This is a video of my second youngest current litter, just a couple days older than the babies in the "birds" litter in my previous posted video. These babies are the sweetest thing, I just can't get over how amazing they are! They're not socialized, this is just how the are genetically. Unless I fall in love with one or two babies temperaments, all will be available. The same as the other litter, there are four standard sized and five dwarf. They are a mix of Martin, Martin silvermane, Siamese, and black. All are black-based.
No, a couple have tail injuries from being overgroomed by mom, but they are happy healthy and show no signs of discomfort, playing and popcorning and being curious ❤️
So. Many. SWEET babies 😍😍😍
All of these babies are to die for! This is my youngest litter. I'll be posting another Post right after this one of a litter that's just a couple days older than this one. Same father, mothers are littermate sisters.
I shall title this litter "birds" So they will all have bird theme names.
3 litters of 9, all about one week apart in age. 5 dwarf in 2 litters, and 4 dwarf in another (the last post with all the pictures is the litter with 4 dwarf). I didn't plan to keep any babies from these litters but their temperaments are to die for so I may keep a couple from each. I'm not sure yet. That being said, nearly all will be available but until I know for sure if I'm keeping a couple, or who, I'm not going to take deposits for any just yet however, if you have your eye on any in particular feel free to message me which pear or trio, because if they become available, those are the people I will reach out to first.
I was trying to get some pictures of the beautiful satin coats most of these babies have, and had to take a video instead because this baby is so incredibly sweet and needs to be shared 🥰
Satin: incredibly silky soft coat that when young babies, looks greasy, but is super soft and as adults their fur stays super silky and soft, even for males.
Video of our current litter and both parents. It's long but adorable!
Also, dad is featured towards the end.
These 7 week old silly, mischievous clown twins (born 8/24/22) are available! Watch the whole video with sound for details then PM if interested!
Some quick updates:
There were unanticipated issues with litters; very small litters or reabsorbed just a day or two prior to due date. All of our females and males are quite old so I should have expected it, but with how young they all act, I forgot that age could affect their fertility.
That being said, Fern reabsorbed her litter the day she was to give birth; her belly was huge and she bled a little, but no babies. She is fine and has been slowly shrinking back to her normal size. I bred her nearly identical daughter who had just 2 babies. Clover only had 1 baby girl, and Freya also reabsorbed. Females who reabsorb aren't bred again since risks are increased.
I paired one of my 1 year old females who lives with a friend to one of my males. This rat gave birth to 4 beautiful babies but tragically, she suffered a stroke when the babies were just 5 days old. She was syringe fed and we did everything we could to nurse her back to recovery. Her babies were fostered to Clover (who is an excellent mom and foster mom) but we let mama spend time with her babies, who she still would try to nurse. After 3 days she started to get better, only to pass suddenly the following day... she was such a great rat and mom... it was heartbreaking :(
A really old but very healthy female was bred for my longevity project (olivia), but just a couple days before she was due (she was huge!) she got really sick with her first ever respiratory symptoms. I made the difficult decision to save her vs the unborn babies and I put her on strong antibiotics for her best chance of survival, and she made a full recovery! The babies were reabsorbed.
I'm not sure where my breeding plans will take me next, but I do have some planned pairings! I'll be holding off on sharing what they are until/if babies are born since the birthing rate here has been so unreliable. Do stay tuned over the next couple months, though!
In the mean time, enjoy Fern's daughter's 2 baby boys, Alvin (black eye white) and Mi