The Return of Sparkling Adventures - Merge

[SiameseIfYouPlease]

Are you prepared for that drop to 11 degrees? Do you have enough salt? One of those collapsible shovels to keep in the car in case a parking space needs digging out? Grips to attach to the bottom of your shoes? Down underpants?

:D

Down underpants are exactly what we Aussies need...downunder :dance:

[ladyaudley]

Noooo, don't say that. I'm completely unreasonable and paranoid as it is.

sorry ^^

[August]

Down underpants are exactly what we Aussies need...downunder :dance:

I'm lucky enough to have luxuriant pubic hair which prevents me ever getting frostbite oft he ladybits. But for others I understand it can be a real risk.

[RainbowSky]

Bunnies need lots more space, stink way worse and also eat their own poo, lol! They're pretty rodent-y!

I'm not sure how they're (The Sparkliest of Them All) supposed to take any sort of care of a rat, but at least rats are omnivores and can pretty much eat whatever unlike say, a guinea pig.

[bbfreethinker]

Will free-range pet owning and radical un-training become a thing?

[CheeseDeprived]

Bunnies need lots more space, stink way worse and also eat their own poo, lol! They're pretty rodent-y!

I don't find ours very stinky, but they're definitely not low-mainentance pets. As for the poo thing - I know it's normal for them to eat their own poo (just a certain kind that's only half-digested and still contains nutrients they need), but when our bunny produces a pile of steaming crap, and minutes later it isn't there anymore, I sometimes wonder why on earth I ever thought a pet bunny would be a good idea. :?

[miffy]

Are you prepared for that drop to 11 degrees? Do you have enough salt? One of those collapsible shovels to keep in the car in case a parking space needs digging out? Grips to attach to the bottom of your shoes? Down underpants?

:D

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/watsonia.shtml

This is my forecast for the next week. There is a 1C there, it seems worse than it is for us. Its like if there was a 42C day in Scotland.

[So Many Lies]

I'm sure Lauren will grow bored and "gift" the rat to another family soon enough.

Ha, ha. Yeah. It will go like this in the blog "Sadly our rat journey has come to end...we had a family discussion and Brioni was very mature and agreed the rat would be better of with X..."

[LadyBlue]

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/watsonia.shtml

This is my forecast for the next week. There is a 1C there, it seems worse than it is for us. Its like if there was a 42C day in Scotland.

With the Humidex it was 44 or 45 here a couple days ago here in central Alberta, 11 sounds perfect.One sounds fine, too.

[already hungover]

Ha, ha. Yeah. It will go like this in the blog "Sadly our rat journey has come to end...we had a family discussion and Brioni was very mature and agreed the rat would be better of with X..."

Well, at least this would be better than all of them contracting hantavirus from the bus becoming a rat midden.

[CheeseDeprived]

Ha, ha. Yeah. It will go like this in the blog "Sadly our rat journey has come to end...we had a family discussion and Brioni was very mature and agreed the rat would be better of with X..."

Either this, or something like "The rat required a greater amount of self-determination than we could offer it within the confines of our bus"...

[Vex]

Rats are amazing pets. I owned rats for 13 years and they are clean, delightful little things with huge personalities. My last rat was actually a wild ship rat (Rattus rattus, as opposed to the domestic species, Rattus norvegicus) who I saved from my parents' cat. He froze up and when I saw he was injured and only a baby I took him in and weaned him on puppy milk. He loved scratches, he loved his hammock, and he never tried to escape until I shifted his cage into the bathroom and he got bored.

He escaped and lived free-range in my apartment for 4 months despite my efforts to humanely trap him. He had hundreds of chances to escape outside but he never did, he knew he had a good thing going at my place. I eventually caught him and brought his cage back to my bedroom so he could be with me and he never tried to escape again.

That was the only escape I ever had in those 13 years. I never got sick from the rats, and my rats usually lived upwards of two and a half years. As long as you keep their cages clean and obtain them from a reputable breeder you should not have to worry about things like rat bite fever. In Aus, no pet rat has ever transmitted rat bite fever to a human, just wild rats. Breeder rats kept in terrible conditions can contract it, but it's very rare and they need to have had contact with wild rats or other infected stock.

The only health problem I ever had with them was caused by mycoplasmosis bacterium. It's an opportunistic bacteria that all rats carry, which preys upon those with compromised immune systems. It initially manifests in upper respiratory infections, then eventually it travels to the lower respiratory tract, which is fatal. It is highly contagious to other rats, but not to humans. The initial phase can be treated with Ventolin and antibiotics, but you need to quarantine the rat thoroughly to stop it from infecting any others. Once infected the rat will probably be symptomatic on and off for the rest of its life, or until the illness progresses to its lungs and becomes fatal.

In Aus we have very few health issues with rats, particularly in the case of diseases that can be transmitted from rat to human. They have a terrible reputation as pests but they're wonderful, clean, healthy animals and they make for fantastic pets. They are extremely affectionate and intelligent. There are a lot of mostly unfounded ideas about the danger of rats as pets. If they're handled from the time they're babies, they are incredibly social and the only time you have to worry about bites is if you're silly enough to handle a rat with food on your hands (they have great noses but terrible eyesight and will mistake your fingers for a snack if they smell appealing enough!). Taming them is as simple as gently keeping your hands on them for 5 minutes at a time, after which point the rat's brain stops responding to stimuli with fear. They learn very quickly this way that people aren't a threat, but if you get babies from a good breeder they should already love people.

Sorry for the rambling rant, I just like to do ratties justice. I loved my little guys so much I got a tattoo as a tribute to them. I miss having them as pets every day.

Rats should never be kept alone unless you have a lot of time and attention to devote to it out of its cage. They're such social creatures. No doubt the family will tire of the poor baby when the next project de jour comes along.

[kolga]

Rats are amazing pets...

Your whole post is full of win. I've had lots of friends who have pet rats who say all the same things - they are wonderful pets.

IF CARED FOR PROPERLY (sorry to get all capslocky).

The chances of The Diva of Sparkles and her neglected brood caring for another creature properly are precisely zero.

On the other hand, my happiness at the return of La Dame Des Aventures Mousseux is unbounded, truly unfettered, as the rat will be in their bus.

And once again, I want to seize all of those children and bring them home for warm baths, clean soft clothes, hot healthy abundant food, and safe sleep in their own beds. And I don't even LIKE children. It enrages me - multiple good friends of mine who desperately want children but cannot conceive would do anything for those little girls, and their own mother discards them like used tissue. :disgust:

[lilith]

Either this, or something like "The rat required a greater amount of self-determination than we could offer it within the confines of our bus"...

I'm imagining Lauren giving it to some kid who admires it without consulting their parent, cause she's all about self determination for children, especially when it's in her own interests.

Interesting that they are staying on in Perth. Not surprised that the girls need dental work, tooth brushing was optional for them even before Lauren went all free spirited, but they will miss David's court date, which I think is next week. The case has been adjourned for a long time now - proceedings may actually start this time.

Also surprised that they could access free dental care in a state that they aren't resident in. Both education and health departments are state agencies, unless she's using her mother's address I don't know if she could access non emergency services outside QLD.

It's just insane that they are in the city her mother lives in, in the middle of winter, and they are staying in an uninsulated bus instead of with her.

[SiameseIfYouPlease]

And now Lauren is listing a trip to North America in 2016, if funds permit. But she won't set an itinerary until late 2015 in case you were wondering. I would like to know where David will be by that time.....

Driving to work in inner Melbourne this morning I saw a little car with one of Lauren's bumper stickers. Win!

[OkToBeTakei]

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/watsonia.shtml

This is my forecast for the next week. There is a 1C there, it seems worse than it is for us. Its like if there was a 42C day in Scotland.

Now that's just mean dangling that carrot :lol:

[August]

No one ever wins a weather contest when there's a Canadian in the room. Even when they don't play the black fly trump card.

But, srsly, Aussies, you have the best weather in the world, stop trying to make it seem bad and appreciate it!!!

[CheeseDeprived]

No one ever wins a weather contest when there's a Canadian in the room. Even when they don't play the black fly trump card.

But, srsly, Aussies, you have the best weather in the world, stop trying to make it seem bad and appreciate it!!!

Hmmm, right now it's about 3°C here, with 50km/h wind gusts. Best weather in the world my freezing butt! ;)

(Also remember while Canadians have magical keep-warm things like insulation, double glazing and central heating, we live in houses made from little more than matchsticks and paper! :cold: )

[miffy]

Hmmm, right now it's about 3°C here, with 50km/h wind gusts. Best weather in the world my freezing butt! ;)

(Also remember while Canadians have magical keep-warm things like insulation, double glazing and central heating,down here we live in houses made from little more than matchsticks and paper! :cold: )

Plus we never dress appropriately. 6C in European city: I wear gloves, scarf, knee high leather boots. 1C In Melbourne: jeans, ballet flats, cotton knit jumper, thin scarf. :cray-cray:

[jaelh]

Hmmm, right now it's about 3°C here, with 50km/h wind gusts. Best weather in the world my freezing butt! ;)

(Also remember while Canadians have magical keep-warm things like insulation, double glazing and central heating, we live in houses made from little more than matchsticks and paper! :cold: )

Canberra?

and yeah - you'll do the heating thing way better than australia. honestly; i've been much much warmer in nth american and europe in winter than in (very temperate) sydney, just so long as you don't leave the house. the home i grew up in was pretty much the same temperature inside as it was outside, all winter long. and 5C isn't cold cold, it is cold when it's inside the house.

there are parts of australia where it gets to be really quite cold. and where my brother lives routinely gets into the mid-high forties in summer. if you ever wondered why everyone in australia is squished along the eastern coast, that's why. most of the country is... marginally inhabitable, and that's generous. it's a giant desert - crops don't grow and there's very very little water. there is a lot of uranium though.

[August]

Hmmm, right now it's about 3°C here, with 50km/h wind gusts. Best weather in the world my freezing butt! ;)

(Also remember while Canadians have magical keep-warm things like insulation, double glazing and central heating, we live in houses made from little more than matchsticks and paper! :cold: )

Try a week or two when it doesn't break freezing and the wind chill is MINUS 22 and the sun has set by 4pm. And I'm nowhere near Canada bad.

I'm just needling you, but really, folks! In many places well short of Canadaian extremes if you don't have central heating AND central air conditioning your house will fall apart. In Montreal they have networks of underground shopping malls because it's too cold to be outside. They have engine heater coils which you plug in at night so your car will start in the morning. Heated door locks, heated windscreen spray nozzles, roof heaters to prevent ice dams from flooding your attic. Hear that story about the Canadian guy who went outside to smoke, the door locked behind him and he died? Remind me again how much your house cost before I start crying.

But, I forgot to say Hi, Lauren! Nice to hear the kids have shoes that they sometimes wear.

[RainbowSky]

quote="CheeseDeprived"]

Bunnies need lots more space, stink way worse and also eat their own poo, lol! They're pretty rodent-y!

I don't find ours very stinky, but they're definitely not low-mainentance pets. As for the poo thing - I know it's normal for them to eat their own poo (just a certain kind that's only half-digested and still contains nutrients they need), but when our bunny produces a pile of steaming crap, and minutes later it isn't there anymore, I sometimes wonder why on earth I ever thought a pet bunny would be a good idea. :?

[Flossie]

Try ferrets. They have tons of personality, and are smart as whips, but if you don't clean their litter boxes every day they smell!

Oh, the memories. We had a stray that we named Tyke. Sweetest thing ever, but loved walking on keyboards. Every once in a while she'd suddenly look at us with an intense stare when we told her to get off the keyboard. We always joked she was trying to buy weapons online. We buried her in our little pet cemetary with a potato (she loved to stash them), a rubber gasget (she loved rubber things), and a plastic hand granade. We thought that she should finally get those weapons she kept trying to buy.

[RainbowSky]

Try ferrets. They have tons of personality, and are smart as whips, but if you don't clean their litter boxes every day they smell!

Oh, the memories. We had a stray that we named Tyke. Sweetest thing ever, but loved walking on keyboards. Every once in a while she'd suddenly look at us with an intense stare when we told her to get off the keyboard. We always joked she was trying to buy weapons online. We buried her in our little pet cemetary with a potato (she loved to stash them), a rubber gasget (she loved rubber things), and a plastic hand granade. We thought that she should finally get those weapons she kept trying to buy.

Aww, that made me cry!

I'd love a ferret, but that's a horrible idea with pigs unfortunately. :(

My ex had two and omg did they stink. But they didn't get played with and who knows when they got cleaned out. :o

[ladyaudley]

So she has to stay in Perth for a while? I doubt it's only for the children's dental ( although thank God she's getting those done! if they need a follow up they're clearly in need of it); maybe david's trial?

Also: hey Lauren! thanks for reading here re:

Although I’m reluctant to linger in the winter temperatures, the girls are doing fine with the colder days and nights. We rug up well (and occasionally the girls wear socks and shoes!) and take advantage of the sunshine where we can find it.

that Naturescape park looks really cool. It's a bit weird how she says the girls were not thrilled by it, then the next paragraph is about how Aisha thinks it's closed on Mondays because it's so good the staff want to enjoy it too. Hmm.

Last note: she calls them "our" girls again. :think: