Ratling people *img heavy*

[acapae]

I hope this is an ok board to post in, but I thought I'd introduce you to my other pets now too! At the minute I have 7 rats, all of whom are relatively young as the older ones died in the tail end of last year. It feels a bit weird to not have anyone over 2yrs old.

First up are Lanorial (black hooded) and Amdridh (agouti hooded) who're about 20 months old and sisters/ cousins. They were part of a large rescue of ~40 severly malnourished rats at the end of August 2010, and so are both really rather dinky people. dridh is manically very naughty and is always somewhere she's not meant to be, while Norey is calmer and loves cuddles (but still naughty at times!).
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Norey2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/dridh2.jpg

Then we have Zephyr Arkiadera (chocolate agouti), who is, unashamedly, the love of my life. As a result, I find it incredibly difficult to put her character into words. She's 16.5 months old, alpha of the group, and rather brick shaped. Arky is very loving and also very bright - we do clicker training together. A few weeks ago her sister died in horribly sudden circumstances and Arky became incredibly depressed. But I think we're out the other side now as she's almost back to her old self :D
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Arky4.jpg

Next up are Hawthorn Larka (agouti) and Hawthorn Foxtrot (silver fawn) who're 9.5 months old. Larka used to be naughty, in-your-face and a ball of fun, but she had a bad fall in early December and has withdrawn into herself. We're not sure if this is physical or psychological, but she seems happy enough. My housemate calls Foxtrot "Foxblob" because, well, she looks like one. She's not overweight, but her back end grew while her front end didn't - no idea why not! She's a very calm and stoic person, but can be a right pain at the end of free range.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Larka3.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Foxtrot2.jpg

Last but not least are Honeyduke Merrow (black dumbo) and Honeyduke Cerridwen (black) who are 5.5 months old. They are both currently growth spurting and look like sausage-dog-rats. Merrow is a lovely little person, however although she really wants to relax into life, there's always the fear that things (not nesc. new things either) might eat her up. She's got loads better of late and I have high hopes for her as she matures. Wen is one of the most fearless rats I've ever met - always the first to explore anything new, while madly pinging anywhere and everywhere. They are both incredibly human-oritentated, but haven't quite grown into their personalities yet.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Merrow3.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Wen9.jpg


If desired, you can read far too much on everything about them on [my website (http://toothbrushrats.weebly.com)] :lol:

[acapae]

They live in an opened up modded Ferplast Duetto aviary which currently looks like this:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Cages/Feb121.jpg

Here are some photos looking inside from rat pov
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Cages/Feb128.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Cages/Feb126.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Cages/Feb129.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/acapae/Rats%20post%2009/Cages/Feb124.jpg

[Lynternette]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! They're beautiful. It would be unfair to pick a favourite as it would be just colouring and not personality. You have quite a little family to look after. Their cage is brilliant and must have taken a while to design. I suppose whoever had them just let them breed willy nilly and then couldn't be bothered.

[KatiePillow]

They look lovely, I read through your change of the cage last night (was procrastinating from work) and you really did wonders with it, :)

[fluffymunchkins]

Theres quite a few rat fans on the forum :) I love love love your lot!

The cage looks so good too, cleverly done x

[Amethyst_ice]

awwww they look lovely..in fact familiar...are you on FR?

love your topaz and cage is awesome, i want a chocolate as well, in fact just squee squee! x

[MzWiz0915]

They are beautiful! And it looks like they're spoiled in such wonderful cages :) Thanks for sharing

[Scarlett]

Loving Merrow and Honeyduke! I've always had a soft spot for rats with blue eyes. Looks like you have a humongous family there! I love all your babies, and their cage is just naturally creative! You did a wonderful job. Hugs for caring for all these little ones. xxx

[stikystuff]

They are all beautiful. I've never had a rat or considered myself a rat person but recently I have been thinking about owning a little rattie or two. I doubt this will ever happen as my father hates rats and even though I haven't lived with him for 10 years I can't imagine him popping over for tea if he knows a rat is in my house. Hes bad enough with the hamsters and gerbils we have :-) Thank you for sharing your photos.

[Lucinda]

Particularly love Zephyr Arkiadera - what a beautiful coat!

[acapae]

Sorry for the slow reply - I was away for an extended weekend :)

I suppose whoever had them just let them breed willy nilly and then couldn't be bothered.
Norey and dridh? I'm not sure I'm at liberty to share the specific details, but it was essentially a run of accidents (they were meant to be seperated by sex) and appalling housing. I mean actually ridiculous - at the time of rescuing there were 27 rats (5 mums and their babies) 'living' in the main ovo loft pod thing. The friend who rescued them broke the speed limit several times driving home with them as there were bodies blocking tubes and she was scared of suffocation/ lack of being able to move to find moisture risk :(

They look lovely, I read through your change of the cage last night (was procrastinating from work) and you really did wonders with it, :)
Whoot, procrastination! I find it really hard now to remember what the cage was like before, so it's handy having that thread hehe.

Thank you for all the cage compliments too. Setting homes up well is my 'thing'. I like them to have enriching layouts and to be challenged mentally and physically. I also have fairly high standards in terms of muscle tone/ condition, and having lots of climbing/ stretching/ jumping/ balancing is the easiest way to have longterm healthy rats.

awwww they look lovely..in fact familiar...are you on FR?
acapae_wolf over there - sorry, thought you'd realised :lol:

Loving Merrow and Honeyduke! I've always had a soft spot for rats with blue eyes.
Oops, sorry, I didn't think to clarify names. Norey and dridh only have one name each because they're rescues. The other rats have the prefix of their breeder too - and the second name is 'their name'.
Arky (I hardly ever call her Arkiadera) is from Zephyr Rats (http://www.zephyrrats.co.uk)
Larka and Foxtrot are from Hawthorn Rats (http://hawthorn.ratvarieties.com)
And Merrow and Cerridwen are from Honeyduke Rats - Home (http://honeydukerats.weebly.com)

But blue eyes? Is your computer on weird settings? They all have black eyes except for Foxtrot who has pink eyes :)

They are all beautiful. I've never had a rat or considered myself a rat person but recently I have been thinking about owning a little rattie or two.
Definately 2 or 3 minimum rather than one; they're not a species that can be kept alone. They're really good pets, but much more labour intensive than hamsters (even demanding Syrians) or gerbils. Anfreda was my 'pet for when I wanted a break from pets' lol.

I shall pass on all the compliments to them hehe.

[jodiecanwell90]

What a lovely bunch!