# All-male mischief catch-up (pic heavy!)



## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

After having several heartbreaking losses of the girls over the last 7 months, my fella John and I are down to 4 boys. It's a good number for us, we have 2 cages instead of 3 so there's more room, less mucking out to do and supplies last longer. I still can't post about some of the losses, can't bring myself to type it out, it makes me so sad. Still, our lovely boys bring us a lot of joy, so here they are! (Photos were all taken by John.)

Loki, our lone rat: 


























And wee snap of him curled up beside his daddy:









Loki was originally housed with 2 older males, who sadly are both gone, and he grieved hard for them. He refused to accept any other rats after that (we did try, and all attempts were complete failures) so he has been alone for a while now. He loves our company though and enjoys sitting in our laps or on our chests, he's a major daddy's boy and clings to John whom he has a stronger bond with. He sadly has a chronic case of the sniffles and is often on medication. He is starting to experience age-related hind leg weakness and has lost weight, so we're trying to fatten him back up and have lowered some things in his cage for him, he is around 2 years 3 months now (he was a rescue so we aren't 100% sure.) He is confident, nudges us for cheek skritches when he wants them, and would go to the ends of the earth for dry pasta.

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Our other 3 boys live together. Magnus, our neutered dumbo, recently lost his beloved cagemate Calypso; our 2 youngest boys Hannibal and Bundy, who are siblings by the same father, are very easy-going and so we tried introductions with the 3 of them and it went well. Despite being neutered, Magnus showed aggressive territorial behaviour when we introduced the boys to his cage, and accidentally scratched Bundy's eyelid which bled a lot, so after some more - slightly tentative - meetings outside the cage, we tried Magnus in their cage, and it has gone swimmingly. Magnus is now more active than we've ever seen him, since the boys are very active too (Calypso's idea of activity involved walking to the food dish, so Magnus used to copy her and be lazy too.) He is cocky and will gently nip your tummy if he thinks you're not petting him enough, he is very cuddly, will overlook treats in favour of his regular rat nuggets and likes to think of himself as the boss (he seems to have become boss of the younger boys despite his lack of manhood!) This is him:


















He thought he could improve his hammock with a loo roll tube, lol. Silly squishy.









Finally, Hannibal and Bundy, the dynamic duo, the most silly, friendly, crazy little lads ever. Hannibal is 2 weeks older than Bundy but not as big as he is. They are very similar in nature as well as appearance, they like to lick and fight your hand for tickles, they have chilled out moments but are mostly very playful, Hannibal popcorns more than any rat I've ever had. They've just passed the 1 year old mark and behave just as they did when we got them at 9 and 10 weeks old. They are well-behaved despite their hyperactivity and are the best of friends, and I'm grateful to them too for accepting Magnus so well. Here's Bundy:


















And Hannibal, he's almost too fast to get many pictures of:










The brothers together:










And the 3 of them togther, new besties!:










....oh, and a quick wee shout-out to my demon-possessed dwarf hamster Chihiro, her inquisitive beauty belies her monstrous nature, lol.


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## bloomington bob (Mar 25, 2014)

Nice photos... particularly the roll tube one


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## BlackAce (Apr 18, 2013)

Love the pictures, and descriptions!! I have a boy named Loki as well, great name


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

Omg cuties! What great pictures


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks all! We went through a phase of naming the pets after Deities, we chose Loki and Freyja from Norse mythology for him and my heart rat who passed away, it doesn't entirely suit him since he's not what you'd call a naughty or mischievious rat, but he is a character lol.


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## BlackAce (Apr 18, 2013)

It's a good name theme idea! And I find it funny how if you have names pre determined before you get them, most times they seem to start to act out or resemble them.


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## Jessiferatu (Apr 30, 2014)

Beautiful photos! They are lovely boys, and your hamster is cute too!


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

We don't name until we get them, but we name them almost immediately so we don't have time to learn their personalities before naming, luckily they usually end up suiting their names, lol. Thanks Jessifer, she's a lovely looking wee thing but aggressive isn't the word, she will literally bolt across one end of the cage to try and latch onto your hand, be it with claws or teeth, proper psycho! Nothing like my ratties, thank God, lol.


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## Ratmom83 (Apr 24, 2014)

So cute

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## ohmyhi (Jun 18, 2013)

They are all absolutely ADORABLE!! And your photography is amazing!


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## CleverRat (Mar 9, 2014)

Cool pics! Your rats are adorable. I have a hamster too. He is a robo.


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks.  I used to have a robo too, old age caught up with him suddenly a few months back so he was taken for his last vet visit, he was afraid of his own shadow but never once tried to bite, unlike the Chihiro monster, who would bite you as soon as breathe!


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## Vermin (May 18, 2014)

That's some awesome photography! Adorable rats


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## CleverRat (Mar 9, 2014)

Lol yeah, my hamster isn't hold able, but will take treats from hand. RIP little guy


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## rileys-mom (May 26, 2014)

Your rats and your pictures are gorgeous. How do you get them to sit still long enough. Chihiro is beautiful, too. I remember, from my childhood, how sharp those little teeth are.


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## MimiSkye (Feb 3, 2014)

That third picture I seriously can't even....


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

They are hard to capture 'cause they're always on the move but usually they take a breather now and again for about 5 seconds lol and you gotta snap snap snap! These were all taken by my fella, my pictures are on a dodgy hard drive atm and I didn't wanna go upsetting it by digging around for pics, lol. It's a shame Chihiro is such a loony, she's so pretty, but she was a rescue and I can only assume her first owners put no time into bonding with her.


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## Bronte18 (Jun 2, 2014)

I love these pics, your boys remind me of mine and they are absolutely handsome little guys! Including the little hamster


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