no new pictures yet...

[ratcreature]

...but I think I'm able to tell the two gray ones apart in good light when I look closely. I hope. Also I'm making inroads into recognizing the black ones without looking under their belly. Still, somewhat challenging. I've decided to name the all black one Kieran, the black with the tiny white belly stripe Oskar, and for the minks I kept the name Rusty (well I think I kept the name for the right one) and renamed the other to Silas.

They are still quite shy, and are mostly camping out just in the upper part of the cage rather than claiming everything, though I've seen Silas (I think) explore a bit more in the lower modules. But their appetite is very good (tiny rats eat a lot, as fast as they are growing). Already they are not really bothered by my hand in the cage, and Kieran in particular even came a few times to my hand to groom it a bit and let himself be petted a little. A super soft fluff ball!

Comments

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

Guinea pigs probably "tame" differently than rats do. They have a...window, an age where they need to be handled. If not, then they'll never trust or relax with humans.

[ratcreature]

Well, rats have a socializing window too. When they have too little contact with humans as young ones, they remain somewhat skittish. I think that is the same for all mammals. I mean, you have to socialize little dogs and cats too, and humans have limited windows too, stuff that needs to happen for a toddler. But that's not really an issue here. They are just separated from their mother, so still very young. Five weeks is the earliest you can take them. And coming from a hobby breeder, they already had plenty of human contact. They just need time to get used to not being with their mother and in all new surroundings.

Years ago I got some rats from a pet store as a teenager those were at least eight or nine weeks, and were pregnant from the crappy pet store, so they had a litter and would defend their young so they remained reserved much longer and for a while I could only reach into the cage with leather gloves. They still became as tame as any of my rats eventually.

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

So sweet! Little shy buddies!

[ratcreature]

I expect they will be a bold handful soon enough. :)