Bruxlings Stories

1. 

   Midnight. The house is asleep.

2. 

   Biscuit is not. Biscuit can smell something red.

3. 

   It is up there. A very long way up there.

4. 

   Luckily, Biscuit has trained for this.

5. 

   Target in sight.

6. 

   The strawberry never stood a chance.

7. 

   A piece the size of a rat's ear, a few times a week, is plenty. Biscuit disagrees.

Can rats eat strawberries?

1. 

   3am. You are asleep.

2. 

   Nettle is not.

3. 

   The wheel. The shelf. The wheel again.

4. 

   A pause. You hold your breath.

5. 

   Then the bars.

6. 

   Rats are busiest in the evening and through the night. To Nettle, this is lunchtime.

Rat sounds and what they mean

1. 

   There is a new girl. Her name is Pip.

2. 

   Mabel has seen her. Mabel has opinions.

3. 

   First comes a very long sniff.

4. 

   Then a look that lasts most of a week.

5. 

   And then, one evening, this.

6. 

   Rats need rat friends. Good introductions go slowly, one step at a time.

How to introduce new rats

1. 

   Ever heard a happy rat?

2. 

   It is a soft grinding of the teeth, and it is called bruxing.

3. 

   Brux hard enough and the eyes wobble too. That is boggling.

4. 

   Most of the time, it means a rat is content.

5. 

   So that is our name. Bruxlings: little luxuries for your mischief.

Rat sounds and what they mean

1. 

   Every rat wants a place nobody can see into.

2. 

   Somewhere to watch the room from.

3. 

   Somewhere to loaf.

4. 

   Somewhere for the whole pile.

5. 

   We make those, to order, in the Lake District.

See rat hides and houses

1. 

   Guinea pigs must live with at least one other guinea pig.

2. 

   Rabbits need a rabbit friend.

3. 

   Rats live in pairs or groups. Never alone.

4. 

   Gerbils too.

5. 

   And degus.

6. 

   And chinchillas.

7. 

   Mice like company as well.

8. 

   Ferrets come in pairs or little gangs.

9. 

   Hamsters. One hamster, one cage. No visitors.

Pick your animal

1. 

   Everybody knows one thing about rats.

2. 

   That thing is mostly wrong.

3. 

   Cheese is fatty. A crumb the size of a pea, now and then, is the most a rat should have.

4. 

   And never the blue kind.

5. 

   Peas, though. Dot would cross the whole cage for a pea.

6. 

   Three to five peas each, most days. Now you know two things about rats.

Can rats eat cheese?

1. 

   Somebody has decided it is bath night.

2. 

   Fig has not agreed to this.

3. 

   Fig has been washing all day already.

4. 

   Healthy rats keep themselves clean and rarely need a bath.

5. 

   A dirty patch? A damp cloth does it.

6. 

   Bath night is cancelled. Fig knew it would be.

Do rats need baths?

1. 

   The cage door opens. It is that time of the evening.

2. 

   Everybody out.

3. 

   Juniper checks the cables first. They have been lifted out of reach. Rude.

4. 

   Then the gap behind the bookcase. Blocked, like every gap wider than about 1 cm.

5. 

   So it is tunnels, a dig box and food scattered on the floor instead.

6. 

   About an hour a day, always with you in the room. Juniper would like two.

How to set up a free roam area

1. 

   A box has appeared.

2. 

   It is full of something loose, and it smells of dinner.

3. 

   Clover begins the excavation.

4. 

   A pellet. Then another. This is the best box in the world.

5. 

   It is only some of the day's normal food, hidden in clean sand or coco coir.

6. 

   Digging is hard work.

How to set up a digging box

1. 

   Wren yawns. You see the teeth.

2. 

   They are orange.

3. 

   They are meant to be. Healthy rat front teeth are yellow to orange.

4. 

   Those four front teeth keep growing all a rat's life.

5. 

   Dropped food, drooling or teeth out of line means a vet. Never clippers at home.

6. 

   Otherwise, orange is good. Carry on, Wren.

Rat teeth care

1. 

   There is a hammock at the top of the cage.

2. 

   Pepper gets there first.

3. 

   Then Mabel.

4. 

   Then everybody.

5. 

   High up, snuggled together and a little out of sight is how rats feel safest.

6. 

   Which is why a cage needs more than one. They will all still pick this one.

Why rats love hammocks