Love is in the air?

I read somewhere that natal rat males need to actually actively chase the female for better breeding success.

Well....last night those little guys were ALL OVER the place! Jumping around, squeaking, running...I'm assuming this was the er "love dance". Never have I seen them so CRAZY.

And I hope its love! But hey, we wont know till Cupid starts to look like a fat pear.

The pet shop I got my natals from had new litters (pinkies are so cute! and have hair on them from the start) and they also had some natals for $1! I was tempted but later found out those particular ones were SUPER nippy. The shop owners were glad to see how sweet my two were and that they looked happy in a good home.

More Out Time

Everyday, at least once a day, I pull the little rats out and have them crawl all over me and the bed for as long as I think they are happy with it. I put them back in their cage once they start being quick on your hands and become more of a task to handle.

I used to only take them out one at a time because Cupid was a bit crazy but she's calmed down lots and is more manageable. Lucky is now EXTRA easy to handle so if he wanders a bit too far I usually don't worry about him and he usually comes back anyway.

I have 2 shirts on and put them under the top one. They were both in my sleeves and on my shoulders, grooming each other and being generally warm and toasty.

When I tried to get Cupid out so I can put them away, she didn't want to come peacefully! She wanted to continue burrowing into my sleeves and though the layers of fabric. I had to trap her in my sleeve and then basically push her out that way hehe :P

They are also getting MUCH better when it comes to their potty control. I've has tons of out time where I didn't have to clean up a thing! Only when something REALLY freaks em out like someone suddenly opening the door, do they ever leave anything for me to clean up.

Soft furred rats can make super fantastic pets! :)

NOOOO WAY!

I saw a video of a rat swimming in a VERY shallow bath tub and though to myself, HMMM I wonder if my rats would like to swim?

So I put not even an inch of warm water into the bath tub and brought the little fuzzies into the bathroom. I put them into the tub and they began to jump almost clear out the tub! Lucky was just plain NOT HAPPY with the whole thing. Cupid was a bit more tolerant but I could tell she didn't like it much to want to stay.

So these rats don't seem like they enjoy water unless its in a bottle for them to drink. I wont try to get these 2 to swim anymore but I may try with any offspring they have since like I said...Cupid wasn't TOO freaked out.

After the adventure they had squeaky clean feet and bellies ;)

New Bedding

I know...I haven't updated in a while...i'll make up for that :)

A few days ago, I got a different bedding for the rats. I wanted to try something new because they waste tons of food by burring it and I keep giving them food to waste thinking they ate it or something.

I got this Kaytee minty bedding. I was afraid at first that it may irritate their respiratory system but right away they seemed perfectly fine about. They didn't sneeze like when I added new clean carefresh bedding. Also the smell is not very strong at all. It's a light minty smell. It's got random twigs in it (i guess from the mint) and they LOVED to find these and gnaw on them.

Its like soft pebbles in all different sizes and some are green so its PRETTY and the ratties like to move it all around and chew on it.

I'll update again on the bedding after I clean out the cage as far as if its dusty or not. I've been noticing the deeper I get into the bag of carefresh, the dustier the cage is when I go and clean it out.

Size...it DOES matter :P

I took a few pics of my fuzz butts to show their difference in size to each other and their size so far in my hand.

So here is Lucky and Cupid in my hand to show their relative size. They grow so fast haha

Here is a shot to show how much Cupid has grown since December. The first image is now. The second image is what she used to look like compared to Lucky.

Birthdays

I don't know Lucky and Cupid's actual birthday but I can make some general birthday assumptions...if we got Lucky in November, then he was born in October and if we got Cupid in December, she must have been born in November.

They were weaned so maybe about 4 weeks old each rattie.

That means Lucky is about 4-5 months old now and Cupid is about 2-3 months old.

Lucky can be born on Halloween (hehe my FAVE holiday) and Cupid can be born on Thanksgiving (yummy) ♥

Fighting for the Fortune

I thought this was pretty funny :P
I opened the door to the rats cage and of course they both come running to see what I'm doing. I grab a fortune cookie and open it, taking out the actual paper fortune. Lucky grabs it, runs away with it, and Cupid tries to fight him for the fortune. They both went at it for some silly reason haha. maybe because it smelled like food. Was still pretty amusing :P

Just general updates...

Both the rats are healthy and happy, active and bright eyed. Cupid is almost on the same level of tame and calm as Lucky is. At night they are both pretty feisty and are hard to catch to take out of the cage so I try to spend the most cuddle time earlier in the day when they are still sleepy. Fingers and hands placed in the cage get a good going over by the rats...just in case there is food attached somewhere...

Over all VERY good little pets ♥ very calm when it come to noises and other animals. My dogs will go up to the cage and sniff at them and the rats will go and try to sniff em back and I showed the rats to my mom...she screamed bloody murder and they didn't even flinch. I guess after getting used to laser fire, explosions and zombie sounds, nothing can phase these little guys...except maybe the crinkle of paper. For some reason crinkling paper bags, plastic bags, or chip bags really freak these little guys out.

I dont think Cupid is old enough to have babies yet. She is still smallish but I'm in no rush. I'm enjoying my little fuzz balls like you wouldn't believe! But there will be babies...this is a pair of rodents after all...so stay tuned if that's what you are waiting for :P

What I got for the Ratties

So they can travel in style and comfort haha. The rats stay and my boyfriend's house because my mother HATES them but when she goes out and wants us to watch the house, she lets me bring Cupid and Lucky with since she won't be around to see them. I figured this would be a good buy so they can come travel without any injuries or trauma. Then when we get to where we are going they can go back into the big cage. This isnt anything for them to actually STAY in...just something for them to ride in the car safely and comfortably.

I also picked up one of these hanging tunnels and an extra little bed. I had to clean the other one and I didn't want to leave them bed less haha XD They like the tunnel and of course LOVE the little bed. They appreciate every little thing you put in their cage even if its ripped up paper ♥