| 4/09/12 Expecting a litter in 3-4 weeks Doe: Vriska a black and white hooded Buck: Klaus a blue blaze hooded (recessive blaze) |
This is my girl's first litter so I am anxiously awaiting the outcome. Let's all cross our fingers that she is a good mum!
3/22/12 Expecting babies on or after the 2nd of April. She is starting to show (unless she's just being piggie).
04/08/12
Labor preparations began on the evening of the 3nd. After difficult and stress labor, babies arrived on the 8th at 2:30 AM. 12 were born, 1 stillborn. Mum is very weak after the labor, so I am helping her out and hand feeding the babies with formula. I had to hand feed Vriska and her 2 siblings, and they all turned out wonderfully. So here's to hoping everyone will thrive and grow into healthy young ratters.
Vriska is a very good mum and is risking her own health for them. I am hand feeding her an electrolyte/protein formula.
04/09/12
Babies
are strong and well-fed. Their coat patterns are already beginning to
show. Vriska is still refusing to leave them and sits on them and feeds
them. I got up early to feed Vriska her liquid mixture.
04/10/12
Vriska is finally understanding she needs to eat and ate her first full solid meal. Almost all coat patterns are visible. There are 5 males and 6 females.
04/11/12
Patterns are coming in noticeably now. Their skin is peely from the fur that is getting ready to come in.
04/12/12
One male had an accident. He is alive, but quite bruised. I am unsure if he will live her not. On a more pleasant note, the babies are getting a velvet feel to them, so fur should be appearing very soon. Vriska is still pretty thin, but she is eating a lot more now. And is very active when I let her roam the bedroom to get time away from the pupplets.
4/14/12
Babies are so big now! They are covered in a light layer of fur now. I will upload new photos and videos soon. I have been busy with some home renovations the last couple of days.
4/15/12
A video of the girls at 6 days old...not beautiful filming quality:
Six girls go to their new homes tomorrow. They will be missed!!!
3/22/12 Expecting babies on or after the 2nd of April. She is starting to show (unless she's just being piggie).
04/08/12
Labor preparations began on the evening of the 3nd. After difficult and stress labor, babies arrived on the 8th at 2:30 AM. 12 were born, 1 stillborn. Mum is very weak after the labor, so I am helping her out and hand feeding the babies with formula. I had to hand feed Vriska and her 2 siblings, and they all turned out wonderfully. So here's to hoping everyone will thrive and grow into healthy young ratters.
Vriska is a very good mum and is risking her own health for them. I am hand feeding her an electrolyte/protein formula.
04/09/12
Babies
are strong and well-fed. Their coat patterns are already beginning to
show. Vriska is still refusing to leave them and sits on them and feeds
them. I got up early to feed Vriska her liquid mixture. 04/10/12
Vriska is finally understanding she needs to eat and ate her first full solid meal. Almost all coat patterns are visible. There are 5 males and 6 females.
04/11/12
Patterns are coming in noticeably now. Their skin is peely from the fur that is getting ready to come in.
04/12/12
One male had an accident. He is alive, but quite bruised. I am unsure if he will live her not. On a more pleasant note, the babies are getting a velvet feel to them, so fur should be appearing very soon. Vriska is still pretty thin, but she is eating a lot more now. And is very active when I let her roam the bedroom to get time away from the pupplets.
Here's a funny video of Vriska taking off with my bag of crickets:
Babies are so big now! They are covered in a light layer of fur now. I will upload new photos and videos soon. I have been busy with some home renovations the last couple of days.
4/15/12
A video of the girls at 6 days old...not beautiful filming quality:
4/17/12
Babies are all furry and soft! Eyes should be opening soon. Looks like we have:
2 berkshire blues 1 male, 1 female (I will be keeping the male)
1 black berkshire female
2 beige hooded females
2 beige hooded males (I am keeping one)
2 blue hooded females
2 black hooded males
I will be sending photos to everyone in the next couple of days so you all can select the rats you would like. I would like them to develop just a bit more, so you can get a full idea of what they will look like when they grow up.
4/18/12
Babies are crawling around like little monsters! I spent the day at the dentist so was unable to take any really nice photos of them today due to spending most of the day numb and in bed. I will post more videos soon.
Babies are all furry and soft! Eyes should be opening soon. Looks like we have:
2 berkshire blues 1 male, 1 female (I will be keeping the male)
1 black berkshire female
2 beige hooded females
2 beige hooded males (I am keeping one)
2 blue hooded females
2 black hooded males
I will be sending photos to everyone in the next couple of days so you all can select the rats you would like. I would like them to develop just a bit more, so you can get a full idea of what they will look like when they grow up.
4/18/12
Babies are crawling around like little monsters! I spent the day at the dentist so was unable to take any really nice photos of them today due to spending most of the day numb and in bed. I will post more videos soon.
4/19/12
I posted a new video. They are so squirmy now it is near impossible to take decent photos of them. Silly things.
Baby girl, Morella, washes her face:
I posted a new video. They are so squirmy now it is near impossible to take decent photos of them. Silly things.
Baby girl, Morella, washes her face:
4/21/12
Eyes are open!!!!
4/23/12
I
posted many videos, of the babies, and of other rats. They are
crawling around like little monsters now. I had their
grandmother(Saoirse) visit them yesterday. She wasn't all that
impressed. She gave them a sniff, and went on her way to steal some of
her daughter's food. Saoirse has always been a crazy ADD girl.
She of course, chased both cats off the couch on her free range
today. Luckily Vriska did not take after her mother's bravery. I
can only deal with one pesky rat! :)
4/23/12
The babies are tackling each other and running wild in the cage. They tried some spinach leaves today.
Eyes are open!!!!
4/23/12
I
posted many videos, of the babies, and of other rats. They are
crawling around like little monsters now. I had their
grandmother(Saoirse) visit them yesterday. She wasn't all that
impressed. She gave them a sniff, and went on her way to steal some of
her daughter's food. Saoirse has always been a crazy ADD girl.
She of course, chased both cats off the couch on her free range
today. Luckily Vriska did not take after her mother's bravery. I
can only deal with one pesky rat! :)4/23/12
The babies are tackling each other and running wild in the cage. They tried some spinach leaves today.
4/24/12
The babies have learned how to crawl up the side of their little nest igloo and now come and go as they please. Vriska will run about snatching them up and placing them back on their blanket.
4/25/12
The babies had their first "free range" session...this involved placing them on the coffee table with a bunch of random items and letting them explore. Dad-rat, Klaus, also visited them, but he was more interested in jumping onto my shoulder.
4/26/12
Escaping!!! This morning they learned how to escape...so everyone is now in a tank with books on the lid. Sneaky! They also have discovered the fun of cardboard tubes and have been chasing one another through the tubes, as well as trying to stand on top of them.
4/27/12
My cat has been missing for about a week. I checked the pound, nothing. I feel sick to my stomach. I've had her for 11 years. Missy, come home!
The babies have learned how to crawl up the side of their little nest igloo and now come and go as they please. Vriska will run about snatching them up and placing them back on their blanket.
4/25/12
The babies had their first "free range" session...this involved placing them on the coffee table with a bunch of random items and letting them explore. Dad-rat, Klaus, also visited them, but he was more interested in jumping onto my shoulder.
Escaping!!! This morning they learned how to escape...so everyone is now in a tank with books on the lid. Sneaky! They also have discovered the fun of cardboard tubes and have been chasing one another through the tubes, as well as trying to stand on top of them.
4/27/12
My cat has been missing for about a week. I checked the pound, nothing. I feel sick to my stomach. I've had her for 11 years. Missy, come home!
4/28/12
Today I started doing "desensitizing" exercises. I make random kissy noises, move objects over them, crinkle a plastic bag...to get them used to strange things (I stole this from techniques I use with horses)...nothing crazy and scary, just a sudden noise like something they may encounter while exploring as adults. After a few times, they just ignored the random sound and went about running in their "playpen" box. I really want them to grow into curious, brave rats.
4/29/12
I've started posting lots of photos in the facebook album, nothing "fancy", just lots of photos of them out playing and such.
Today I started doing "desensitizing" exercises. I make random kissy noises, move objects over them, crinkle a plastic bag...to get them used to strange things (I stole this from techniques I use with horses)...nothing crazy and scary, just a sudden noise like something they may encounter while exploring as adults. After a few times, they just ignored the random sound and went about running in their "playpen" box. I really want them to grow into curious, brave rats.
4/29/12
I've started posting lots of photos in the facebook album, nothing "fancy", just lots of photos of them out playing and such.
4/30/12
A dose of crazy for today. I also posted several other videos of random baby play as well as a ton of photos in their album.
A dose of crazy for today. I also posted several other videos of random baby play as well as a ton of photos in their album.
5/01/12
Today's desensitizing exercises included vacuums and paper shredding. At first everyone hid, then one by one they came out and stood on their back legs to see what was going on. Then everyone forgot about the big scary noises and proceeded to all crawl up my arm (looked like a scene from a horror movie). Start planning a date to come get your babies! The time is just around the corner. ...As for photo updates, I am afraid this page is getting too long (Yeah...I am rather long winded...), anyways I will continue to post updated photos on the facebook album (feel free to become friends with the Rattery if you like...but it is an open account and can be viewed by non-friends)
5/03/12
Babies are smelly little things! They will get their first bath today. They are also obsessed with shoulder riding.
5/06/12
They have learned how to jump up on the rim of the pool and will occasionally slide right off...so I have to be extra careful during playtime now since they are all little klutz.
Today's desensitizing exercises included vacuums and paper shredding. At first everyone hid, then one by one they came out and stood on their back legs to see what was going on. Then everyone forgot about the big scary noises and proceeded to all crawl up my arm (looked like a scene from a horror movie). Start planning a date to come get your babies! The time is just around the corner. ...As for photo updates, I am afraid this page is getting too long (Yeah...I am rather long winded...), anyways I will continue to post updated photos on the facebook album (feel free to become friends with the Rattery if you like...but it is an open account and can be viewed by non-friends)
5/03/12
Babies are smelly little things! They will get their first bath today. They are also obsessed with shoulder riding.5/06/12
They have learned how to jump up on the rim of the pool and will occasionally slide right off...so I have to be extra careful during playtime now since they are all little klutz.
5/07/12
Babies had their first bath today.
5/11/12
Six girls go to their new homes tomorrow. They will be missed!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment