The Rat Room

I have been waiting for a rat room for a very long time. Finally my oldest son is moving out. He’s going into residence at Laurentian University leaving me with an empty room. We are slowly fixing it up, making it perfect for the rats. I chose a slate grey green colour for the walls. I’ve added a big flat ball type thing for a light, which gives off a lot of light so the darker colour paint and flooring will work out nicely. The floor is a walnut oak laminate wood. I’ll soon be adding a thick baseboard and new curtains as well. The first week of September will be rat move in day. I need to get all my stuff done by then and it would be great if I have the Rory and Gera group living together by then too. But still not holding my breath on that last one.

Here’s the room before:

And so far with the new paint and flooring:

Honestly… everything would go just right if only Max would accept the other boys. I’m pretty sure even Rory would be ok with the new guys if only Max would tell him that everything is ok and no need to panic. But no. Max is constantly sounding the alarm, warning of an impending invasion. He’d rather stay separate than to unite. Typical Quebecois. lol
So we will keep doing the switcheroo of the cages in the hopes that he’ll get used to the smells and finally accept the boys. Poor Chief got the brunt of it today, a little cut up on his rump but he’ll live. I bet the ladies are going to love his war scars.

A few pics of the gang.

These guys have been going through intros for quite some time. But they are still not ready to move in together. For one, Rory and Max haven’t really interacted with the new boys. In fact they avoid each other so throwing them all in the cage at once will not do. I don’t want to make them resent each other. I do know that Max hasn’t accepted them yet. Rory is getting really close. So I cleaned up Rory’s CN and added lots of stuff, some from Gera’s cage and kept some of theirs as well. I’ve separated the CN in two. Gera and friends will be at the top and Rory and family at the bottom. But this will change everyday. After each out time this week, they will switch sides. Hopefully this will get them used to the idea that they are all living together. The smells are the same and are there to stay so they better get used to it fast. I’m hoping that I will have them living together in a week. But I’m certainly not holding my breath. lol

The cage!