Dorchadas X Lenore 11/13/12

LenoreXDorchadas
Siamese/dumbo/rex litter
Expected Arrival: 11/08/12
Adoption fees: $20 each, $10 additional

Keeping: Dumbo male, powder blue hooded

1. Shawna (1 female dumbo, blue self)
2. Samantha (2 females: 1 rex dumbo siamese, 1 standard dumbo siamese)
3. Chelsea (2 females, 1 rex, 1 not, dumbo siamese)
4. Justin (1 male dumbo beige with headspot)
5. Mayme (1 dumbo rex siamese male)

11/08/12-She is looking very round, should be due soon.
11/13/12-Babies were born at 11 AM. So far 2 still borns and 7 alive.
11/15/12-There are 9 alive in total. 5 females and 4 males. Lenore is being a good mom, as she was the first time around.
11/20/12-Babies are fuzzy. There are 4 rexes it looks like.
11/23/12-They are starting to walk around and are looking very cute!
11/28/12-Eyes are opening!
12/02/12-They are running around and wrestling with each other.
12/13/12-I have been so busy this month I have been very bad at keeping updates! All babies are doing well. We're starting adoptions a little early as they are pretty much weaned now.
 

CRUE Nikita X Epitaph 11/04/12

NikitaXEpitaph
Topear rex litter
Re-homing fees: $20 for 1, $10 additional

Keeping: 1 male topear agouti berkshire (dumb carrier)

1. Amy B. (3 females, black hood, albino, albino rex)
2. Lori (2 males, blue and albino rex)
3. Amy P. (2 males, albino and blue berk )

There were 2 albino rex(male and female), 2 albino(male and female), 1 blue rex(male), 1 blue berk(male), 1 blue hooded(male), 1 black hood(female), 1 agouti berk(male)

11/04/12-9 babies born this morning
11/05/12-We have 3 females and 6 males
11/07/12-Babies are getting big and starting to get patterns in. There are two hoodeds.
11/08/12-Everyone is starting to get fuzzy!
11/13/12-Colours are coming in. Everyone is strong and crawling around.
11/16/12-Eyes should be opening up soon! They are all very active and trying to move around the cage.
11/20/12-All eyes are open and they are crawling everywhere and teething on my fingers.
11/23/12-Babies are being introduced to scary noises and plastic bags to get them used to stuff. They are not too fond of this exercise.  They are also eating solid food now.
11/28/12-Babies are huge and almost ready to move to the big cage.
 12/02/12-Adoptions start soon!

 

Why I Own Rats

There are often times I think about not owning rats. It is just a miserable feeling when they get sick and I cannot afford their vet care. I have to watch my pet get worse everyday knowing they could get better if I only had an extra hundred dollars on me. But I do not. And they die. People have said terrible things to me. How dare I own rats if I cannot afford to take them to the vet. I am abusing them. I should not own anything alive. And yeah, maybe I am a terrible person for not providing the best care possible. I sometimes think about giving up. But for all of those other bazillion times they are NOT sick, it is worth every minute. They make me happy. I may not be rich, but I give them the best care that I can and a peaceful end if it comes to that. To see their little noses sticking out of the cage when I come into the room, begging to come out and play, when they run out and jump into my lap, when I watch them stash treats behind the couch thinking I did not notice, licking my face, pouncing on my toes, making a nest in my hoodie....those are the moments that make owning rats worthwhile. Yes they have short lives. Yes, it seems no matter what I do, they still get sick. Yes,  horrible accidents happen. But, even if their little lives end far too quickly, the days we spend together are treasured. I have to remind myself that bad things happen, that owning pets is never easy and worry-free, but I also have to remember to look back on the great moments of my life and realize that there was a rat in each of them.

My New Rats!

I went shopping at IKEA and could not resist buying these guys :D

AGCR Pit and the Pendulum X ALP Don't Tread On Me 9/18/12

Currently breeding:
AGCR The Pit and the Pendulum X ALP Don't Tread On Me
Litter predictions- Standard Ears and fur, some blacks for sure
Adoption fee: $10 eachExpected arrival: 09/16/12

Father: Blue standard ear/fur berkshire
Mother: Chocolate standard ear/fur self

Waiting list: CLOSED
1. Erica (3 females, black self, beige self, black berk)
2. Jason and Maria (2 boys, 1 beige self, 1 black self)
3. Katerina (2 boys-black and blue self)
4. Jon (3 girls-2 black self, 2 beige self)
5. Sunflower (2 girls-1 blue self, 1 black self)

9/16/12
She is looking very round and has begun nest building and has slowed down on eating. Fingers crossed!
9/18/12
Babies born!!! 15 babies so far as of 7PM
9/20/12
Looks like there are 12 females and 4 males
9/24/12 Babies are big and starting to get some pigment.  For the dark ones, looks like they are self/berks. I can't tell what the markings for the light ones will be.
9/25/12
A bit of fur is starting to come. All 16 are being well-fed. They have a dedicated mum!
9/27/12
Babies are furry and well fed. A few are on the smaller side, but have full bellies.  There are a lot of black selfs, berkshires, 3 blue self/berks, and several solid white/cream colored.
9/29/12
Have a few runts I'm not sure will make it...she was feeding fine, but they hit that point where some shoot off and get huge, and the smaller ones get pushed aside. So I'm going to try and supplement them with some formula and see if they can get plumper.

9/30/12
The 4 small ones are being fed, but are much smaller than their siblings.  We'll see if they will make it or not.  The rest are plump and active. Eyes should be opening soon. There are several black self (no white paws or bellies), 1 black berkshire (white paws and white belly), 3 blues, 1 albino, and several cream/beige.

10/01/12
Babies are big. One baby has an eye starting to open. The runties are still doing fine, just very small. In another week they'll be eating solids and can get fatter that way.
10/04/12
All eyes are open now! The runts are getting bigger and I think they will make it! Still so much smaller than the rest, but they're being fed. I'm separating them throughout the day so the small ones get a chance to eat without the big ones pushing them away.

 

 
10/10/12
Babies are now eating solid food and running around. Tiny ones are getting bigger and it's becoming hard to tell which ones are the runts now!
10/13/12
Babies got new things to climb on in their cage and were very excited. They are almost ready to move into the multi-level baby cage. Working on desensitizing with plastic bag noises and clapping...I encourage the continuing of this in their new home to help them become less fearful.


10/16/12
Babies had play time in the pool and some were brave enough to chase the plastic bag around. They've been moved to the big cage now.





10/20/12

Babies are getting big...but not big enough! They managed to escape from their cage, and so now they have to live in their bin age to keep them safe. Luckily they did not escape during the night, but did it right in front of me. Pesky little babies!

Azzuran x Beatrice Litter 8/17/12

Adoption fees for these litters will be $20 each, $15 additional
1. Mayme (2 males, light marked and Siamese)
2. Randy (1 female, Siamese)
3. Amber (2 males, black and blue)
4. Jazmin (2 boys, agouti marked and agouti blue)
~~~~

Expected birth date: 8/16/12

Buck: Azzuran- blue agouti dumbo
Doe: Beatrice-blue rex dumbo

7/28/12
The couple is quite fond of each other and are always snuggling.
8/06/12
Beatrice seems to be gaining weight.  Yay!
8/13/12
Looking very round!  She's in great health. No signs of stress.
8/17/12
She has gone into labour as of 6 PM

There are at least 5. I was too busy cleaning them up and making sure she was feeding them to worry about counting haha. Fingers crossed for them making it through the night!
8/18/12
There are 9 in total and they are doing well so far.
8/19/12
So it looks like there are 7 boys and 2 girls. 
8/20/12
I'm looking at the whiskers trying to see who is rex, and a lot of them look like they have curled whiskers. But they are so tiny now it's hard to tell for certain. They are getting their patterns in. There are a few solids and hoods.
8/21/12
Photos are posted on facebook
8/23/12
There are 6 rexes for sure, 3 I can't really tell because their whiskers are so light.
8/25/12
Babies are big and doing well! Illusion has a false pregnancy or a re-absorption, so her litter is not happening. Good news is, there are plenty of babies from this litter to make almost everyone happy. I will be paring 2 more does shortly.
8/26/12
I can start to see rexie waves in their fur.
8/30/12
Eyes are opening!
9/02/12
Everyone's eyes are open, and they are crawling around. Fur is looking very wavy.
9/14/12
Well everyone is running around the cage and growing quickly. One more week until they can go home!
9/16/12
Adoption week! 

Leartes and Lenore Litter 7/08/12

Siamese dumbo litter
Father: Leartes, Red-eyed Siamese dumbo
Mother: Lenore, Red-eyed Siamese dumbo
Expecting: Red-eyed dumbo Siamese

Kept Zero from this 

6/16/12
Lenore and Leartes have been paired today. Lenore wanted nothing to do with the handsome Leartes and quickly let him know. Now they are getting along fine.
7/05/12

I would like to announce that Lenore is DEFINITELY pregnant! She is extremely round and tight.  She is a petite girl so it is very easy to see her bulge. I will post a photo shortly.  I highly doubt anything happened on the 16th when I placed them together, but just in case I am putting her in the maternity tank tonight. She could be due this weekend at the earliest.
7/08/12
Babies were born at 2PM. There are 9 so far. No still borns yet.  Lenore is tending to them which is great. I always worry about the first-timers. Looks like there are 5 boys and 4 girls.
7/09/12
Babies made it through the night! They are being well fed. I have taken a bunch of photos, but need to find my camera chord. Sorry for the wait!

7/10/12
Babies are well this morning. Their ears are starting to pop out. It's very obvious they are dumbos(I'll post some pictures of the ears). Lenore has come to accept me handling them and does not seem to care anymore.  Also it appears that Ophelia may indeed be pregnant this time. I can't make any promises since she looked big last time, but this morning she looks especially round.  Such a confusing girl!
7/11/12
Their ears have popped out today! They are getting more rat-like faces, too.  Lenore is being fantastic. I find the rats that don't like me as much make the better mums. The rats that get excited to see me end up flinging babies everywhere and just want to come out and play. Not saying Lenore is mean...she's just not one of my babies so she does not have that bond.  She's more like "Whatever".  She's being very mature about this. Vriska, who was over a year old with her litter, acted like an ADD teen rat with her litter.  Look for more photos soon!

7/12/12
Babies have doubled in size! They have more defined eyes. Much stronger and able to crawl around. Lenore is eating tons and feeding them all of the time. I have yet to see them without milkbands! Ophelia should be due any time now. 
7/13/12
Babies are starting to feel furry!
7/15/12
I am sorry for the delay in updates and photos. Yesterday was a nightmare. Ophelia lost the entire litter...they were born pretty deformed and small and all but two died within the hour. Two babies made it till late last night with Lenore's care...but were too weak. Ophelia suffered a sudden heart attack around midnight. She was doing fine, weak, but was crawling around my room and jumped on my lap...then suddenly she was shaking and convulsing and gasping and passed very quickly. I was very thankful for her quick passing, though.  As I was burring her at 1 AM, the frogs and crickets started to sing and I found some pretty plants to decorate her grave with. Enjoy Heaven, little one!

Lenore's litter is still doing fantastic, though. They are plump and fuzzy. They have ratty faces now. I will post photos soon.
7/16/12
They are crawly little monsters now! But of course, when I went to take a video they decided to slow it down.
7/17/12
Staying strong and fuzzy.  It's very hard to tell everyone apart since they are so similar, but I can finally point out a few distinctive differences now. Photos posted from yesterday and today. I've been very busy and have not had time to take "good" photos of them...so they are all kind of in a pile.
                                                                                                               ~~~~~~~~
I wanted to let you all know that I can make photo CDs of the litter. I'm already making myself and another family a CD, so just let me know if you would like one as well and I'll be sure to include it when you pick up your babies :)

I also wanted to mention that I buy Native Earth rat block (by Harlan) in bulk and can provide $8 dollar bags at pick up if anyone was interested or wanted to try it.  I  can always ship you more later if you wanted to stick with that brand (since buying 40 pounds of rat block for a few rats would be a lot).  So things to think about!
7/18/12
One baby was just super cute and yawned, stuck its tongue out, and stretched.  I died.
They are so milky coloured and soft ....but oh boy the screaming at night when they fight each other for food....I have been waking up several times a night thinking they are being killed. 
7/19/12
They are roaming around quite quickly now. I took nearly 100 photos and only a handful were clear enough to see their cute-ness.
7/20/12

So probably next Friday/weekend I will start sending out photos for you to pick out your rats.  Don't judge them by colour since Siamese molt their old coat (and yes, they will go through a patchy stage) colour and have their points come in later.  There is such thing as a hooded Siamese (one that keeps its hood and still has points), but do not count on the colour of the baby keeping it's colour into adulthood.   These are seal-point Siamese, so they will have the brown points you normally think of when picturing a Siamese of any breed.

I would suggest judging them by head shape, ear set...and well, cute-ness :)
7/21/12
Oh boy, they are crawling everywhere in the cage. While I was out at the Springs, Lenore popped her lid and was roaming in my room...I came into my room and she popped out of the hamper to say hi. Naughty girl.
7/22/12
Lenore can no longer hide from them...they can walk around the find her now. She has been trying to pop her lid off again to escape the demanding squeals.  Eyes should be opening soon!  Photos were posted.
7/23/12
EYES ARE OPEN!!!!!  Check out my youtube channel to see some recent videos.
7/24/12
Almost all of their eyes are open now and they had their first run around in a playpen box. I will start sending photos out tonight for baby selection.
7/25/12
All the babies are wrestling and running around. Now that they can see, they have become scared of sudden movment and noises, so desensitization begins now!  It's funny....the babies sleep in one corner, and mum sleeps in the other.
7/26/12
Babies have been exposed to a vacuum cleaner, plastic bags, and ripping newspaper. I have also had family members and guest come and hold them and pet them. Let the crazy socialization begin!  They also had their first time in the playpool with the older girls.

I really REALLY really encourage you to send me an e-mail if you are no longer interested in babies, or thinking it won't work out. I won't be upset or demand a reason. It will make things soo much easier to know now that you're backing out so I can start looking for new adopters instead of at the last minute when they are big. It will make life wonderful!
7/27/12

Babies got to meet the boys today in the play pool. They had many wrestles and loved climbing through the box hideout I made.  They were also exposed to some weird noises and plastic bag sounds and were curious and walked up to it.
7/29/12
Babies are eating solid food and drinking water most of the time.

*I am working on some cubes for my rats and will have some ready for purchase. They have an opening on one side and the bottom is stuffed for a more padded/comfy place to sleep. They are big enough to fit two adults comfortably.  I can make hanging ones or ones that just sit in the cage and they can climb into.

$8 each or 2 for $12. I have a ton of floral and vintage fabric. If you want a custom one from fleece of a certain print, it would cost more (but only by a few dollars since fleece is not too expensive).

Also, standard hammocks are $3 (just your basic square hammock with batting in between for padding, and ties). And tunnels for $3.

Home-made rodent safe wheels for $10

Sorry to sound all salesman-like, but just letting you know of the items I also have for sale.
7/30/12
Babies love wrestling with my hand. But a poor guy got too rough with his siblings and twisted his paw.  He does not seem to mind, though.
8/01/12
Babies have moved to the big cage in the living room and are very confused. They finally got the hang of climbing up stuff. They are being friendly towards strangers which is always good!

Start thinking of a date and time you can get your babies so I can start making plans to be free. Thanks! :)
8/04/12
Babies are doing great with new people and are climbing all over them, hand wrestling, and licking. So I hope they will continue to be this nice for their new owners.

I wanted to make a note about how to continue their diet. I highly recommend feeding strictly block for the next 2 months at least, with fresh foods as an occasional treat. Too much fresh foods can be harsh on their young bellies and sometimes they tend to gorge themselves on it. I had a baby die of bloat before.  You are welcome to purchase block from me, and of course local petshops and Wal-mart carry brands. Higher protein count is recommended for babies. Harlan block recommends %18 percent.
8/06/12
They are being quite sociable, but still skittery of sudden noises/movement. Be sure to handle them everyday, as this young age is very important for their development.
8/09/12
They are soo big! They are basically weaned. Lenore will shove them away, but maybe once a day they will pile on her and nurse.  They are very hyper and love to leap up my arm when I clean out the cage. Their water bottle broke, so they have now learned how to drink from a dish. 
8/11/12
Rattie adoptions are starting *sniff*. Had a lovely day trip to deliver 2 boys.  And two girls go to their new home today :) I'll have the last 2 girls for a bit longer, so I'm happy about that. It's always a joy to meet adopters. Thanks for waiting these few months!

Pet of The Day: Saoirse

 

Saoirse won Pet of the Day! See her here: http://petoftheday.com/

Here's what someone said about her on the forum: 

"Good morning Saoirse! Happy Pet of the Day to you and your entire family! I'm honored to be the first to congratulate you on nabbing "top pet" props, and how very deserving you are! What a sweet and lovely, oh so pretty rattie girl you are, and so packed with personality! It's clear you take on all comers, including THE CAT, and Husky! I'm so sorry to hear that ear infection left you with a bit of a challenge, sweetheart. But it's clear, in true Saoirse style, you haven't let it keep you from living and loving life to the max, and kudos to your very caring human for making sure that you can continue to enjoy all of those things you love, safely!

I laughed out loud at you chasing your adorable (if somewhat perplexed) lop eared bunny bud, hehe, and that photo of you snuggling up with your kitty friend, beyond precious! What a wonderful best friend, playmate, and loving companion your family (human and furry) have in you, Saoirse! Your parent loves you so very much, and for good reason...you're the best!
Thanks for the BIG SMILES, sweet girl! Enjoy a very happy, fun filled Pet of the Day, celebrating to the max with your bunny, kitty and doggie buds, being spoiled to the max!
Love and cuddles and little kisses to you, beautiful Saoirse!"

Babies are here!

 9 babies (5 boys, 4 girls) were born on the 8th of July. All healthy, no stillborns, being taken care of very nicely by their attentive mother.

A sad story

This is so awful....

http://pawofjustice.org/?cat=2

I am so enraged that rats are not protected against cruelty the same way as cats and dogs. This is just not right.

Where was your petstore rat born?

Ever wonder where those cute little petstore rats came from?

Here's what a commercial rat breeding facility looks like: http://www.ratz.co.uk/rodentfarm.html

They are no different than the rats in the feeder bins...just given better care in the petshops (since the public can see them). It's no wonder they are often terrified and sickly. The same goes for all the other rodents that are being sold.

Buy from GOOD breeders and do not support this sad trade...

Peach's Progress

Little Peach did well on the three hour car ride. I'm staying at a friend's house, so she is getting lots of new people to sniff and see as well as a cat, puppy, and rabbit. She let them pet her and even jumped on top of her pink igloo to sniff them better. For the next week I'm just working on letting her sniff people and see if she will come up to hands. If she comes up, there may be a small pet on her back until she decides to leave.

Vacation time...

...does not start off easily. I got up this morning to hose off all of the rat cages (in the middle of a rainstorm caused by our most recent tropical storm. Thanks, Debby!). Cleaned every inch of the cages, washed all the bedding, washed everything in the cage, put together a very detailed list for my petsitter, organized the food containers, set out medicine, ordered this month's shipment of rat block, got the sick rat's cage and meds in order, and got little Peach's travel cage ready.

Phew!

I'm going to be so worried about them while I am away...especially since I have 2 breeding pairs. Luckily neither of them will be due anytime soon.

Ophelia's belly