rat picspam

[ratcreature]

Because journals are for your cat rat pictures, here are the few that aren't entirely blured or just a vanishing tail or the like:













Trust building proceeds slowly, but surely. They still startle easily, and I can't pick them up yet, but all will let themselves be petted to varying degrees and come halfway onto my arm, i.e. two feet still safely in the cage. Silas and Kieran even dared to venture fully onto me with all four feet as long as my arm is still next to the cage. Rusty and Kieran both started grooming me and nibbling on my hair.

Comments

[krait]

Aaaaah, there are few things cuter than rodents eating! I think it's because of their forepaws -- they have such cute little front feet that watching them eat with them is adorable. :D

That last photo is particularly awesome, because: leetle rat paw! Whiskers! Shiny black eyes! These are the cutest things about rats. Okay, also the ears. :D And the nose-twitching.

Are they all boys? If not, will you have to separate them before they mature? (Presumably one can have rats neutered/spayed if one has a rodent-savvy vet, so perhaps you're planning to go that route instead?)

[ratcreature]

Those are all boys. They need to be separated at this age already, because while tiny and far from mature, they can be fertile by week 5-6. You can see they are boys because of their testicles at the base of the tail. Male rats have a bulge there, females don't. They are very easy to distinguish.

[krait]

Heh, yes, I could tell that at least some of them were boys. :D Rodents tend not to leave anyone in any doubt about that! (It's also why my future rats will be female... Sorry, boy!rats, you are cute but your giant balls freak me out a bit. Though they also make me think of my pet store coworker facing a small child's question about a hamster, and her straightfaced "that's his butt".) *giggles*

[ratcreature]

I don't mind. I mean, they are furry like the rest of them, and not dangling in your face or anything, so as far as testicles go they are quite okay. I remember when my brother first saw male baby rats up close some years ago (mind he long was an adult then, so no clueless kid) he didn't realize what those were either, and wondered whether the rats were constipated. I was ROTFLOL, because seriously, you'd think a guy would recognize his own gender's genital parts when he sees them.

[marinarusalka]

Aww. They look very sweet.

[ratcreature]

It's a bit too early to see much of their characters, but I hope they'll turn out friendly and cuddly.

[lilacsigil]

They're lovely! Do they grow much bigger than they are now? I look forward to many pictures!

[ratcreature]

Yes, they grow much bigger. I mean, there is quite a variation with males (I had some who were 400g only to over 700g and most of that not fat, but size), but grown they are usually just a bit shorter than you forearm when they sit on it, not counting the tail length.

[basingstoke]

WEE RATLINGS! What cute boys.

[ratcreature]

They are extremely cute. Though they are behaving somewhat differently from my previous baby rats, with the lack of manic activity and reluctance to venture outside they've displayed so far.

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

Grooming you!! Nibbling! The habitat looks very interesting. Did you build it?

[ratcreature]

No, that's an Unidom cage they developed to suit rats. (I still have an older model, bought some years ago, the current ones are a bit different.) It's a company that does metal work and developed a side business in high quality animal cages. It's modular, so you can stack the metal modules on top of each other and/or to the side if you need larger habitats. They aren't cheap (though not that expensive either considering the size), but large and being made from metal they are more durable than if you convert cabinets or the like. Their empty cage when it isn't lined with newspaper looks like this:

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

THAT IS SO BAD-ASS!!! What a good mommy you are! AMAZING!!!

[ratcreature]

Most cages in pet stores aren't really suited to rats, and the small doors suck when you want to interact with them inside the cage or clean it. This cage you can mostly just take the old newspaper out, wipe the levels down and are done, and for intensive cleaning you can pull the middle levels out and remove the stairs. I used to have one of those cages you have to take apart to clean, and that was horrible to do every week, and it only had three level and was much smaller (though I only kept two rats in it).

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

It's so beautiful and you can tell it was thoughtfully designed just for them. That makes me happy.

[katharos-8.livejournal.com]

They're adorable! So bright eyed.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, young rats are extremely cute.

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of EXTEEME close ups of Little Bits nose.

"What's this? Can I eat it?"

[ratcreature]

yeah, that starts to happen once they aren't timid anymore.

[bluemeridian]

They're adorable! And that cage looks amazing in the comment up there - it seems like an excellent habitat for them.

[ratcreature]

The cage was quite an expense for me, but definitely worth the money, because it's relatively easy to clean and it has a decent size. Most rodent cages you see in pet stores are a bad joke.