It doesn't get much cuter than this

I was lucky enough to find a tiny little santa hat that I could use for the rats for some Christmas pictures.  I wanted my Christmas cards this year to have pictures of my furry little friends that have become such a big happy part of my life.
Here are the best pics of the bunch.

Pip

 

Lucy

 

Jasper

 

Measha

my little Lucy

Lucy, by far, has the most personality in her little rat body.  She is the first at the door to meet me.  She gives kisses all the time.  She is such a lovable rat.  Unfortunately she may also be the most predisposed for health issues.  The litter she was born into had a rough start.... I want the very best for her so I have scheduled for her to be spayed next Tues.  She will be 6 months soon, so to get it done before all those hormones build up is better. I am super nervous about the surgery and keeping her from ripping stitches afterwards.  I have as much confidence in my vet as one can have, but you know, sometimes crazy things happen.  Hopefully all will go well and in a few months Measha can be spayed as well.

LUCY

Recent pics

The gang is all doing very well. They are happy and healthy. I'm hoping to get Lucy spayed sometime soon and Measha as well when she is big enough.

 

love

i love my rats.


emerson.

Measha is here

Last Thursday I drove to Madison, IN again to pick up our new girl. She also comes from Stacy at LORR but she is a baby from a recently rescued mom. I am getting very familiar with the drive there, and I have to say it's not bad. Half of it is actually pretty scenic and I love to drive over the bridge and through the town of Madison right there on the river.
Anyway, our little Measha was 5 weeks old last Friday. She is so tiny and adorable I can hardly stand it. She is a little slower in getting acclimated to us, probably because of her age. But she's had no problem with the other three. She really wasn't even shy about meeting them. They even let her climb all over them. I love her white nose and mouth, feet, tummy and tip of her tail. Her personality is still coming out but she is a bit fiesty just like Lucy. I can also tell that she has a thing for my big guy Jasper. I can usually find her cuddled up next to him on the top level.
Here are some pics -

This is Lucy and her crazy whiskers!

new challenges

Being a decent photographer has not prepared me for the challenges of taking decent pictures of the rats.  They can be super fast and I never seem to have enough light.  Never the less, I will keep of trying.... because it's just so fun.

Here are the three snuggled up... I was so happy to see this bc the first day or so Lucy was not being included in the sleep snuggles.  In fact, the boys seemed closer and more interested in each other now that there was a newbie.  But the sweet boys that they are let her into the group and here they all are together.

Sleeping again, but notice Lucy's back foot hanging off the ledge...too cute :)

I put Pip on the window sill trying to keep him in one place long enough for me to get a picture... this was the best I got.

Their first chicken bones... much appreciated.

Our new addition

On Wednesday the kids and I drove to Madison IN to pick up our new little sweetie. It was not a bad drive and it was great to meet Stacy, our breeder. Stacy also works with a rescue and one of her rescues had a litter with some black berks, do I was also able to pick one out from that little as well. This little girl is only two weeks old so it will be a couple weeks before we can bring her home.
Here are some pictures of Lucy and one of the new litter, mine is on the far left. Lucy has a velveteen coat, dumbo ears, and is a mismarked... Something or other... I can't remember.
#4 will be the final addition for a few years ;)

Sweet dreams

Nighty night my sweet little boys ...

Emmy and Pip

My little girl with her Pip!

and more pics

"Ummm.... can you get off of my head?"

"Thanks for the blanket!"

Time for another bath...

Yes, that's a rat in my pocket.

Jasper

so much fun

I love how much fun our boys are... they are sweet, cuddly, funny, smart, and playful.  We play with them everyday and have a special bedtime ritual.  (Daughter's bedtime anyway).  Every night we open both doors.  The boys run to the door, we tickle them, and the do the popcorn hops all over up and down the cage.  Then they come back for more... over and over.  I've been taking lots of pics too, here are just a few...

the boys are here

On June 26th we brought our two rattie boys home.  We are so happy to have them finally.  Their names are Pip and Jasper.  It's taken about this long for them to heal from their neuters but they are looking good and seem to be relaxing into their new environment. 
It's really funny how different they are - Pip is very active, he's always up and about and runs to the cage door whenever he sees us.  He loves being held, playing outside of the cage, and taking treats from us.  He is also the cage organizer.  It's so funny to watch him after I clean the cage.  As soon as I put them back in all the food blocks are carried one by one from the food bowl on the third floor to the back corner of the first floor.  Even if Jasper is in the middle of munching on one Pip tries to take it away.
Jasper is way more..... I don't know, tired.  He is usually found in his sleeping box or curled up in a special spot.  At first I was worried that he wasn't feeling well but he seems to be much mored relaxed with us now.  When held he will walk around for a bit but then is content to just sit and be petted.
I wish that I had some really good picures of them, but not yet.  Here are a couple rough ones..

These are all of Pip since Jasper was hiding at the time.  I will have more soon...

baby names

We won't get our two baby boys until June 17th but we've been thinking about some cute names.  Emmy wants to name hers Pip.... and I am thinking that it would be really apprpriate to call mine Squeak.  Still thinking about it.  Also, the breeder we are getting them from has another litter that we will be getting a girl to add into the mix.  No worries, our boys will be neutered so there will not be any babies.  The girl will most likely be named Delilah.  They so cute......  Looking forward to bringing them all home!

You can see a picture of the girls parents here  http://fortheloveofrats.weebly.com/katniss-x-finnick.html

little pet play pen

I knew we needed a large area for the the kids and the rats to run around on the floor and play freely.  I wanted to make or buy a play pen type enclosure with walls high enough that they would not be able to clawl under or jump out.  I did see an nice option online that was flexible plastic that you can roll up tighly.  The problems were cost and it was not high enough (only 2 ft tall and about $45 before shipping).  The other option was to collect cardboard boxes and make our own.  That envolves a lot of time and energy trying to find boxes that are the same hight and enough of them.  Not to mention a lot of cutting and..... just a lot of work.  And again, it's nice if it's not ugly.
So finally I settled on what I think is a great idea, and preferable in every way to the others.  I've bought 32"x40" white foam board.  It's slick on the outside and heavy enought that I don't think they will be able to get under it.  I would be shocked if they could jump over it.  So I've set the boards up sided by side (long ways on the floor) and taped the edges together with that cute colored Duck tape.  I spaced them out on the tape leaving enough space in the middle so that it can be folded up easily accordian style.  By making it this was you can add as many boards as you want, and still create as small or as large an enclosure as you want each time.  Also, you can fold it and put it away neatly.
The best part is the cost.  Each board at Hobby Lobby is $5.99, but with the 40% off coupon I got them for $3.82 a pc.  The Duck Tape is about $4. 
I only have 4 boards put together so far, but here is what it looks like.  I plan on adding at least 2 more, and maybe a few more later. 

New floor idea

One of the issues we had with the wire floor cage was the trying to find something to attach to the floor that would protect the rats feet, be light weight and easy to clean, not easily destroyed by rat teeth, and here's the hard part.... attractive.  Or at least not completely ugly. 
I searched high and low on the Internet for new ideas.  Some use tile, linoleum, cardboard (did I mention I wanted it to be durable).... anyway, I didn't like any of those ideas.  Many people use fleece, the problem was that even with two layers sewn together, I wasn't happy. Though I knew they were probably fine, I could still feel the wires by just lightly resting my hand on the floors.  The other problem was how to attach them easily to the floors and ramps without them getting moved around or chewed. 

And then it came to me, plexiglass.  It's very durable, relatively inexpensive, and the best part - clear!  I bought enough for all the floors and ramps, a special cutting tool, and some extra zip ties.  In the end I think I maybe spend about $25 on the whole thing and I am confident it will last a very long time.  So I cut the pieces to size, not an easy task but it only took about 3 hours total.  I drilled 2 little holes in each corner and used small zip ties to hold the floors and ramps in place.
Here is a picture of what one of the floors looks like....

You can also see I have some velcro on the corners.  I bought velcro that is sticky on one piece ( for the plexiglass) and sewed the other connecting piece to fleece that is cut to fit.  I have fleece covering all the plexiglass surfaces to make it easier for the rats to climb the ramps and so they don't fall from the ledges.  To clean the fleece all we have to do is rip it up and throw it in the wash!  So easy a 6 yr old could do it-  my 6 yr old ;)  

Also, Em has made a fun play ground for the rats.  She made it all by herself and I think she has done a really good job.  Here is a picture of that -

She has actually added even more to it since this was taken.  I'm sure they will love it.

Babies are 4 weeks old, can't wait to bring them home next month!

Cage Decor

Yesterday we made covers for the floors, rat hammocks, and a fleece climbing rope for the cage.

The Cage Is Ready....Almost

The cage was delivered today.  It was surprising very easy to put together.  Here are some pictures.....

It looks like my dog is wondering what's going on here ....

Ta da!!!

Here is the cage... it looks huge in her room and she couldn't be more thrilled :)

We have a video but I am having trouble with it right now.  If I can I will post it tomorow.