# Halloween



## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

Halloween is coming up. Anyone else ever made their rat a tiny costume? It was pretty crude, but here's my super rat!


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

I didn't have ratties last halloween, but this year I'm going to dress as a witch and make a carrying bag that matches my costume and bring Izzie around and say she's my familiar.  She always loves going outside with me in her little carrying pouches, so she'll have a blast! And I'm debating using kool-aid to dye my other girls purple and call them rattatas. xD Though some people say it's mean, so I'm still deciding.


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

YellowSpork said:


> I didn't have ratties last halloween, but this year I'm going to dress as a witch and make a carrying bag that matches my costume and bring Izzie around and say she's my familiar.  She always loves going outside with me in her little carrying pouches, so she'll have a blast! And I'm debating using kool-aid to dye my other girls purple and call them rattatas. xD Though some people say it's mean, so I'm still deciding.


Hope to have fun with your ratties on Halloween, and I would stay away from dying their fur, it will be sticky and uncomfortable for them, also, it can matt their fur, can't you just use their colours as they are? Anyway, I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but good luck with your ratties and I hope they enjoy Halloween  


A wise t-shirt once said 'my rats think your gross too!' directed at all you rat haters out there!


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

koawren said:


> Halloween is coming up. Anyone else ever made their rat a tiny costume? It was pretty crude, but here's my super rat!
> 
> View attachment 8704


He is super cute!!! I couldn't stop looking at this picture so I decided to tell you! I don't want this to sound freaky but I'm going to save this picture on my iPad because he is so sweet  good luck with your ratties and have a great Halloween with him, super rat to the rescue! 


A wise t-shirt once said 'my rats think your gross too!' directed at all you rat haters out there!


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## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

Haha, thanks  That was her costume last year. Maybe I'll upgrade it this year!
On St.Patty's day a friend of mine had a little green food coloring left, so we put a little on my rat at the time, JP, in the shape of a clover. It came out almost right away, but it was pretty adorable for the moment. You should take a photo of your witchy ratty outfit! I'm going to be a pirate this year, and am totally getting some shots in with my girls before I head out. I wish I could bring them with me for the night, but alas, I don't want them getting smothered by the hoards of drunk idiots I am positive I'll interact with.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

koawren said:


> Haha, thanks  That was her costume last year. Maybe I'll upgrade it this year!
> On St.Patty's day a friend of mine had a little green food coloring left, so we put a little on my rat at the time, JP, in the shape of a clover. It came out almost right away, but it was pretty adorable for the moment. You should take a photo of your witchy ratty outfit! I'm going to be a pirate this year, and am totally getting some shots in with my girls before I head out. I wish I could bring them with me for the night, but alas, I don't want them getting smothered by the hoards of drunk idiots I am positive I'll interact with.


My halloweens are always pretty tame. Last year we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show in the giant projector movie room of one of the dorms. lol. So, I figured everything will be OK.  Plus I'm not worried about her ever trying to escape--she sits in her little bags for hours bruxing away since I'm still getting the materials to convert the big cage to one that's safe for her because she's an older rat that can't really use her back legs very well.  This year we're also having a masquerade ball hosted at my apartment I think, but depending on the number of friends that come she should be fine since most of them love her, and if there's too many people I can always put her back.


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## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

That sounds awesome! My girls come with me just about everywhere I go (including school), expect parties for obvious reasons. I'm very jealous of the masquerade ball though! If only they made masks small enough for little faces, haha.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

They'd just take the masks off anyway. xD I tried to make my girls bowties to take a picture using some ribbon and a bit of elastic, but I made the elastic too loose (since I didn't want to hurt them! lol) and they just pulled them off and they went all crooked.  I wish I could take Izzie to school... I feel like she gets lonely when I'm not here. She's basically always with me (as long as I'm not hanging with the other girls because Olivia attacked her for unknown reasons the other day after being fine with her for a few months :/), and even sleeps curled up next to my side or on a little rat-bed next to my pillow. :3 There's a ramp to her cage so she can eat and drink and go to the bathroom when she wants. ^_^
I looked up pet rules online though and while pets are allowed on campus, they can't go in buildings for "sanitary reasons." Which I'm not sure really applies to her since she'd be in a warm little bag and not touching anything anyway.


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## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

SO cute! I've had jumpers for Dobby and Roo before, because they're hairless so it looks extra adorable on them. Dobby is very calm and tolerant of it, but Roo flips and rips it off then stares at me like "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT -_-" I think for Halloween I might knit a black and orange jumper for Dobby and take some pics of it :3


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Babs said:


> SO cute! I've had jumpers for Dobby and Roo before, because they're hairless so it looks extra adorable on them. Dobby is very calm and tolerant of it, but Roo flips and rips it off then stares at me like "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT -_-" I think for Halloween I might knit a black and orange jumper for Dobby and take some pics of it :3


That sounds soooo cute! If I ever get a hairless or double rex rat (which, after feeling a double rex the other day, I'm committed to since he was THE SOFTED, WARMEST RAT ever. xD) I will learn to knit and sew her/him all the sweaters! For some reason, they really do look cuter on rats with little to no hair.


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## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

My school has the same policy. "Health and safety" is _apparently_ at risk. But I have good teachers who cover for me, and all my class mates keep look out for admin now. It's kind of sweet the little rat community that is building at my school. There are a couple students who bring their rats now too! We've been known to babysit each others rats during some classes too (for example, a girl I knew was doing a bit of welding, so I held on to her little dumbo for an hour). And the best part is, the community continues to grow!


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## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

Babs said:


> SO cute! I've had jumpers for Dobby and Roo before, because they're hairless so it looks extra adorable on them. Dobby is very calm and tolerant of it, but Roo flips and rips it off then stares at me like "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT -_-" I think for Halloween I might knit a black and orange jumper for Dobby and take some pics of it :3


Oh that is so sweet! Did you make the jumpers yourself? I'd love to see photos


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## aripatsim (Jul 26, 2012)

That is sooo cute!!!!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Folks, please remember the 15 foot rule!!!! Whether you are having a party, going to a party or trick or treating with you rats.... 

Most hysterical rat phobics can maintain thier composure or at least bladder control from 15 feet from your rat. If they see and recognize your rat from that distance they can back off and withdraw to a distance they feel safe at or leave the situation completely if necessary. It still might not be a pleasant experience for them, but no people or rats are likely to be harmed. If a rat were just to pop out of some costume next to them bad things can happen to them and to your rattie! AND THIS IS YOUR FAULT.

At social events, we make a point to announce our arrival and make sure every one sees our rattie at a distance of over 15 feet. When people come over and our rat is out and about, we introduce our rat first before they come in. We make sure to avoid cornering people. Some people invariably come up to greet our shoulder rat, some friends will invariably pluck her off us to give her a big greeting hug and/or play with her, Some people will keep their distance until they see our rattie is harmless, while others will withdraw to a safe distance. From that safe distance, they can talk to us, explain their particular needs and we can work out reasonable limits. 

When people seem ashamed of their phobia, I always point out I'm spider phobic and their fear is nothing to be ashamed of, so everyone can hear. It's ok if they need to keep their distance. I make sure nobody makes fun of the phobic, they actually appreciate that the guy with the rat is on their side. We attended a lecture with a rat phobic in the classroom. After the lecture we had a chat with the management, and the phobic actually defended us. He confessed the problem being in the room with our rattie was his issue, not ours. And he would deal with it. We've attended meetings together for over a year now and this particular phobic can actually pass us in a hall now without obvious panic. The 15 feet distance is down to about 5. 

On the other hand, unknown to me, a particularly sadistic family (hubby and two sons) maneuvered thier phobic mom right over to the park bench we were sitting on. Then when she was standing right next to our rattie, hubby says "Oh look honey its a rat". She looked down at our rattie, tossed her iPod about 50 feet into the air and ran off screaming at the top of her lungs. Hubby and kidlets where doubled over laughing hysterically, even though hubby had to pick up the iPod in several pieces. Mom didn't stop running for at least 50 yards. Now I admit it was hard to suppress my own reaction to laugh because it was actually pretty funny, but more than the iPod could have been injured during the lady's trauma and this is the kind of thing that could get us thrown out of the park. 

Remember, if you introduce your rat to people, you are responsible for the consequences. Rat phobics make up less than 1% of the population, but unlike rat haters, they can't be held responsible for their reactions and even if they come around to like your rats, they are likely to panic if you get too close.

Have a safe Halloween. Do have fun, but if you are going to include your rats in any way please don't forget the 15 foot rule!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Our shoulder rat has been banned from my daughter's grade school too. I brought her along to pick up my daughter one day and it turned into a mob scene... Someone told the principal the children were playing with rats and she ran out in a panic. 

But to be entirely fair the result was enforcing a ban on all pets on school property, including dogs. The admin didn't just pick on rats. I don't agree with the ban, but 100 kids mobbing our rat on the front lawn was just a little out of control and the policy is being applied to all pets, so I guess I can live with it.


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## koawren (Aug 8, 2012)

I love watching rat phobics get over their fear!  My aunt actually has been forcing herself into spending more time with rats, and even plucked up the courage to give my girl a little kiss last time she was in town! I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't come around to them in the end. But the 15 foot rule is a good one, for sure. Reactions can go wrong in a number of ways..


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

There are many people that don't like rats and even more that are afraid... but the true "phobic" is super rare, out of literally hundreds if not thousands of people our shoulder rat has met (and she has attended the town picnic, the town fair and the traveling circus as well as getting mobbed at the grade school) I can count the true phobics on my fingers. The very bravest of which froze solid as a statute and stopped breathing until we removed the rat from her shoulder. The difference between fearful people and phobics is that a phobic reaction is involuntary, and has nothing to do with fear or dislike. 

You may never meet one... but for sure you can't fix their problem without years of therapy. I for example don't hate spiders, but for sure your not going to get me to wear one on my shoulder and breathe at the same time... ever, and your just as likely to find my up a ladder.


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## Blaze (Jul 16, 2012)

I'm thinking of making costumes for mine this year. I didn't do it last year, because I barely had a costume (a very poor attempt at the Doctor from Doctor Who), but I did take Florence and Lorelei trick-or-treating with me. Lorelei actually stayed in her carrier in the car most of the night because she freaked out when I put her around other people, but Florence did wonderfully! She sat on my shoulder and gladly let people pet her.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Oh which doctor?  I love David Tennant and thought about going as the doctor but I'm terrible at cross-dressing for my costumes. :/


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## Jan Jinkle (Sep 17, 2012)

I really don't know how my boys will react to costumes, and I'm not too creative, so I dunno what I'll end up doing...maybe a black vest with pipe-cleaners to make a spider or something. I dunno 

But I definitely plan to have at least Zeke accompany me handing out candy. Sev's iffy just because he'll want to get down and explore EVERYTHING, even if he has to climb down my back. Which has happened


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

It's very true, not every rat makes a good shoulder rat... Whereas some love people and try to befriend everyone, others freak out or go stiff. And even the best shoulder rats have limits. Keep that, as well as my caution about a 15 foot safe distance in mind when you include your rats in your halloween activities and everyone will have lots of fun.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice, Rat Daddy!


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## Blaze (Jul 16, 2012)

YellowSpork said:


> Oh which doctor?  I love David Tennant and thought about going as the doctor but I'm terrible at cross-dressing for my costumes. :/


The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. c: I've never seen episodes of any of the other Doctors.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Blaze said:


> The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. c: I've never seen episodes of any of the other Doctors.


Matt Smith is my least favorite so far, so it's definitely worth it to watch from season one.  I really miss David Tennant's doctor.  The addition of River Song was OK though--I love her hair.


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