Hmmm.
For the first time ever I've got a truly destructive rat. With literally all the other rats I've owned, I've been able to let them hang out on the desk with me with no real problems.
This one, though. Kiwi. She immediately starts looking for things to destroy. I thought it was Peaches the first time, but I've since figured out that it was Kiwi that chewed through one of my monitor cables (fortunately Wes had one so I was able to replace it, no biggie). Tonight I put her on the desk and watched her closely and she went to chew on the monitor power cable. I tried rubbing it in tea tree oil (they usually hate the smell), but she seems to be immune. Then I tried wrapping it up in tin foil but she just chewed that right off.
I'm not sure what else to try, admittedly. Considering she also goes to the rat bed and starts tearing THAT up and ripping out the stuffing and all, too, I might just have to accept that she's not the type that I can trust on my desk like I can with the others. She has other things to chew on, mind you, they ALL do, even on the desk itself, but she seems to just want to go for stuff I don't want her to chew and ignore the rest. She even ignores the cork coasters on it that everyone else wants to eat all the time!
That said, I did get a nice new huge cage and finally got it assembled last night. It's this thing that I'd been saving for for months. It's seriously gigantic. The picture doesn't get across how huge and wide this thing is. However, I really don't like having Peaches' cage in my closet so what I think I'm going to do is buy another ledge, attach it to one towards the top of the big cage and then put her and Kiwi in there. Since it's just the two of them, they don't need as much space as the 5 boys I got the cage for.
That way, I could get rid of this big bulky cage out of my closet and have room for more clothes and stuff. I'm not sure yet if I want to try selling this cage because shipping it would be a huge PITA, but I'll figure it out.
Blah blah blah, rat stuff. Once I get it all as I like it I'll take pictures!
This one, though. Kiwi. She immediately starts looking for things to destroy. I thought it was Peaches the first time, but I've since figured out that it was Kiwi that chewed through one of my monitor cables (fortunately Wes had one so I was able to replace it, no biggie). Tonight I put her on the desk and watched her closely and she went to chew on the monitor power cable. I tried rubbing it in tea tree oil (they usually hate the smell), but she seems to be immune. Then I tried wrapping it up in tin foil but she just chewed that right off.
I'm not sure what else to try, admittedly. Considering she also goes to the rat bed and starts tearing THAT up and ripping out the stuffing and all, too, I might just have to accept that she's not the type that I can trust on my desk like I can with the others. She has other things to chew on, mind you, they ALL do, even on the desk itself, but she seems to just want to go for stuff I don't want her to chew and ignore the rest. She even ignores the cork coasters on it that everyone else wants to eat all the time!
That said, I did get a nice new huge cage and finally got it assembled last night. It's this thing that I'd been saving for for months. It's seriously gigantic. The picture doesn't get across how huge and wide this thing is. However, I really don't like having Peaches' cage in my closet so what I think I'm going to do is buy another ledge, attach it to one towards the top of the big cage and then put her and Kiwi in there. Since it's just the two of them, they don't need as much space as the 5 boys I got the cage for.
That way, I could get rid of this big bulky cage out of my closet and have room for more clothes and stuff. I'm not sure yet if I want to try selling this cage because shipping it would be a huge PITA, but I'll figure it out.
Blah blah blah, rat stuff. Once I get it all as I like it I'll take pictures!