Ani & Arethra

Yes, my dog is VERY interested, but I think more in the noise the babies make than the actually rats. So much for her spaniel instincts >.< (then again, they're not birds, so...)

I went to pick up the 3 boys, but I was pretty much told if I didn't take the mother and babies there was a very high chance of them being killed. Luckily, I seem to be [tentatively] getting offers for new homes/fosters. I'll be updating soon! The babies now have fur and colors!

Squeaker (weenies, haha, love it!) update. The babies are about a week old now and have grown in their fur. They're super shiny and growing scarily fast! As you guys can see, all the babies are either black, brown, or b/b with white. Surprisingly there are no PEWs/albinos. Tentative sexing is 9 girls and 5 boys (and if that sounds wrong it's b/c there's actually 14 babies. I found an extra one hidden when I did a recount after posting).

Heh, but I live in Seoul; why would I ever want to actually leave? :P And Emma's doing all the work. I'm just playing with them right now... Actually, Emma is really warming up now too. She likes to sit on my shoulder or behind my back when she's not exploring.

Babies are cleaning themselves. I tried to get a video but failed. My camera sucks too hard. 4 "self" browns (2 boys; 2 girls), 4 "self" blacks (3 girls; 1 boy), 4 "hooded" brw/wht (all girls), and... 2 "hooded" blk/wht (1 boy; 1 girl). They're still a little hard to sex b/c the girls don't have nipples and the boys don't have... er... y'know-whats yet, but I'm pretty sure this is the sexing. Maybe 90% sure ^___^

They already love being held and cuddle/crawl into my hand. One of them crawled up, laid down, and just melted when I petted him. I can't wait until they open their eyes and become a little more mobile. (I'm sure you guys can't either!)

They are growing so ridiculously fast! This is my first personal litter and I swear they grow noticeably while I'm at work!

Athena, could you please send me an email about it? Email is [email protected]. Thanks.

Ready for cuteness?!!

http://youtu.be/YKPRXZ5JTEA

Babies are very mobile and can hear. One of them has his eyes open! Soon these guys will be running rampant :D

All of the babies are now walking and driving mom completely crazy. She picks them up and puts them back and then they promptly follow her back out of the nest, LOL. At this point, tentatively, all of the ratties have potential homes :) But if anyone is interested, please send me an email!

Just a quick vid of the babies being mobile - the one little guy was actually licking my hand:

The babies are now eating and drinking on their own. Of course, they are still nursing from mom, but she's really happy they're putting their new sharp teeth to something else. Unfortunately, I also woke up to a baby running across the floor. I was hoping mom would have a few more days in her new cage, but everyone is being moved back to the bin until the babies are big enough not to crawl out the bars! Catching the loose baby was reminiscent of my petstore days, LOL, with me pleading and waving my hand as far as I could under the bed. The dog was highly concerned and I realized I really need to clean under there!

Well, here's a little cautionary tale. I know better than this, I really do, but who expects wires from the ceiling?

In any case, potential adopters, please note that rats are chewers! Their front teeth never stop growing in their lifetime. If they don't chew all the time, their teeth will actually grow through the roof of their mouth and into their brain.

I was cleaning cages this morning. Actually, I was pretty happy because things were moving along quickly. I set the boys' cage on top of my oven for a moment while I moved mom&babies. Then I removed them. In that 30 seconds, one of the boys snipped right through my internet cable! It didn't hurt him (obviously), but now I have the awkward task of convincing my CT to call the company to send someone out to fix it. Not to mention find a place to put the rats while he does it >.<

So dear future adopters, please, please keep cords up and out of the way! If he had gotten ahold of a different cord, this may not just be awkward, it would be tragic. Not all rats are cord chewers (Emma isn't), but it's better safe than sorry.

Baby attack!

http://youtu.be/n3GUwsHwa98

Babies are a week and a half away from being ready to go to their new homes! If you are interested in babies or mom, please contact me.

Babies are for adoption in 1 week. There are still 3 female babies, 1 male baby, Emma and dad needing homes :)

I feel like I am spamming the page, but these guys are growing so fast that even in just a few days they change!

http://youtu.be/xh-YUFOJ6qU

(they were going ballistic over popcorn BTW while the dogs were insanely jealous off-camera)

I've very sad that these guys are going home this weekend but also very happy. I had serious doubts about taking 18 rats! I envisioned myself with cages stacked to the ceiling and a very angry landlord >.< But it seems to be working out to be a very happy ending (except for me - my dog will not accept having rats in the house long term! boo)!

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and questions and open minds :)

@adoptbullies: you can ask Ava Marie von Hammykins :) she was afraid of them at first but now she vibrates their cage with her wheel running ^^ They love each other when they're in their own cages... not so much outside (rats are predators - it's part of why they're so smart).

Almost everyone is being adopted this weekend. There are 4 girls and 2 boys still waiting. The boys will be moving to a foster home soon (so we don't have any accidents! No more ratties!).

The hamster's excessively ugly cage is on top of the rat's cage. She's an old hamster (this is the one Kathy Hall rescued from being thrown out on the roof in Jan.), so she's pretty relaxed. The rats pay no attention at all to her. They barely pay attention to the dogs.

All boy rats are being adopted! Including Daddy!

The girls haven't had as much luck. Unfortunately, some adoptions fell through due to emergencies and other reasons. So momma and several baby girls are still waiting. I will update with pictures of who is still needing homes tonight ^^ you guys are due for some adorable pics anyway, right?

Here's some fun pictures of the girls! There are 2 solid brown girls, 2 solid black girls, 1 spotted brown girl, and momma left:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v333/eveliens/animals/Rats/?albumview=...

(my computer decided it wouldn't recognize the card halfway through; I'll update later!)

So, I'm pretty sure there's a rodent conspiracy going on.

Because I still have 2 boys (they're being picked up this weekend), I had to place them and their 'goods' in a safe place. This leaves all the girl babies pretty much free to squeeze in and out of their mother's cage as they please. They never go far; sometimes they just want some space away from their sisters (don't we all?). Well, I have a pile of Costco coupons and a hamster cage on my table. It's not too difficult to get to for them but not easy either, so I never actually see any of them over there...

Yesterday I was cleaning out all the cages and found my coupons in the hamster cage. While I was cleaning it out she made a break for it and rat across the table towards the rats. One of the babies rat towards here. Sadly, the big, mean human scooped up the hamster before contact could be made. I set the coupons back down on the table away from the cage. This morning, yet again, the coupons were in the hamster cage!

I think there's some coupon laundering going on behind my back... I'll be on the look out for shivs and spoons soon!

Updates to reflect the fact that there are only SIX little ratties who need homes! They now have names and personalities, which was too difficult to do with 18! They are also starting to molt (the bigger ones anyway), so they are going to look pretty hilarious over the next week [rats molt at 7-8 weeks of age. Molting is when they lose all their baby fluff and get their adult coat. It's not systematic, so they look pretty patchy and weird while all the baby fur is being replaced!].

I like to go with themes and gave the girls some tough women names ;) If you can make it in showbiz, you can make it anywhere, right?

Norah went home today :)

Emma and two of her daughters will be going home soon!

Two lonely little girls are still waiting.

Emma, Gwin and Alanis should be going to their new home this weekend. Arethra and Ani are still waiting. There has been a nibble or two but no real solid interest in these last two little girls. I feel bad because they aren't getting out very much with the dogs hanging around. Koala has a high prey drive and I can only take them out when she's confined.

Ani and Arethra went home to their new home this afternoon :)

The last 3 ladies went home this afternoon :) It's going to be awfully quiet at night now with just the hammykins.

Sadly there was a landlord issue and Ani and Arethra are back up for adoption.

The girls have been entertaining visitors (mom and sisters) this weekend and its quite funny to see the 5 rats reunited. Unsurprisingly the sisters and mom seemed to recognize each other immediately! Shows how smart rats are to recognize their family even after time apart.

But at the end of the weekend Emma and her girls will go home to their loving family, leaving Ani and Arethra behind, still looking for a loving home.