# I'm new - meet my rats



## lazyislandkat (Feb 2, 2008)

Hi everyone,

My name is Kat and I have a few pets including 3 parrots, 1 turtle, 2 dogs (only baby sitting for now) and lots of fish - oh and a husband who takes just as much care as the animals. I have just added to the managery by purchasing 2 female rats a few days ago. They are so cute and pretty well behaved.

I have named them Daisy and Jemima. Daisy is white with a blonde hood and Jemima is all blonde with a little white patch on her belly - they are both very pretty. My girls are about 8 weeks old and I got them from a good petshop along with all of the necissities and accessories.

At the pet shop there were 2 large cages/tanks, one with females and the other with males. I pointed out to one of the pet shop staff that was helping me that there was a male in with the females - she promptly took him out!!! Apparently they had a few highschool students in over the holidays helping out and they were a little careless - hence none of them ended up with a job there! However I think it is too late for my little Jemima as I have a sneaky suspicion that she is pregnant! The lady at the petshop said that if she has babies then they will buy them off me when they were 6 weeks old. If she does have little ones then I think they will be very pretty like their mother, because the male that was in there was also all blonde, just slightly darker. 

I have no experience with pregnant rats, or any rodents - but I have done my research just incase. If she is pregnant then she isnâ€™t far along as neither myself or the lady at the petshop could tell for certain. Anyway, we will just wait and see what happens!

Daisy has a cute personality, she is pretty cuddly, but when she has had enough she will head for her cage, which is fine cause it means that she likes her home. She likes being touched all over and is quite happy to sit there and be scratched behind the ear. Jemima is a little bit nippy, but I think its more a curiousoty thing rather than aggression cause she hasnâ€™t bitten hard, just a nibble really, it just gives me a bit of a fright. And if she is pregnant like I suspect then it would probably be the reason behind it. She likes a scratch on top of her head and rolls her head around so I get her under the chin and behind the ears, but there are limits with her.

They have bot had their first baths today and neither of them loved it, but they didnâ€™t hate it either. There was no screaming, scratching or biting at all, they just kinda wanted to get out of the water. I think that it is something they will get used to. I was expecting a bit more of a fuss and some screaming (from them and me!!). I had read a couple of articles before doing it so was prepared with a couple of old towles and I rat proffed the bathroom before doing it just incase they lept onto the floor and ran. I dried them with a towel and they preened themselves till they were dry. Their tails are nice and clean and shiney now, they had the typical brownish patches on them before - now they are 2 beautiful babies! They are sleeping in their homemade hamock now - I think they like it!!!

I have fed them on a variety of things - seeing what they like and what they donâ€™t. They seem to want to try everything, the only thing they donâ€™t really like is red apple, they nibble it a bit, but if there is something else on offer they will go for that instead. I think their favourite is carrot so far.

They sleep alot durring the day and are awake at night, I know this is normal, however is it ok to take them out and have a play durring the day? Will this interrup their sleep patterns? When is the best time of 'out of cage time"?

Here's a photo - I hope it works. It's not the best photo, but it shows of their colour and markings very well.










Anyway, thatâ€™s my story for now. Iâ€™m sure I will be a regular on this forum. I have read alot of different posts and everyone seems nice and helpful.

Kat


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## lazyislandkat (Feb 2, 2008)

Here are some better photos.

This is Daisy










This is Jemima


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

Cuties. I hope they're not pregnant.... They are much too young! 

Make sure to read around the forum, you'll learn a lot.  You didn't mention, but did say you feed them a variety of things... That's good, but you do need a staple food, such as lab blocks (Harlan Teklad or Mazuri), a Suebee's mix + _high quality_ dog food with low protein or Regal (not Reggie) Rat.


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## CaptainFlow (May 16, 2007)

Welcome! Cute rats. 
I wanted to touch on your concern about playing with your rats during the day- rats are great at adapting to your schedule! Just try to be consistent, and they'll get it. My girls are all geared for a couple times of activity- morning about 8, and afternoon about 1, both for an hour or two, and then at night about 7 until I got to sleep about 1. They're most active at night, but it doesn't bother them at all to be up during the middle of the day, as long as they get some food (I mean, love) for their efforts!


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## foxx (Sep 13, 2007)

nice


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## ari3189 (Dec 2, 2007)

awwww!! i reallyyyy want a little hooded girl with daisy's coloring. one day.


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## calories (Dec 7, 2007)

what sweeties!


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## lovemyrats4eva (Dec 18, 2007)

Daisy and Jemima are both very pretty girls


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## dragonegg (Oct 2, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Kat! Your girls are lovely!


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## Squeak (Sep 4, 2007)

Welcome to the world of rats Kat! 

As for your question, rats don't mind you taking them out during day time. If you have time during the day, it's always nice for them to come out for a play. Though, since I work most days, I personally, prefer taking my rattlets out during night when I have time to actually 'play' with them.


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## lazyislandkat (Feb 2, 2008)

I do work durring the day, however I have been taking them out at about 6 - 6:30pm and depending on how they are feeling they stay out for as little as half an hour or as much as 3 hours. I'm always up for a cuddle - that's why I got them, however as I have said previously, they let me know if they want to go back in their cage.

I hope that Jemima isn't pregnant - it's probably not great for her health as she is so young, and also I'll want to keep them all cause I just know they will be cute!!!! I'm still not sure if she is pregnant or not - I guess I'll find out soon!!!

Anyway, I'm very happy with them and I think they are happy with me.

Kat


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## moomoo (Oct 19, 2007)

AWWW ! Theyre both really cute and even if jemima is pregnant, the babies with be outrageously cute. oh, i have two parrots! two sun conures ! How's theyre cage, i'm looking into new ideas for my new rat cage and i'm always looking for inspiration to spruce things up a bit. Keep us updated!


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## Trika (Oct 25, 2007)

simply adorable. I also got that sneaking suspicion about my newest girl Micro she was all by herself in a cage with two males. so I'm sure theres a good chance that she's pregnant. boy is my mom gonna be mad.


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