Ah man! I'm just so excited, I can't wait any longer to share! My partner and myself are going to be picking up three baby rescues from a friend down in Cheyenne. She had an oops with her rats, and needs rehoming for some babies... (Anyone in the Wyoming/Colarado area interested in babies? Lol!) We're taking two boys and a girl off her hands. We saw pictures when they were just newborn little jellybeans, but we haven't gotten much news since due to busy lifestyles. And it's been a long time since I've posted anything positive about our current girls, so... Whoo! Long thread time.
The new babies are going to be picked up this Sunday. We've got two separate travel cages ready to go, and we're going to keep them in a divided cage (Boys on the top, the little girl on the bottom with nanny-rat Bella for company) until after they're completely healed from the neuter they have scheduled on Tuesday. Our vet suggested waiting until 3-3.5 months old on the female to spay, as estrogen plays an important part in young rat development. Once they're grown and big enough not to escape, we'll intro everyone and move the new babies into the DFN with the current colony.
Sad to report that nanny-rat Bella has developed what my partner and I have dubbed "Old rat syndrome"... Over the course of what seems like just days, she got light (didn't visibly loose weight, but feels like a feather) and is losing hair around her spine and head. She's seen a vet and just been pronounced "elderly", but it happened so fast! She calmed down a lot, too, and prefers to cuddle all day long rather than roughhouse with the other girls.
Primrose's facial abscess is healing, and her shaved spot where they lanced it is finally growing thicker fur, although it's coming in white/silver >_> She's definitely getting her spunk back, because she prefers NOT to be held! Lol she's a really touchy baby who prefers the company of other rats to people, despite daily socializing.
Talitha has developed a UTI, but she's on Baytril for it. She's a brat and likes to hide when she sees me coming with her medicated "treats". Ah well, she takes it either way in the end! She's taken over the spot of "dominant female" of the colony, and humps every other girl into submission daily.
Scarlett and Gwen have both passed away in the past three months. The vet we're seeing said that their passing is most likely due to antibiotic overdose - the vet we'd seen for a URI for both of them prior to that gave them a horribly incorrect dosage (and I trusted the doctor! They're supposed to know more than we are, and I didn't even question it! I feel so guilty!) and said that the dosage that they got was nearly triple what they needed. Gwen passed in the night while we were asleep, but we got to the cage in time to hold Scarlett just in time to hold her close as she closed her eyes for good. It was heartbreaking, but I'm glad I was there for her. Nature must've agreed - as she passed, we got 10-minute flash flood that dropped nearly 2 feet of water in our front yard. RIP to our first and oldest babies, we'll miss them forever.
We got a new baby almost a month and a half ago, her name is Charlie! She's a big sweetheart, very curious, and super super energetic! She's already been intro'd and is living with the current colony, and is slowly becoming more comfortable with us. She takes a bit to warm up, but she likes to climb and explore and be curious, much more than any of the other girls have been.
That's the only picture of her we have at the moment, a quick shot of her passed out in a patch of sunlight after tearing holes in the pan liners and kicking poop out of the litterbox. I think she aims to get it out of the cage, because I have to vacuum daily now. >_> She has a vexing habit of chewing on the bars of the DFN, but I don't know what to do to curb the habit.
I'm excited for the baby boys, and I'll post with much more pictures after I get off of work! This will be our first time owning males, and I'm very interested to see the difference of personality between them and the females.
The new babies are going to be picked up this Sunday. We've got two separate travel cages ready to go, and we're going to keep them in a divided cage (Boys on the top, the little girl on the bottom with nanny-rat Bella for company) until after they're completely healed from the neuter they have scheduled on Tuesday. Our vet suggested waiting until 3-3.5 months old on the female to spay, as estrogen plays an important part in young rat development. Once they're grown and big enough not to escape, we'll intro everyone and move the new babies into the DFN with the current colony.
Sad to report that nanny-rat Bella has developed what my partner and I have dubbed "Old rat syndrome"... Over the course of what seems like just days, she got light (didn't visibly loose weight, but feels like a feather) and is losing hair around her spine and head. She's seen a vet and just been pronounced "elderly", but it happened so fast! She calmed down a lot, too, and prefers to cuddle all day long rather than roughhouse with the other girls.
Primrose's facial abscess is healing, and her shaved spot where they lanced it is finally growing thicker fur, although it's coming in white/silver >_> She's definitely getting her spunk back, because she prefers NOT to be held! Lol she's a really touchy baby who prefers the company of other rats to people, despite daily socializing.
Talitha has developed a UTI, but she's on Baytril for it. She's a brat and likes to hide when she sees me coming with her medicated "treats". Ah well, she takes it either way in the end! She's taken over the spot of "dominant female" of the colony, and humps every other girl into submission daily.
Scarlett and Gwen have both passed away in the past three months. The vet we're seeing said that their passing is most likely due to antibiotic overdose - the vet we'd seen for a URI for both of them prior to that gave them a horribly incorrect dosage (and I trusted the doctor! They're supposed to know more than we are, and I didn't even question it! I feel so guilty!) and said that the dosage that they got was nearly triple what they needed. Gwen passed in the night while we were asleep, but we got to the cage in time to hold Scarlett just in time to hold her close as she closed her eyes for good. It was heartbreaking, but I'm glad I was there for her. Nature must've agreed - as she passed, we got 10-minute flash flood that dropped nearly 2 feet of water in our front yard. RIP to our first and oldest babies, we'll miss them forever.
We got a new baby almost a month and a half ago, her name is Charlie! She's a big sweetheart, very curious, and super super energetic! She's already been intro'd and is living with the current colony, and is slowly becoming more comfortable with us. She takes a bit to warm up, but she likes to climb and explore and be curious, much more than any of the other girls have been.
That's the only picture of her we have at the moment, a quick shot of her passed out in a patch of sunlight after tearing holes in the pan liners and kicking poop out of the litterbox. I think she aims to get it out of the cage, because I have to vacuum daily now. >_> She has a vexing habit of chewing on the bars of the DFN, but I don't know what to do to curb the habit.
I'm excited for the baby boys, and I'll post with much more pictures after I get off of work! This will be our first time owning males, and I'm very interested to see the difference of personality between them and the females.