Oreo

Oreo worried me. She didn’t seem to want to come out of the nest and I was becoming concerned that she wasn’t getting food or water, or that she was ill.

So I set up a rat-cam.

Turns out she just didn’t like coming out when I was around.

The rat cam showed her scampering around, sniffing at interesting things, climbing, digging for food, drinking, playing banjo… and so on.

In contrast to Trudy who is quite happy to pose for the camera, it’s taken several days for Oreo to decide that I’m probably not going to eat her. Her dark fur and the lighting also tends to make it harder for me to get a picture and I don’t want to use the flash on the girls…

Observation shows that when Oreo’s awake and I’m quiet enough for her to think I’m not around, she’s actually pretty active. Especially around food. Watching her strip the seeds from the hanging treat bar has been an education, and leaving the cage door open shows that she’s actually the less timid of the pair when it comes to exploring.

 

She’s also finally relaxed enough to take a treat from my hand, though he still scampers away and hides to eat it.

I think she bugs Trudy a little. They wake at different times and Oreo seems to like to pounce and wrestle Trudy – I caught Oreo following Trudy, with Trudy’s tail in her mouth once… I suspect Oreo might be waking up and then waking Trudy up, which is why I often find Trudy has gone and found another place to sleep.

Oreo’s skittishness is also a problem. She’ll often panic dash for her nest when she decides there’s something scary going on, and the sudden rush makes Trudy panic because she thinks maybe Oreo knows something she doesn’t.

On the other hand, Trudy keeps trotting in with treats and Oreo wants some of that too, so she’s starting to get a little more open to the possibility that not running away will in some way equal food, which is increasingly the case.