Guess I'm going to be a rat "foster grandma"....

[undergunfire]

Thanks :biggrin2:. The lady wanted them to be a Christmas present to her daughter, so that was what they were! We were just going over to Dad and Kelly's in the late afternoon, so it worked well.

I took pictures of the babies on Day 13 (wednesday), but I just took pictures of them tonight on Day 14 (christmas) and they are sooo much cuter.

Here is a *teaser* picture of them on day 14. I am using my new Canon Rebel xsi and the pictures are coming out sooo awesome...I don't have to lighten them up anymore....I just have to re-size them! I'll post the rest of Day 14 tomorrow, as I am going to bed soon.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

OMG! Look at that cute little mouth! :hearts:

 

[undergunfire]

The babies are 17 days old today and all doing fantastic....and can see the world now. I slack in the picture posting department, but I have taken tons of pictures, so if anyone wants to see them, then go to my myspace: www.myspace.com/xundergunfire .

I picked out the name "Lyra" (Lie-ruh) for the PEW baby girl because the little girl from Narnia has that name and she was very daring and adventurous...just like this little rat baby. I am terrible at picking out female names, but I have 3 more to pick out (because 2 out of 6 baby girls are going to a new home)!


Here is an adorable picture of Harper that I took today with my new Canon Rebel xsi. Look at his adorable curly hair and whiskers...

Here is some of momma, Spice.....

And here is their new Critter Nation one level cage. This will house Spice & her 4 baby girls. I will neuter all 4 baby boys this summer...then after my two older boys pass away, I will sell the FN (too wide of bar spacing) and buy another 1 level CN....then connect them, so that Spice and all of her babies can one day be a big family again.

 

[JadeIcing]

AWESOME pics Amy! I really wish I could get a rat.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

No wonder those babies are so cute! I love Spice! She's just so pretty!

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks, guys :biggrin2:! Ralphie and Spice made very cute children, for sure.

Alicia...I wish you could get ratties, too, so we could obsess about them together and so I could sew/send you all sorts of beds!

 

[Bunny_Love]

Oh wow, what a wonderful post! I just read through all the posts...i spent forever, lol...but it was all worth it!!!


Your such a wonderful rat foster grandma!! The cages are so nice

Thanks for sharing!

Jessica

 

[TinysMom]

I may not like rats - but I've got to say that I would probably consider taking Spice....she doesn't seem "rat-like" to me - like ugly, etc. She's really cute and she looks like she has quite a huge personality...

She's adorable.

 

[undergunfire]

Thank you, Jessica and Peg :biggrin2:.



Ohhh, Peg, Spice is a girl full of personality. It is so different having a female because I am so used to the lazy laid backness of a male. Spice gives quite the kisses on your fingers, too!

 

[trailsend]

Hi Amy,
I haven't been around lately and just saw your babies! They are simply adorable, love all the girly stuff inside their house too - it's so cute. You absolutely make people see these special creatures in ways they wouldn't have thought about them before with your pictures, and stories of them.

I just got a ferret nation cage for the Pdogs, 2 story. They are loving it

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Amy, could you post more pictures of the babies in the thread? I don't have a Myspace account (and don't want one), you have to log in to see pictures I think baby ratties are the cutest when they've just opened their eyes, I'm dying to see photos!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

trailsend wrote:

I just got a ferret nation cage for the Pdogs, 2 story. They are loving it

So you can send them to me, right? :biggrin2:

Amy, could you post more pictures of the babies in the thread? I don't have a Myspace account (and don't want one), you have to log in to see pictures I think baby ratties are the cutest when they've just opened their eyes, I'm dying to see photos!

:yeahthat: :thanks:

 

[undergunfire]

I'll go through and post the pictures in this thread . A lot of the times, by the time I get done taking the pictures, uploading them to the computer, going through the ones I like and don't like, then resizing them in adobe, then uploading them to myspace....I'm pooped .

I need to get a different website to upload pictures to. I could use my flickr account.

 

[TinysMom]

Well....all I can say is....If Spice disappears...don't come looking here. Nope - I would never ever have a rat in this house...not even one as gorgeous and personable as Spice...

(Now which rat cage is it you recommend???)

Just kidding - but I have to say I keep coming back and looking at her pictures...I'm really happy you're keeping her and I hope we see lots of pictures of her.

I do have some questions..

• What is the average life span of a rat?
• What do the various terms mean as far as looks? Hooded? I forget the other terms - I'd have to read back through the thread to get them all - but you'll say "I have a hooded one" or other terms and I'm like..."ok...if you say so..". It would be nice if I could understand the colors/terminology!

 

[undergunfire]

Ohhhh, Spice would go NUTS with all your bunnies! I have to find a way to block her from running into the boy's bunny cages because she likes to eat their Oxbow and try to pull hair from Marlin because he is so fluffy !

Average life span of a rat, I would say, is 1.5 - 2.5 years. That has been where my experience is. It all depends on the particular rat because so many have terrible genetics due to pet stores & mass breeders trying to produce as many rats as possible. I think the world record for longest living pet rat was 7 years. I have seen many rats get up to 3 years, too! My Spartan is 2 years and a few months already.

As for their types, colors, and coat textures, I like to use this site to identify rats that I have questions about:
http://www.afrma.org/fancyrm.htm

:biggrin2:

 

[undergunfire]

Here are some pictures of Tucker and Spice from the other day. I am going to be taking more tonight of every one .

Name change! Instead of one of the siamese boys being named "Aslan", his name will be "Jasper" . I think I am too addicted to Twilight AND the name fits in better with Jack, Harper, and Tucker.

So...the lady who wanted two girls hasn't responded to my emails, so I am taking it that she isn't interested anymore. I do have a lady on the rat forum that lives down in Phoenix who might want one girl, but other than that...they are all mine. Sheesh...13 rats is scary!

I am going to break down the name list for you guys (and for myself). I will take individual pictures of the babies tonight, too.


GIRLS:
Lyra (PEW rex).
Mira (black berkshire rex).
Tansy (black berkshire veriegated sides rex).
??? (black berkshire standard)
??? (black capped w/ head spot standard).
??? (black berkshire w/ high white sides standard).

BOYS:
Jack (black capped w/ head spot rex).
Harper (siamese rex - *green sharpie on tail).
Tucker (black rex).
Jasper (siamese rex).


Three girls still need names .

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Look at his cute wavey hair!! :hearts:

 

[undergunfire]

I have a few new pictures of the kids that I snapped at feeding time . Tucker is in most of the pictures and I think the white baby was Lyra.

The babies will be 1 month old tomorrow, so next Sunday the boys will be split from Spice and the girls...and they will be moved into the Petco Rat Manor cage (I hate the cage :grumpy into the boy rat room (my master closet)....until they can be neutered...then they will be moved back with the girls.

I hope the boys grow larger quickly, so they can go into the FN with Spartan and Ralphie because I HATE the Petco Rat Manor cage...it is a piece of junk and sooo hard to clean, ugh...I don't even want to think about having to clean it weekly!!

I've been caught by the ZOMBIE RATS :shock:!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

:inlove::inlove:

 

[Hayley411]

Any new rattie pics?

~Hayley