Bronwyn
Well-Known Member
I've been meaning to ask this for sometime now but can anyone who kept a baby from Tara's (mostly) dumbo litter raise your hands? I'm referring to the litter by Brie, the black dumbo rex, she had four girls...
Anyway, here's the situation! As you know I adopted two of the girls who were born January...8th? 9th? You get the idea. They looked pretty normal to me as did cutie mama. I've noticed, however, my girls didn't quite develop normally, particularly Jo. They're pretty tiny rats. Last time I checked, Jo was 114g, though that was a good month and a half ago. So there's the tiny size. But then there's the weird motor skills, or lackthereof. Jo walks like her feet are too big, kinda plods around (quickly) much like little baby rats do when they're just learning how to run around. Then we have their lack of balance. They fall. A lot. They could be grooming, trying to climb a wall of the cage, going down the ladder...really anytime they're standing they likely fall down. They also have a strange way of moving their heads around when sniffing the air (and then promptly fall over).
Ginny's not as bad...but she still does all that I listed. At now over six months of age I'm not sure this is cute baby behaviour anymore. Not to mention I've had quite a fair number of baby rats and not a single one acted like they do for very long (say, weeks).
I don't think it's anything I'm doing as Phoe came to me as a teenager of sorts and though she has a tiny build, she still appears to be a normal weight and evened out and is as balanced and intelligent as any other rat I've had. And most other rats I've had came to me as babies and developed normally.
I'm just curious to know if anyone else has noticed anything off about these babies? I know at least three members here have some.
Anyway, here's the situation! As you know I adopted two of the girls who were born January...8th? 9th? You get the idea. They looked pretty normal to me as did cutie mama. I've noticed, however, my girls didn't quite develop normally, particularly Jo. They're pretty tiny rats. Last time I checked, Jo was 114g, though that was a good month and a half ago. So there's the tiny size. But then there's the weird motor skills, or lackthereof. Jo walks like her feet are too big, kinda plods around (quickly) much like little baby rats do when they're just learning how to run around. Then we have their lack of balance. They fall. A lot. They could be grooming, trying to climb a wall of the cage, going down the ladder...really anytime they're standing they likely fall down. They also have a strange way of moving their heads around when sniffing the air (and then promptly fall over).
Ginny's not as bad...but she still does all that I listed. At now over six months of age I'm not sure this is cute baby behaviour anymore. Not to mention I've had quite a fair number of baby rats and not a single one acted like they do for very long (say, weeks).
I don't think it's anything I'm doing as Phoe came to me as a teenager of sorts and though she has a tiny build, she still appears to be a normal weight and evened out and is as balanced and intelligent as any other rat I've had. And most other rats I've had came to me as babies and developed normally.
I'm just curious to know if anyone else has noticed anything off about these babies? I know at least three members here have some.
As long as whatever it is doesn't affect their lifespan I'm okay!
