Dexter's Creature Comforts

My sweet little Josh is gone. He passed away at the beginning of the month, but I haven't had the heart to post about it until now. It's the hardest rat loss I've ever experienced. Fortunately, it seems he passed quickly and peacefully, curled up with his friends. I left the house that morning, and when I returned a few hours later, he was gone, still in the same place. There were no signs of trauma and it looked like he died in his sleep. The cage feels so quiet without his presence. I miss his warm cuddles and whiskery kisses, ( his over enthusiastic rodentistry, not so much. ) I'd often walk by the cage and see him laid on his back, legs in the air, belly up, sleeping or grooming. These were two of the three most important things in his life. The third was food, which he absolutely adored and his large girth was a testament to his enthusiasm for it. I put him on a diet and you can see in the video the utter distain for the veggies I dared to offer him. I'm pretty sure friends would say they were coming to visit me, but what they really wanted was a cuddle with Josh. Honestly, can't blame them, he was the calmest, snuggliest rat ever. He made my heart so happy and I feel so fortunate to have had him in my life. I will love and miss you forever my little friend 🤎 I'd like to extend my gratitude to Little Critter Crew, who rescued Josh when he was found duct taped into a cardboard box, and to my friend, Laura Rat Way Sanctuarywho fostered him and suggested I adopt him. Sheer madness! She knew what a special guy he was, and was still prepared to let him go. I am beyond grateful to her. Enjoy this compilation video of him. Mostly eating. Mostly on his back. 🤎 #rats #ratsarepetstoo #ratstagram #ratsofinstagram #ratsareawesome #ratsofinsta #ratties #rattiesofinstagram #rattiesofig #rattieslov

TV time with Josh and friends is a pretty relaxed affair. His back legs don't work like they should and he's slowing down a bit more each day. It makes moments like this even more precious 🤎

Edit. There has been lots of interest in these bags. If you are interested in one, can you DM me rather than leaving a comment on the post, as comments sometimes get lost. My beloved Josh is over 2 years old, and officially a senior rat. He recently lost the use of his back legs, a condition known as Hind Leg Degeneration- it's fairly common in older rats, and as a result, he can't climb the ramps anymore and spends a huge chunk of the day in one spot in the cage. To enable us to spend more time together I made a a special carrying bag for him with a solid base to make him feel more stable and secure. It has a shorter strap so I can wear it close to my chest which means he doesn't bounce around. It's working out well and he's pretty comfortable in there. If anyone Is interested, I'm happy to make one- it's another good alternative to the bonding scarf that I think would be particularly good for naughty, nippy rats, hedgehogs and guinea pigs, etc. #rat #rats #ratlover #ratmom #ratties #fancy #eat #fancyrat #rays #of #ratsofinstagram

Happy Valentine's Day from Josh the Squash. 🤎🤎🤎 Kiss Kiss 💋

It may not look like much, but Josh the Squash's New Year's resolution is off to an impressive start! We've been working hard to get his weight down and shed a few grams since before Xmas, and he's already down to 840g from his original weight of over 1000! 😬 Joshua seems to be a genetically large rat, so helping him with his weight as he reaches his senior year has been an important goal. We've swapped high calorie snacks for carrots, cucumbers and yogurt and it's definitely helping. Here's to more veggies and less fluff in 2025!

Woah! It's been a whole 10 years since Dexter had his moment in the spotlight and the video of him refusing to eat broccoli appeared in media outlets all over the world . I even got to talk on TV about what great pets rats make! What a strange world it is! I now feel it's time to come clean and admit he really did like broccoli, he just didn't like me putting things in his bedroom and would chuck everything out. It really was more of a housekeeping issue with him 😃 He truly was a very discerning little creature. I miss him so much.

Friday night is here at last, and Josh The Squash is grooming himself in preparation for a night on the town. Such attention to detail. Are you ready girls!!

Save the date!! On Tuesday 10th September at 3pm PST/6 pm EST I'll be posting lots and lots of sale items on my fb page. There'll be Double Deckers, Honeycombs, Corner Houses, Fallbreakers, Flats, Corner Flats Tunnels- bags and bags of stuff at fab prices. For eg Double Deckers are 8.50US/11CAD, Tunnels and Fallbreakers start at 8.50US/11.50 CAD. All hammocks are the same quality as my regular stuff- 3 layers of fabric, topstitching etc., only they're made with roll end fabrics and bits and bobs that need to be cleared out. As a result there are some irregular sizes- some smaller and some larger than usual. The last sale in April sold out in a day, so mark the date and time on your calendar. I'll make sure to post a reminder as the time gets nearer. Here are some of the items that'll be available.

The rescue boys are making progress! When they arrived 3 1/2 weeks ago, they were incredibly timid and jumpy, and the slightest noise would send them scattering across the cage. I was told they had not been handled since birth, so their behaviour wasn't surprising 😢 So, every day I'd sit quietly by the open cage door and try to build their trust. I made a Fleece 'bridge' from my lap to the cage and placed a large bag with treats there as an incentive to leave the safety of their home and explore. At first, I didn't make a noise or move a muscle - if I did, they would run, and gradually they gained enough confidence to run out, grab a treat and dash back to safety. Once they were brave enough I began feeding them by hand. Frozen peas for the win! They absolutely loved them! I've been doing this every day for an hour in the evening and a couple of shorter sessions during the day and I'm so happy with the progress they've made. Sometimes I lie down in the playpen with them as they run around and investigate me. The one thing they've not been comfortable with is being touched, but even that is beginning to change. Over the last couple of nights, a few of them have let me stroke them gently. They are such lovely boys, and not once has anyone tried to nip me, even though they were so scared. There are seven, four month old boys and their dad who is about three months older. It won't be long before these guys are ready to leave the rescue and will make the sweetest little companions. Please DM me if you're interested we are located in Kelowna, British Columbia, but we have good connections with Vancouver and the lower mainland. #rattiesofig #rattiesofinstagram #ratsratsareawesome #rat #rats #ratties #cute #pets #cutepets #rescue #rescuedismyfavoritebreed #animals #animal #rescue #animalrescue #adopt #adoptarescue #cute #babyanimals

We have a new little friend. 🤎 This itsy bitsy deer mouse was discovered by someone in their car. It was almost two weeks old, so its chances of survival were quite high. For the first couple of days it very enthusiastically took formula on a tiny paintbrush, but now its eyes are open and it can drink from a VERY shallow dish all on its own. When the time is right, little Mousie will go back in the wild. I'll build him an insulated box and provide food and water to help it along the way. 🤎

Meet our gorgeous new rescue boys! Yesterday I took in 8 ratties. 7, 3 month old boys and their young dad. They've come from a bad environment and haven't been handled, so they are quite shy and nervous right now. They'll come to the cage bars to sniff me, but they are not comfortable being touched or picked up yet. I'm hoping I can work some magic in the next few weeks and turn them into squishy, mellow chaps. These guys are young, so they should respond to trust training quickly. Then it'll be time to find their forever humans. Because these guys have such exquisite markings and there are a number of blues in the group , I expect they'll find 🏡 quite quickly. They're currently located in the Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada, but we have transport links with the lower mainland and beyond. As usual, DM me if you'd like a copy of the application. #rattiesofig #rattiesofinstagram #ratsratsareawesome #rat #rats #ratties #babyanimals #ratlovers #ratlover #cute #pet #cutepet #babyanimals #rodents #rodentlove #animallover #animalrescue