The Trip home

The trip home is where things didn’t go to plan.

I called a Taxi but the driver seemed unable to wrap his head around the idea that I had two live animals. First he insisted that the carry boxes be put in the boot of the taxi, and then he tried to tip the cage on it’s side with the rats inside.

Twenty minutes of pot-hles, speed bumps, and sudden braking later, I was home.

I set the cage up, put the boxes inside and added the cat litter, toy house, a little bedding in a pile and a little food: then opened the boxes.

Inside each box was a terrified rat, huddled at the far end, surrounded by smeared crap from where they’d been thrown around. Immediately I felt terrible.

I left them to come out naturally. After an hour or so, Oreo had started to explore, so I took her box out. Trudy however remained in her box and Oreo moved in.

I really didn’t want the pair to start nesting in such a fouled box so when they showed no sign o leaving I tipped them gently out.

OK that might not have been the best plan if I wanted them to be relaxed, but it was done with the best of intentions. They holed up in one of the play tubes, and when I checked them using a red light* they had pulled in bedding and had curled up comfortably.

*From what I can tell it’s likely that rats can’t see red light or can’t see it very well.