# Rattie enrichment for Indigo and Violet.



## ChelseaMorning (Feb 28, 2012)

My lovely little girls are named Indigo (pink tail) and Violet (dark tail). They are sisters, and sweet as can be. Violet came home with me on Saturday, and I went to pick up Indie on Monday morning. 




















Violet is a bold little critter, she likes to play wrestle with my hands and groom my ears and around my hair line. I think she is bullying Indigo, since they never sleep together and when they wrestle, Indie always squeaks, even if she ends up on top. I hope they start getting along better as they settle in. Indigo is much more reserved, and is pretty vocal about anything that happens, but she is very cuddly when I have her out along, and seems to like cleaning my fingernails while I "groom" her belly. 

I decided to do some rattie enrichment with their dinner tonight. I put butternut squash and peas in a toilet paper tube, and folded the corners over. They got brown rice and red and yellow pepper with turnip and dandelion greens and bok choy wrapped in a paper towel burrito to shred and more peas and cheerios hidden throughout their cage. Lucky babies. They went pretty gaga over the squash, so I will be using that as a treat more often and I'll have to keep thinking of creative ways to keep them entertained. Violet already figured out how to climb out of the cage if the top is off (it is a 55 gallon, and she is very small. She had to climb a shoe lace twice the length of her body) so I can tell I'm going to have a problem on my hands if she gets bored.

Any good enrichment ideas for my girls? They are about 5 weeks old (born the end of January).


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## EleashaC (Jan 30, 2012)

They are soooo cute, homg. That last picture just kills me.


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## PipRat (Jan 24, 2012)

There very close in age to my two baby males. They were born January 23. Their faces are very similar to my babies but mine are black berks not hoods. You're lucky their tails are different colours because it's sometimes difficult for me to tell mine apart although I'm getting ore familiar with them everyday. They occasionally cause each other to squeak while playing and used to sleep separately but lately they've been hanging out and snoozing together on a little hammock I made. 
For enrichment I like to let them explore new areas and introduce new foods (today was banana, I've only had them 4 days) and put new toys in their cage (like paper towel rolls) but I'll need some new ideas soon too!


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## ChelseaMorning (Feb 28, 2012)

Aww, thanks! 
They are ridiculously cute, that is pretty much why they came home with me. My fiance is not a fan of rats, although, once he meets them, I am sure they will steal his heart. I can tell them apart by sight without the tails, since Indigo is quite a bit bigger than her sister and has splotches of dark alongside her dorsal stripe, but the tails do make it easier, especially when they are moving quickly. I'm thinking of making a Jacob's ladder type ropes course in their tank. I think it might be fun!


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## shawnalaufer (Aug 21, 2011)

Enrichment ideas: 
A dig box. Find out how I made mine here: http://ratwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/02/ratty-dig-box.html

Toys- and be sure to switch them out often. Cat toys are always fun. My lady rats especcially like those mylar crinkly cat balls. 

Baby toys- you would be surprised how many infant toys make for great fun for ratties! Think along the lines of things they can climb on and in. 

Brown paper lunch sacks- mine had a blast jumping on and in a simple brown paper sack! And when they were done playing, they shredded it into bedding. Talk about cheap entertainment!

Bird toys- if it can stand up to a parrot, its very likely to hold up well for ratties! Things like rope perches, ladders, etc even parrot tabletop playgrounds are fun!

Tubes and canisters- oatmeal canisters are lots of fun, as are paper tubes of various sizes. If they are too small for a rat to climb in, it can be filled with tasty treats then wrapped in gift wrapping tissue paper for a ratty pinata!

Whole nuts- my rats love playing with whole nuts like walnuts and Brazil nuts. They also get a workout trying to get the nut out! Stay away from raw peanuts though. 

Hope that helps! Keep checking back on my blog, I hope to have an article about rat toys soon.


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## PipRat (Jan 24, 2012)

These are great suggestions thanks! I have a few cat toys and bird toys, I'd like to try the dig box idea for sure.


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## ChelseaMorning (Feb 28, 2012)

I'll definitely try a dig box at some point, but I really want to get them litter trained before I move offer them something like that, which might confuse them.

My friend was playing with Indigo today and discovered the secret to her heart, wrap her up tight or stick her in your pocket and pet her head. She goes right to bruxing and falls asleep!!


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## ChelseaMorning (Feb 28, 2012)

I just wanted to post an update on my girls. They've grown a lot and their personalities are stronger and more distinct every day.

Here is Violet, trying to get my attention as usual, while Indigo looks at her like she is stupid.
:







Indie exploring, doing her own thing. She is very independent and she likes to pretend she is shy.







Violet, again begging for attention. She would crawl under my skin if she could.








Anyway, I adore them. I haven't figured out an effective way of rat-proofing (Indigo out smarts me every time!) so I pretty much let them free range. Violet comes when she is called and is always delighted to have my attention directed at her. Her sister is more reserved, and I usually need to put Violet back in her cage and sit on the floor and coo at Indie for a while before she will come over to me, but without Violet around she is a super cuddle bug and very affectionate. The only thing I am frustrated with is my utter lack of success with toilet training. It was going well right at the beginning, but i think they decided that they don't care because its not like they just chose a different corner, they just utterly and completely stopped showing any preference for any location. Grrr!! Ah well. It is a labor of love, and love and affection they have no lack of.


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