Playing with your ratties is fun! Sure, you can come up
with all sorts of creative toys to keep them entertained and stimulated, but
why should the rats have all the fun? There's no better way to bond with
your fuzzies than to get right in there with them and shake things up.
Sometimes it's enough just to sit on the floor of their free-ranging area
and let them lead the games. In case they run out of ideas, though, here are
some suggestions to get you started:
The Rat Toss
Pick up your rat and lightly toss him onto a soft surface, like a cushion,
hammock, sofa or doona. Most rats will enjoy it and come running back for
more. You can get higher and more adventurous if your rat is into extreme
sports, but always make sure the landing is soft and safe.
Hand wrestling
Make your hand chase and wrestle with your rat. Tip him over and groom their
belly with your fingernails. Just remember to let your rat win occasionally.
This is a favourite of young ratlets.
Hide and seek
Hide a yogurt drop somewhere under your clothes. Add rat.
Mutual grooming
Brush your rat. In turn, let him/her groom your eyebrows, clean your teeth,
check your ears for wax build-up, trim your nose hairs, give you a manicure,
nibble off your foot callouses, remove any bandaids, tug on your earrings
and pee on your rings.
The Rat Roll
Lie your rat down on his/her back and with a hand on each side, roll him
from side to side. This game should be combined with profuse belly tickling
and kissing.
Bruxing contest
Sit / lie eye level with your rat and start bruxing at him until he bruxes
back at you. The winner if the first to boggle their eyes out of their head.
:)
Sharing
Let your rat share your icecream, nibble on the book you're reading, cuddle
up under your jumper for warmth, or walk on the tv remote to choose the
channel for you both to watch.
Go Fetch
Offer your rat a piece of paper towel and watch while he grabs it and leaps
with delight to drag it off and stash it in his nestbox. Repeat.
Place your rat on your lap so he's sitting on his butt. Hold his arms with
your thumbs and use your fingernails to scratch him up and down his spine.
Your rat will go into a trance of ecstasy.
Chase
Run your hand, a feather, a shoelace, or whatever you can find across the
floor and your rat will make chase. Nimbus loves this... he'll follow my
finger around the room for minutes at a time. If I do it in circles he ends
up spinning around on the spot