Random pictures of our girls

[6GirlMischief]

Ambulance teaching the babies to hammock.

FireTruck's favourite time of day is when we change the litter -- she tries to eat some, realizes it's litter, and poos in it. Every. Time.

You can't keep me out! I smell food in there!

Dis MY mouse. Mine. Ted's mouse. I luvs it.

Police Car. Hammock level: expert.

I is hiding. I don't trust you not to take my mouse.

I needs to get this into my hammock!

There. Told you I could.

Where you come from? I not sure I can trust you.

 

[temblabamomo]

Such sweet ratties! Love their mouse - and it looks like they do, too.

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[6GirlMischief]

Thanks! They were super excited when I brought the little mice home -- I found them at Walmart, $2 for three, couldn't resist. Then someone got the idea to go after the catnip inside, and less than an hour after the "I love my mousie, no-one shall ever take my mousie from me, I shall snuggle my mousie for ever and ever..." came Shred-Fest 2014, in which three tiny fabric mice were skinned, de-stuffed, and re-purposed as hammock nesting material. Oh, and there was catnip everywhere! But they had a blast, and I got some neat pictures of them being adorable

 

[fumblesquid]

I actually giggled when I read about FireTruck's routine. Love the little comments you did, too!

 

[jorats]

They are so adorable.

 

[RattusNorvegicus]

Love the captions, pictures and their names! What cuties.

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[Joanne]

Even destroyed toys are worth the price of admission. LOL
Cute ratties!

 

[6GirlMischief]

Thanks guys! More random info...

The girls were named by my son, who just turned five. He has a thing for emergency vehicles... as you can tell. His interaction with the girls is mostly treat-feeding and hugs, I do the cleaning and teach them stuff (my husband stays away, he`s not a rat person). All six girls know their names, and come when called, but sometime during recall training I shortened some of them -- Firetruck will come to 'Fifi', and PoliceCar thinks her name is 'PeeCee'. Ambulance is a bit of a mouthful, so we just call her 'Ambi'. All six will come running if you say 'yogies' or shake the treat bag

Firetruck is a funny rat. She's as clever as a box of rocks, and afraid of her own shadow, but I adore her. Her litter routine is hilarious, she's a nut. She popcorns, like "OhBOY Oh boy new stuff I LOVE dat stuff!" and then dives in before the clip is on, shoving my hand out of the way with her little paws. She noses through it, picks up a piece, chews on it (it's safe to eat, it's just wheat straw), and then looks around like "Wut dis food? Is not good, hooman!" and you can almost see her realization -- oh right, it's for poop, not eating. Then she'll turn around, wiggle her bum into the back corner, and poop. She's always the first one into the litter, ALWAYS tries to eat it, then has a poo and walks away like she didn't just make a total fool of herself.

It still amazes me daily how different they are from one another -- even the three babies (Mouse, Anna and PoliceCar) who came from the same litter, are SO different. Anna is a bit clingy, Mouse is fairly reserved but she LOVES toys, and PC can't get enough hooman hugs and loves a good neck snuggle. She's TINY, about half the size of our biggest girls (Ambulance and Ted), and maybe 2/3 of her sisters' weight and length. Ambulance is the most ridiculously friendly animal I've met -- she behaves like a dog. She knows when I'm leaving, demands cuddles, and licks my entire face. When I come home she greets me like I've been away at sea for months. She'll go anywhere with me -- I've taken her outside on walks, she'll stay on my shoulder for hours.

Wow do I love those girls

 

[Joanne]

That sounds so awesome. :heart:

 

[6GirlMischief]

That sounds so awesome. :heart:

Aww, thanks! I never, ever thought I'd love a small animal the way I have loved cats and dogs -- I didn't realize how responsive and sweet they are. They're wonderful pets; it's like having six tiny weird little dogs in the house that never demand to go outside for a walk

 

[LittleSparrow]

Your girls are adorable! Love the pictures with the captions, lol.

Sent from mobile.

 

[Unepuce]

Wow! I would die for an Ambulance! I'm not to complaint though, I have one, but split in 3 rats - Andrea is the funny, happy part, Esprit is the excited and licky part, and Puce is the snuggle I love you mom part. And yes... rats are just the awesomest pets!!!

You know what we need? A video of Firetruck's routine. I would LOVE to see her in action! :cheeky: BTW, you're quite a storyteller... I could actually see that little movie of hers in my mind as I was reading your description! :giggle:

 

[Godmother]

Love the photos! Your rats are adorable. :love4: And their names crack me up.

The one of them all in the hammock makes me melt.

 

[dspch911]

Rats can have catnip??? You got your rats high :laugh4: :laugh4: A black and white rat named police car - that is awesome. Yes, they are the best pet around. Wish I had known it years ago!!

 

[6GirlMischief]

Hehehe I'll see if I can get Fifi's 'routine' on video -- she's super shy, and wary of my phone (see the way she's looking at the toy mouse above? same deal) so it might be a challenge.

Unepuce - we got Ambulance right after we brought Ted and Fifi home, and chose her specifically for her personality (Fifi was SO shy, we wanted a brave rat to bring her out of her shell). At the store we got them to bring out the entire group of rats, and watched them to identify the most gregarious of the bunch. Then I handled her, to make sure she was happy being touched. Every time I put her down, she tried to jump back onto me, and I knew she was the one. Long story short, she's shown her personality since day one, it's not something that came over time, so you could very well find a rattie with a similar personality