww thanks guys ! Layla's sitting on my shoulder reading your compliments, she's chuffed. I'm really glad she's in a home now where she's gonna get everything she deserves. Even my parents who told me for years I was NEVER allowed anything remotely rat-like in the house have fallen completely in love with her. I never thought that would happen.

xampx - that's such a brilliant idea! She doesn't like sitting in one place, and I keep thinking to myself how on earth am I going to file or clip her little claws?! I'll definately use that trick with the brick. The cage she's in right now though really is appaulingly small, it's about 1'x1'x6". Like how on earth can anyone think that's acceptable for a rat to spend it's life in?? Especially when it was never even let out for any excercise.

So okay, first thing's first is to build her a new cage. I have this thing out in the garden that my dad used to use as a stand for growing plants on. It's about 6' tall, 2' long and 1' wide. It has three levels. I think that would be PERFECT for a couple of rats to live in, and plenty of space for toys and stuff. Im just gonna check here to see if it's safe or not, and if it is then find out what to use to make it into a cage.

I live in Northern Ireland, in a little seaside town called Portrush . I'm a real animal person, like animals are my life, and my career will revolve around animals and my house will always be full of them. If anyone's interested, I currently have a golden retriever, two rabbits, a snake, a leopard gecko, a white's tree frog, a load of marine fish and now layla too . In the next few weeks I'll be getting an african pygmy hedgehog, a tortoise, another rat for layla to play with, and a couple more lizards . So yeah, it's a bit of a zoo in my bedroom right now !

Here's some more pics of Layla exploring


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## kancerr (Apr 7, 2007)

wow such a pretty rat!!!! i love her face lol all the dark patches with the white. sounds like a really good friend too, glad you are giving her such a better life than what she was going to have! congratulations.


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## melon (Mar 27, 2008)

ah i used to go to portrush all the time!!
you really do have a zoo, i want lizards again but at the moment i`m gonna concentrate on my rats and their babies!!
good luck with it all though


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## AlienMando (Jan 19, 2008)

She's beautiful!


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## xampx (Dec 31, 2006)

Cute little face!

And she is outside! Mine freak out when they go outside, but we live in a forest so there is always something around that would be willing to eat them.

If you are getting her a buddy, read this thread http://ratforum.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3991.html

The cage sounds like a good idea. Wood is usually ok as long as it isnt treated. I know they can chew wooden cages but not all rats are 'chewers'. There is a whole section on cages though so people here will be able to advise you.


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## phaidraft (Apr 9, 2008)

Aw, she's absolutely gorgeous. Congrats, daddy.


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## bmwing01 (Dec 7, 2007)

I am so proud of you for saving her! She's so gorgeous .. i adopted a male rat who actually looks a lot like her a few months ago, he's a wild child once you get him out, kinda like you describe Layla. Anyway congrats on your new rat!!


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## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

She is really beautiful! I just finished building a cage and it scratched the **** out of my arms, but it was worth it.


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## suitcasey (Apr 13, 2008)

Aw thanks everyone for all the kind words ! I really do feel like I've done the right thing, it seems like such a waste to keep such an intelligent, affectionate animal in a small cage it's whole life. I didn't want that to happen for her, so I hope I can give her a really good home.

xampx - Layla loves being outside ! There are so many places for her to explore, but as I said she is soooo good, I make any sort of noise and she comes bouncing right back to me. I never thought such a small animal could have such a huge personality, I'm just in love with her. For a long time I have been saving up for a pair of sugar gliders, but I think for now the rats will satisfy my need to bond with a small furry little creature .

I had been thinking about the chewing with the wood too, as I was originally going to build her a cage out of wood! But luckily this thing is made out of metal, but it's covered in a protective paint, so I'm gonna take some pictures of it tomorrow and hopefully someone can tell me if it's safe or not to use. I really hope it is as it would just make the perfect home.

Oh, HylaW - I've been meaning to ask this as I've seen it mentioned here quite a few times. Why does everyone end up with cut hands and arms when they build a rat cage?! Haha maybe that's a stupid question, but I've just finished building a huge rabbit hutch and I never had that problem! I'm a bit curious about what I'm getting into by building this thing!

lemon - That's so cool that you've been to Portrush! What do you think of it? I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. There are a lot of bad areas here and the people arn't really too nice. But my house is five minutes from the beach, and during the summer I spend every single day in the water. I'm either scubadiving, fishing, swimming or surfing, I just love being in the sea. So for that reason it's pretty awesome living here .

Oh and as of tonight I have a few more additions to my zoo!! And when I say a few, I mean a few hundred... my praying mantis egg sac just hatched and I have HUNDREDS of babies! So I'm pretty happy/excited/scared! I'm gonna be raising them to adulthood and selling them, so if anyone's looking for a praying mantis let me know lol !

Oh, while I'm on the subject of other pets, how does everyone here feel about letting their rat interact with other animals in the house? I know my dog is completely fine, she's been surrounded by small animals all her life and poses no threat to Layla, and they seem to like interacting together. But how about things like rabbits, the hedgehog that will be coming in a few weeks, any small reptiles that wouldn't pose a threat to the rat, and even the sugar gliders someday in the future?? There would be no real reason for them to have to meet each other, but just in case they do is there anything I should worry about?

Thanks everyone for making me feel so welcome, this forum will be so important for me to give Layla (and any other future ratties) the home they deserve.
Oh and I'm sorry for writing an essay!!


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## MariHxc (May 23, 2007)

welcome to the forum. i guarantee you're gonna love it here 

you've got a very lovely girl!!


and about letting her interact with the other animals,.. it all depends. i've got two cats that love my rats, and the others i wouldn't even consider letting them get close to the rats outside their cages. same goes for my dogs.


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## xampx (Dec 31, 2006)

Not sure, my dog is ok with the rats, and the cat isnt interested, but for other animals I dont know. 

I guess you would have to be completely confident that your other pets would be ok with Layla, and you need to be able to get them apart should anything go wrong. 

There is also the possibility of passing on infections/diseases etc. It might be worth posing the question in the rat health section to get a better idea of other peoples experiences.


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## melon (Mar 27, 2008)

i really liked portrush in the summer, i lived in strabane for a while so we`d go there for like a weekend! i guess the thing with northern ireland is that every area has a really nice side and a really bad side, just have to know where you`re going 

as for introducing pets, my rats have been fine around the cat, like other people said, so long as you`re confident the other animal poses no threat and isn`t going to pass anything onto the rat then i`m sure it should be fine.


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## sbdirham (Mar 5, 2008)

What a pretty little lady you have there! I bet she's truly grateful to you for saving her and showing her what life really is!


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## nancikynz (Apr 6, 2008)

Hi Casey... Welcome.. I am "new" here per say, only been on this forum a couple of weeks and adopted my Simon about 2 mths ago, and that is when our rattie family began.

I am also trying to build a big cage.. I am so excited to get it started.. I am converting a huge bookshelf.. Fun Fun.. 

Funny enough, my family, well my mom, DID not and WOULD not EVER think of letting me have a rat/hamster/furry critter, and I to was looking to save to get a pair of sugar gliders or a chinchilla, with the goal to raise a hamster in the process and instead brought home Simon, and then Schuster and now Wallabe lol... 

My mom now comes over JUST to see the boys.. it is here saying "Hey Nancy, where are my grandbabies, oh grandrattieboys come here..." Lol I just laugh at her all the time.. She loves to play with them.

They are VERY intelligent which was totally unexpected for me to.. I have had ALOT of animals but never a furry critter and definatly not any animal with the personalities the boys have. They took me completely by suprise but hey it happens. 

I was reallly suprised when I didnt even have to litter train, I didnt even try for the first month and a half and then I was like OK I WILL TRY THIS... put the pans in there took all of the other litter out, and they just started using the pans, they KNEW.. I was so proud I posted it on here... lol

Well, Hope to see ya around the forum. Layla is gorgeous and that is a VERY pretty name.


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## kaylaface (Sep 6, 2007)

Such a pretty girl! I'm happy to hear your going to be giving her a better home.


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## illmithra (Apr 15, 2008)

shes really gorgeous, i love her face markings.

and mantis babies! i'd love some but unfortunately i don't think they'd like being mailed to australia. lol.


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## CeilingofStars (Apr 21, 2008)

Layla is a beautiful little baby! That's my niece's name so I had to click on the post. I'm so happy you rescued her. It seems like you guys are really bonding!

And just to let you know, you're not so bad yourself. ^_^

Out of curiosity, what do you feed the snake? I really do like snakes but I just couldn't ever feed them mammals. Are there any snakes that only eat, like, bugs?


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