My Pet Rats

Zoundz

Just thought I'd put these up here, in case anyone else out there (who I don't already know from IRC) would like to see them!

DOES:

Pea - Russian Blue:


Pink - Russian Pearl:


Tiggy - Agouti:


Taz - Russian Silver:


Mambo - Russian Silver:


Patch - Russian Dove Agouti:


Ducky - Russian Blue Agouti Satin:


Amber - Russian Dove Agouti:


Cherry - Russian Blue Agouti:


Dusty - Russian Dove Agouti:


Yam - Russian Blue:


Zero - Russian Silver:


Zen - Russian Silver:


Fondle - Cinnamon:



Boys next...

xx

Zoundz

BUCKS:

Captain - Russian Blue:


Jambo - Russian Silver:


Count - Mink:


Scorch - Black:


Wayne - Russian Silver:


Bro - Russian Blue Velvet:


Pig - Russian Silver:


Obi - Russian Silver Agouti:


Parker - Russian Blue Agouti:


Rollo - Black:


Iorek - Russian Silver:


Funky - Agouti:


Dwayne - Russian Blue Satin:


Hope you like them!

xx

Zoundz

Just to add to this - we sadly had to help Pea and Tiggy over the bridge this afternoon I'm really gutted as they were such lovely girls, but both made a respectable age, being 2 and a half and just over 2 respectively. Our lovely boy Obi isn't well at the moment either, he's on a course of antibiotics and a nebuliser... I just hope he's OK. Russian Silver and Russian Silver Agouti are such weak varieties they're much improved on what they were, but still lacking in robustness.

Am planning on trying to do a freetime photoshoot soon - neverh ave the chance to play with the camera when they're out free-ranging as I'm usually too busy watching them to stop them getting up to no good ;D hopefully I can get hubby to do that while I try nad get some nice up to date photos as some of these are seriously old pics!

xx

mymo

Lovely pics, makes me want to try again with our girls and the camera!Unfortunately I'm not fast enough!
I must email you a pic or two, my daughter thinks we have a velvet and a satin coated, (from your October litters) they are mad though only thing keeps them still is a drop of natural yogurt!
So sorry you lost the girls, it's sad they live such short lives.

aonb

Zoundz wrote: »

Just to add to this - we sadly had to help Pea and Tiggy over the bridge this afternoon I'm really gutted as they were such lovely girls, but both made a respectable age, being 2 and a half and just over 2 respectively. Our lovely boy Obi isn't well at the moment either, he's on a course of antibiotics and a nebuliser... I just hope he's OK. Russian Silver and Russian Silver Agouti are such weak varieties they're much improved on what they were, but still lacking in robustness.

Am planning on trying to do a freetime photoshoot soon - neverh ave the chance to play with the camera when they're out free-ranging as I'm usually too busy watching them to stop them getting up to no good ;D hopefully I can get hubby to do that while I try nad get some nice up to date photos as some of these are seriously old pics!

xx

I dont like rats (conditioning) but your lot are really lovely - would love to see some photos of them free-ranging. What do you call a female rat? And a male rat for that matter??

RosieJoe

They are lovely looking! So much nicer than the normal pet rats that you see.

Zoundz

Thanks guys!

Mymo - it's quite possible that you have a velvet and a satin - though I would guess your velvet may be a standard coatedd Russian - usually you can't spot velvet until they are quite a bit older. I'd have to see them in the flesh again to tell if they were either (satin can sometimes be told as babies, but frequently they are hard to ID until they are well over 6 months too). Having said that I have a Russian Blue lad here (Dwayne) who would be from Tulip's litter, and he is a satin, so there's a good chance there will have been more in the litter. Unfortunately, it's not like mice where the satin is clearly obvious, same for velvet. Some people get them much more obvious because it's what they are trying to do, select for the most obvious ones. Velvets are especially lovely (and you may well have one, we do get them out sometimes - the genetics are not simple at all - we're not sure what causes it and how you get there yet).

aonb - Female rats are called does, males are called bucks the correct term for babies is pups, but everyone calls them kittens Hope that helps?

xx

Silverfish

I think I might actually explode with the cuteness. I want to pet all of them.

boomerang

RosieJoe wrote: »

They are lovely looking! So much nicer than the normal pet rats that you see.

Ahhhhhhh now! All rats are lovely.

RosieJoe

boomerang wrote: »

Ahhhhhhh now! All rats are lovely.

Hmm, these I am not too sure about

Zoundz

I have to say I'm not a big fan of hairless myself. I had a rescue girl once, Pauline she was adorable, but no, generally they are not very attractive, and I would not promote their existence personally. There are numerous health issues associated with them also, which seem very hard to breed out, though I daresay eventually possible, but it would take someone very knolwedgeable and experienced to do it - not sure it's the best idea personally.

Here was my girl Pauline:


xx

DBB

Delighted to see a thread on something that's not cat or dog! I don't know if I could handle the short life span though... I'm bad enough with dogs
Can I ask a couple of questions? Bearing in mind I know nothing about domesticated rats!
Are they species Rattus norvegicus?
And see all of the different colours (which are just lovely, I must admit I was not aware of all of these gorgeous colours! The Russian Silver is divine!), and names you have on them? Are they different breeds, or is it more simply just divisions into colour classes?

Calhoun

although they are all bad ass, i want rollo he looks so cool the little podger head on him.

Zoundz

Thanks

@DBB - the short lifespans are very hard to come to terms with. I still get very upset about losing them

They are all Rattus norvegicus, and there are no breeds, just varieties. It's kind of hard to explain - the different colours are different genetically, and crossing colours produces rats that are a combination. For example, Russian Silver is one Russian Blue gene and one British Blue gene - making it a Russian Silver I'm not great at explaining!

xx

mymo

Here's a few of ours, two bred by zoundz

Matilda licking my hand in case she missed a bit of food!

Matilda and Luna searching for pumpkin seeds...their fav!

Matilda again, with Susan (Russian blue) and Lily (Russian silver)

And lastly Lily alone, she's shedding hair at the moment and its getting very sparkly and changing a lot

Zoundz

If she's really as sparkly as she looks in that last pic she could well be a velvet or a satin (peculiarly, both can look sparkly, especially in does!). As I said, it's very hard to get a photo that shows it - but here is Valarie, who was a velvet:



You can sort of see it - especially around the face where the hair appears shorter and softer? Not brill though, I can see it because I know what to look for at this stage. Will have to try and get some pics of Dwayne, as he's quite a clear satin in the flesh, but again, photos don't show.

xx

Those rats are adorable! I had a huge phobia but held one in a pet shop one day and am no so bad now, I would like a pet one but I have 4 cats so it's probably not the best idea. What is the general life span anyway?

mymo

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs, we just keep doors closed at all times, to keep rats safe.
My first rat lived a week short of 3 years, but 2.5 years seems pretty normal. As Zounds said, some varieties are stronger than others, some are weaker immune system wise.

Ours all come when called, they make nice pets, they're smart too, it's funny watching them figure stuff out, we hide food and they wreck the cage to find it.
Boys are less lively and are better first rats I think. Girls are bit hyper.
All like to chew, and love being nosy, they like their comfort too.

They also eat most things, we stick to veggies, bit of fruit, few nuts and mealworms for treats, and mainly dry mix of rabbit food with added weetabix, cornflakes, ricekrispies (all aldi or lidl cheap ones) and some pumpkin seeds and stuff like that.
They love chicken and fish too in small quantities, and dandelions!

Blogger50

They are all lovely and what great photos!

As previously said, its nice to see pics that aren't a dog or cat (speaking as a dog owner).

Zoundz

As above lifespan is around 2 for nearly all lines. Russian Silver and some other varieties that pop out of Russian Silver lines do not have good longevity, we have been trying to improve this over the years with careful work, but it's hard going. Another variety I work with, just starting out is Mink and Pearl, so Mink, Cinnamon, Pearl and Cinnamon Pearl, all of which historically are much longer lived and more robust.

Variety doesn't tend to make *that* much difference to the overall health and longevity, but British Blue based rats are generally less robust certainly. If you have other recessives in there (so Lilac, Platinum, Russian Silver etc) they become that bit less healthy. I believe they can be improved, but it's a long hard job.

But I digress, the majority of rats live to about 2, sometimes younger, sometimes older, but usually 2 would be a good age.

xx

Lamina

They're gorgeous!
I'd love a rat sometime, I'm thinking of getting mice within the next couple of years first though. People think I'm mad when I tell them I'd love a pet rat or mouse. I've always had a soft spot for rodents, I've only had the usual hamsters and guinea pigs over the years so far though since I lived with my parents, and they didn't want to hear of rats or mice coming into the house :P

Zoundz

I have a couple of elderly rescue mouse ladies at the moment I had 4 but two have quite recently passed away - they're getting on though - the two I have left are around a year and a half

xx

Silverfish

I keep mouses - I only have one poor mousie at the moment, she was very very ill when I first got her as a baby about a year and a half ago, but with daily medication she's doing ok. She has to be kept on her own as she passes it to every mouse she comes in contact with, even if she's not showing symptoms

I would LOVE rats, mice are smart but rats just seem very clever! As soon as I have the space though, definitely getting some, after seeing those pictures.