Cushions

Sisters may make the best cushion in a hammock but I think it probably works better when the chubby rat isn't on top.

Sushi

I love this little rat.

Sushi

She's so sweet and always looking for something to do.

What's over there?

She also makes me laugh on a regular basis - especially how she uses her paws.

Itching her ear.

A Year of Blogging

It's hard for me to believe but today marks one year since we started blogging about Sushi and Saké. So much can change in a year.

We started this blog as a way to share what we were learning as we dealt with Sushi's malocclusion. Since then, our tiny Sushi, who weighed less than 40 grams a year ago is now at just under 300 grams. She may be small but she is healthy. Sushi has also gone from teeth trimming under anesthetic every 3-4 weeks to not having visited the vet since her post-surgery checkup in October! Even though only 2 of her 4 incisors were removed when she had surgery, her remaining teeth seem to no longer cause problems. She is in a drastically different position than she was a year ago.

Saké too has changed in the last year. She has normal teeth but is taking advantage of the lab block and baby cereal mixture her sister has to eat, meaning she has put on an enormous amount of weight. I'm not sure how to tackle that - we don't want to separate the girls because rats are such social animals, yet because Sushi eats frequently throughout the day, it isn't as though we can separate them just when they eat. Thus, Saké is definitely obese and I spend my evenings attempting to get her to play and exercise.

The picture that started all of this off a year ago is of a much smaller Saké:

Thanks for all of you who have visited this blog in the last year. I know you're out there - in fact, you're from 76 different countries! That is amazing to me. I hope your rats bring you as much joy as our's do.

Sushi

Sushi might be tiny but she is far more adventurous than her sister. I love how purposeful she looks in this picture:

I always feel like Saké has something up her sleeve but in Sushi's case, I think she really just wants to see the world.

Cuteness!

I know this isn't rat-related but it's far too cute not to share:

The Nest Overfloweth

I noticed something peculiar the other day. The girls were asleep in their nest, yet Saké was sound asleep but also partially outside. Normally she tucks herself away, so this was unusual.

She gradually woke up as I took photos, but made no effort to move.

I'm pretty sure that if she could talk, Saké would report that I annoy her on a daily basis.

 

Reluctant Participants

Normally we live by a pretty regular schedule, but sometimes things are hectic and we have to fit activities in wherever possible. This includes the girls' playtime.

The other day I went to get them out of their cage in the afternoon. They were sound asleep and were not interested in my efforts to wake them up. But at the same time, if I didn't get them out of their cage then, they were not going to have another chance until the next day.

So I moved their nest to the bed, thinking that would interest them enough to climb out of their nest.

I was wrong. The most activity was that they both woke up, looked around, and quickly nestled into their bed a bit deeper.

Settling In

We bought the girls a new nest a while ago (see http://bentorats.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-nest.html) and they have been pretty steadfastly ignoring it. Recently though that changed and the girls began spending more time altering the new nest to their liking.

Renovating the new nest

One of my favorite things about the above picture is that the towel in the nest is actually the liner for the top floor of the cage. Evidently someone thought they needed more bedding in the nest. Any guesses as to who is responsible?

Trouble

Here is another shot of the culprit:

Saké the trickster.

Sometimes I wonder what Sushi thinks of all of this.

Saké

Saké cracks me up. The other night I walked into the bedroom, turned on the light, and found Saké wrapped up in a towel.

I had a bit of banana for each of the girls. Saké was interested but not enough to actually come out of her towel. She stuck her face out just far enough to grab the piece of banana and then settled back under her towel and ate.

Tail Bait

At the point where I saw Sushi's tail hanging casually outside the cage while she chowed down on monkey chow, Parker was staring with rapt attention. Sushi is so unaware of her tail that sometimes I worry she will lose it.

Rat Hate

There is a contest running right now at ratfreesubways.com.  Submit a photo of a rat you've seen on the NYC subway and others vote on how nasty it is. The winner receives an unlimited MetroCard.

I know rats are considered pests. I know that they are pests in many instances.  I know that there is a difference between wild rats and the adorable two in my house right now. But the lack of compassion shown for wild animals is astounding to me.

CNN covered the contest as well as the NYC rat issue.



I can differentiate between pets and wild animals. I understand concerns of safety and health. I don't understand cruelty, or the humor people seemingly find in it, in any scenario.

Sleeping In

I woke up late the other morning to see Sushi also barely awake. Her eyes are always crusty when she wakes up, which I assume has something to do with the multitude of issues in her mouth and skull.

Crusty eyes

I love her tiny paw action.

Tiny paws!

Checking In

There isn't much happening with Penelope and Saké these days. Penn still spends a lot of time by their cage but Saké's tendency to grab Penn through the cage means that Penn mainly stays out of reach.

Checking each other out.

Penn is equally careful around Sushi. Saké has taught her well - trust no rat!

Cautiously aware of each other.

This all leaves Penn becoming bored rather quickly.

Unimpressed.

Beans!

We had green beans with dinner the other night, and the cooked, softened beans were perfect for Sushi.

Sushi pauses to look at the camera.

Saké quickly figured out that there was something going on upstairs that she needed to investigate.

If curiosity killed the cat, what did it do to the rat?

Saké scopes out her options...

I'm sure you can guess where this is headed.

A happy rat and her bean.

Pillows Aren't Just for Napping

The girls spent some time playing on the bed before I put clean sheets on the other night. They seemed pretty content.

Saké

Sushi

Such a face...

Napping Again

Continuing yesterday's topic, Saké surprised us yet again with her choice of napping location. After a night of tremendous noise and banging, we woke up to discover that Saké had removed the towel lining the bottom floor of the cage. It must have taken her quite some effort to get the towel out from under everything. She then moved the towel to the upper floor, building herself quite the comfortable place to lounge.

Saké

Sadly, this left poor Sushi, who prefers the lower level of the cage, with little comfort.

Sushi

An Odd Place to Nap

Why yes, that is Saké nesting in the litter tray. Note all the litter which has been removed from the tray, making room for her towel.

Fit Club

Ah, January. The time when stores have tons of workout equipment on sale and the area gyms are all stuffed with people trying to fulfill new year's resolutions.

Saké was happy to help me pack my running clothes so I too can stay in shape.

Looking demure...

That face!

She should be a rat model.

Clothes Party

As I mentioned yesterday, the girls spend a lot of time playing in the laundry. I've yet to find an easier way to entertain them then simply filling a basket with clothes. They happily spend ages climbing, burrowing, and napping before showing any inclination to leave the basket.

Is that a rat?

That looks like a tail.

Definitely a nose...

Aha! That is definitely a Sushi.

Laundry Rats

I sometimes wonder if other people's rats spend as much time playing in laundry as our's do, or if we are just exceptionally lazy rat owners.

Regardless, they seem to like it.

Saké

Hamster Power

While I appreciate what they are trying to do with this, I hate it:

You can find a lot more information about the project, including how to build your own (please don't) over at their website.

Lazy Morning