Wednesday, April 15, 2009
My Rats' Easter Egg Hunt
By Shellyane Bryan
A rat owner from England shares tales of living with her first rat, Queen Dumbo Duncanson-Bryan, and a rat named Mouse.
Photo Courtesy Shellyane Bryan
Mouse the rat got off to a slow start in the egg hunt, but she quickly caught on. |
My rats went after my Easter egg, and I can’t really blame them, because it’s super tasty this year. As they were busy clambering over me to get to it, I had a thought. What would be more likely to stop them going after my egg than eggs of their own?
It took me a while to figure out how I could make rat-friendly Easter eggs. In the end, I gathered up the remaining rat-specific chocolate treats I had and melted them in a bowl. Then, while the chocolate started to solidify, I molded them into eggy shapes and wrapped them in some leftover foil. It wouldn’t have been any fun to just hand them over though. My rats Mouse and Dumbo were going to have to work a lot harder than that!
I set up a little Easter egg hunt for my rats in the living room (knowing they were probably going to be making a massive mess) just to make their out-of-cage time a little bit more fun than usual. There were 12 eggs total, as I didn’t want to overfeed them treats. It was a special occasion, however, so I didn’t think a few extra rat chocolates would do any harm. After hiding the eggs around the room, I let Dumbo and Mouse free.
Dumbo found an egg almost instantly, hidden just underneath one of the chairs. She had to use her little paws to grab hold of it though. She hung onto it and dashed off, almost like she knew there were going to be others. She returned with a second egg precariously pinched between her teeth. My rat Mouse, on the other hand, hadn’t had much luck yet and was too busy re-exploring the sofa (and getting inside it, the little monster) to realize there was a competition going on. The moment she caught the scent of chocolate eggs, she bounded after Dumbo like a shot, trying to snatch the eggs out of her mouth like a little cheater.
Fortunately, Mouse eventually happened upon a few eggs of her own. She wasted no time in ripping open the golden foil to get to the chocolaty egg goodness inside. My rats didn’t quite find all 12 eggs, but they seemed distinctly pleased with themselves come the end of it. They flopped on the sofa to have a nap. They deserved it after all the running around.
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