Ratablog

Friendship! Friendship! Just a perfect blendship!

Kado had his lower tooth removed yesterday. I don't think he's a happy little boy right now...but Artax is doing his best to help him.

And Oliver and Bandit are still friends.

And what about the other rats?

And what about the other three rats, you ask? A fair question.

Oliver is getting old. No surprise there; we got him in November 2004 and, as I recall, he was fully grown at that time. That puts his age at over two, and a gut feeling tells me it may be closer to three. His back legs are starting to deteriorate and he's getting that old-man look about his neck, where the hair is thinning slightly. I think he may be losing a bit of weight, even though he still enjoys eating. Playtime usually consists of him eating his treat, then making Bandit groom him, then falling asleep on the bed. And he's still a happy rat--it's playtime and he was sitting with his head out of the igloo, bruxing and boggling like there was no tomorrow.

Also in the igloo with him is Bandit, who, while still skittish, is also mellowing out. I haven't seen an aggresive move toward my hands at all, although I confess I try to keep all parts of my body away from his teeth. He usually enjoys his scritches, and his snacks, and spending time curled up with his good friend Oliver.

Rufus has acquired a new nickname: Rufus Doofus, for no real reason other than I like the way it sounds. My lonely boy has become quite the sweet, chubby guy lately. While he's still not at all thrilled about being picked up, he does enjoy his scritches. If I scratch the side of his neck, he'll press up against my fingers and his tail will twitch, and his eyes will sometimes half-close as if to say Ahhhhh...

I strongly suspect he wants rat company, but after the last intro disaster, I'm hesitant about introducing him to other rats. What's funny, though, is I think after Oliver passes (which I hope isn't anytime soon!), he may get along with Bandit. Bandit is neutered and certainly seems to enjoy rat company, so....

We'll be extra, extra careful if we ever try introducing Rufus to Bandit.

Also--his broken leg seems to have healed perfectly. He uses both hands just the way a rat would, and when I had him out for playtime, I was hard pressed to remember which leg had been broken.

Bandit

As Abita mentioned before, Bandit is scabby. What she didn't mention is that he's also become bitey--again.

Before the trip to the vet, Abita tried to get him out of the cage but he wouldn't come out of a box he was hiding in. I reached into the box and Bandit let me know he didn't want to go to the vet when he bit my left pinkie.

It bled...and bled and bled and bled. We got him to the vet, where scrapings from two places showed no evidence of parasites, and I got home and my finger was still bleeding. After about three hours I went to my primary care where some steri-strips finally got the bleeding stopped.

(I'm also on some antibiotics that don't exactly agree with me, but that's not important right now.)

We had some hints he might be reverting to his old bitey ways. A couple of times when we tried to pick up Kanga (before she passed), Bandit nipped at us--we thought he might have been protecting her. Last Friday, the day before the vet trip, he bit at me without breaking the skin. I was wondering if he was bi-polar and was just entering the manic phase.

In an attempt to narrow down the cause of the scabs we separated Bandit from Oliver and Neiko, as one cause of scabs might be injuries from the other rats. In order to improve his mood, I've also started trust training him again.

Just four days later the scabs are not as severe and I can't detect any new ones. His mood also seems to have improved, though there may be one of two reasons for that: It may have been the trust training, or it may be he's just more comfortable without the scabs and is therefore in a better mood.

Abita and I are also wondering about the cause of his scabs. Because we don't want him to forget his cagemates I've been taking Bandit out with Oliver and Neiko for playtime and he's never been attacked. He squabbles with Oliver a bit but Oliver always submits. Neiko grooms him, but I think it's more her way of getting him to groom her in return. Nothing suggests he's anything but the alpha and I'm not sure attacks from the other rats are the reason behind his scabs.

Abita and I think there may be another possibility: We wonder if he may have developed an allergy to the bedding we use. Oliver and Neiko are on Carefresh (regular Carefresh, not the Ultra); while Bandit's in a single cage he's been on fleece blankets. A permanent change in bedding may be in order.

So, in a nutshell: Bandit's scabs seem to be going away, his mood is improving a bit, and when we put him back in with Neiko and Oliver it may well be on fleece blankets.

Artax and his Mom

I remember asking my mother for a drink of whatever she was having, too.

Intros, Day 2

In a nutshell: Intros didn't go as smoothly tonight as they did last night. I took the three boys into the tub, with no vanilla on them, and everything was OK for about ten minutes. Then Rufus and I think Kado got into it.

I say, "I think," because the moment they chose to squabble was the same moment I chose to look at my watch (on the sink) to see how much time had elapsed. Glance, then squeeking & tumbling and I used the dustpan to separate Rufus from the tumbling mass of rat-manity in the tub. All three boys were in the same area, but I think it was Kado he was rolling around with.

Things went pretty well for another 15 minutes or so. There was definitely some sidling by Rufus, mostly toward Artax, but also toward Kado. Kado would frequently "pin" Rufus; I thought he was protecting him from Artax. Also, Rufus's tail would frequently writhe, usually when Artax was near him. Both Artax and Rufus would get puffy at times; it's harder to tell with Kado when his hair is puffy and when it was just naturally kinda being fluffy.

I should also mention Artax seems to bite a lot (even biting Kado) but didn't break the skin. Once he even bit and held Kado's foot when Kado was walking by him.

To be honest, I probably projected too much. At times I thought Kado was being friendly or protective toward Rufus, particularly when he seemed to be putting himself between Artax and Rufus.

I almost cut it short at the 28-minute mark, because Kado and Artax were at one end of the tub and Rufus was at the other, but just as I decided to do so Artax headed toward Rufus. It looked as if a squabble was going to develop, but the countdown timer started beeping at the 30-minute mark and that distracted everyone. I decided to start the timer again, more just to keep track of the time rather than to give them another 30 minutes, and separate them when they retreated to opposite sides of the tub.

I never got the chance. Just a few minutes after restarting the timer, Rufus was sidling up to Artax when Kado came to his rescue--or so I thought. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but I think Kado tried to flip Rufus and Rufus didn't want to be flipped. It took me a couple of tries to get the two boys separated (Artax's getting his nose in there didn't help) but I did so, then I scooped up Rufus with the dustpan and held him there with my welding-glove covered hand and put him away. Kado and Artax got the same less-than-distinguished trip to their cages, and I waited about thirty minutes before checking them out for any injuries.

I think Rufus lost a little fur, but I neither saw nor felt any cuts or injuries on any of them. We'll give it another shot tomorrow night, but I think we'll dab some vanilla on them again.

Bandit and Girls Update

Been awhile since I've done one of these. I've got a mixed report.

His biting is down, but not eliminated. The last time I put food in his bowl, he bit my hand, twice, but he didn't break the skin. I dropped some food and he grabbed it and started eating immediately, so it's possible he was just going for the food.

Whoops, forgot to mention he nibbled on one of my fingers a few nights ago, but it was exactly like the nibbling the other rats sometimes do--almost like he was grooming me. That didn't concern me at all.

As for getting along with the other rats, he's become a lot more...demonstrative...in his alphaness, to the point he doesn't give Oliver a lot of peace, and he's even flipped Neiko a couple of times. And, I'm sad to say, he's nipping at them all. The other rats are trying to avoid him and I don't think they're too happy with him right now.

I admit I'm rather disappointed with him right now.

*** *** ***

Earlier this year I reported Neiko and Roo have developed some lumps. I'm sorry to say Roo's lump has been growing for awhile and is now quite large, and I'm worried her quality of life is going down. Her gait has changed and she's not as active as she normally is. She's still curious, affectionate, and bright-eyed, though. Neiko has developed another lump between her arms and it's grown significantly in the last couple of days.

Oliver is doing well, and he's happiest when he's with his friend Neiko.

Bandit update

Isn't he still a cutie? He's made some progress, but he bit Abita last week and he bit me tonight (and drew some blood, though the bite was more of a scratch). I think Abita and I have to resign ourselves to realizing he might just be a biter. Ever had a dog you couldn't trust around strangers? Same thing, basically. We have to be careful around him.

However, he's definitely a playful, curious and personable little guy (I mean, just look at that face!), and he really seems to be enjoy interacting with us...and he for sure loves getting his ears scratched.

We've also moved him into a larger cage. He certainly loves chewing the wooden roof to his new house, and being able to jump from that roof to his balcony.

We still haven't decided if we're going to get him neutered.

And what about the other rats?

I'll only comment on Oliver and the girls, since I spend most of my time with them.

Oliver is fat. Fatfatfat! He's not quite up to Calle's weight, but he's not a slim boy, which is something others have noticed happens with neutered boys. Of course, the fact we let him eat whatever he wants might have something to do with it.

Neiko has turned into the stashing queen. As soon as we fill up the food dish, she starts emptying it and stashing it. She likes to put it on the bench sleeper on the highest balcony, in a box on the lowest level, or in one of the corners in the bedding. This means I probably throw away a bowlful of food when I clean their cage.

Kanga is blind and very skinny. It doesn't seem to bother her except when she's out for playtime, since the arrangement of things on the bed changes slightly every day. The cage stays pretty much the same; then again, she pretty much stays in the hammock, except when she's eating, which is pretty much constantly.

Roo is fine. Nothing to report--she's a good girl, except when she spends too much time with Oliver, which makes Neiko jealous.

Clockwise from left they are Kanga, Neiko, Roo, and Oliver.

Bandit update

I've been working with Bandit nightly, taking him out of the cage for twenty to thirty minutes, in the bathroom (in case he should jump out of my hands. For a house with so many rats in it, we sure haven't ratproofed anyplace). He's been very good, for the most part.

Typically he'll shake like a leaf for the first five to ten minutes. If he has to go to the bathroom, he'll normally poop between the ten and fifteen minute mark. He's learned to climb up to my shoulder, and it's on my shoulder that he'll pee--usually on my neck as he crosses from left to right and right to left.

He's gotten to the point where he'll groom a couple of times, and I can usually get him to brux and boggle toward the end. This makes me feel a little better about him.

On the other hand, he's still showing some aggresive and territorial tendencies. He's still not thrilled with us going into his cage, and the other day he started huffing at me and Abita. He's also bitten Abita once and me twice.

The first time he bit me was last week, when he was on my shoulder and I reached up to scratch his ear. He didn't like that apparently, and he struck out and got me on my finger. I've no explanation for that at all.

The second time was this morning--I was trying to hand him a treat (I give him something by hand every morning, hoping to get him used to us) when he lunged at my hand and gave me two cuts on my thumb. None of the bites, however, were very serious.

The other night, we spent some time discussing what to do with him. When we adopted him we had originally planned to have him neutered next week; now, we're not so sure. It's possible he may prefer to be an alone rat and if that's the case, we don't see a reason to put him thru surgery.

We're considering intro'ing him to either Arthur or Oliver, just to see how he reacts to other rats. It will be a long process, but we're going to keep on trying.

Bandit update

Just a short update, really kind of off the cuff. Bandit has been out several times, almost daily (though the holidays have cut into that). He is still very nervous, but I can take him out of the cage without using the welding gloves. He stays out on me for at least 20 minutes, and usually more than 25. He's also started climbing up on my shoulders, which I'm taking as a sign he's a bit more comfortable.

OTOH, he did bite me once. He was on my shoulder, and I reached up to scratch his ears and he bit me on my right index finger. It wasn't a deep bite, but it sure got my attention.

I'm still taking him out daily; working with Bandit is a bit like learning how to ride a bike. I can't let the setbacks...set me back.

Zoe

We made the difficult decision to take Zoe to Dr. G for her final nap yesterday. Her condition had deteriorated such that she couldn't hold her head up well enough to eat or drink. I took this picture about an hour before we took her to see Dr. G.

Oliver and his Girls

Oliver has settled in with the girls:

In the cage with the girls. From left to right they are Oliver, Kanga, Roo, and Neiko is on the bottom.

Everybody has some guacamole during playtime. Clockwise from top left: Kanga, Oliver, Roo, Neiko, and Zoe.

Neiko

I think I now know why Neiko was so friendly with Oliver. She's in heat.

Oliver, however, is ignoring her.

Intro Update

Oliver's intros to the girls continue to go well. There was a minor bump in the road; fortunately, it didn't last.

Wednesday we switched to vanilla extract, rather than almond extract. I think that was a bad move on our part. Little Roo jumped on Oliver, Oliver didn't like it and he got very puffy--that is, his hair started standing on end, a sign of agitation, and a scuffle broke out. I seperated them with the dustpan I had on hand for just such an emergency, and I kept him away from the girls for a minute or two. He calmed down, but he wasn't real thrilled with Roo, nor Roo with Oliver. Whenever Oliver approached Roo, or she found herself near him, one of them would shriek--I think it was Roo. Upon reflection, I'm about 99 44/100 % sure Roo was trying to lick the vanilla extract from Oliver's back, and she may have gotten a bit rough with him.

One thing I noticed--Oliver seemed to really spend a lot of time sniffing Neiko. When she started raising her tail, I decided intro time was up, just in case she was in heat.

Due to hockey, there was no intro attempt Thursday night. Friday we went back to almond extract--just a small amount. Oliver and Roo seemed to forget all about the other night, although every now and then Oliver would sidle up to Neiko or Roo. It was just a dominance move, and it wasn't frequent. I don't recall him getting puffy at all, and they were out together for over 90 minutes.

Yesterday was the biggest test. We put them together with no additional scent and I was ready with welding gloves and a dustpan. There was a brief scuffle between Oliver and Roo, but nothing came of it. Oliver did spend some time chasing after Neiko and sniffing her private bits, but she didn't react quite the same way she did the other night. In fact, she sniffed him back, and they also groomed each other.

This morning we put them together again without any scent, and we also included two small tubes. This is a bit risky because in the event one rat really goes after another, there's a chance the attacked rat might be trapped by the aggressor. A tube at least has a back door; OTOH, it's still a slightly enclosed space.

I think Roo sees Oliver as a threat to the pecking order in the cage. She made a couple of dominance moves toward Oliver (sidling and mounting) but it didn't seem to bother Oliver. Also, it seems Oliver really likes Neiko, as you'll see below.

Oliver

Clockwise from the upper left-hand corner, they are Oliver, Zoe, Kanga, Neiko, and Roo.

This was supposed to be a picture of Oliver grooming Neiko. Instead, it's a picture of him telling Neiko she's finished.

Neiko grooms Oliver. Roo stands by to tell her if she missed a spot.

Neiko was actually quite submmissive to Oliver. Here, she laid down before him, and he cuddled up to her and started taking a nap. It seems he has a girlfriend.

We plan to continue the intros throughout the week, and on Saturday we're going to scrub the girls cage really well and put him in there.

Thank you all.

Thank you all, for the lovely notes and condolences on Ohana's passing. It's never an easy decision, but I feel we make the right one. Sadly, yesterday I noticed my beautiful, licky girl, Zoe, has started developing a tumor herself. Already it seems to have grown since I last noticed it.

Ohana

Ohana's health isn't improving much. For the most part, she seems more-or-less healthy--she's eating and she's mobile. On the other hand, her lumps are huge (you can see it to the right), and they're multiplying. I discovered a new one growing, between her arms, and she can't walk in a straight line. She kind of pulls to the right.

Further, and you can see it on this picture, her eye is getting kind of cloudy. Her eyes are so dark you couldn't tell with the naked eye, but it's obvious in the picture.

I said she was mobile? She is, but she really doesn't come out for playtime, and when I drag her out, she doesn't do much more than crawl under something and chill out. It's hard to tell the difference between a good quality of life and a bad one, but I think hers is starting to decline.

Just a few pictures

Just a few pictures. First, Niko's stash:

Niko is our stasher. Whenever we fill up the food dish, she crams as much food in her mouth as she can and stashes it away. Once we found over two bowls worth of food in a box during cage cleaning. This was underneath the shoebox on the floor of one of their balconies.

Next, Kanga's scar:

It's healing nicely.

Finally, Misto. Sorry you have to click on his name; the picture is too large to put inline. Click on it because it's well worth it.

UPDATE: I've resized it myself to be a little smaller. It's smaller than the version Eanna posted, tho. Thank you, Eanna, for taking the time to do that.

Rat from Space (Poor Kanga)

Get. It. Off. NOW.

...although she can get ESPN now.

I shouldn't joke. The collar is really distressing her (all that porphryin on her face is from the collar struggle, not the surgery), but opening up the wound would be much worse.

Dr. F actually met us at the office at 9:30 last night to give us the collar! He'd called to check up on her, and was worried that she'd chew through our bandaging job overnight. I can't sing our vets praises enough.

This week...

Here is the Saturday vet update:

Kanga is going to have surgey Monday to have the tumor removed and to have the "thing" (for lack of a better term) on her eye removed.

Misto is also going in Monday for another chest tap. He hasn't gotten any better since Wednesday, so I don't think the Zithromax was the magic bullet when he seemed better last time. Even though the lung did not reinflate after the last chest tap, he did seem to be breathing easier and he perked up for a couple of weeks after it. Right now, my heart is breaking for him...he's listless but not completely lethargic; he eats but not with gusto (even for treats like scrambled egg and cottage cheese), and there's just something in his eyes that looks old and tired. But he's only 15 months, he shouldn't be old and tired...Dr. F is doing everything he can, but I'm really worried.

On the good news side, as Victor mentioned, we put Leather and Oliver into the old rat condo yesterday. That seems to be working out fine. I do feel bad taking away Oliver's space, but I think the companionship is better for them both.

And just because it is so unusual to get a rat group shot, here are Arthur, Rabby, and Misto from today's playtime.

Leather and Oliver, sittin' in a...uh, cage!

Quick update, pictures to follow.

The morning, Abita moved Leather and Oliver in together into a small cage with one solid balcony and one solid ramp. Technically it may be too small for two rats, but we feel it's more important they have each other. They do seem happier when the other is around.

Later in the morning, they were asleep in different parts of the cage: Leather in the good room (a little wooden house) and Oliver in the guest bedroom, underneath the ramp :)

Happy 35th Monthday, Leather!

Today is Leather's 35th monthday!

First, a bit of carrot cake.

Her friend Oliver joined her for cake and to keep her company.

See you in a week

We are headed out on vacation today, back in a week. A vet tech from my mom's vet will be pet-sitting the furries, so they will be in good hands (hands very capable of administering medicine, thankfully), but we won't be making any updates.

Thank you all for you kind words about Arwen, and your good wishes for Misto and Leather. Both are doing ok: Leather isn't very pleased with her small cage (she tries to jump out every time I open the door), but I take that to mean the leg isn't hurting too much. It is still somewhat swollen, but the bruising has gone away.

Misto's breathing is still noisy...squeeky, grunty, or wheezy...and I think his sides are heaving a little more than normal. He doesn't have any of the oxygen-deficiency sighs, though...no blue color, his feet and tail are warm, and he certainly has energy and appetite.

I admit I have mixed feelings about going away...this is a vacation with my family and I look forward to being with them, but I wish the gang were in better health.

The posts have been ignoring the rest of the rats lately, so here are a few pictures I found when downloading the memory card:

Nekkid Arthur and fuzzy Rabskuttle. It looks like they are chatting over the back fence.

Sweet and shy Jack.

Oliver and dinner. You can see he doesn't miss many meals. (Poor guy, he misses Leather.)

What do rats do all day?

I have today off, and was able to witness what they do all day. It was a lot less exciting than I thought it would be.

Two girls--one of them is Zoe and I think the other is Arwen--curled up together in the nestball.

That hammock is hanging waaay low.

The camera flash alerts the Roo the Watchrat!

The other rats make their appearance. The dumbo hairless is Kanga, and if you look carefully you can see the little lump in her eye.

The hammock crew: From top to bottom they are Kanga, Nikko (I think), Ohana, and Roo's back.

Birthday bash!

Mistoffolees as a little guy

Young Rabskuttle

The boys have guacamole for dinner.

Misto with the birthday cakes.

Rab takes his cake to go.

It isn't Arthur's birthday, but he gets cake, too.

The birthday hoodies. Happy first year, boys!

More 32-Monthday pictures

Oliver watches Leather eat.

In this picture, he was actually squeezing by her.

To be honest, of the seven September 2002 rats, I would not have expected Leather to be the oldest. At five weeks, she had some seizures which scared the bejeebers out of us; fortunately, they apparently passed. She's still the smallest of all of our rats, but don't let her small size fool you. Oliver usually has a couple of scratches on him, and the only way he could have gotten them was from Leather.

Leather's 32-month birthday

Our Grand Dame with her cake.

Pictures of the girls

It's harder to get pictures of the girls, because unlike the lazy boys, they rarely stop moving.

Here also you can see how playtime looks: a bunch of rats and the recycling on the bed.

Zoe, Arwen, and Neiko.

Ohana.

Abita the dog, with Roo and Kanga.

Feeding frenzy!

Pictures!

Jim and George, posing so nicely. (This is just after they'd been wrestling.)

Shy Jack.

Oliver and Leather, making sure that dog food bag is really empty.

Misto washing up. (He's a very tidy rat.)

Fuzzy Rabskuttle.

Not fuzzy Arthur.

Misto washing up

Arthur eats an egg

I've heard that a simple hard bolied egg can keep them busy for hours. Well, maybe not that long, but it sure was funny...

Rats in a box!

Happy Easter!

Happy 30 month birthday

Leather as a baby:

and recently:

Jimmy, wake up!

Happy Valentine's Day from the oldsters

How did these cute babies

...become these hulks?

*yawn*

Pictures

This is a little blurry, but I don't usually get all the girls in one frame. Of course this only worked because Zoe was helping herself to a snack right under the hammock...

Misto just waking up.

Jack's tongue.

Happy holidays

Hope you had as much fun unwrapping presents as George had eating wrapping paper.

No Respect!

Poor Mr. Ratburn gets no respect. He tried to curl up for a little nap and what happened? Someone pee'd on his head.

Arthur "The Rat Who Ate Christmas"

Schwartz and Oliver

Leather & Oliver!

After two days as cage mates.

The girls aren't 100% thrilled with all the attention, but overall it has gone well. Calle still grumbles when Oliver eats from "his" dish, but Calle's always been vocal, anf there have been no fisticuffs.

Christmas Rats

Leather and Schwartz

The 18 Rats of Christmas

Well, I'm not sure all 18 posed for pictures. But we'll see what we can do!

Oliver was very good for the camera. Santa will bring him extra yogies.

What happens when you open the girls' cage?

A few pictures

With new rats come new pictures.

It didn't take Zoe long to realize the duties of a Ratinabox rat:

Of the girls, she seems the most dignified. She's the matriarch.

Rabskuttle would be sleeping if I'd stop flashing the flashy thing in his eyes.

His whiskers really are that curly. It's part of his character.

Metro and Calle, still friends.

Calle's still got a great smile, and Metro still thinks he's the alpha. Calle has some scabs on his shoulder, from overgrooming.

Metro, sadly, almost certainly will not be with us much longer. He's got a tumor that is bigger than he his; every morning when I wake up and see he's still alive, I realize I'm seeing a small miracle. Not only does he have a lump the size of the Bronx on his left side, his hind legs are paralyzed, he's losing weight, and he's retaining fluids.

And right now, I heard some squeeking coming from his cage. It was Calle, complaining about being groomed by Metro.

New introductions

Oliver

A girl pile

More pictures in the gallery...

Arthur

As the weather has been getting cooler, I've been concerned about Arthur staying warm enough. So I made him a little sweater. It was very manly; it had a blue stripe.

Arthur.
Does.
Not.
Like.
Sweaters.

Just Jack

Pictures of the boys

I don't often get them to sit still long enough for pictures, but we got a few tonight (it took seventy, yes, seventy, shots to get these!)

Jack

George

Jim

Jack is a shy boy, but today I got more in-focus pictures than usual.

Ok, Jack isn't quite in focus, but it is very hard to get all three boys together.

It's easier to get the other four boys together...just come in smelling like other rats.

Ratburn as Scarface

He decided to be a tough guy for Halloween.

Actually, he's healed up already...

Geriatric rats

Pictures

More pictures

Arthur

Ohana on the left, and with her arms crossed, Arwen...I think.

Rat pix!

Metro eating in his house.

Olie sleeps like this because he likes to hear me scream.

Abita gave the Frat Boys some avocado during playtime. Jim couldn't find a safe place to eat his avocado until Abita kneeled on the bed, when Jim immediately jumped on her calf and started enjoying his treat.

George after succesfully summiting Mt. Mommyhips.

When I took this picture, I didn't realize all four boys were in the hammock. They are Mr. Ratburn, who is resting on Arthur's butt, with Rabskuttle to the left and Misto waaay in the back.

The girls sitting on their top shelf, in front of their nest. From left they are Ohana, Neiko, and Arwen.

More birthdays!

Tomorrow is Calle, Olie, and Schwartz's birthday, but since Abita and I will be home late, we had the party tonight.

However, the party was delayed a bit when the party was crashed and an uninvited guest ate the cake.

The Birthday Rats: From top they are Calle, Olie, and their sister Schwartz. The boys are neutered and Schwartz has been spayed.

Olie and Schwartz enjoy their cake...

...as does Calle.

Calle decides he's had enough.

Pinky enjoys some cake.

More rat pix!

Imagine that.

The only one I can identify is that's Ohana getting groomed. The other two are Arwen and Neiko, but I can't tell who's who without looking at their tails.

That's Arwen on the left--her striped doesn't go all the way to her tail. Ohana shows her belly on the right.

Ohana contemplates pushing the red button. And now for the boys:

Domination games in progress between Mr. Ratburn (double rex) and Misto (standard coat). Rabscuttle (rex coat) referee's.

Mr. Ratburn peeks over the top of the castle.

Arthur the Bald wants none of this silliness.

More birthdays!

Today was Metro and Leather's second birthday! It was also a day to remember their brother, Kono. Yes, we had a birthday party.

Metro enjoys a lab block earlier today.

Metro and Leather lick the frosting from their birthday cake, just as any self-respecting two year old would.

Cake for everyone! There are more pix in the extended entry.

Metro and Leather.

Leather.

Yep, yet another pic of Metro and Leather.

Calle and Metro.

Pinky.

Pinky's birthday!

Happy second birthday to our fuzzy girl.

Here she's getting her Lasix before dinner.

The birthday dinner--what two-year-old wouldn't start with the "cake"?

Once all the frosting is gone...

Then eat the vegetables.

More Rat Pictures

Hope no one is sick of these yet, because we sure aren't.

The boys, all curled up together under their mother's picture. On the left, Mestopholes (Misto) is resting on top of Mr. Ratburn. On the right, Rabscuttle is resting on Arthur.

The girls get groomed beneath their mother's picture. From top to bottom, they are Neiko, Arwen, and Ohana.

Lots of new pictures

The new ratties are settling in, so here are some pictures:

Arthur.

A close up of Arthur, because he is just so cool.

Mr. Ratburn, Arthur's brother.

I tried bribing them with yogies to get them to sit still for a group picture: Mr. Ratburn, Arthur, and Mistoffoles.

Rabskuttle was a little late to the party, but he did a yogie, too.

The new girls and the frat boys are in the extended entry...

Arwen.

The girls in the attempted yogie-bribe picture.

Neiko's purposeful stride.

Neiko and Ohana explore.

The frat boys were not amused by the scents of other rats. They were all a little puffy here.

Jack: Someone's been sitting on my pipe!

Jim: Someone's been peeing on my bed!

George: Someone's been cuddling on my mommy!

New Rats!

About 410 miles and 8 1/2 hours later, Abita and I have returned from northeastern PA with seven rats. Check out our new additions!

Our new boys get their first glimpse of Maryland from the back of my CR-V, at the welcome center just across the Mason-Dixon Line. Front to back, they are Rabscuttle, Mistopholes, Arthur (in the box) and Mr. Ratburn. I think.

Arwen, a girl, checks out Maryland from the back of my truck.

The other two girls came out briefly, then went back into the box. This is Ohana resting on Neiko's butt.

I'll be posting more pictures later, but for now, everyone needs a rest.

Pinky pictures

Meet Rose!

I've adopted a new girl! One of the members of my main rat forum is going to school and had to give up his girl (and college is, to me, a darn good reason to have to adopt out your rat). He was in Fairfax, so at least it was only about a one-hour drive to get her this time. Meet Rose:

We tried to intro her to the girls last night--I'm sorry to say it didn't go smoothly, but we'll try again a few times. We may also intro her to the Rink Rats (they're neutered) if it doesn't work out with the girls. In the meantime, she's in a large cage, with plenty of stuff in there to keep her (I hope!) occupied and amused.

Pictures

It's been awhile since I took rat pictures, so after I formatted a new card this afternoon I thought, why not do it now? Of course, that meant waking rats up...

(The rest in the extended entry.)

George with a feather. This is what I was trying to get...

Finally, a shot of that berk belly!

Jack and George.

Jim in...what else?...a box.

Leather.

Schwatz is shy. I think that may be because, despite the diet, she is still rather, well, obese.

Pinky doesn't care. Take a picture? Sure. take a picture while I eat? Sure. Just don't get between me and the food, lady.

Blackberries

First, a quick update on the boys: both Olie and Kono are doing better. They are still in the one-story cage, but they seem pretty content. I don't think Kono will regain complete use of his back legs, so the retirement condo might be for good, but he isn't completely dragging his feet, either.

Over the weekend we went to a local farm for fruit and vegetables, includin a pint of super-sweet blackberries. I gave one to each rat this evening, and then forgot all about it.

A minute ago I looked in on the girls and almost had a heart attack...Schwartz was sitting on an old t-shirt covered with red stains. I was about to scream for Victor that we had a horrible bleeding emergency when I saw Schwartz licking the red off her paw. Oh yeah...the berries.

The girls are getting a cage cleaning as soon as they are finished with dessert.

Berk belly

George did not want this picture taken.

Feeding frenzy

Witter

Pssst

Knock me over with a feather

fRat Boys

Angelratgirl from RP (and RAATS) had the perfect name for these high-energy guys...the fRat boys.

Schwartz's new diet

I left my book on the bed with the rats while I took the dog out, and returned to find that Schwartz has misunderstood, and tried to eat the diet book.

Jack, who certainly doesn't need to be dieting, decided he wanted a taste, too.

And of course if Jack is eating something, George wants it.

A few more pictures in the extended entry....

Where's Jack's tail?

Jim and Pinky ignored the book completely. They are comfortable with their bodies. (See how Jim grew up? He's almost as big as Pinky now.)

No Rat in the Box entry is complete without a rat in a box.

Happy Easter!

George wasn't sure what to do with all this.

The girls were sure...they wanted to sleep!

The rest of the pictures are in the extended entry...

Jack.

Jim.

Schwartz and Pinky.

Leather.

Pinky.

The other boys are unfortunately a little mitey right now. They did enjoy the plastic eggs (which they chew up like plastic golf balls...go figure.)

Actual rats in boxes

But weren't those April Fools guests cute?

Now back to regularly scheduled rats in boxes.

Jim has grown up, but he looks tiny in this box.

But for scale, here are some, um, more fully-grown rats.

Lots more in the extended entry...

Update on the baby boys

Jim, actually, is clearly not a baby anymore, and I'm seeing Jack and George grow right before my eyes. They are still doing great...lots of wrestling, yes, and I'm not at all sure who is going to emerge as the alpha...but they also groom each other and end up snuggling together in Uncle Bob's old hat.

The little boys

After one week, the baby boys are right at home. I think they have actually grown some, although they are still tiny compared to the adult rats, and even to Jim. They are also very speedy, making in-focus pictures difficult.

They do scuffle, but I've heard very few squeeks and seen no blood or bullying with the three boys. And Jim actually seems protective of them...I can't take Jack or George out of the cage without Jim checking it out.

Witter the Model

Witter is trying a new career as a model:

Put me in, Coach!

I'm bad!

Howdy, ladies.

Let me put out the flames in your heart...

Kisses for my fans!

Easily amused

The girls play with a plastic practice golf ball, the latest favorite cheap rat toy.

Ratpile

Blurry evidence of how amazingly well the boys are getting along after less than 24 hours!

Introducing George and Jack

The next generation of RAATS rats are home!

Victor and I drove down to Chesapeake today to pick up George:

and Jack:

...two beautiful little bundles of energy we hope will be good buddies for Jim.

Now I need to go unload the car...

Picture time

Witter, just after waking up this evening.

The boys, minus dignified Olie, who prefers to sleep alone is a box.

The girls somehow managed to all fit in a tube, but you can see it's testing the limit of the chains.

I am JIM! Hear me ROAR!

Leather out with me last night. I guess giving them my old clothes to play in wasn't such a good idea; now she loves sweatpants.

Jim update...week 3

I'm trying to be very careful with Jim's diet so he won't become as, ahem, well, obese as the other rats around here. Right now, though, he's growing before my eyes and has so much energy that I figure a yogie or two won't be a problem.

Jim is really doing well. We're still letting him out to play with Witter, although with Witt's newfound health issues we aren't going to make them cagemates. I also decided against putting Jim in with the girls...although him chasing them around would probably help them drop a few grams, it didn't seem fair to an active little boy to be stuck with middle-aged ladies.

So, the obvious solution is...more youngsters. I've contacted RAATS in the Carolinas (the rescue organization where I got Bob and Curly) and it looks they have some young guys in foster now. So hopefully in the next few weeks Jimmy will be getting some mates his own age.

'Til then...more in the extended entry!

Jim is still alone in a temporary cage (I don't want to put him by himself in the big Martins, for fear he'll be too territorial when the new boys arrive). I'm trying to give him different cage accessories every couple of days so he doesn't get too bored. He seems to rearrange everything within hours of a cage cleaning anyway, and he's made some very nice nests.

I'd forgotten how much energy a young rat has. Jim is not one for sitting still on my lap while I work on the computer. That's not to say he doesn't like people...he's very social, climbing up your back, across your neck, giving your ear a little nibble...he's just too busy to stay in one place. Here he is peeing on my keyboard.

Priority mail

Lots of new Jim pictures

Jimmy, come out and play...

More pictures in the extended entry...

Chasing Leather.

Chasing Pinky

Chasing Schwartz

Trying to convince Leather he's the alpha already. He's a cheeky little one, all right. I don't think the girls are thrilled that I brought him home, although things haven't gotten ugly.

I'm thrilled with him, though...he's a handful, but he's very sweet and starting to really act like he likes me.

Jim, warming up

He's having no problem marking me as his territory...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Introducing Jim...and Witter

We've put Witter and Jim together for at least 20 minutes every night since Tuesday. Wednesday we moved from the tub to the bed, and that was pretty uneventful.

Last night on the bed, tho, Witter started nipping at Jim--he'd bite, hold on, drag him a bit. He didn't really try to make nice with him, and we cut it short. Before we ended the session, tho, we did notice Jim wasn't exactly afraid of Witter. He was still going up to his side, crawling over his head and peeing on him, as well as crawling over and beneath Witter. We were trying to figure out what it meant.

Today, we figured it out. We put them together on the bed; Jim greeted Witter by crawling over his head and peeing on him. Witter would groom Jim; Jim would either push Witter away, or squirm away, then start climbing over and below Witter.

Also, Jim was not at all afraid, and at times, it almost looked as if Witter was trying to get away from Jim. There was more nipping and grabbing, by both rats.

Suddenly, Jim mounted Witter--a big power move. He mounted him again, then a third time. It was obvious: They both want to be the Alpha.

We let them continue, and to me it seemed their play was a bit more heated. Jim did groom Witter, just a bit, and it was on Jim's terms--not Witter's. Evenually, they both started ignoring each other and we ended the intro session.

***

One thing we'll have to be careful of if we do cage these two together is, basically, adolescence. From ages 3 months to six months or so, male rats get a huge flood of testosterone flowing. This can lead to extra aggresion from a male rat.

Keep in mind Jim is about three months old, just about the time for him to start asserting himself. Witter is certainly bigger than Jim, but they both have razor-sharp chisels for teeth--a real fight between the two of them could be very tragic.

We could have Jim neutered, but we'd like to avoid that if at all possible. After all, Witter still has his testicles. Neutering Jim would put him at a disadvantage.

It's very possible we may be faced with some difficult decisions in the next three months.

Introducing Witter...and Jim

Rats, like people, are social creatures. They do best in groups--a group of rats is a group of healthier, happier rats. So Witter, being an alone rat...it's not right, and having seen his interactions with the other rats, it's obvious he'd like a friend.

I've written before about the attempts we've made at introducing Witter to our other rats. Abita and I adopted Jim, intending to introduce him to Witter (if it doesn't work out with Witter, then we'll intro him to the girls). There's actually a good chance Jim & Witter will work out together: Jim, being smaller and younger then Witter, probably won't appear to be a threat to Witter.

At the same time, Witter hopefully won't feel threatened by Jim.

Jim went to the vet this afternoon for a checkup and received a clean bill of health. We put them together for the first time about an hour ago.

Our first step was to put a dab of vanilla extract on each of their foreheads and rumps, so they won't exactly smell like another rat. Second, we needed a neutral place for them (rats are very terretorial) that would also keep them contained if one tried to escape; the bathtub was perfect for that. Finally, we needed something we could use to seperate them in case of something disasterous: a dust pan.

We put Witter in one end and Jim in the other, and let them find each other. We were watching for signs of agonistic behavior--behavior that meant the introduction wasn't going well. We were fortunate that we saw nothing truly scary--Witter exhibited a little piloerection, but nothing to really alarm us.

A layman, however, might've gotten freaked out when Witter tried to demonstrate his alpha position: he groomed Jim, and Jim squeeked like he was being eaten, which is exactly what it looked like.

I've been groomed by Witter, and I have to confess it's not exactly comfortable. A rat will drag his teeth across your skin, cleaning up dead cells and whatnot. Rats also have very sharp (self-sharpening, in fact) teeth, like little chisels. Imagine little chisels scraping against your skin, very rapidly, and that's what it feels like.

A rat grooms another rat in the face, eye, and shoulder blade areas--places he can't get to himself. Witter groomed Jim, then threw himself below Jim, imposing his alpha position on Jim, by saying I groom you when I want to, and you groom me when I tell you to.

Jim didn't buy it; in fact, he pee'd on Witter. Climbed right over his head and pee'd on him.

Witter went thru the grooming ritual several more times; I can't say I saw Jim groom him in return, but he did lick Witter's fur once. It wasn't exactly a roaring success; OTOH, there was no blood.

No blood is a good sign, and we'll try again tomorrow night. Pictures of the event can be found at this webpage.

Where's Jim?

Sunday

Victor has gotten some good shots of everybody this morning, but of course the star remain Jim...

He built himself quite a nest last night, and he came out for some quality peeing on Mom and Dad time this morning. I think we'll be eating out of his hand...I mean he'll be eating out of our hands...very soon.

Jim update

I could take a billion pictures of him, he's just so cute, but I think it would freak him out. Poor little guy's had his world shaken up a bit today...from his foster mom's house to the shelter, then three hours in a car to our house.

Right now he's in a temporary cage on my desk, bigger than his travel cage, but it's smaller than the Martin's condos. He's got a hammock he's ignored, and a balcony he's ignored, his box and a wooden bridge he's stuffed full of paper towels. He's eating and drinking, but mostly he's sitting in the far corner, looking a bit wary. I got a little worried when I noticed him swaying his head back and forth, but then I remembered reading that PEWs have notoriously bad depth perception and do that to see.

The welcome wagon sent over a couple of yogies. He had no idea what they were, and we should keep it that way to keep him trim and healthy. When we got Witter he didn't know yogies, either. The first time I had to nebulize him, I made the mistake of offering the yogie container so he could take one. Within a nanosecond he had stuffed his cheeks full like a chipmunk and gotten away with a few in his paws, too.

I'm going to turn off the office lights and leave Jim in peace. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be more relaxed and I can post a few megabytes of pictures.

Introducing...

This is Ratty Lumpkin, formerly of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg, Virginia, SPCA. Ratty Lumpkin seems like a mouthful for such a wee little guy, so we'll be calling him Jim.

Click on the thumbnail to see larger images.

Here's Jim at the shelter this morning.

Having a little wash in the car on the way home.

Not very content to sit in Mom's lap...

And his very first Rat in a Box pose.

Putting the cart before the horse

I have to be approved and work out the details...so this cute little PEW is not in any way my rat...and I hope I am not jinxing myself by putting up his picture...

...but isn't he adorable?

Bob pix

Bob, smiling for the camera two nights ago.

Yay!

Bob is eating!!!

Black beans and rice. I should know...always try the black beans and rice.

Rat on a laptop

Leather was all set to help me finish up some pages this weekend, but I tried to get cute and add some image gallery software that messed up the whole site. Instead of new work, I spent the time making sure you could see the old stuff.

My only consolation when the site was down was this picture...I figured if I lost it all, I could start over with "ratonalaptop.com."

Welcome!

We have readers! Thanks, all, for your notes and comments. This may be the kick in the rear I needed to get the rest of the main site content finished. That is my New Year's resolution.

In the meantime...photographic evidence of our lax parenting. Pizza and beer. Please don't report us...tonight's dinner was Mazuri lab blocks and a blueberry.

Extreme Close-Up!

Pinky is such a picture hog. That's Schwartz under the box in the background.

Bob in black & white

A nice artsy picture (thanks, Victor) of Bob and me. Bob is becoming quite the cuddly little guy lately.

Rat therapy

Another day at the rat spa.