Legacy Rattery

19/11/2022

Playing with Praline’s baby girls this morning. All are sweet and outgoing, rushing the cage door. What do I do with the one that keeps trying to run into my mouth? lol. She may be a keeper.
Note: this cage is bigger than it looks! We’ll be taking photos of Praline’s babies this weekend, and contacting folks that have been patiently waiting. The next two litters, from Marshmallow and Esme, will be photographed in the following week or two and individuals available will be shared with wait list folks. If you joined the wait list more recently, please be patient!

17/11/2022

Maple and Cajun just had a healthy litter of beans!

17/11/2022

We keep seeing more evidence that rats are special companions! Not only can they empathize with humans… they can rock out with us too. 🙂

17/11/2022

More baby pics (updated)!

17/11/2022

Some of our younger litters, all beauties! (And another, just born, no pics yet!) We will update this weekend. 🥰

17/11/2022

Some of Praline’s girls, all sweet as pie! ❤️ 🐀
Born 10/9/22.

05/11/2022

Update 11/7 - the updated litter photo shows that at just four days old, these babies have interesting markings and shades of color developing.

Litter announcement!
Esme and Saint had 14 adorable beans on November 3. Babies should all be Harley, with dumbo ears.

01/11/2022

Halloween babies! Last night Marshmallow had 15 little beans. Mom and dad are the sweetest! Although they look like little alien life forms now, in a few weeks they will grow fur (by one week), open their eyes (2 weeks) and be playing, wrestling and cuddling (3+ weeks). We will be posting photos as they grow. We expect a mix of black eyed and red eyed Siamese and Himalayan babies, with velveteen and standard coats.

01/11/2022

In July, this gorgeous boy, pearl and velveteen with dumbo ears, will be going to our friend Angelika, breeder at Krewe du Mischief in New Orleans. His grandmother, Cashew, was bred by KDM. He is just over 3 weeks in this photo. ❤️ 🐀

01/11/2022

Babies! Just a little over three weeks. ❤️

29/10/2022

An age old question…

In case you wanted to know! (Donna)

28/10/2022

Asking for VET RECOMMENDATIONS, North Carolina. (Triangle/Triad, wherever people ask…)
We were contacted by someone looking for a vet to safely spay a female rat at a reasonable price. Her current vet charges $600. Any recommendations? Photos for attention only.

25/10/2022

Praline and Serena babies. Our beautiful doe Chamomile is pregnant, along with a couple other girls. stay tuned for updates!

14/10/2022

Praline and her nine little beans + two being fostered by Selena, who had only two. This is why we set up multiple pairs for breeding. Babies from a large litter have less competition for milk if a few can be fostered to another mom, and fewer babies mean less physical stress on the mom with a large litter. And if the litter is very small, a couple foster babies can help stimulate better milk production. Mama rats are amazing, and very accepting of foster babies. We want all of our babies to have the best start in life. We will probably hold back (keep) 3 or 4 of Praline’s babies and both of Selena’s We will make our decisions when they are 4-6 weeks, then release those available to individually reserve to folks on the wait list. Babies can go home at 8+ weeks to pet homes only, contingent on an approved habitat. We place same s*x pairs or more, no single rat adoptions. No worries, we have more coming!

08/10/2022

Update: on Sunday evening, 10/9 Praline gave birth to a large, healthy litter. Mom and babies are doing fine! Photos coming soon!

Litterwatch!
Sweet Praline is about to burst! She is a beautiful, outgoing cinnamon girl with a gorgeous velveteen coat. She combines great genetics from Krewe du Mischief in New Orleans and Legacy Rattery. This will be a beautiful litter. We expect great temperament and health. Fingers crossed for an easy labor and delivery! The last two pics were taken a couple days ago. Even heavily pregnant, our mischievous girl is still an escape artist. We caught her dancing on her cage before she came to say hello. ❤️ 🐀 we are expecting cinnamon, pearl, cinnamon pearl, and mink babies, with velveteen and standard coats.

01/10/2022

Update: Serena had a tiny litter last night. ❤️ Mom seems fine and is nursing. We will be reporting on the babies later this weekend. Just giving her some space. She is not protective at all. We just prefer to let new moms have alone time with their beans. Babies from this litter will be staying with us.

It is early for an upcoming litter announcement, but🤞! Selena has gained 50 g in the last two weeks. If she has a successful pregnancy with Cajun (from Angelika at Krewe du Mischief in New Orleans) the babies will be amazing.

27/09/2022

Dwarf update:
Lisa K sent is this update on the two dwarf boys she got from us back in February. We expect to have some dwarf babies ready for homes near the end of the year. We will post on litters as they are born.

“Just wanted to send you an update on the two rats we got for my 15 year old daughter. They are the sweetest little critters. She likes the show Grey’s Anatomy so she named them Grey and Sloane. 😂”

25/09/2022

Adopter Kailee sent us this adorable video!
“This was my friend’s first time ever meeting a rat. These girls have been so wonderful!!”

02/09/2022

27/08/2022

Great photo from adopter Claire:
“Hiding with my Hooman”

10/08/2022

We so appreciate your updates!
This one made our day. Thank you, Becca, for sharing photos and videos of your sweet boys Luda (Siamese) and Nicodemus (blazed Burmese). We love your cage setup, and can see that your boys are thoroughly spoiled (as they should be!) ❤️ 🐀🐀

10/08/2022

One of several dwarf boys that is going to my good friend Trish Cates, who is one of the kindest animal lovers I know. She asked if I had any Siamese for her and I sent her this photo. Any pet of Trish and Steve’s is going to have a wonderful life!

31/07/2022

Fall-Winter Wait list
Just about all the babies from our last three litters, born May-June, are spoken for or are already with their new owners. We will be planning for several litters this fall, including at least one litter of dwarves. We will be breeding to advance our goals of improved healthy lifespan and great temperament. If all goes as planned we hope to have babies available for reservation October-November, and ready to go home (at 8 weeks) November-December. Stay tuned for updates! Message our page if you are interested in being included on the Fall-Winter waitlist. Recent photo of some of our retired dwarf breeder boys for fun.

18/07/2022

So true.

13/07/2022

Question: Where can I learn about training my rat to do tricks?

Shadow the Rat is a fantastic resource for rat care, bonding and trust building, and trick training.

07/07/2022

Update on (Jumbo) Shrimp, our single baby, almost 10 weeks old. He is growing up to be a handsome boy. The second photo is a current one of his father, Flounder, who is a little over 2 years 1 month. Flounder is slowing down some, but still sweet and healthy. We are excited about adding Shrimp to our group of breeding males in the future. Before we breed males, at 12-18 months, we monitor respiratory health, general health, sociability with other males, and tameness with people. Shrimp is still young, but so far he is amazing!

22/06/2022

RAT BREEDER RED FLAGS
To consider when you are selecting a breeder for pet rats. Posted with permission from Hannah Mathews.

"...To try and assist new prospective rat keepers to get the best guidance and experience possible- I’m sharing a list of BREEDER RED FLAGS drafted by me and some friends. If you’re a new or long term rat keeper take a look at this list and see if you ethically align with these. You don’t have to agree with all- but start with reflecting on *why* this list is the way it is and hopefully it will influence your breeder selection in the future. This applies to rats but I’m sure can be adjusted for other small rodents."

Remember: adopt or shop RESPONSIBLY

RAT BREEDER RED FLAGS:
- allows for a single baby to go home. Baby rats need same age(!) company so it’s always recommended to get at least 2 or 3 is even better.
- Has lots of babies available at once. This implies they breed on a large scale. Breeding on a large scale makes it difficult to track the health of individual litters and there’s no way they can rehome that many babies unless they’re breeding for feeders also.
- If they breed an unethical variety and you decide you’re okay with that- it is a red flag if they are not willing to discuss potential health concerns in their lines.
- They will not disclose where their foundation rats came from. Likely implying they came from a pet store or a feeder breeder.
- Uses the incorrect terminology for coat types and colors. Or thinks that dumbo rats are different/bigger and friendlier
- Doesn’t want to show the housing and breeding cages
- Let’s babies go home too young. 8+ weeks is best
- Light colored rats appear yellowish (this is from urine staining)
- Won’t provide advice/help with health concerns after adoption
- uses solely fleece or newspaper in the cages (or recommends fleece or newspaper to you)

21/06/2022

WE WILL TAKE PHOTOS OF INDIVIDUALS FOR RESERVATION NEXT WEEKEND
Wait list folks, thank you for your patience! This past weekend, an extended power outage and then taking good care of the (human) dads on Sunday had us put off the individual photoshoot for Melisandra's litter. Also, her babies love their mama so much, we are waiting until next weekend to separate the boys from mama and girls. The boys will got into a spacious cage with some older juveniles, to learn to socialize with other males. By next weekend mom will be ready for a break, so we will put the girls with a nanny or two to learn to "rat" with a different adult female(s). And mom will get to have adult conversations again and regain her girlish figure. 🙂 These babies and some others can go to homes around mid-July.

16/06/2022

Melisandra is such a PATIENT Mama. Love her and her sweet babies. We'll be taking individual photos this weekend, and separating the boys from mom and girls soon. We will be contacting folks on our wait list with available babies soon. :)

14/06/2022

Some of you have been asking for an update on Shrimp, the only baby born to Tohru and Flounder. He is thriving, and is the sweetest little guy. We were very concerned about him because moms of single rattie babies cannot always produce enough milk. His mom was a champ, though, and he has had no problems. Once he was old enough he went from being a sheltered and spoiled only child to living with three young boys a bit older than him. He is loving the rambunctious bro life and gets along great with the other boys. Shrimp will be part of our improved health/longevity breeding project when he is older. HIs dad Flounder is now over 2 and is super sweet and in great health.

14/06/2022

Melisandra x Brad Pitt litter, born 5/16/22
We will be taking some photos of this and other litters this weekend, and letting wait list folks know availability of individuals. Super sweet babies in this litter, a mix of black and Himalayan, many velveteen, top and dumbo ears. Photo of dad in the comments (he is velveteen Siamese top ear). [sorry about the poor lighting!]

08/06/2022

We love these update pics from Lisa N!
"She loves chillin on my shoulder, or taking a ride in my hood..." and "Ratty buns!" You can see their personalities! ❤️ 🐀 🐀 🐀

07/06/2022

DWARF BOYS UPDATE
Lauren H got three of our dwarf boys last July, and recently messaged us:
"...the little boys are still doing very well and are still the cutest sweetest little dudes. Bauble even gave the petsitter a licky bath last weekend 😆 ...by far the sweetest rats with the best temperaments."

06/06/2022

UPDATE 6/7: Fievel and Parker have found their forever home, and Finn will be staying with us at the Rattery.

If you are interested in babies ready for pickup July/August, contact us about getting on the wait list. We adopt in pairs or more only, and pet placement is contingent on an approved habitat. Babies are not released to new homes until at least 8 weeks old.

ALMOST READY FOR HOMES!
New updated pics of FIEVEL, FINN, and PARKER
These three super sweet Harley boys, Russian blue and blue Agouti, are available for reservation. They can go to a new home on or after June 8. We would like all three to go together, but at least two need to stay together. Placement is contingent on an approved habitat. Message our page for more information. (Our younger litters will not be ready for homes until mid-July.)

05/06/2022

SNEAK PEAK!
Wait list folks, we have several gorgeous litters. If you would like to be on the wait list, message our page. We will be sending individual photos for reservations in 2-3 weeks, babies will be ready to go home in July.

28/05/2022

We love updates from our adopters! Thanks, Annie!

"I love these boys sooooo much!! Thank you for them- they’re amazing ❤️" -Annie A.

25/05/2022

Amazing rats!