# New here. My first ratty-rats, Captain Khan-Luc Tribble and Bald Igor



## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

Growing up, I've owned various types of hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and ferrets. I've wanted a hairless rat for about 15 years and already had a name picked out for when I got one. On Tuesday, I called up a pet store and asked if they had any. I was told they had two, so I went there to check them out. There was a white one and one that was a darker color with dumbo ears. I picked out the darker one. I didn't know what type of cage I should buy, and the woman picked one out for me. When I got home and set up the cage, the bars seemed pretty spaced out, but I figured the woman at the store knew what she was talking about (I should know better than to assume such things...). That night, I put Captain Khan-Luc Tribble in his cage and set it inside a bin just in case he decided to squeeze out. 

Around 4am, I had my ex check the temperature in the room Tribble was staying in, and when he went to check on him, he was gone. I was a mess. My first night owning a rat and I lose him. Yesterday, my ex went to the store to exchange the cage. The woman he spoke to owns rats, so she was very helpful. She was surprised I was given that cage because it was meant for guinea pigs and dwarf rabbits. She gave him an appropriate cage, and mentioned that rats did better in pairs. He knew how upset I was, so when he came home, he surprised me with Tribble's cagemate from the store. I wanted to name him Obi Han Ewok, but my daughter wanted to name him. She wanted to call him Bald Eagle, but when she was talking about it, she mispronounced it as "Bald Igor" and it stuck.

Meanwhile, I was trying to find Tribble. I laid out food on tinfoil surrounded by flour in about every room to try to track him to no avail. I had emptied a big bin of toys onto my daughter's bed when I was searching, so when it was bed time, I started putting the toys back. I had given up on the hunt for the day and wasn't expecting to find anything. I lifted one up, and there was a dark rat tail peeking out. I lifted another toy, and there was Tribble just chilling on my daughter's bed. I was so relieved. I put him in the new cage along with Igor. Right now, the cage is in a bin that's covered in a window screen. I'm so paranoid and want them to be a little bigger before I'm comfortable with their size vs. the bar spacing.

They were advertised as hairless, but they do have some fur. Tribble has a thin layer of dark fur and a big hairless patch around his head and back. His whiskers are short and curly. Igor has a thicker layer of fur and longer whiskers. I was reading somewhere about hairless vs. double rex. I know it's impossible to tell for sure without knowing what type of parents they have, but I was wondering if anyone had any guesses as to whether they are hairless or double rex. Also, is there a way to tell how old they are? When I was asking questions at the store, I completely forgot to ask that one.

I've been doing a lot of research on rats the past few days, but if anyone has any advice or whatnot, I'd love to hear it.

I'm still new at this, so I tried to attach some pictures of them (sorry for the poor quality, they were taken from phones rather than my good camera. I'll try to get good photos later). Not sure if they work, but it's worth a try.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

Here's another one of Tribble


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## Keelyrawr (Mar 7, 2012)

They're all so cute! Love the Star Trek names!  Sounds like you had some "Tribble Trouble" hehe.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

Thank you. Tribble is the darker one and Igor is the lighter.
Yes, I did have Tribble Trouble!


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## binkyhoo (Sep 28, 2008)

Me too, love the names.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

Tried to get some better pictures, but they are squirmy wormies, so they're a bit blurry. The last one really shows off Tribble's bald spot.


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## brittbritt (May 13, 2012)

They are so cute together. I adopted a guinea pig who was already named Tribble. I loved that name for him.


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## retrolemons (Sep 25, 2010)

They're adorable! <3


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

they are very cute. its very rare to get a true hairless from a pet shop. they both look like double rexes, at lease Tribble is, Igor might turn out to be a true hairless, but wouldn't count on it.

The first day I had rats, I let them out to play and a few hours later I couldn't find Einstein (RIP little buddy) and put his brother Charles back into their tank (we had just gotten them, we got them a big cage a few days later cause Charles kept escaping to play with our cat) we looked around for hours, we put out bananas and carrots, we though our cat had eaten him (she now likes rats). Found him just chilling out asleep in my stuff animals a few hours later. little baby got tired running around my room. I guess rats like stuff animals.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

I would think Tribble would lean more toward hairless since his bald spot keeps getting bigger and bigger, and Igor has thick fuzz all over him.
The more I read, it definitely does seem like they are both double rex. I read something about patchwork hairless, but then I read something else that patchwork hairless is also double rex. So much conflicting information on hairless vs. double rex.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

It does seem like they like stuffed animals.

It's so much fun watching them interact. Tribble has lost almost all his hair, except a little on his face, the rest is either bald or so thin, you can't see any hair. It's like he's a whole other rat.


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## KelleyArline (Jul 12, 2012)

Aw, they're precious!

New rat adopters should become acquainted with http://ratguide.com/. Rat Guide is an excellent, exhaustive medical website that will help you understand what ailment a rat might have contracted, how to treat it at home, and when a rat must be taken to a vet. You will also learn a lot about preventative care. I think it will be really helpful for you!


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

Thank you! And thank you for the website, I appreciate as many tips as possible since I'm a new rat owner.


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## Delilahbrat (Jun 28, 2012)

So, here it is 6 weeks later. My boys are getting so big! 
Sorry it's picture heavy.


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