# Castiel the dwarf



## moonkissed

Meet Castiel! He is a dwarf and just about the most adorable thing in the world.










He is such a little blessing to me right now. I had recently gotten a little girl dwarf & sadly she passed away in a tragic accident. It really broke my heart and I had been a complete mess. No one should lose a baby so young  The breeder I got her from was absolutely amazing and they felt so bad that they gave me this little guy.

I am so lucky. He is the sweetest thing. I am so in love with him.


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## Zeri

aw hes cute! i didnt know there were dwarf rats, are they much smaller?


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## kksrats

I'm sorry to hear about your little girl  she was such a cutie. This little guy is beautiful 

Zeri-you can see the size comparison here http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?301073-Size-comparison-12-week-dwarf-vs-10-day-old-standard


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## JAnimal

Adorable. I love the dumbo ears. Though i'm sorry to hear about your girl.


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## moonkissed

Zeri said:


> aw hes cute! i didnt know there were dwarf rats, are they much smaller?


Much Much smaller! 

An average female standard rat weighs about 350-450g and a standard male will weigh around 450-650g. Dwarfs of both sexes get around 80-100g at full grown, some lines get up to 120g.

Huge size difference!

I had some really cute size comparison pics up when I had my other dwarf and babies
http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?301073-Size-comparison-12-week-dwarf-vs-10-day-old-standard
http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?302489-Dwarf-vs-Standard-Babies

The dwarf was 3 months old and was the same size as 3 WEEK old babies. At 4 weeks old they were bigger then her. 

Castiel right now is 5.5weeks old and so tiny. He is smaller then he looks in the pics.


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## Gribouilli

Would a dwarf rat be able to escape a critter nation until fully grown? Just curious.
Castiel is super cute. Sorry about your girl


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## Fraido

Gribouilli said:


> Would a dwarf rat be able to escape a critter nation until fully grown? Just curious.
> Castiel is super cute. Sorry about your girl


Pinkies can barely fit through the bars!


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## RattieFosters

Other than size, are there any other differences between the dwarves and the standards (temperament, health, care, etc)? There's a breeder a few cities away from me who sometimes breeds dwarves and I've been considering getting some after my current mischief is gone, but there's not a ton of info on them out there. :/


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## moonkissed

Thank you all for your condolences. It was very tragic and was so upsetting. It was the first time I've lost a pet to an accident like that and she had already stolen my heart so it really hurt. Just looking at her pics now made me cry.



Gribouilli said:


> Would a dwarf rat be able to escape a critter nation until fully grown? Just curious.
> Castiel is super cute. Sorry about your girl


I do not have a CN currently. On a dwarf website they said yes. Im not sure. I will ask on a dwarf group I am in. My cages are smaller bar spacing then that. I have seen them slip out of some pretty small spaces though!



> Other than size, are there any other differences between the dwarves and the standards (temperament, health, care, etc)? There's a breeder a few cities away from me who sometimes breeds dwarves and I've been considering getting some after my current mischief is gone, but there's not a ton of info on them out there. :/


Yeah dwarfs are fairly new still. Ideally they should be the same as standards. Nothing about them being dwarf makes them any different in health, temperament, life span, etc... besides the fact that the females are far less likely to develop tumors because of lack of growth hormones yay!

From my research, they tend to be more energetic/hyper then standards and require less protein, which is important because alot of rat foods already have a bit more protein then they should ideally have. I have heard they tend to be a bit fearless, and both of mine definitely have been that way. Just because they are small doesn't mean they need less space, they should still have the same space as standard rats IMO because they are very energetic and love to climb and play. 

The most obvious difference is because of their size you have to be very careful. I do not suggest housing them with standard size rats, definitely not males. They can easily escape and be harder to find than a standard rat. And are more delicate from their size. I actually lost my girl because she tried following my standard females climbing up a bookshelf and she fell.

Sadly though being kindof newer alot of breeders kindof went crazy with it just trying to get some and didn't breed them all that well..... so there are some not so great lines out there. Alot of them it seems to be. Where they have some health issues and I have heard about alot of really bad aggression issues. So if you want to get them you really want to find a breeder who is good and experienced and have worked with them for a while IMO. 

I am very lucky to have found a breeder with really great lines, these ones are so sweet.


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## moonkissed

Gribouilli said:


> Would a dwarf rat be able to escape a critter nation until fully grown? Just curious.
> Castiel is super cute. Sorry about your girl


several people confirmed that they are fine in CN. And that they even keep them in them themselves. So all good!


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## moonkissed

So gotta love Siamese


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## peace

he is sooo darn cute!!! super jealous


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## moonkissed

Seriously this boy has stolen my heart! He is too sweet. He is insanely playful!

He is 7.8 weeks and weighs a whole 58g. My 8 week old standard females weighed 180g for comparison lol


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## Gribouilli

moonkissed said:


> Seriously this boy has stolen my heart! He is too sweet. He is insanely playful!He is 7.8 weeks and weighs a whole 58g. My 8 week old standard females weighed 180g for comparison lol


He is super cute. Looks like he gas normal size rat friends aren't dwarf rats more likely to be bullied by normal size rats?


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## moonkissed

Gribouilli said:


> He is super cute. Looks like he gas normal size rat friends aren't dwarf rats more likely to be bullied by normal size rats?


He was all alone and a bit sad  i had his cage on my desk and had him out with me almost all day but it wasn't the same. I didn't want him to be alone or miss out on alot of socialization which is so important at his age. I am getting him a dwarf friend in mid April, I have him reserved from the breeder but have to wait till then. I won't have little dwarf babies of my own for a while, as breeding takes time. 

My soon to be dwarf baby! Mine is the one on the right. 









Cas lives in his own cage but gets to visit with my 2 male babies from my current litter. They are 9 weeks old.

All visits are supervised. I have their cage sitting right next to me.

I do not recommend this in most cases. The size difference is insane and a dwarf could so easily be injured even on accident. 
My baby boys are just the sweetest pancakes of love. They adore Cas. They are so gentle with him. They play crazy with one another but with him they don't, it is just sweet. Cas on the other hand does not realize he is tiny and tries to play which gives me a heart attack! The amount of energy he has compared to them is night and day though, he bounces off walls! But yeah he jumps all over them and they gently bat him away if he bugs them. Sadly Ill probably separate them for good in a few weeks because it will start to make me too nervous as they are getting bigger. I trust my boys but accidents happen.

i definitely do not want to promote placing dwarfs with standard rats at all. In a breeder group I am in just very recently someone had their dwarf heartbreakingly killed by her standards because she put them together. 

But knowing your pets & the risks you can make choices of what works for you. I would never house a dwarf male full time with standards, and never with adults. But I know my rats very well. These boys are still babies really & I bred myself, and I breed for temperament. I've handled them since the day they were born & I know their personalities very well. I also know what to watch for to stop something before it happens.

I also let my cats hang out with my rats, though i always tell everyone else not to do that. lol


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## Gribouilli

Thanks for clearing that up


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## moonkissed




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## rottengirl

He is the teeny tiniest little squeaker! I saw him on reddit and fell in love, haha. I also showed my boyfriend (we're into Supernatural right now) and he LOVES him and the name


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## moonkissed

rottengirl said:


> He is the teeny tiniest little squeaker! I saw him on reddit and fell in love, haha. I also showed my boyfriend (we're into Supernatural right now) and he LOVES him and the name


I spam reddit with all my pics haha <3

I LOVE supernatural  I need a Crowley! I am getting another dwarf male and a silvermane in less than 2 weeks and am kindof thinking of naming the other dwarf Crowley. So they can be Castiel & Crowley together!

I am so in love with this little guy though. He is pure sweetness. The most friendly happy guy. And I was warned about dwarfs being hyper and omg he just literally bounces off the walls of his cage. I have two standard boys just 2 weeks older than him and they are young so still fairly active but just lazy smoosh pancakes compared to him!


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## rottengirl

moonkissed said:


> I spam reddit with all my pics haha <3
> 
> I LOVE supernatural  I need a Crowley! I am getting another dwarf male and a silvermane in less than 2 weeks and am kindof thinking of naming the other dwarf Crowley. So they can be Castiel & Crowley together!


That's a perfect idea! Haha, I can't wait to see them both in your pictures.


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## moonkissed

Here is a video of Castiel with two of my standard boys.
They are all about 3 months old, the standards are exactly 2 weeks older.

You can really see the size difference!
https://www.facebook.com/onceuponamischief/videos/vb.786145668167049/961636170617997/?type=2&theater


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## FrufflesDaRat

Cute!


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## moonkissed

Another size difference pic 

My little baby looks so HUGE next to Cas! OMG lol

Castiel (on the left) is 4 months old
Banner (on the right) is exactly 6 weeks old










I just am so crazy in love lol


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## Gribouilli

They are both sooo adorable. The difference is huge. Love the colors on both


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## moonkissed

Gribouilli said:


> They are both sooo adorable. The difference is huge. Love the colors on both


Thank you!

I really love Siamese so much. My boys look so nice still, while my girls look so goofy as they change color. IDK why I just love the silliness of it.


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## SaberKatt

Oh my gosh, how cute!!


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