# My first rats ever! (Photos of our 2 new girls added!)



## Phoenix (Jan 29, 2008)

These are our girls. They just got home tonight but seem to be taking the move very well.

This is Yuuki. I named her, and I know it isn't original at all, but I really had no other choice. She was hard to photograph because she was very shy at first and hid under the top layer of the hammock until we got them onto the floor to play. Then we put her back into the cage and she has been running around ever since.





















We haven't named this one yet. I have been calling her hoodie but if I am the one to name her it will be Kira. She wasn't shy at all but she ran around so fast and was jumping everywhere so most of her photos were blurry.


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## CaptainFlow (May 16, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

Ahh, adorable and cute! Is Yuukie perhaps a double rex? Curly whiskers and sparse hairs do I see? And what ears! Adorable!


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

aw, a little patchwork-y in the making! yuuki is adorable. it'll be interesting to see if she actually is a patchwork or a full baldie on the way.if she is a patchwork you;ll have a new looking rat every week. so sweet. where did you get the darlings from?


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## Phoenix (Jan 29, 2008)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

I don't know what kind of rats they are  

My husband picked them up from a really nice woman whose females accidentally had a little free time with her males. He sad she was very nice and really knowledgable but he didn't think to ask how old they are (he guessed three weeks) or what type. He said there was a variety of babies to choose from including a couple albinos and a couple more hairless rats. She told him their hair is a little thin because there were 9 female babies together and they spent all their time grooming each other and the hair will grow back in over time. Either way I think he picked out the cutest two of the bunch! 

We are having so much fun with them we are considering getting a couple more. My 3 year old son was up 90 minutes late and woke up entirely too early wanting to play with the rats again. We'll reassess the family addition in a week or so.


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## dragonegg (Oct 2, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

Adorable little sweethearts. Yuuki looks like a Yuuki to me!


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## zlioness (Dec 27, 2007)

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I don't get it... what's so unoriginal about the name Yuuki? 

They are cute! I love the first pic of Yuuki.


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## Squeak (Sep 4, 2007)

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Brilliant pictures!

You have some fine ratties there


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## lovemyrats4eva (Dec 18, 2007)

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aww what adorable rattiekins


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

i've never heard of rats being in so big a colony that they over groom each other. i have heard of barbering but that's not what those pictures look like. i think you probably have a double rex in there. they can present with no fur, to fur that grows in and falls out continuously. they are not 3 weeks. if they were they would only just have their eyes open and be far too young to leave mom. some people will let their rats go at 4 weeks but that's pushing it a bit. typically it is preferred that rat babies are at least 5 weeks before leaving or another adult step-parent rat. its the same sort of thing with cats or dogs, physically they CAN leave mom at 6 weeks but they mentally they are not really ready to leave until about 8 weeks.

if the fur is thin and you see them itching a lot you should have them checked out for mites or lice. it can be picked up from any bedding (its a luck of the draw type thing) but is more common in wood types or bedding that has been sitting around for a while. ivermectin or revolution is normally recommended. however your babes are quite young and the vet may not want to dose until they are at least 8 weeks old. however, having the double rex gene their fur ould just be naturally thin, so watch them for signs of itchiness. 

i started with rats right about the same time i had my son and he has grown up with them all his life. he loves his sisters and brothers though he's still not a fan when they crawl on him because their whiskers tickle. he talks to them though and helps me feed and water them. its an excellent experience, i'm sure you're little one will love having some small furry sisters too, once he gets over the novelty of them he'll sleep better for his naps (until you get a new one that is! :lol: )


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## dingosm8 (Jan 10, 2008)

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Adorable!
Yuuki looks like a darker version of my little Roo, and he's a double rex.
I have 2 boys under 6years old, and they LOVE our family rats.


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## Phoenix (Jan 29, 2008)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

Thanks everyone! I have to admit I don't know anything about the different types of rats, but I looked up double rex and you are probably right. Yuuki has curly whiskers and her shoulder hair is thinner than the rest (which is thin all over). What hair she does have is very soft but it isn't curly. I also read about the hairless rats and like them she has the curly whiskers and wrinkly skin. Until now I attributed that more to her being smaller than the other one.

They don't seem to scratch themselves but they do groom frequently. I'll keep an eye out for lice and mites. Fortunately our vet sees rats too so I don't have to worry about finding a new vet that I can trust.

As for the name Yuuki, it's an anime/manga reference. I guess I'm too used to chatting with anime people online and forget that not everyone knows that much about me.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

hmm in theanime world it is very common a name a suppose. but here in the rats its not as common. i have met a few yuki rats that got the name from fruits basket though. what yuuki are you referencing?


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## Phoenix (Jan 29, 2008)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

The name was inspired by Yuki from Fruits Basket but I chose the spelling from Boys Over Flowers because that character is actually female. Although now that I think of it Yuki Cross is a female character and she spells it with one 'u' Either way, long explaination for what boils down to whimsy.

BTW - we now have four baby girls! We picked out two more - littler mates of the two we have now. With four they run around a play much more. Unfortunately my husband left our camera in his classroom so I have no pics to share.


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## ratlover4everrr (Jan 31, 2008)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

cute cute cute, btw you did a great job taking pictures and nice names! they look so young and healthy! congrats on getting 2 really good lookin rats. =]


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## foxx (Sep 13, 2007)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

Nice


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## Phoenix (Jan 29, 2008)

*Re: My first rats ever! Come see...*

I now have pics of our two new rats. This first is Faye, she's a cuddler and I believe (I'm new at this whole identification thing so correct me if I'm wrong) an albino dumbo.









The picture is a little blurry but these ears are too cute!









The girl in front is Kira (although my son named her Scrappy). She is the biggest of the four and fairly squirly so she's pretty hard to photograph. I think she's a blue bareback:









They are all really patient with our oldest son. He is very excited about the girls and giggles hysterically if they even come towards him.









And I'm throwing in a photo of Yuuki and Hoodie just so they don't feel left out! Okay, it's really because the pic was too cute not to add. I'm going to say Hoodie is also a blue bareback and Yuuki is a blue self. Her whiskers are curly but her fur is at best wavy so I don't know if that makes her a rex or not.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

she could be a poor rex. my boy bribery has a wavy butt but the rest of him is pretty normal. the hair is so close to her body though, she could be a velveteen.


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## Angry_J (Feb 3, 2008)

They are all so much fun!


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