Rat Time

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, I've just been caught up with life. But I'll make up for it with all the pics I have so far of the rats (sent to me by their awesome breeder).



Three day pics:

Girls, with boys visible in background:

The three Dalmatian girls, one of whom is destined to be mine:

The runt of the litter, also destined to be mine:




The runt again, now almost a week old:



And the latest pictures, only recently taken:


The three Dalmatian girls (one of whom is mine)

The runt:

And lastly a few group-photos, taken at the same time as the last two:




And, finally, the news. Yes, I have named my rats!! The runt is Midna and the dalmatian is Zelda (the names are a reference to the Wii and Gamecube game, Twilight Princess, for those of you who are familiar).

Welcome!

Yes, they're here!! They were born yesterday, three days later then expected, but welcome nonetheless. I have not yet seen them in person, and probably will not for several weeks --until I go to pick my ratties up-- but their breeder was kind enough to send me a picture of them. There are ten pups in all, five boys (right) and five girls (left) and they are five hours old in the picture. They are very large for pups, and are almost certainly going to be berkshires, according to Miss Leslie.

Well, now the only thing left to do is wait for them to be old enough that I can take home a pair. Excited excited excited!! :D

Home Sweet (Rattie) Home

Ok, picked up the cage (and a few toys, how could I not?) today, and everything's all set up and waiting for the ratties. ;)

It's 30"L X 18"W X 30"H, and came equipped with a hammock:



Along with that, I bought a litter box for training:



I also bought a ladder, which didn't come with it, (you can see it in the first picture of the whole cage) and a few chew toys. The food dish was included, and I already have a water bottle for them.

Now all I need is the rats!!!!!!!

I <3 Rats

I've wanted a pet rat for a long time, but never really expected my parents to like the idea or to take it seriously. Well, the votes are in and they've decided that I can buy a pair of rats, so long as I care for them. That includes feeding, training, playing, and, yes, cleaning.

Once that had been decided the next step was to find a place to GET rats. The pet store sells them, of course, but that was a no-no for several reasons:

1. Animals bought at a pet store and not from a breeder are quite often in poor health.

2. Rats are very intelligent and anything a rat learns sticks with him/her for a VERY long time. Any adult rat is bound to come with a whole set of habits, many of which are not desirable.

3. Rats have very short life spans (an average of two years in captivity, if there are not health problems), and if you buy an adult you never know how much time you'll have with him/her.

4. If you start with a pup (not available at pet stores) it can be trained much easier.

So, with these things in mind, we set out to find a breeder. We were very lucky, as the very day we decided for sure that rats were the pets for us (well, me, really), we found a breeder.

Now, ideally I wanted dumbo rats, which have a rounder shape and ears that are on the side of their head rather than the top. Lucky for us, the breeder we found has some dumbos and was willing to breed them for us. Based on the other traits of the pair she bred, my rats will be quite a bit larger than your average rat and of an agouti coloring.

Well, all this was weeks ago, and I've been waiting eagerly for the arrival of the tiny pups.

Now the date of their birth is determined, and I can't believe how soon they'll be here!! They are scheduled to be born on the 12th, (yes, of this month!!! :D :D :D) and after that I just have to wait about six weeks for them to be weened before I can have two adorable rat pups to take home. ;) In fact, we're heading to the pet store today to buy them a home. I'll post pics of the cage once we get it set up, and once the rats are home, you can bet this blog will be filled with pictures of their ratty antics. =]

My Dragon Eggs

Trying out a new site, about dragons and raising them. I just started, and it's really fun!! Anyway, plz help out my eggs (or hatchlings, or adults) with a click or two! [plz make sure to click them all!! Thx!! :-D ]

Hello, sun! :D Hello, gnats. -_-

After a cold (by our standards at least) winter it's great when things finally start to warm up. It's warm enough now for t-shirts, sandals, and shorts. Of course, with the sun comes the gnats. But that's what you get for living near a marsh. [maybe I'll get to take a picture of the marsh and post it sometime....It really is lovely].

For those of you who don't have gnats where you live, they light on your arms, legs, and any other skin they can get to. Then the acidic liquid on their legs burns tiny bits of your skin and melts it so that they can lick it up with their long tongues.... >_<

Gross, I know. And more than a little painful. But I for one am still grateful for the warm weather. And as for the gnats, it could be a whole lot worse.

Moral of the day: Be content with what you have, and don't complain as much as I do. ;-)

Hawk

I was on a walk with my sister and her oldest daughter, and we saw all sorts of things. Most notably, we saw a hawk.

It was at the local soccar field, sitting on the very top of one of the goals, staring at us.

We scared it, though, and had to leave. On our way back from the park, it was there again, with another.

This time they let us get very close to them -suprisingly enough, since my niece was bouncing around and being rather loud.

We were only a few feet away from them when we turned back for fear of scaring them.

I think they live nearby, so I'll try to go and see them again. Maybe next time I can get a picture of them, I'll certainly try.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A. . .

Dog! My dog! I wanted you to see her, so, here she is! :D My little Fuzzy. <3