The Brat Collective

Shaman - 09/07/2007 - 04/08/2009

Pepper - 09/07/2007 - 04/27/2009

Two more little ones gone.

I wasn't there when either of them died.

Shaman slipped away while I was doing some energy work downstairs. I had a feeling when I came back up that I needed to check on the brats. I did, and he was gone. He was a sweetheart.

He'd also been in quite a bit of pain beforehand; I was sorry to see him go, but glad that he wasn't in pain any longer. (I was about to make the final decision to euthanize him in the next day or so.)

I (and apostate) laid him to rest that evening.

------------------------

Pepper started doing poorly very soon after Shaman's death. When I got home this evening, I took care of the elder cat, then went to check on the brats. And... she was still warm. I'm guessing she went sometime while I was caring for PK. As far as I can tell, it was quick and probably painless.

She was a shy sweetheart.

I (and apostate) will be laying her to rest later this evening.

Goodbye, Shaman and Pepper.

-----------------------------

This hasn't been a good month for the rats.

There are two left: Sunshine and Midnight.

*sigh*

.....

Blackberry is the rat in the icon. She is also the momma rat that started this whole thing.

Today, at ~12:15 p.m., she departed the earthly plane. I euthanized her. It was a very difficult decision, but she was in a considerable amount of pain which was only going to get worse and not take her away soon enough.

She was such a sweetheart. Of all the rats I've ever kept, she was the best. Her kids take second place.

I remember rescuing her from the snake cage. I gave her Reiki, and she snuggled in the crook of my arm, bruxing away. Even though I'd decided to never keep rats again, this one won my heart over and I kept her. Since then, she was a sweetheart, wanting to hang out with me, being the best rodentist a rat owner could ask for. She loved to explore my desk and office.

Then I noticed she was getting awfully fat, awfully fast, and pretty soon it was obvious she was pregnant. I upgraded her diet and got a birthing bin ready. At the time, I was working at home, so I was able to be there the day the kids were born, all 11 of them. Because Blackberry trusted me enough to let me look at and touch the newborns, I was able to count them and discover that two didn't survive the first couple of hours.

Blackberry was never a jealous or overly protective mother. She allowed me to touch and handle the babies from the first day, even dropping one or two in my hands. I was able to move her and the babies back in with Aunt Blue within the first couple of weeks after birth.

She has always stayed the same sweet rat the whole time I've been lucky enough to know her. No other rat loved to hang out with me the way she did. She would crawl inside my shirt (and she taught the others to do it too). Her standard greeting, if I got my face close enough, was to grab my mouth, poke her head inside, and start cleaning.

The day Blueberry died was the day I discovered the tumor growing on her belly. I called the vet, checking on prices, without much hope, since I knew the operation would be expensive, and the day I discovered it was the last day of my last job, with no idea where I would be going, or whether I would even be able to collect unemployment. The operation would have cost $200-$400. I made the difficult decision to care for her the best I could and try to make it as easy as possible.

I know, I know - "if you can't afford the vet, don't have the pet". It's difficult and shaming to admit I had to make a choice like this based on economic factors. I've always been able to afford to take care of my pets before, except this time.

So, in the past month the tumor ballooned out of control, as they usually do. Last week I noticed she was beginning to drop weight and deteriorate in other ways. I researched methods of at-home euthanization, and found one. I went through a dry run to make sure I could perform it and learn about any adjustments before the real thing.

Yesterday morning I noticed she'd gotten worse, and while I was at work I made the decision that today would have to be the day.

I don't want to go into any more detail than saying that the method worked, extremely quickly and (apparently) painlessly for Blackberry. I held her for about an hour beforehand, saying goodbye and channelling Reiki. My hand was probably the last thing she felt.

Blackberry's remains will be laid to rest later tonight.

Goodbye, Blackberry. I'm glad you're not in pain anymore.

I'm really going to miss you.

??? - 09/24/2008

Goodbye.

I was at home, working on the computer. She'd seemed fine earlier.

Then, as I was opening up the cage to give the rats some out time and play with them, I noticed she was gone.

She was a sweetheart. I had gotten her to be a companion to Blueberry, before I learned Blackberry was pregnant. I named her Blueberry because she was a beautiful grey-blue hooded rat.

When the baby rats were growing up, she got along extremely well with Blackberry and the babies and I was able to keep them all together in one cage. She was the ones the babies tended to hang out with the most, especially when Blackberry got tired of being mom and needed a break for a while. This is when she became Aunt Blueberry, usually just called Blue or Aunt Blue.

She was very nervous and shy most of her life - she usually hid out in the shelter, and struggled mightily anytime I tried to pick her up. She was never a biter, no matter how anxious she got.

In the past couple of months, she was becoming less shy and scared. She was much friendlier, and even voluntarily hopped into my hands a few times. She was even starting to come out of the cage on her own, if I was there to help her feel safer.

I was looking forward to watching her get braver and braver.

She's laid to rest in the backyard now. (I found myself repeating the mantra "no more, please no more" as I was walking away from her grave.)

Rest in peace, Aunt Blue.

Hood the Second
09/07/2007 - 08/27/2008

When I fed the rats this morning, Hood was slow, felt cold, and having some difficulty breathing.

I moved him into the isolation cage with a heating pad and a small shelter to help him warm up.

I came home early from work and checked the cage as soon as I walked in the door.

He was lying peacefully in the corner, hunched up a bit like he was just resting, and he was gone. It didn't look like there was any struggle at the end. I'm guessing he slipped peacefully away while I was at work today.

I (and apostate) will lay him to rest in the backyard tonight, next to the others.

I tried to give him Reiki this morning but he didn't want any. At the moment I'm not sensing I need to do any Reiki to help him at the time he left.

I'm sorry I wasn't there when he left. He was a sweet rat, and I'll miss him. I named him Hood the Second in honor of another hooded rat I had several years, who wasn't as friendly as this Hood.

He is the first of the rat collective to go. I didn't think it would be him, but I was wrong.


I took a peek at the others, and they seem to be OK. I will check again a little later, in case Hood's death was something contagious.

*sigh* .... :( :( :( :( :( :(

I'm now keeping more rats than I ever have before on a permanent basis. I think the max I ever kept at one time before was 4 (?).. 4 boys.

Today I have 7 rats - 3 girls and 4 boys.

I managed to place four of the girls with an excellent rat-loving family. The mother came over to decide which ones were going to come with her. One of the babies was going to stay with me, so she perched on my shoulder while the rest were brought out of the cage. When the 4 babies were in her hair, draped from her shirt, and hanging out on her shoulder, she realized she could pick just three, and ended up taking all four. :) The last I heard the rats were doing great. I had no doubts about this adoption.

The four boys got snipped yesterday. When they came back from the hospital they were doing OK but not great (no surprise). When I got doen with the stuff I need to do last night I channelled some Reiki to each one, and they seemed to feel better instantly. Today they are bouncing all over the cage. It will be a couple of weeks or so before I can put them in with the girls. Even if they don't have the ammo factories, they still have a few bullets left, at least for a while.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this LJ for, now that the babies are grown, the miracles are made, and I've placed all I can for adoption.

I think the next few entries will be devoted to recipes that the ratties actually like.

I've been busy with way too much lately and a lot of my free time has been spent playing with the ratlings.

That's probably more important than updating an LJ.

Anyway, it's official. The boys and girls have been separated. I witnessed the boys do ing what boys will do, and though I'm pretty sure nobody is mature enough to actually reproduce, I'm not taking any chances. The babiea are cute, but once is quite enough, thanks.

In other news, I found a home for two of the boys today. I will take them to their new home next weekend.

That leaves me with two female adults, two male ratlings, and two female ratlings. This was what I was thinking I would keep. So, that means next week I call the vet and make an appointment to get the two remaining boys snipped. (While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and send some Reiki to the ratlings' adoption situation, asking that it be happy for both humans and ratlings.)

I would rather have them in one big happy cage, and only need to clean one cage. :D Besides it means less loneliness for all rats concerned.

One of these days I'll post new stuff. Or maybe not. The person adopting the girls has a recent photo, and the boys' adopter doesn't have this webpage. And they will be gone next weekend.

*sigh*

Young Just-weaned Ratties for Adoption - Utah

Hi -

I have some male rats that will be ready to place for adoption in about a week. There are four total, all healthy.

This means I have two pair of rats to place. I won't adopt out singles, because solitary rats get very lonely and bored.

I've been handling these guys since the day they were born. Mom-rat had no problem with me holding them, shifting them around, etc.

Ive been spending an average of 1-2 hours daily with these rats. They are very well-socialized.

They would be a fantastic addition to an existing group of boys, or an awesome way to introduce yourself to the world of pet rats.

I have a lot of information available on care, feeding, etc of pet rats, that I would be happy to share. Lots of information on build-your-own cages, the best cages on the internet, homemade diet and treats that are much cheaper and better than the store-bought stuff, homemade toys and accessories, etc. I can even recommend an excellent local veterinarian.

Their colors: one black hooded, one all-over tan (possibly champagne), one brown with white underbelly and socks, and one all-over black with white belly patches and socks.

If you'd like to see pictures and read my developmental journal, go to bb_ratlings.

If you want to see some movies, you can go here.

Please note, THESE ARE ABSOLUTELY -*NOT*- FEEDER RATS. They've been raised to be pets since the day they were born.

I have no intention of selling these to pet stores or anything like that. If nobody wants to adopt them, they'll stay with me.

I live in the Salt Lake area, and would be willing to drive within a 30-mile radius. I'd love to see these little ones brighten up somebody's life.

Contact me at wolfgrrrl-at-gmail-dot-com if interested.

This one, BTW, is the little brown one. He's got a lighter belly. He looks a LOT like one of my favorite rats of all time - Bear.

Anyway, I isolated him into a small cage with some mush and am going to enforce some rest time until it looks a little better. I put one of the girls in there to keep him company.

I put some colloidal silver on the wound, and when it closes up a bit, I'll apply some Ouch Fix. (oh noes! animal testing! I'm TEH EVILLLL!)

We'll see. I'm thinking I'll go ahead and switch out ratlings to keep him company.

I should update my ouch fix label to say something along the lines of "The only animal testing we do is on our pets, and it works great for them, too!"

Ugh. It was inevitable, I suppose. While transferring the littles and bigs to the bin so I could clean the cage, I noticed a little blood on the litter.

Then, as I was transferring, I found the little one that had gotten torn up. I look each one over as I hold them for a little while.

Not too bad, fortunately - just a bit of a tear on one of his feet. Somehow, though, it wasn't a surprise it would be one of the boys. The big question is who the perpetrator was. I'm mostly certain it was one of the other boys.

They're starting to get bigger, and the cage isn't all that huge. I would say the average ratling length is now 3-1/2 to 4 inches, not counting tails.

I will keep watch for the aggressor. It's a little difficult, seeing as how wrestling is a universal thing for them now. Maybe it was just a bit of wrestling that got out of hand. I hope that was it.

Meanwhile, it's Ouch Fix and distant reiki for the little boy who got hurt.

It's really fascinating watching these little guys grow up.

Today is Day 20, and they're behaving like hyperactive adult rats, except when they're all piled up sleeping in a pile.

Their eyes are open all the way, and they're in the process of weaning from mom. They've been eating the mush for a few days now, and a couple of days ago I started them on adult food. I've also seen them drinking from the water bottle. A few of them have ventured up to the third level, but most of them stay on the lowest level. I know that will change in another day or two.

I've been spending as much time as I can playing with the ratlings. These days are flying by so fast, and each day is like getting a cage of different rats. I'm glad I'm working at home, so I can spend the time with them.

And now, when I think about having to adopt out most of them, I feel a bit of panic and I know I'm going to miss them. At the same time, it would be a LOT of work and expense to keep 11 rats. I don't have that kind of energy.

At least I'll have the videos and photos. I've updated the videos, but I will get to the photos in a day or two.

I apologize for the crappy video quality on a couple of these.

Day 13

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

.. and all the ratlings' eyes are open. They're getting REALLY bouncy. They're exploring as much as they can, and wrestling with each other, and I saw one of them wrestling with

Today is the day I officially started them on mush and a bit of more solid food.

Tomorrow I will put down some of the standard adult mix and see how they do with that. (Of course there will still be some of the mush. The babies are getting pretty big and I think it's sucking mom a bit dry to try to feed all nine of them.)

Mush recipe: 1 part Gerber's baby food (Rice with Mixed Fruits is a clear winner), 1 part KMR, and 2 parts filtered water. This is exactly what mom's been getting too.

There's something insanely cute about putting your hand in the nesting box and getting groomed by nine baby rats at the same time. :D

This weekend was busier than I wanted and I didn't get much of a chance to film. I will film tomorrow. They're growing so fast.

They are 14 days old, and their eyes are beginning to open. They're starting to explore their world: toddling outside the nest box (until mom finds them and whisks them back to the box), sniffing everything, tasting, biting, grooming attempts on self and others, etc. It's incredibly cute. :)

I put my hand in the box and get swarmed by babies wanting to taste me. (I'm guessing this helps with socialization to people.)

I gave them one of the Greenie chew bones to check out. They were all over that thing, tasting, licking and biting for at least half an hour or so.

Questions:

What else would be ok to give them to check out that wouldn't harm them?

How soon can I start trying them out on some mush? (It will be a blend of KMR and Gerber's Bananas w/ Rice, just like I'm giving mom.)

Thanks :)

UPDATE: Internet research reveals that at this point I can start feeding them mush and even solid food. So I did, and they love it. If their energy levels are any indication, the stuff I'm feeding them is not harming them in any way. :)

Youtube rocks.

Anyway:

6 days old.

11 days old, hanging out with Mom.

12 days old.

Most of them have their eyes starting to open, and are exploring the cage. I even saw a popcorn bounce or two. Video will be forthcoming.

... it's still awesome when you finally see it.

When I was transferring ratlings out of the cage so I could clean it, I noticed the eyes were opening on at least two or three of them.

(Day 13, btw.)

The LJ style has been updated, and the galleries are up to date. I've added individual galleries for each of the nine babies.

I got S. to help with pictures yesterday.

So... there are no duplicate rats (ie same color and gender). .. so I can tell them apart. No names yet.

Anyway, I discovered the brown female curled up with Blueberry for the second day in the row. I wasn't sure yesterday, but it definitely looks like today she left the nest to go find Blueberry and cuudle up with her.

I'll keep watching, but I think the brown female will be one of the ones that stays. If it had been the male, I would've watched, to see if it happened a few more times, then maybe planned on taking him to get snipped. But that doesn't look like an issue.

It's interesting that the only time the ratlings will be with mom is when she's nursing them or lying directly on top of them.

This process is fascinating. I don't know how many hours I've spent watching and touching and holding them since they were born.

And I'm not ignoring the other rats. Last night Blackberry was on the second shelf, and we looked each other in the eyes, and she bruxed until her eyes popped. I guess it must be all the time I'm spending with her. I've been pulling Blueberry out of her shell, by bringing her out of the cage and holding her for ~5 minutes (no matter how much she wiggles to get back in the cage). Then, last night, she was finally willing to leave the cage, stand in my hands, and explore a bit outside.

I forgot how awesome rats were. And when they're here with me all day at work, less than 4 feet away, it's easy to take a rattie break. :)

I will try to make time to update the photo album. Today is Day 13, and the album only goes to Day 7. I think I'll also add one for the individuals.

1. Having one of the ratlings give me a tiny experimental bite, or a lick.

2. Watching the ratlings' attempts to groom themselves. They either don't quite have the strength to get up on the back legs, or they prop themselves against a sibling and fall backwards.

3. Bruxing when I pet them.

4. One of the black ratlings curled up sleeping on top of Blueberry, and Blueberry's expression of total contentment. Unfortunately they're wedged between the nesting box and the side of the cage, so I can't take a picture of them.

5. The beginnings of popcorning about.

6. A large pile of ratlings, all sleeping and twitching and shifting about.

7. Putting my hand in the nesting box and having Blackberry groom it along with the ratlings.

They are 12 days old. I can't tell if their eyes are beginning to open yet. Doesn't matter; it should be soon.

I WAS going to take individual pictures, but they won't lie still now, and I'm not THAT much of a photographer.

There are nine ratlings.

Four are male, five are female.

Later I'm going to try to take pictures of individual ratlings, with gender.

I'm keeping up with this the best I can. This process is, to me, miraculous.

Today, when I was transferring ratlings out so I could clean the cage, I spent a minute or two with each one, petting it and loving it. A couple of them bruxed - that was incredibly cool. The ones that were awake gave me the nasal once-over, as best they could.

One or two brave adventurers have poked their noses out of the nesting box and even gone exploring.

Their eyes aren't QUITE open yet, but I expect that to happen later this week.

......................

previously....

I didn't write about this anywhere, so I will post an update right now.

I was able to successfully put Blackberry and the ratlings back into the main cage with Blueberry on ~Day 4. Blueberry was getting depressed. Blackberry hated the bin. So did I, for that matter.

It went very smoothly. Blueberry and Blackberry were in the main cage, and I brought over one of the ratlings to the cage, intending it to be a gradual and careful introduction. Blackberry snatched the baby out of my hand and whisked him off to the box, and Blueberry had no reaction. Blackberry has had no problems with the new rats, and Blackberry has had no problem with Blueberry hanging out with them.

I will post pictures to the photo section of this LJ.