skippy the bush kangaroo: And Now...

Sunday, May 29, 2011

And Now...

More rat goodness...

The first time I saw a rat do that eye-boggling stuff, it was a little disconcerting to me. It just didn't look right. But I learned that it's actually normal, and usually a good sign, when rats do that. Rats' teeth continue to grow throughout their lives, so now and then they grind them down to keep them manageable, a process known as bruxing. The way rats are put together, the muscles for bruxing run behind their eye sockets, and when these muscles vibrate strongly enough, their eyes boggle for a second or two. It's weird, but it's okay.

And rats are cool to begin with. You just have to know how to treat them...

Labels: animals

posted by Jim Yeager at 5:15 PM |

6 Comments:

We all show ourselves in our posts.

commented by

mahakal, 10:45 PM PDT

You're just figuring this out now? Welcome to the club...

commented by

Jim Yeager, 1:17 AM PDT

Also, I'm guessing that you don't like rats. That's fine -- they probably wouldn't like you, either...

commented by

Jim Yeager, 1:20 AM PDT

My best friend had a rat for a pet, and my son had one when he was a kid. Both of our families had recurring strep throat(to the point that I could call my pediatrician on the phone and he would call in an antibiotic prescription) while we had the pet rats. When the rats were gone, so went the strep. I found out later that rats frequently carry strep without having any sign of the disease. fyi they're cute, but beware the strep.

commented by

SB Gypsy, 5:58 AM PDT

Yeah rats do carry disease.

commented by

mahakal, 11:16 AM PDT

Well, that's what veterinarians are for. The next pet or pets I get, if I get them, no matter what they are, are getting screened -- my family's had issues with newly acquired cats and dogs over the years, and I don't see how rats would be much different.

I think they're cool, but I'm not crazy...

commented by

Jim Yeager, 9:00 PM PDT

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