Jasper is Studying Ratlet 101! - October 17, 2020
We have a new strategy for helping Jasper and our ratlets have a happier relationship. OK, for the ratlets to have a happier relationship, there would be no Jasper. They don’t understand the importance of training humans up when they are young. And nor should they. Ratlets only live two years.
Anyhoo – it is what it is. Jasper gets so excited he wants to shriek and blow on these ratlets he loves so much and grab onto their cage. We don’t want the ratlets to be a potential punishment – ie Jasper does what he can’t help doing and we take the ratlets away. And when this happens, he is devastated. And we feel like bad grands.
Rather, we want to do Psychology 101. Positive reinforcement. So the new “guideline” (we don’t say “rule”) goes like so. After we come back from doing an outdoors activity and after Jasper washes his hands and after he eats his lunch and after Grannie and Grumpa have had their lunch … Grannie Jan will bring the furry friends out, one at a time. He gets to pick the order.
(We have already rolled the “Critter Nation® – The World's Best Small Animal Habitat” into our bedroom. We tell Jasper the ratlets are napping. He gets this. While his own parents are unable to nap for some reason, Grandpa Laur seems to be able to nod off, given a room of his own.)
Jasper always picks Daisy Donut first. And I don’t blame him. She is like a big pillow – except Jazz is not allowed to squeeze her. And he doesn’t. He loves to cover her, and the other ratlets, with a wee blanket, and watch them stick their head out. I do offer to let Jazz hold, but he is both afraid of them and enamoured by them.
Interesting to me, the thing he finds most fascinating about Daisy and Co. is their tails. And I get this. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again…
Ratlet tails are a work of art and science. They are an extension of the rodent’s spine. They act as an extra limb – a very dextrous one. They help the ratlet balance. And they help control body temperature – too hot and the blood vessels expand to release heat; too cold and they contract to preserve.
Then I return Daisy to her ratlet Taj Mahal. His next pick is always Violet. It’s not that she is his second favorite, it’s that he loves to say her name. “Vi – 0 - let.” Next is Lily. And by now, Jasper is getting ants in his pants – he is so excited. He has to bounce on the couch more than a few times to get ready for the next ratlet installment.
And last is Dandy Candy. I’ve recently added Candy to her name because Dandy is my least lovable rat. Being blind and being skittish, she does not like to be held and stroked. If you startle her, she will gently nip you. If you are giving her a treat and your finger is before the treat, she will bite your finger. She is not an aggressive ratlet. She’s very maternal with Violet and Lilly. Her world is just harder to navigate.
Once we’ve had a chat with each rat, they are all returned. I used to put them in their “play cage” in the living room. But when Jasper is here, they don’t play. All four of them hide in an “exploration box” at the top furthest corner of the cage. As it is, after Jasper leaves, they sleep for hours.
Laur is a good sport about all of this. In fact, he offers to “drive” the ratlet apartment from our living room to our bedroom when Jazz comes over. It sounds like chivalry, but in fact Laur knows that I’ll very likely bang the gigantic ratlet crate on wheels into the walls and door frames on route.
Not only that. He’s worried out how I “park” the cage. A few days ago I put the cage a little too close to Laur’s jogging pants and – remember how I said Dandy Candy is very maternal? Part of that means she loves nesting. And that means finding nesting material. She pulled the pant leg in and sawed off the bottom half.
So much for his jogging pants. I had been asking Laur to donate a ratty piece of clothing so I could cut it into shreds for “my girls.” Dandy just took things into her own paws.
Anyhoo – it is what it is. Jasper gets so excited he wants to shriek and blow on these ratlets he loves so much and grab onto their cage. We don’t want the ratlets to be a potential punishment – ie Jasper does what he can’t help doing and we take the ratlets away. And when this happens, he is devastated. And we feel like bad grands.
Rather, we want to do Psychology 101. Positive reinforcement. So the new “guideline” (we don’t say “rule”) goes like so. After we come back from doing an outdoors activity and after Jasper washes his hands and after he eats his lunch and after Grannie and Grumpa have had their lunch … Grannie Jan will bring the furry friends out, one at a time. He gets to pick the order.
(We have already rolled the “Critter Nation® – The World's Best Small Animal Habitat” into our bedroom. We tell Jasper the ratlets are napping. He gets this. While his own parents are unable to nap for some reason, Grandpa Laur seems to be able to nod off, given a room of his own.)
Jasper always picks Daisy Donut first. And I don’t blame him. She is like a big pillow – except Jazz is not allowed to squeeze her. And he doesn’t. He loves to cover her, and the other ratlets, with a wee blanket, and watch them stick their head out. I do offer to let Jazz hold, but he is both afraid of them and enamoured by them.
Interesting to me, the thing he finds most fascinating about Daisy and Co. is their tails. And I get this. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again…
Ratlet tails are a work of art and science. They are an extension of the rodent’s spine. They act as an extra limb – a very dextrous one. They help the ratlet balance. And they help control body temperature – too hot and the blood vessels expand to release heat; too cold and they contract to preserve.
Then I return Daisy to her ratlet Taj Mahal. His next pick is always Violet. It’s not that she is his second favorite, it’s that he loves to say her name. “Vi – 0 - let.” Next is Lily. And by now, Jasper is getting ants in his pants – he is so excited. He has to bounce on the couch more than a few times to get ready for the next ratlet installment.
And last is Dandy Candy. I’ve recently added Candy to her name because Dandy is my least lovable rat. Being blind and being skittish, she does not like to be held and stroked. If you startle her, she will gently nip you. If you are giving her a treat and your finger is before the treat, she will bite your finger. She is not an aggressive ratlet. She’s very maternal with Violet and Lilly. Her world is just harder to navigate.
Once we’ve had a chat with each rat, they are all returned. I used to put them in their “play cage” in the living room. But when Jasper is here, they don’t play. All four of them hide in an “exploration box” at the top furthest corner of the cage. As it is, after Jasper leaves, they sleep for hours.
Laur is a good sport about all of this. In fact, he offers to “drive” the ratlet apartment from our living room to our bedroom when Jazz comes over. It sounds like chivalry, but in fact Laur knows that I’ll very likely bang the gigantic ratlet crate on wheels into the walls and door frames on route.
Not only that. He’s worried out how I “park” the cage. A few days ago I put the cage a little too close to Laur’s jogging pants and – remember how I said Dandy Candy is very maternal? Part of that means she loves nesting. And that means finding nesting material. She pulled the pant leg in and sawed off the bottom half.
So much for his jogging pants. I had been asking Laur to donate a ratty piece of clothing so I could cut it into shreds for “my girls.” Dandy just took things into her own paws.