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.