jesirose

On Saturday I drove from Plano, TX to Little Rock, AR to pick up two rats and bring them back to Plano. They were picked up today for the next leg of the trip down to Houston. They started in St. Louis, MO.

We left at about 7am, to meet Kendra in Little Rock. I outfitted the front seat with towels to make it Sadie-proof so she could come along, and set out.

For the first 50 miles out of Plano, there were state troopers EVERYWHERE! I saw at least 6 tractor trailers pulled over. I think I counted 12 trooper cars.

Once we hit 1-30, we passed a ton of tractor trailers. Every time a loud one would go by, Sadie would wake up and watch them.

We met up with Kendra in Little Rock around 12:30. The boys were adorable, but very hot and sleepy. I put the jar of ice water Kendra gave me in the cage with them and they snuggled up next to it. I decided after 5 and a half hours on the road I really needed a bathroom break! (Sadie had gotten a few on the way up but I didn’t want to leave her in the car alone too long)I found a McDonalds and parked as close to the door as I could, ran inside, ran out and blasted the air back on. It was HOT out there! I hardly ever eat at McDonalds but since it was a road trip I figured I’d splurge. I pulled into the drive through behind a couple in a little car, and while we were stopped, the guy got out and dumped THREE huge McDonalds bags in the trash. Three. Holy cow. How often do you eat McDonalds that you have three bags in your car and you’re going back for more? At least spice it up with some Burger King, geez.

Anyway, we headed back and Sadie fell right back to sleep.

We got home around 6:00pm and were all very tired. The next morning I cleaned out the cage for the next person in the train and made the boys a makeshift hammock - and they knew just what to do!

I handed them over at 10am on Sunday, and they got to their new owner later that day.

On another note, Bailey is up to 125g and Kahlua is 94g. They are such little sweethearts. I’m going to move them into the bottom of the FN tomorrow!

I sewed some hammocks for a rat themed swap, and had some leftovers - the little ratlets quickly figured out how to use this hanging cuddle pocket after I put them in it a few times. Then they loved it!

I love this one - “We can too both fit in here! See?”

I got more hooks today at Hobby Lobby to replace the safety pins.

Also, Sadie went to the groomers! She needed her nails cut and I’m not comfortable doing it myself - maybe someday I will learn. But I don’t mind taking her over to a good place. We went to Pat’s Pet Grooming in the Canine Commissary - we were lucky, she was booked till next week but I guess while we were browsing in the Commissary something opened up! Check out this adorable bandana.

Bailey has bonded to Colin pretty fast. Now whenever I open the cage he says “I want one”, to sit on his shoulder. Bailey is a GREAT shoulder rat. Kahlua is an explorer, and has no qualms about running up and sniffing the cat’s face. So I put Bear in the closet for a short while and let her explore while Bailey cuddled Colin. Then they started running back and forth between us on the couch. We discovered it is slightly difficult to play Halo 3 and have ratlets explore under your shirt.

I need more pics - but they are so fast and fun, I keep forgetting to make them pose!

I think it’s so cool to watch them grow up - so here are some new weights, plus the older girls too!

Bailey: 83
Kahlua: 63

Addie: 245 (when I got her she was 125)
Thirteen: 320 (omg that was a struggle. That girl does not like the scale any more than I do.)
Cameron: 320 (she looks so much heavier than Thirteen, this is weird)
Katie: 240 (this was easier than Thirteen!)
Sophie: 300 (she’s lost some I think)

They are AMAZING. I absolutely love these rats. It is such an amazing difference when you get a rat raised personally by someone who cares, vs. a pet shop rat. I love my other girls with all my heart, but it took them all a while to like me. These girls just come and sit in my shirt, brux for me, and are so calm and gentle. They still have that baby popcorn energy but during the day they’ll sit on my lap or shoulder, so sweet.

I weighed them today - what a difference! The bigger girl with the Irish marking (Bailey’s Irish Creme - aka Bailey) is up to 74 g! The little one who I have named Kahlua is at 58 g.

I’ll post some more photos soon!

These little mink babies just had to come home with me

They are precious little babies, at just 45g and 58g, they are the tiniest babies I’ve seen! The bigger girl is Bailey, she has a small irish mark on her belly, hence the name (Bailey’s Irish Cream).

The other girl is a self, and they’re both super sweet. They like to chill on my lap and in my shirt, and I even got a little bruxxing last night!

I was sad to see them go but I am so happy they found a good home! I know they will have a great life and I am going to be expecting photos!

On a positive note, when I was showing their new owner Katie, she (Katie) let me pick her up 3 times in a row without spazzing out. It was actually very cool. It was almost as if she was saying “Oh heck, you’re not that bad. I’ll stay here.”

Also, little baby Addie? NOT SO LITTLE. She looks HUGE compared to those ratlets! She’s actually 250g now. Hard to imagine she started out as small as those girls when I got her

Sadie - definitely living up to the girl dog name. She played with her friend next door for a while then decided to pee on the floor 3 times and “forget” the kennel command.

Yesterday I took the new ratties to the vet’s office, and had perfect timing! Another rat owner was leaving with her rat and she was very interested in the black one, “Emma”. I think she would offer a perfect home - she has 3 girls now, has an FN, feeds Harlan, and obviously loves her girls. She was very enamored with Emma. After we got to talking, I mentioned my other rats and how I have been considering rehoming Katie, since she does not seem to like my husband or me. She was also interested in meeting Katie, so that might work out perfectly. I love my girls but I just feel so sad for Katie, it’s like no matter how much trust training I do, and whatever, she just doesn’t like me. I was hoping maybe she needs a change, and someone else might get her to come out of her shell. So if this works out I will probably keep the beige girl (much to my husbands dismay), who now desperately needs a name. Her paperwork says Name: — ! Any ideas?

The vet checked them out - Emma had no signs of a concussion (from the fall she took), no neurological damage (no tilting or staggering) and she is climbing all over the place. They are both eating well and have no signs of any respiratory problems. They are still at 108 and 125, but it’s only been a day They slept cuddled up on the ride home.

Mine was pretty INSANE. First, a box of 4 week old Siamese kittens was abandoned and turned in at the vet’s office. There was one little boy who wouldn’t stop crying and then I help him and he was happy. I took a photo of him but I knew we couldn’t take him. I told the vet’s office if they needed any help finding homes or fostering I would help out but I just couldn’t adopt him.

Then I took Sadie to the Petsmart for grooming. There was a woman there with a basket of puppies. She was begging people to take them - she had 11 of them. They were a mix, and she said she didn’t know what to do with them. So I talked to her for a while, told her where to get good food and what to try for them, and how to start training them. I gave her my phone number and I’m going to help her find them homes. They were little black and brown babies. So cute. But still, I said, I can’t take one but I am going to help.

Then I made the mistake of going to PetCo.

Now, I try to stay away from PetCo. I disapprove of a lot of stuff they do, like selling the rats by size, and selling male and female, plus they sell a lot of exotics that don’t get proper care. Well, I’d heard that they’d be switching to single-sex stores, so I went over to check it out.

I ended up leaving with two girls. I am going to find them homes, but I couldn’t leave them there. The employee tried to pick them up by their tails, chasing them around the cage. (I don’t encourage buying from pet stores, as they just replace them with more, but this was a special occasion. Also - they did not have me do ANY paperwork. I thought PetCo still did pet contracts but they just handed me the box and I paid. I’ve emailed PetCo through their website with several questions about what exactly they are doing here.)

They are very healthy and sweet. They both have soft shiny coats, and clean eyes and noses. One was “small”, she weighs 108g, and is a beige mismarked hoodie with ruby eyes. The other was “medium”, she’s 125g and a black berkie. I’ve named the hoodie Emma. She’s more adventurous and calm. The other one is a bit more shy and it took her a while to start exploring the cage, but she’s getting there. They’re in the Rat Manor right now.

The girls got to share some sweet potato baby food the other day. What a mess!!

Addie, Cameron and Sophie!

After a few days in the Rat Manor, I decided it really was too small, and thought it wouldn’t really be that hard to modify the Ferret Nation. So I called around. After about an hour on the phone I located one at a Petsmart two towns over. They agreed to price match Ferret.com (After I told them other stores had done it for my friends - a little white lie, but I know other stores HAVE done it for people on GooseMoose).

I considered looking for the SP Exotics cage and waiting for the Critter Nation but really, I was so tired of messing with cages I wanted to get it over. I thought the mod would be easier - I was slightly off. But it’s done now, and sitting pretty in my office! I decided to rotate my desk so now I face out from the wall instead of facing it, and put the FN behind me. I have to turn around to see the girls but this was the best way to fit everything in here.

I managed to get it done with only 5 cuts on my hands and a nice bump on my nose from hitting myself with a pliers. Yeah, it’s black and blue. I was tightening a zip tie with the pliers and pulled hard - the tie broke and I whacked myself right between the eyes and down a bit. I feel pretty lucky I didn’t hit my eye, and that I hit it straight on, because I think if I’d hit it at an angle, I’d have broken my nose. It’s sore but not broken as far as I can tell.

(It’s hard to tell in these pics, but you can see the bruising and the red spot where I hit it. Ow!)

I needed 4 rolls of the 3′x5′ hardware cloth and about 450 zip ties. It took about 6 hours - seriously. I did it myself until after I hit myself my husband tightened the last row of ties for me. Then we assembled it. I did the hardware cloth before assembly, and this is what my living room looked like when I was done. I ended up picking up each zip tie leftover by hand and vacuuming each little wire piece with the hose one at a time. Should have done it on a hard floor and swept! See all those tiny green dots? Hardware cloth wire.

When you do it, it’s important to put the curve of the wire INTO the bars. This way the cloth doesn’t bend into the cage and you get the best fit. So it looks like this with a few ties on:

I haven’t finished decorating it, but here is what I’ve got so far:

The ball in the corner wasn’t as big a hit as I’d hoped - they’ve taken the fleece out and are just laying in it now!

And a final cute hammock shot: