Life is a .....

[DavidG]

What do you tell a 9 yr and a 7yr old when their pet rat (new) just bit and killed their pet mouse (of over a year) and killed it. :eek: :eek:
How do you explain.... Life is a .......

Sorry ... Not feeling real good at this moment. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[E. maculata]

Crikey David, maybe that rats & mice don't get along very well :o .
sorta is a good time to have the talk about life & its phases, I've had to several times now :( and it seems to work out ok.

[biotechy2k]

What do you tell a 9 yr and a 7yr old when their pet rat (new) just bit and killed their pet mouse (of over a year) and killed it. :eek: :eek:
How do you explain.... Life is a .......

Sorry ... Not feeling real good at this moment. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Hi David I am so Sorry to hear that and I know it is very difficult to explain to kids when things like this happen I run a small animal rescue up here in Bris and also be long to a group called Aussie Rodent Rescue that helps rehome pet rats, mice and cavies I can email you some links but the real fact is Rats or rather our Pet rats (Rattus norvegicus) will hunt and attack mice (in the natural state they consider them as a food source) if you like I've got quite a few links which are very kid friendly but I guess

I would sit them down and be honest and tell them that although rattie and mice belong to the same family of animals they really don't get on and ratties will try and bite mice,

and as it terrible and sad these pets should always be kept away from each other, Big Hugs to your Kids mate it is always difficult for them when a pet passes and even more so when the death of a pet was caused by another. I'll dig up some links and post them
There is an excellent one a Mate of mine Anne has put together she's a Biologist in the US and its one of the most comprehensive sites I've seen
I'll get back to you on this
And Again I am sorry your childrens pet has passed
Hugs Bio

[biotechy2k]

Dear David this is what I've grabs so far (sorry for the font change just cut and pasted from my favorites Hope this helps somewhat

Rodent links

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http://www.dapper.com.au/links.htm (http://www.dapper.com.au/links.htm) (definitive rat site with humor and kid friendly)

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http://ausrfs.org.au/act/ (http://ausrfs.org.au/act/) (Australian Rodent Fanciers Society ACT Branch)

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http://www.ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_ethogram.htm (http://www.ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_ethogram.htm) Anne’s definitive site on rat behavior but many biological terms, which may need explaining to children

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http://www.ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_ethogram.htm#PredatoryBehavior (http://www.ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_ethogram.htm#PredatoryBehavior) Anne’s link on Rat Predatory behavior which will explain to you how and why this happened and perhaps be able to give you an insight into what motivated your rat to kill the poor mouse

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Anne is a wonderful scientist and has researched and produced her web site extremely well.

<o:p></o:p>

May I suggest you look at the links and you will be able to deem what is suitable for your children to view? Some of the links have other links, which explain about health and medical issues, and perhaps some of the medical photos may be unacceptable for young children, and you being the parent have the control to monitor what information they see.

I hope this helps somewhat.

Bio

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[DavidG]

Late last night a small cardboard box was made and decorated.
The mouse was placed inside with appropriate tissue padding.
A procession carried it into the yard where a hole had been dug.
The service was short and a rock marks the spot.
Life is life and on we go.