#Just my “hamster in a cage without enrichment” thoughts | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

katalyna-rose · 4 years ago

Text

Kat’s Rat Shopping List

I’ve gotten a few requests for a shopping list of my rat setup (tagging @collapseofthesky because they requested this, specifically, but I’ve had a few others message me), so I thought I’d give it a try and also add a few explanations for why I do some things the way I do. As such, this is going to be a very long post and is therefore under a cut. There will be a basic shopping list without all the explanations at the very end of the post under TL;DR if you don’t care about the rest or whatever.

I had a lot of fun with this and spent way more time on it than I meant to, and might be open to doing more of this kind of thing in the future.

Cage

First up, the cage. Obviously. I’ve said it before but it’s a Double Critter Nation and a Single Critter Nation with the side panels removed and zip tied together. These are sometimes sold in pet stores (the locally owned pet store I prefer has them in stock). I bought mine online because of a really good sale, but you can sometimes get really lucky and find them for resale on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for super cheap. I love this cage because the whole front opens up and that makes it super accessible and easy to clean, decorate, and get to my pets wherever they may be. It’s also huge!

US minimum for rat cages is 2 cubic feet per rat, with a minimum of two rats because rats cannot be housed alone as they are extremely social animals. No, human companionship is not enough, rats need same-age, same-species companionship at all times. Please be aware, as well, that minimums are not the ideal to strive for. Whatever space you intend to dedicate to your rats, fill it! Fill it all up! And if you don’t have enough space for a large cage, don’t get rats. My setup, with the Home Depot/Lowe’s large cement mixing tubs in the bottom, is roughly 45 cubic feet of space. If we’re looking at minimums, this means I could house 22 rats! There’s no way that 22 rats could ever actually be comfortable in my setup. It would be insane, chaotic, and extremely messy. So why would 2 rats be comfortable in 4 cubic feet? They wouldn’t. More space is always better, hard stop.

Also remember that wire cages with bar spacing of no more than an inch for adult rats and no more than half an inch for small or young rats is a must. Tanks are absolutely not recommended for rats due to poor ventilation, which will cause respiratory issues and allow ammonia to build up much faster.

Bedding

This is different from nesting. Yes, it is. Bedding is the substrate used at the bottom of the cage or on shelves to catch errant droppings and urine, and is generally left where it is by the rats because they have no interest in it.

My main bedding is pine wood horse stall pellets. They are as dust free as the alternatives like shavings or paper pellets, and combine the best aspects of both those types of bedding with the ammonia-neutralizing effects of wood shavings and the compact, easy-to-clean nature of pellets. I love them. I also get them super hilariously cheap from Tractor Supply Co, so despite it being a little bit of a drive for me (about an hour round trip) the fact that it’s half the price of the next cheapest option more than makes up for it. I buy a bunch all at once and currently have a few bags left in my trunk because I didn’t have enough closet space for them. It’s great stuff. It crumbles when wet so it helps me keep track of how much and where they’re urinating, and it’s easy to spot clean those areas in between deep cleans.

When choosing a wood, if that’s the route you want to go, remember to check what is safe to use. Pine is only safe when it’s kiln-dried, since it contains fragrant oils that can cause respiratory issues in rats, mice, and hamsters. Some people will advise you to stay away from it entirely, and that’s fine, but since pine is often the cheapest option it’s not always viable. Aspen is a safe wood, but harder to find in pellet form and slightly more expensive as shavings. I use aspen shavings in my litter trays. Cedar wood is NEVER safe, no matter how it’s treated. I don’t think cedar is ever safe no matter what for any animal it’s marketed to, actually. It’ll cause respiratory distress in rats, mice, and hamsters, and guinea pigs and rabbits should never be on shavings regardless though I’m pretty sure they’ll still experience respiratory distress. The oils naturally in the wood are not safe, do not use cedar. Also make sure your bedding is as dust-free as possible, also for respiratory reasons. If you have a small animal, their respiratory system is extremely delicate, and that’s just a fact of pet ownership that you should have learned before getting a pet when you were researching how to care for it.

Since I have two shelves in my cage and they are both shallow to the point of not even having a lip (Critter Nation’s only flaw is the trays that come with the cage), I line my shelves with fleece over an appropriately sized bath mat. Fleece makes a great shelf liner, but I don’t recommend using it in the entire cage because it gets dirty really fast and most rats will chew it up, so you’ll both be changing it every other day and going through it super fast as it is destroyed. However, it makes great shelf liners, especially when very little of the shelf is actually available to the rats like in my setup, where the shelves are mostly covered in other things. Remember that fleece must always be lined with an absorbent layer underneath because the fleece itself allows liquid to pass right through it. That’s the point: the fleece stays relatively clean and dry while the absorbent layer takes all the gross stuff away. Towels are generally not recommended for this because rats can get their nails stuck in the fabric and rip them out, which is painful and distressing for the rat and also you. Anything super absorbent with a really tight weave will do lovely here, hence the low pile bath mats I use. I get them for one or two dollars at Ikea and wash them every week. I keep several around to rotate through. The fleece I use is also a fleece blanket from Ikea for a couple bucks that I cut into four sections because that rendered it the perfect size to tuck around the shelves. This makes my bedding extremely cheap, and that makes me happy because I can spend that money on enrichment instead.

Nesting

This is the material that the rats like to push around, dig in, and sleep in. It’s important to provide soft but preferably absorbent materials for the rats to nest in because it’s enriching, comfortable, and helps them regulate body temperature. Multiple types of nesting are recommended for enrichment purposes. Rats like texture! I use unscented, unlotioned tissues as a main nesting material for within their hides because they’re cheap, safe, absorbent, and soft. I bought 30 boxes of 100 tissues each for super cheap online, but you can also buy dollar store tissues or whatever you have access to. Just make sure they don’t have scents or lotions, because those are not safe for your rats’ delicate respiratory systems. The empty boxes (plastic removed) can also be given for the rats to chew up and play in, or you can save them up to DIY some fun toys later, which is what I’m doing.

I also have two dig boxes, which will also go under the enrichment section. The bins I got for cheap from Target, but obviously you can get bins wherever you want to get bins. Just measure to make sure they fit in your cage properly. The only dig box I want to talk about in this section is the hay box, because the dirt is not actually a nesting material but rather an enriching one. So, hay. My girls love this stuff so much that they drag it all over the cage to shove it into all their sleeping areas. They build actual rat nests in the box, tunnel through it, stash food in it, shred it for fun, and generally spend as much time as possible with the hay. I use oat hay for the seed heads that provide additional enrichment and snacks because the rats have to get to the seeds in order to eat them. If you are feeding a low-quality diet to your rats, do not use oat hay because they’ll fill up on seeds instead of eating their nutritionally-balanced food and that is not good. My rats love their food so much that the seeds are a sometimes snack that I don’t need to regulate because they do it themselves. Any good quality hay will do for a hay box, however, and timothy hay tends to be the cheapest option. Just make sure it’s not super low quality, because low quality hay tends to be dusty. As mentioned previously several times, rats have delicate respiratory systems and dust is bad for them. I buy my hay from Small Pet Select because I like supporting small business, ethical business, and businesses that provide excellent products. They are, however, primarily a rabbit site. I keep hoping they’ll expand the other sections of their shop. Also, make sure your rats aren’t trying to eat the hay. This is highly unlikely because rats are smart and know what’s edible and what isn’t, and hay is not edible for rats. If for some reason your rats are eating hay, do not give them a hay box.

Other nesting options I’ve used in the past include cut up bits of fleece, cut up old clothes you might have lying around, and generally just bits of fabric. Just remember to change out/wash them regularly. Ammonia will build up, and once again that’s bad for your rats’ respiratory systems.

Hides and Hammocks

Rats are prey animals. Surprise! As such, they need plenty of places to hide and feel safe. Rats love small, dark places to rest in. Much like many introverted humans, myself included! Make sure to include plenty of hides all over the cage. Variety is excellent here for enrichment reasons. My rats absolutely love Space Pods! Lixit makes the ones I use, but there’s also a brand called Sputnik that’s basically the same thing. I’ve never seen them in stores, but they’re all over the internet. For rats, make sure you get the large size. Honestly I wish it was larger than it is, but oh well. The girls love it anyway. I kept getting sent only the bottom halves, which is why I have two half space pods in my cage. I got a refund or replacement on both because it’s not what I paid for, but, like… I received the usable half, so I’m gonna use it. The girls don’t like to sleep in them without the covers, but they’ll hang out in there and clean themselves, and they climb through them to get from one spot to another.

In addition to the space pods, I also have various other hides. Lixit also makes a pill-shaped plastic hide that I keep on the shelf over the dirt box. They used to use it a lot more than they do now, and I’m not entirely sure why. Even so, they still use it! I also have a woven grass tent that they enjoy, and a cork log. Neither of those are really for sleeping, but they do hide in them sometimes and generally like to hang out there.

Hammocks are great, and also available in wide variety all over the internet and in stores. My favorite banana hammock was just retired, but I intend to get another. The girls loved it and so did I! Hammocks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and can pull double duty as both a place to sleep and a way to break up the cage so there aren’t any dead drops where your rats can fall from a height and hurt themselves. Fill your cage with hammocks! All the hammocks! Support small creators by buying homemade hammocks! Learn to make them yourself! They’re cheap and easy! Hammocks are great.

Enrichment Part 1: Levels

Rats are climbers. Rats need vertical space as well as horizontal space. Rats are sometimes clumsy idiots who fall off of things. As such, all vertical space must be filled with all kinds of fall breakers. As mentioned before, hammocks are great for this. So are ladders, bridges, ropes, and that Ikea tie hanger I have strung across the back of my cage. If your rat falls from anywhere in the cage, make sure there’s something to catch them!

Also make sure there’s something to do on all the levels of the cage, even if that thing to do is just get from one level to the next. Rats are dexterous and adventurous. Ramps are boring because they’re easy. If you have sick or injured rats, absolutely use ramps! Accessibility matters! If your rats are of sound body, however, make them work for it. Lava ledges and bird perches make great alternatives to ramps. Screw them into the cage walls and watch your rats hop around! They love it. Ladders are also fun, especially if they’re not used the way ladders are meant to be used. Suspend them from things, put them at weird angles, just make sure they’re secure. I get a lot of my levels from the bird aisle at the pet store (or virtual pet store). Be aware that sometimes your rats are going to prefer to climb directly on the bars of the cage. That’s normal! The bars are there, so the rats will climb them. That’s all there is to it!

Climbing frames like the wooden wine rack from Ikea that I have in the bottom of my cage are also good to have. My girls love it, and it does double duty as a chew toy.

Enrichment Part 2: Chewing

Contrary to popular belief and old science, rats do not actually require chews to keep their teeth trimmed. Rats trim their own teeth by bruxing, or grinding their teeth together. This does not, however, negate the need for chews. Rats like to chew! What your rat likes to chew best is entirely subjective. Some rats love wood and sticks, some rats will always chew fabric over anything else, some rats will never chew fabric. Every rat is different! Try as much variety as you can and keep stocked up on the things your rats like best. My rats really like woven grass, and I try to keep at least a couple different kinds around for them. I keep a grass mat on a shelf that they like to pull apart, and the woven grass tent will likely have a short lifespan, as well. There’s a woven grass tunnel thing that they’ve put into the dirt box and are slowly but systematically shredding. My girls also like willow sticks, so I’ve got a couple hanging toys of willow that are very slowly being chewed because there’s so much else to chew. The wooden bridges see a fair bit of chewing, and even the lava ledges get chewed on the edges. My girls also love destroying rattan and wicker balls. I bought a bunch of them for cheap and toss a new one in there about every week or so. They love them. I also got a couple things from Small Pet Select like a pine cone, a bit of natural loofah, and a dried okra pod. So far the okra pod has seen the most action and is shredded halfway to infinity. I think they like that it has seeds inside, but the others get chewed sometimes, too. There’s enough variety in my setup that everything lasts a decently long time. Except the rattan balls.

Enrichment Part 3: Digging

As much as rats like to climb, they also like to dig. That’s why it’s highly recommended to have a dig box. Safe substrate is important here. If you’re going with potting soil, make sure it’s just dirt and doesn’t contain any fertilizer. Personally, I found potting soil to be kind of annoying a little expensive. I prefer coconut soil. I use Exo Terra terrarium soil, which is sold in compacted blocks that you have to hydrate. I use two thirds of the recommended water because my rats don’t need humidity. I use three blocks per dig box, and replace the soil every month because the girls will do their business in it sometimes, leave food in it, leave bits of tissue or hay or various shredded chews. Basically, the dirt gets dirty in bad ways and needs to be replaced sometimes. It can also grow things if left too long because of the humidity (which will be a problem regardless of the type of substrate being used). So every deep clean, both dig boxes get emptied, wiped out, and refilled.

The hay box gets an honorable mention here, since it pulls double duty as both nesting and digging. Triple duty, really, since it’s also a forage toy.

Enrichment Part 4: Misc

Yeah, I didn’t know what category to put this under, so here we are. Litter boxes! No, seriously, this counts as enrichment. Training your rats, whether it’s to do tricks or just poop where you want them to, counts as enrichment. Rats are incredibly smart! They’re at least as trainable as the average dog, especially if they come from an ethical breeder who breeds for health and temperament (let me just slide a reminder not to buy live animals from pet stores that source from highly unethical breeding mills in right here; please support ethical breeders and rescues), and will happily take to any training. Remember that positive reinforcement is the only ethical way to train an animal. Treats are great for this, and your pet will love you even more because every living thing loves food. My rats actually didn’t require much training for their litter trays. Make sure that whatever you’re lining the litter trays with is not the same as their normal bedding. If you’re using aspen shavings in the main cage, use pine in the litter trays, or literally any distinct safe bedding. I use shavings in my litter trays and pellets in my main cage. This helps the rats distinguish the litter trays from the rest of the cage and makes it easier to identify where to do their business versus where not to do so. When you first put the litter trays in, just go in at least once a day and toss any poops you see into the tray. If you see your rats using the litter tray, offer a treat while they’re doing so. Rats are extremely clean animals and they like their mess contained as much as you do. It would not be possible for me to only deep clean once a month if I didn’t have litter trays that I clean out about twice a week (or more, if necessary) to get rid of the majority of the mess and smell. I’d be deep cleaning every two weeks at least without them, so the litter trays are a great investment overall. Your rats will never be perfect about using them, because they’re still rats, but they’ll help a great deal.

Also under this section are forage toys! Do not feed your rats from a simple bowl, it’s boring and encourages stashing, which means you’ll never know when they’ve actually run out of food because they’re just going to pick it up and take it somewhere else and have a great big hoard that you’ll find on deep clean day. You can definitely scatter feed, that’s enriching as well because it makes the rats go looking for their food, but forage toys are the ultimate way to feed your rats, I think. I mostly don’t get my forage toys from the small animal aisle. I do have one that’s small animal specific, a little ball that they roll around the get the food out. I also have some marketed for cats, and some marketed for birds. Having multiple kinds is really helpful. I’ve also noticed that while some stashing still occurs, it’s greatly reduced. I refill the toys as they empty and everyone’s happy.

Food/Water

What you feed your rats is extremely important, obviously. Many commercially available pellet foods marketed for rats are actually extremely not good for rats. The same is true cat and dog food. It is a sad fact that the companies that make these foods tend to be far more interested in their bottom line than the health of your pet. As such, do your research! Always do your research! Know what’s in the food and what your animal should be eating, and try to match those two things up as closely as possible. In the UK rat owners typically will avoid pellet foods and prefer homemade mixes for these reasons, but making your own mix is not always feasible and can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing. Most US rat owners tend toward pellets because it’s a lot harder to mess up the balance of nutrients when it’s done for you. Also, the UK does not have Oxbow, which is one of the most popular brands of healthy rat food. It’s the brand that I use, and my rats adore it. Mazuri is another popular and healthy option, but my rats prefer Oxbow over anything else. I kind of want to try making my own mix at some point, but I’m not sure I ever will. Like with most of my rat supplies, I buy food in bulk because it’s cheaper. A 20 lb bag of Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat food runs me about 40 bucks. Be careful to buy adult rat food, even for baby rats, because any food that says Young Rat and Mouse is not going to have the appropriate balance of fat and protein even for young rats. Adult food will do just fine for babies, too. If you want to add some extra protein to their diet, try a boiled egg or bits of meat every now and then, but it’s probably not necessary as long as they’re getting enough food and some extra fruits and veggies now and then. If you want to try making a mix, do so much research before you try it, and make sure your ingredients are good quality.

Rats should also receive other foods in addition to their pellet or main food. Rats are omnivores and love fresh veggies, fruits, milk, eggs, and meat! Make sure you research safe foods before giving them to your rats, as not everything is safe. If you adopt your rats from an ethical breeder, they should have resources available to you on what’s safe and healthy. If you rescue, you can still reach out to established ethical breeders for tips and tricks, or find lists online as you do your research. Some veggies are only safe cooked, some parts of certain plants are unsafe while others are safe, and some foods are only safe for males or females but not the other sex (citrus and mango are the ones I remember that fall into that category). Just do your research and try to keep processed foods away from your rats. Sodium is also not good for them. Any raw meat or fish should be frozen and then thawed before being fed to your rats to kill any potential contaminants. Like always, do your research first!

Rats obviously require water, as well. Water bottles tend to be the most widely accepted way to give rats water, because they don’t evaporate and are easy to keep clean. I, however, have a terrible time with bottles, and they always leak or break. Thus, I have opted for water bowls instead. The girls love them more than the bottles I’ve used in the past, and they’re a little more enriching, as well. The only downside is that I have to wash them out daily. But since I spot clean daily anyway, I don’t mind at all.

First Aid Kit

Any responsible pet owner should always keep a first aid kit around, no matter what kind of pet they have. Pet owners who have particularly vulnerable pets should especially be careful to make sure they have a well-stocked first aid kit. This should include single-use sterile syringes without needles, gauze pads, vet wrap, infant/toddler ibuprofen or acetaminophen, medical tape, cat nail trimmers, and probiotic powder like Benebac. But most importantly, it should include the phone number and location of a vet that will see and treat rats. Have a vet picked out that you have confirmed will see and treat your pets BEFORE getting pets. If an emergency arises and you’re suddenly scrambling for a vet last second, not only do you waste precious time getting your pet the help they need but you may find out too late that the nearest rat-friendly vet is too far away. That means your pet will suffer unnecessarily and you are an irresponsible pet owner. Hard stop. If there is no vet within reach that will see rats, do not get rats. Rats will require a vet trip at least once in their lives, since all rats are extremely prone to respiratory illness. Sometimes this happens for no reason at all, because all rats possess a bacteria in their respiratory systems called mycoplasma. There’s no way to get rid of it and nothing you can do about it except make sure your rats live in a clean, well-ventilated environment with safe bedding and materials. Even with all this, sometimes your rats will get sick. That’s normal! Just make sure you can take care of them when it happens. As such, make sure you have a vet fund at all times of at least a couple hundred dollars, in addition to a well-stocked first aid kit and the name and location of an appropriate vet.

It’s also beneficial and enriching to syringe train your rats. What this means is putting a liquid treat like baby food, yogurt, or apple sauce into a syringe and giving it to your rats. This teaches the rats that the syringe is a good thing so that if you ever need to give them medicine from the syringe (rat medicine tends to be oral and dissolved in a liquid solution, so those needle-less syringes will be necessary) they’re more likely to take the medicine with minimum complaints.

Storage

Maybe it goes without saying, but you also need places to put all of the things for your rats. Keep your first aid kit in a box to itself so you always know where it is, and organize your supplies appropriately. I really like Ikea bins for my bedding and food and other dry bulk items, and I keep a lot of my smaller stuff on a shelf at the foot of my bed. Work with the space you have, and plan appropriately.

And thus concludes this extremely long explanation of the bare basics of healthy rat living. Really, this is the bare basics and not even remotely comprehensive of the options available. Be creative when shopping, and definitely look outside of the small animal aisle at your local pet store because it will not contain anywhere near all of what you need.

TL;DR: A Basic Shopping List of My Specific Setup

-Double Critter Nation

-Single Critter Nation

-Zip ties

-2 Large sized cement mixing tubs from Home Depot/Lowe’s

-Pine wood horse stall pellets

-Low pile bath mats, enough to rotate while washing

-Fleece blanket, cut in quarters to fit shelves, enough to rotate while washing

-Bins to hold digging substrate

-Oat hay from Small Pet Select or Oxbow

-Exo Terra coconut fiber terrarium soil

-Lixit Critter Space Pods, large

-Lixit Small Animal Hideout

-Woven grass mat

-Woven grass tent

-Woven grass tube

-Rattan/wicker balls, lots

-Willow stick hanging toys

-Natural loofah

-Sanitized (and therefore safe) pine cone

-Dried okra pod

-Dog ropes

-Wooden bendy bridges

-C-clips, both the kind meant for shower curtains and smaller ones marketed for kids, for hanging things

-Hammocks. All the hammocks. From everywhere hammocks are sold.

-3 (sometimes 4) Ware Scatterless Lock-n-Litter Small Animal Litter Pan, Regular

-Ikea tie hanger

-Ikea wine rack

-Ikea storage bins

-Forage toys

-Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat food

-Ceramic (and therefore tip-proof) water bowls, and/or bowls that can be attached to the cage

-Sterile single-use syringes without needles

-Gauze

-Vet wrap

-Medical tape

-Infant/toddler ibuprofen/acetaminophen

-Cat nail trimmer

-Probiotic powder like Benebac

-The phone number and location of a rat-friendly vet

-A vet fund of at least a couple hundred dollars

A final note before the end: Always remember to do your research before getting pets, do not get pets if you cannot provide a good life for them with MORE THAN the bare minimum requirements for safe and healthy pets, do not buy live animals from pet stores unless it’s part of a rescue program, don’t take the word of just one person as law, don’t be afraid to ask questions respectfully, and always seek new ways to improve your pet care. This has been a PSA from your friendly small animal enthusiast.

#fancy rats #pet rats #my rat setup #rat care #rat care advice #pet care #long post

39 notes · View notes

arlo-venn · 6 years ago

Text

I’m posting this long message I sent to a work friend today, in case anybody here happens to feel similarly to the undermentioned Kelsey...

(Y’all are cool so I doubt it but just as a disclaimer.....)

I’m posting it verbatim and not modifying it at all for Tumblr, due to laziness and a headache:

“Just gotta vent bout this real quick since you were there to witness part of the discussion— hope that’s cool!!

It bums me out when people, especially people I like & respect like Kelsey, get eye rolly when I mention new small pet additions :/ ‘Cause I’m not an idiot and I don’t bring new lives into my care without 1) research and 2) certainty of my ability to care for them adequately, which is exactly what I assume when my friends bring home new animals themselves.

Like, how does Kelsey view me as a person if any part of her thinks I might bring in pets if I couldn’t afford to take them to a vet?? (It’s not just her, there are others like Alicia/Jessica/Katelynn who are eye rolly, too, it’s just more hurtful from Kelsey since she’s someone I would always automatically extend the benefit of the doubt to because I know she’s a responsible & intelligent human being.) I fell in love with a young pup at the shelter the other day, but did I bring her home?? No, because I’m not adopting another dog until I can afford a certified behaviorist to work with it at ages 2-3 months, 1 year, and 2 years, and I’m not in that position right now! I make informed, educated, and responsible decisions when it comes to the animals in my care; the thought of a pal suspecting otherwise is just a lil offensive, you know??

I understand that I’ve recently acquired multiple small animals in a short period of time, and that from the outside that might appear to be frivolous behavior, but coming out of a deep dark depression for possibly the first time in one’s life and not only rediscovering a long buried passion, but using that passion to healthily cope with the root causes of one’s tendency to slip into severe depressive cycles (lack of family/loneliness/inability to maintain human connections/chronic illness/over abundance of free time/agoraphobia/etc.) is Not A Bad Thing!! At all??

I have a symbiotic/mutually beneficial relationship with each of my pets. I take very good care of them all. I’m an absolute nutcase when it comes to their diets and what ingredients go into their little bodies! Arlo (& the cats) remained on one of the most expensive foods in my neighborhood shop even while I was at my poorest. I still made sure he was vetted, fixed, vaccinated, etc. when I was unexpectedly broke as HECK during his teen years. I’m not a careless willy nilly pet parent! I know what I’m doing!

Besides, the hamsters are both incredibly independent and practically free to maintain. I have to buy them food/bedding/hay/treats LESS than monthly— in fact I think I’m only on my second bag of food since first adopting MILKWEED. They’re also fairly healthy as a species and rarely require vet care as the ailments they’re most prone to can be avoided with proper care. I am a person who NEEDS things to take care of, and the hamsters don’t need that much from me. So I looked into other rodents who require more interactive care! Was going to be gerbils til I got diverted to that rat track... I didn’t get gerbils right away and acquired their supplies gradually. I kept educating myself on various rodent care until I was informed enough to decide that rats were who I’d be most compatible with. If I were the sort of person an eye roll or head shake suggests, I’d have gerbils in here right now! And, 4 rats is a super common number of rats for someone to keep! The cage I’m getting for Lorna & Thimble once they outgrow the starter is already big enough, plus it can be separated into two separate cages should introductions not go as planned, and STILL be big enough. It’d literally only cost me $8 to save two more from being devoured, outside of food and toys, which are cheap. I went into rat ownership knowing that it is very likely they’ll fall ill, which is how I knew Thimble needed to go get antibiotics STAT. If I have the time, space, money, and energy to provide animals a safe, happy, and enriching environment, why shouldn’t I!?!

Plus I’ve gotten like $4 in raises just since November, and if I want to take advantage of that by further building my zoo family, it is my right as an adult with the means to do so... to do so! I think the fact that I am specifically moving into a bigger apartment so that I can provide them all the happiest & safest lives possible says enough about not only my ability to care for creatures but my dedication to them as well, does it not? I’m willing to dish out $300 extra a month so my rodents can be behind a closed door. So I wish the acquaintances around me would just let me build my fuzzy little family in peace. They’re just about all I have in this world and my connections with my animals really do alleviate the ache-yness of loneliness. This is probably literally the First Time in my whooole life that I’ve felt overall fulfilled and happy, which the rodents are a huge part of, and I wish the humans I interact with regularly would be supportive of that instead of getting judgey & bringing me down :/ I feel like I can’t even talk about any of the rodents anymore at work without feeling the recipient’s judgement and it’s No Fun to have to try not to talk about the things that bring you joy. Especially when there’s really not much else to my daily life than the happenings of my fluff family, so that leaves me with very little to say. A bummer when work is like the only place I really interact with people... I don’t know anything about pop culture/media, I don’t have cable or internet so I don’t really watch TV, I obviously have no interest in sports, the only person who shares my weird taste in music hates my guts & I have no interest in her guts either, so all I really have as a connecting force between me and humanity is our shared love of animals, and now I feel like I can’t even talk about that anymore! So I mostly just talk to you, Jon, and Hanna about em now.

ANYWAY I’m not as upset about it as the length of this might imply, I just wanted to make sure YOU knew that I’m not a frivolous idiot, really. Thank you for reading my novel on my ability to care for my pets; I know it was LENGTHY.”

4 notes · View notes

batkatbrown · 7 years ago

Text

Beyond the Sea - C14!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13837683/chapters/32699928

Thank you fireflyquill, Lady and Anons that sponsored this chapter! <3

“Can you turn the page darlin’,” Jesse called over to his best friend who was currently trying to wrangle a bunch of seaweed. The book was popped up on the counter next to him and Hanzo reached over to flick the page without really looking. “Thanks!”

Jesse wriggle deeper into his little sand nest and propped his head in his hand to read. He had missed getting to explore other worlds between the lines of crisp print. The story was vaguely familiar and it was much the same as the novels beneath the waves.

A forbidden love that drove two people apart; a man of the sky that fell in love with a creature of the sea.

Jesse ruminated on the words, moving slowly through the page. He kept half his attention on Hanzo. The hunter was trying to do something fishy with the seaweed and three black pearls on his magical worktable.

“You sure you don’t wanna tell me what you’re doing?” He called lazily without lifting his gaze.

“It is best left unspoken,” Hanzo grumbled. The little vein in his forehead was twitching as he hunched over his work.

Jesse hummed softly in response. “If you are going to be usin’ spells and magics now, could you shrink down a few of my books? Then i could turn the pages myself.”

Hanzo turned with a glare and Jesse shrunk down into the nest of sand. Before his heart could jump into a frantic pace, Hanzo’s face softened and he laughed with a shake of his head. “I am sorry, Jesse. Perhaps you are right and I need to take a break.”

“Y-yeah.” Jesse waved his tail hopefully,

“And as a shrinking spell eludes me; would you allow me to read to you instead?” Hanzo swiveled in his chair and leaned down to cross his arms on the tabletop. He settled his chin on them and Jesse smiled as it brought him to eye-level.

“Nothing better than gettin’ to hear your pretty voice.” Jesse waggled his eyebrows and flashed a toothy grin. It made a pink tinge rise to the hunter’s cheeks. “Don’t guess i could ask for storytime in the tub?”

“It has been a while since we had a bath.” Hanzo rested his forehead on his arms with a soft laugh. Heat spiked through his veins at Jesse’s simple request. It was different this time, now that he knew Jesse was sentient.

He reached into the tank and teasingly poked at Jesse’s shoulder. “I suppose you also wish for me to get a ring for you to jump through and balls to knock around.”

“Could you?” Jesse’s eyes lit up and his smile nudged his cheeks high. “I used to whip and weave through coral and dodge sharks and wrangle sea dragons. Doing something more than swimming would make it feel a bit like home.”

Hanzo rested his head in one hand, nodding to his companion. It made sense. If he could not train and use his full body, he would feel restless to. “Perhaps a quick trip to the store is necessary before we relax in a bath.”

“I would love ya even more darlin’,” Jesse’s warm voice shot straight to his heart and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

“Then we shall go.”

“How?”

Hanzo glanced to an empty jar. It would fit in his messenger bag. Jesse would fit even if it was a little tight and Hanzo leaned back in his chair. It would work.

The store was nearly empty on the early thursday morning. The few other customers drifted aimlessly or shuffled along in fuzzy slippers, paid them no mind. Hanzo kept his face blank and impassive as they maneuvered through the petstore. There were plenty of interesting plastic and rubber toys in the dog section that would float.

“What about this one?” Hanzo subtly tilted his messenger bag so Jesse could see the wall of merchandise better. It was a knobbly rubber dog toy that had a hole inside it for peanut butter or other treats. “Perhaps put fish in the hole.”

Jesse squinted at it, his human half hauled up to stick out of the mostly empty jar. “Is that really a dog toy?”

“Yes?” A quick look to the left and the right proved them to be alone. He lifted the jar and jesse free of his bag and held him closer to the red toy.

“Hmm, looks like it’d fit a dick more than some of that peanut butter stuff.”

Hanzo nearly dropped the jar with a splutter. Choked laughter stuck in his throat and he coughed around it. “It does… in a way appear to be a … sleeve of sorts.”

“You humans got some interesting ideas.” Jesse reached out to touch it with a suspicious look. “But i figure it might be fun to swim through and wrestle given half the chance. I like the look of that one too.”

Hanzo moved down the aisle and lifted Jesse to inspect to his heart’s content. The shopping basket slowly filled up with enrichment toys from both the dog, fish and cat section. Jesse was nearly giddy over the small plastic fishing pole with a brightly colored fish at the end. It was nothing like a real fish but he was chomping at the bit.

“Will you look at that,” Jesse whistled after the words.

Hanzo found himself directed over to a display of brightly colored tubes. They were assembled into an intricate run for hamsters or mice ending on each side in a wide cages.

“I wonder if they are watertight.” Hanzo mused as he approached the boxed version of the display. He taped on the transparent plastic with a fingernail. It was strong and study and with a bit of magic, it might be possible to turn it to a different use.

“I could swim anywhere in the house, or at least around.”

“Perhaps we can even set up tanks along the way for you to rest in. You could explore and swim to your heart’s content during the day. Maybe we could even connect it to the koi ponds.” Hanzo couldn’t contain his grin.

It took most of the morning and afternoon to get set up and Jesse waited eagerly in his main tank. He wriggled in the water, chasing the long fins of his tail as Hanzo went up and down a ladder. Sweat made his shirt cling to his back and Jesse did his best not to fixate on the strong muscles it showed off.

The jeans hung low and a very interesting band of fabric peaked over. He had always thought underwear were a bit strange. There was no need to cover his hips or waist in this form, at least as long as he kept himself under control. He breathed slowly, focusing on the fluttering of his gills and the expanse of his water lungs.

Jesse chewed on his thoughts and a chunk of catfish as Hanzo wiped his sweating brow. It was a shame that he was too small to act on the fantasties trying to break through his guard. It would be harder to hide the heat burning just under his skin when they were in the bath together. If they managed to get to it before the day was over.

It was dark outside when the tubes had been set up all over the house. Water was slowly poured into them from the second floor, all the while adjusting containment spells on the different tanks and resting areas so it didn’t all rush out.

Jesse tested out the first section.

The tubes were big enough for him to fit comfortably and he gave his tail an experimental undulation. He rose quickly along the transparent colorful pipe until he could look down at Hanzo. He waved excitedly and bobbed against the side.

The hunter’s grin was bright enough to light up the room. He pointed along the tube to the stairs and Jesse was quick to follow his lead. He darted along the tubes and wriggled around the ninety degree turn and started to climb. It was dizzying and wonderful. The illusion of depth brought a part of his instincts roaring back to life.

He chased Hanzo up the stairs and whipped around the corner to follow him into his bedroom. Hanzo’s laugh was muffled through the water but still beautiful. There was a tank on his bedside table still. It was connect now and Jesse dove down into it with a cheer. He tumbled among the leafy greens and swirled to face up.

He beached himself on the warm sand and rocks with a holler of pure joy.

Help fund the next chapter on ko-fi!

#beyond the sea #mchanzo #overwatch #g/t #giant #tiny #sfw #minimermccree #MerCree #Hunter!Hanzo #magic #curses #folklore #au

100 notes · View notes