Long time lurker

[faustus]

Hi there I've been lurking on this site for a good while now so I figure it's about time I stopped being a creeper and actually joined in on some conversations! I don't currently have a dog, but hopefully this will change once I graduate college in May and once I find a 'real world' job. I've been looking at different breeds and might have finally settled on Mini Aussies as I just talked to an awesome breeder today who has everything I'm looking for (she health tests, feeds raw, participates in dog sports, has a contract I agree with, plus she's local!). So hopefully in 6 months or so I'll have lots of adorable puppy pictures to share with you!

In the meantime, you can have pictures of my 3 adorable pet rats, Finn, Murdoch, and Galloway:

[Moth]

Welcome

[Renee750il]

Ah, glad you chimed in

Your rats ARE adorable.

[skittledoo]

Welcome!!!! Love your rats. I currently have two little female rats that I recently got

[AllieMackie]

Welcome! I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're totally okay with lots of cute rat photos while you wait for your perfect pup. Lots of rat owners and rat fans (I'm a latter!) on the board!

[dreameyce]

Originally Posted by faustus

Hi there I've been lurking on this site for a good while now so I figure it's about time I stopped being a creeper and actually joined in on some conversations! I don't currently have a dog, but hopefully this will change once I graduate college in May and once I find a 'real world' job. I've been looking at different breeds and might have finally settled on Mini Aussies as I just talked to an awesome breeder today who has everything I'm looking for (she health tests, feeds raw, participates in dog sports, has a contract I agree with, plus she's local!). So hopefully in 6 months or so I'll have lots of adorable puppy pictures to share with you!

In the meantime, you can have pictures of my 3 adorable pet rats, Finn, Murdoch, and Galloway:

I'm new here too, and had ratties for YEARS until Hubby's allergies got too bad to cope with them. I hope someday we can work out having a couple. I'm still an active rat rescue volunteer (Arranging fosters, and transports but no longer foster), and am a licensed rat show judge for multiple clubs. I bred for years as EaglesEye Rattery. Such awesome critters, and I miss mine so, so sooooo much!

[dreameyce]

I commented on here a couple days ago, but don't know what happened to it!

I'm a former rat owner, and current rat rescue coordinator, and rat show judge. I bred rats for years under the well-known EaglesEye prefix up in Oregon until Hubby's allergies got too bad for us to comfortably keep rats and the husband. I hope at some point we can work out keeping ratties again, once I have my own studio or shop again. Maybe someday! Thankfully the Hubby isn't allergic to dogs, as then I'd simply have to rehome him

[Lossalfling]

welcome

[faustus]

Thanks everyone for the welcomes! I'm glad there are so many rat fans here as well

Originally Posted by dreameyce

I commented on here a couple days ago, but don't know what happened to it!

I'm a former rat owner, and current rat rescue coordinator, and rat show judge. I bred rats for years under the well-known EaglesEye prefix up in Oregon until Hubby's allergies got too bad for us to comfortably keep rats and the husband. I hope at some point we can work out keeping ratties again, once I have my own studio or shop again. Maybe someday! Thankfully the Hubby isn't allergic to dogs, as then I'd simply have to rehome him

I saw that post when it went up but it disappeared before I could comment back. I was so confused haha but that's awesome you're so into them! One of my roommates also became allergic to mine, but nothing extreme. She just breaks out in a rash if she touches them. It makes her sad though because she liked giving them cuddles. They're such great little pets, hopefully you're able to have them again soon!

[dreameyce]

Originally Posted by faustus

Thanks everyone for the welcomes! I'm glad there are so many rat fans here as well



I saw that post when it went up but it disappeared before I could comment back. I was so confused haha but that's awesome you're so into them! One of my roommates also became allergic to mine, but nothing extreme. She just breaks out in a rash if she touches them. It makes her sad though because she liked giving them cuddles. They're such great little pets, hopefully you're able to have them again soon!

I guess I got caught in the spam filter, and the site even banned me! LOL

Topical allergies are actually easy to deal with, it's aerosol problems my husband has, which cause severe asthma. In Oregon I had a separate studio building the ratties stayed in and I did my clay work, but we don't have that here in Texas (And it would be hell to keep cool...)

For topical allergies, you can clean off the feet, bellies, and tails with a baby wipe before handling the ratties (The allergies are to urine...), and avoid skin-to-rat contact. If you get hives/welts, wipe them off with a cottonball of rubbing alcohol. I get topical reaction to rat urine, and ironically, dog saliva, and simply wipe it with the rubbing alcohol and it goes away. But baby wipes were my best friend when I had rats, as I wiped down rats before I handled them, as well as their cages. You can even make your own 'green' washable baby wipes, using flannel if you don't want to use commercial throw-away wipes. I'd get the large packs of baby wipes (Refill packs).