Blended family 🤗 (some rescue babies in with Annie’s current litter)
Another exquisite litter who will be staying in the rattery. Mum (Lucy) has been amazing, allowing me to handle and play with her babies from day one. Just gorgeous 😋
The two litters who belonged to two of our best girls (Abbey & Luney), both fathered by one of our oldest and healthiest males (Lucas), have turned 6 months old, been parasite treated and moved to our potential male breeder enclosure. It will be a while before any of them are selected to breed and only the healthiest and friendliest will be chosen. All of these boys (12 from the two litters) are outgoing, gentle, healthy and very friendly. Excuse my little son in the back ground towards the end 😊
Just a quick vid of Abbey and her babies (yes I got a finger caught - I’m sorry 😱)
Sorry about the camera angle 🤦🏽♀️... health check, parasite treatment and soil renewal for the older boys
Abbey normally just has free run of the house as her time off from babies, but because we have dogs (not to mention my hubby’s rat phobia 😂😜)... for her safety (and hubby’s) I’ve made up a large cage with hidden treats to put her in whenever she wants out of the nursing cage (she plucks the bars when she wants her time 😘). This way I don’t need to worry about keeping an eye on her.
Abbey loves people... but hates other animals 😂
Little girl had her litter... not sure how many but there’s more than 12, I’m quite sure 😜.
Some of our Hilton enclosure girls. About 5 months old and our potential future breeders. The resilience of these little guys is really encouraging... they come from a very robust, long lived and healthy line. All the boxes have been ticked for them to become breeders... not to mention a heck of a lot of work and record keeping. It’s worth it to make these amazing pets the healthiest and happiest they can possibly be 💪🏻
Love watching rats in slow motion. Sorry, Abbey.... you need to stay put tonight 😬😜
*Update - little man passed last night*
Kitty had some real trouble giving birth today... this little man I found cast aside in the cage and on his last legs... he’d had some bad bleeding from being trampled by his mum and was bruised all over his body.. I kept him warm in my top all day and allowed him to get back his circulation.. he’s doing well now aside from some damaged limbs from the bruising... the whole litter have been placed with a foster Mum (Ginger, our champion red head).. how great if he pulls through! I’ve never seen rats like these survive but I’m hoping I got to him just in time 🤞🏻
Girls have taken all their hay underground for nesting.. might have to reapply some more I think 😝
We’ve now assessed all of our adult females for breed ability and the non breeder quality (unknown history, rescue or unsuitable temperament) have now all been moved to their permanent abode. They will form relationships with each other and rest assured that their future with their colony is secure. The first few females have created an underground network already.. I’m looking forward to seeing the contributions these newer introductions make to the burrows.. currently the girls, having never met each other, are going through their forming - storming - norming introductions... a couple of scuffles so far (which is to be expected initially).
It’s that time of year when we get ready for the cold and bunker down. There are a few litters still available but breeding slows rights down during winter. Ratties are being arranged, moved, health checked, parasite treated and assessed for next season. Every season we hope to be better than the last and huge leaps have been made in the last l12 months in improving the quality of heath, lifespan and temperament of these amazing little guys. God I love them.. we have too many to get to know individually, but they are all individually valued all the same.
We’ve moved the non breeder/rescue girls into the cage formally used for the breeder boys.. our rescue/non breeder girl number is growing so they need some more space. It will take them about an hour to create some nice warm burrows.. get moving girls!!
Our baby girls have graduated to the Hilton cage where they will stay to be assessed for potential breeding. As usual, only the best of the best will POTENTIALLY be bred from and only when they pass our health and temperament tests. This won’t be any time in the next 6 months
The Luney and Abbey boys waiting until their new eco enclosure is ready.
These guys are from two of our best sibling females and the same amazing father. They’re getting a bit crowded in their cage now that they’re growing up a bit. These boys will live in their eco for the next year or so and will be assessed during this time for breeding quality. Then only the best who show superior health and temperament will potentially breed with the appropriate females. The longevity of their mothers will affect this decision also (the litter of the longest living mother will take precedence for breeding potential)
Moving day for our “Hilton” girls (the girls who live in the cage we call the Hilton).. they’ve been residing in this cage for about 3 months and over due for a change of scenery. We’re also moving the Hilton to another location and boy wasn’t that a tough job - doing it in the rain made it all the more difficult. 200kg of cage we had to negotiate over rocks and around corners.
Hello wildie girls... guess what? It’s enclosure moving day 😁
