# Cobra, Kai & Kit



## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

I just got my two babies today. I haven't had rats in almost 10 years! Their names are Cobra and Kai. They're from Totes For Realz Rattery in PA. Trying to just let them relax and get used to their new surroundings but it's so hard because they're adorable. Thankfully they're coming out to explore a little.

Cobra is a black dumbo variegated and Kai is a fawn top ear variegated. Kai will be a more brilliant orange color once he grows out of his baby fur!


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

They are sooo cute. I hope your bond and figure out their personality soon make sure to send updates.


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## Rex the Rat (Apr 7, 2020)

Yes, please send updates! They are so precious!


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## _dizzy_ (Mar 28, 2018)

💕lovely babies💕


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

It's getting dark now, so they're becoming more adventurous lol. I've been watching them for hours now.

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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

You might already do this but try talking to them to get them used to your voice


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Cobra seems a bit shy, and Kai is more brave, haha. That's all I've really gathered so far XD


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

It seems that there is always a shy one and a braver one when you get a pair of rats. lol


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## 511958 (Feb 11, 2019)

Aw, what cuties!  CongRATs on your ratties!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

I got Kai to take a little bit of bread crust from me. I held it at first, so he had to nibble on it with me nearby, then broke off a little piece for him to take and snack on at his leisure. Lol. I said his name a few times while he was eating it from my hand.

Cobra was taking a nap inside a fleece pocket, so I didn't bother him.









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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Aww, that's good that you are making progress with them!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

They took some treats/food from me today


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## Rex the Rat (Apr 7, 2020)

That's great! Look at Cobra and Kai's little hands !!


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

That is wonderful. One of the best feelings in the world is when you get an animal to trust and love you.


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## Rex the Rat (Apr 7, 2020)

VivDaRatLuver said:


> That is wonderful. One of the best feelings in the world is when you get an animal to trust and love you.


I wholeheartedly agree!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

I had Cobra out for about an hour yesterday. He found a nice spot inside my cardigan and fell asleep! And he didn't even poop on me, lol.









And then today I had Kai out, he prefers being on my shoulders. I think I had him out for maybe 30 minutes. And he pooped on me lmao. My boyfriend held him as well.









At this point I've observed that Cobra is more dominant despite being smaller, and he is more cuddly with me. Kai is more lazy/laid back in the cage but is less cuddly with me.


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Thats good!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Cobra and Kai are getting bigger by the day! And more used to me/being handled. Today we had 2 sessions of out-of-the-cage time. I've made a free roam barrier out of coroplast sheets so I can sit on the floor with them outside the cage while remaining safe. They are still a bit skittish but they tolerate me picking them up, holding, and snuggling them. Kai has figured out he can go inside my hoodie behind my neck, when I put my hood up, and he will take a nap back there.


















I have reserved a third baby from the same breeder that my current 2 boys are from. He will be ready to come home in a few weeks. He's a Russian Blue rex top ear and I'm very excited to add to my little rat family  His name will be Ken after the character from Street Fighter (to keep the martial arts theme going, and it goes well with the names Cobra and Kai).

Thanks for the advice and encouragement so far, also <3


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Awww so cute   I love the name theme.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Long time no see! Been really busy so haven't had time to forum surf. 

My new baby rat arrived last Sunday; and I decided to name him Kit instead of Ken. I quarantined him for a little over a week and did 3 intro sessions with my two older boys (they are all from the same breeder). Today I deep cleaned the big boy cage and put all 3 back into it, after a final intro session in the tub while I cleaned the cage.

Here's Kit when he was 6 weeks old. He was going through his baby fur molt so he looks like a little velvet rat toy lol









Here's all 3 rats stuffed into one sputnik lmao. Kit's wavy rex fur is now fully grown in. They're really squished in there lol, I don't know how Kit is comfortable like that.









And here's the cage as of today  I added that little water bottle on the door, because I was using it in the bin cage for Kit, so now they have two water bottles.


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Your cage looks great and I'm so happy that they are all getting along!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Update time! Cobra and Kai are roughly 6 months old now, and Kit is about 5 months old.

Current cage setup, just cleaned and replaced fleece things yesterday. I don't have a fleece liner on the center floor, because they push the liner out of the way, in order to nap on the wire floor (you can see Kai doing just that in the photo below). I did lay down a plastic Mighty Mat (the purple thing) so they aren't always walking on the wire, however. Once my big cage is done I can cover almost all of the center floor with these. So for now I'm spot cleaning daily to make sure the wire does not become soiled.









The boys are happy and healthy  They get veggies, fruit, flowers, herbs, and sometimes a bone or nuts as treats a few times a week.










And here's their outside-of-the-cage area which is surrounded by 24" high coroplast panels. I built stairs from old boxes so they can climb up and down from their cage as they please.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Kit had a bit of a raspy breathing/nasal discharge, so all 3 of them were off to the vet today for the first time. They did great in the car ride over and back. I put them in their travel bin cage with some of their used fleece liners (read: old stinky ones I hadn't washed yet) and a big hide for them all to cuddle under. Taking all 3 seems to have been a good choice because none of them seemed even the slightest bit worried or afraid the whole time lol.

I told the vet that it's most likely a myco flare-up and that Baytril should clear it up. The staff were delighted with them, and Kit will be on Baytril for 10 days. He took his first dose like a champ. Everyone got some tasty fruit and veggies as a treat upon returning. And now they're all taking a nap lol.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Update on Kit: He's all better, no more wheezing or sneezing (no more sneezing than normal for rats anyway lol).

In other news: new baby! I picked him up this morning. He's a Russian blue self rex dumbo. From the same breeder as my other 3 boys. I haven't decided on a name yet. He'll be in the quarantine bin cage for at least 2 weeks before he meets my other boys. Here are some photos 


















A few photos from his breeder:
























He's the gray one in the forefront of this photo of him with some littermates. He was 1 of 2 Russian Blues in the litter of 15. The pairing was mink rex dumbo X mink silvermane dumbo. Most babies came out black. Some are silvermane, some are rex, some are double rex, and one or two might be satin.


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## ratsbian (Feb 4, 2021)

Awww, what a cutie!


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

Enne said:


> Update on Kit: He's all better, no more wheezing or sneezing (no more sneezing than normal for rats anyway lol).
> 
> In other news: new baby! I picked him up this morning. He's a Russian blue self rex dumbo. From the same breeder as my other 3 boys. I haven't decided on a name yet. He'll be in the quarantine bin cage for at least 2 weeks before he meets my other boys. Here are some photos
> 
> ...


Oh my goodness! Look at that little face in the third photo down. 
I was also really interested to see the more recent photo of Kai, as I was curious about his adult coat colour. (The golden one.)


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

I decided to name the new baby Mugen. He's become quite the little lap rat. I've had him on my lap/climbing on me for about 2 hours now lol. Both times I tried to put him back in his bin cage, he didn't hop off of my hand, and instead turned around and tried to climb back up my arm XD

He's starting his baby fur molt, finally. I hope his fur stays thick and curly like Kit's did; since he's a rex and I don't want a bald rat lol


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Mugen is getting bigger every day  His whiskers seem to be getting less curly, and I think he might just end up with a slightly wavy coat.


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## fairyblossomratties (Jul 16, 2021)

the cage looks really nice ooh


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## SonicRat (Jun 30, 2021)

Mugen is adorable and your other boys have grown up big and handsome too.Thay have a great life with you and I am glad their snifflles have cleared up x


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Just an update to their main thread; the boys have moved into their big cage that I built myself over the summer  They are super happy!










Mugen is 9 weeks old now, and it turns out he was a velveteen all along, instead of a rex like I thought! His coat is so thick and plush and soft <3 He's getting along great with my other 3 boys, and is very sweet with me. 
















Cobra, Kai, and Kit are all doing very well. Cobra always wants my attention, Kit just wants to laze about (and loves to be brushed), and Kai is very camera shy but bold and headstrong about everything lol.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Kit and I have had a rough 2 weeks. His mild respiratory infection turned into a severe one over the course of about 2 days and I was afraid I would lose him. Story below.

On the 18th of October, I ordered powdered doxycycline online to treat Kit at home, because vet visits are scary and would only stress him out more. The respiratory infection makes it hard for him to breathe, so stress makes the condition exponentially worse due to increased heart and breathing rate. I asked for both doxycycline and Baytril the week prior for him, along with Baytril, and they ignored my request and only gave me Baytril. I should have pushed for the doxy...

On the 19th he took a nosedive in condition, was turning purple and could barely breathe, and I needed the vet to give him _something_ to hold him over until my order arrived (assumed the 21st of October). The vet told me to not get my hopes up because she thought he could die at any moment. They mixed up doxycycline, and it smelled absolutely horrible. I had no idea how I was going to fight him for every dose of it. It smelled like skunk spray, and I don't even want to think about what it must taste like. He would get extremely upset, urinate all over out of fear/stress, it was bad. I can't blame him, honestly. I had to give him 3 doses of that awful stuff.

Kit at the vet. He was gasping for air with his mouth open at this point.









I got the doxycycline powder that I ordered in the mail a day early (the 20th). I mixed up the dosage into strawberry simple syrup (which is just sugar, strawberry preserves, and water). I stuck my finger in it, and let him lick some off, and he was fine with it. I could tell it was still a little bitter by his reaction to it. But he licked all of it off. No repulsion, no fighting or squirming, no urinating out of fear from having disgusting medicine forced down the throat. He took a full dose right off the syringe. Much better.

I don't know what the vet mixed theirs with, because the powder by itself doesn't stink at all. But the liquid they gave me smelled horrific. How did they think that was going to be usable, to give to an animal with taste buds?

I did call the office and ask them to tell the vet that Kit did pull through the night, and that he's eating and drinking. So hopefully that will show them that I was right about asking for doxycycline, and that in the future, they should listen to me when I ask them for something. They're nice people, but they really need to listen to exotic pet owners. A little bit of humbleness and willing to learn on their part would go a long way to earning my respect.

Long story short: I'm lucky I can medicate my rats by myself, *and *I'm not letting them suffer from incompetent medical professionals anymore. No more getting brushed off or ignored.

Here he is a few days later, having a probiotic yogurt drink from the syringe. Tasty.









Kit is doing much better now a week after that whole incident. He's still not 100% but he's back to eating, drinking, and doing other fun rat stuff. I may need to keep him on a low dose of antibiotics, because this is the second bad infection he's had in the 9 months he's been alive.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Kit passed away suddenly on the 17th of November. He was gaining weight and seemingly recovering from his illness. I knew he had lung scarring because I wasn't able to get him on the correct antibiotics in time, but I didn't think he'd be taken so soon and so quickly. I'm sorry, little friend. I tried.

Here are some photos from happier times.



















Spoiler: Here is a photo of his burial. I've hidden it behind a spoiler tag, but it's not graphic. I laid some dried rose petals in his grave. He will nourish my flower garden this way.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

After a few months of pondering whether or not to get any new rats (since Kit's death was so sudden and traumatic), I brought home three new babies from my breeder this past month. I got some coats/colors I've wanted for a very long time, and wasn't sure when I'd ever be able to get them again, so that helped me make my decision. I'm very happy with them <3

Carmack, a Russian dove bristle, born 11/27/21. His breeder originally thought there would be velveteen in this litter, but now that they're getting bigger, their coats seem to actually be bristled instead of velveteen! It's a stiff, coarse texture instead of plush and wavy. My boy Mugen is a velveteen and the textures are totally different!
















Rambo and Harker, born 12/26/21. Harker is a cinnamon silvermane (first photo), and his brother Rambo is a cinnamon teddy rex (second photo). Teddy rex is a mix of rex and velveteen. Both dumbos.


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