# I'm a new rat mommy!



## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

This is Kyran (4 weeks) Ayden (5 weeks) I am just guessing on their age from the age pictures I have sen they look around that age. Kyran,Meaning little dark one in gaelic, and Ayden, meaning little fire in gaelic, they are both feeders that won my heart. I was always saying that I was not going to give in and keep a rat but Kyran licked my hand. That's all it took one lick and I was sold. Anyway they are much bigger than these pictures and I am working on getting recent pictures. Kyran has lost his chunky baby face and has become the same size if not bigger than Ayden. It is rather exciting to watch them grow and I count myself lucky that I have more time to spend with them than if I had bought an older rat from petsmart. I know the argument about 'saving' feeders I know people will say I just made room for two new rats to come in, but I koft ho think of the story of the man that as throwing starfish back into the ocean one by one. When asked why he replies "I may not be able to save them all but I made a difference to that one". Anyway enjoy the pictures...
Also if any one has an opinion on their age that would be awesome. I don't know they could be from the same litter but most likely not. These pictures were taken Oct 13th,2011


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## Abracasqueak (Oct 20, 2011)

Beautiful quote, and very true.

You're babies are just precious; I love the names you chose too, so unique!

It has been a while since my girls have been that small, so it is a long shot guess at your rattie's age, however, 4-8 weeks I'd say? Maybe someone may have a better stab at the age, but if my memory serves me...

Congratulations on becoming a rattie mommy, it's such a wonderful experience.


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

Thank you, like I said they were feeders so all they were labeled as were 'rat pups' so anyones guess is fair game. I have always liked rats and alothough I seemed to have developed and allergy to them they are here for life. I am hoping it will be like ownig cats that my allergies will fade after time. I want to get them a bigger cage in january as of right now they are in one of those small two story gerbil cages about 3 ft by 2 foot it is not near big enough for an adult rat but seeing as they are smaller an adult rt cage would be easy to escape from. It tok me a while to come up with the names I spent and entire day surfing name sites. I like to name my pets after watching their personality and I also like unique names. My two dogs came with their names but everything else I have spent time searching. I named Ayden first little fire seemed to fit with his ruby eyes. When I named Kyran I wanted a name that would hint on him beig darker than Ayden, since Ayden was a gaelic name I decided to look there first so I had some sort of a bond between the names. I found the name Kyran and at first i did not really like it but it sort of stuck in my head long enough that Kyran it was. I will be sharing some more pictures of them but for now I will stop rambling.


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## ariananugnet (Oct 18, 2011)

Congrats on the new ratties  theyre adorable!


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

If you adopt from a rescue you still save some rats... To me buying from a pet store isn't worth it because I've spent more in vet bills in the two weeks since I got my most recent ones than I would have spent rescuing or buying from a breeder.

In any case, congrats on your new babies! They're darling ^^


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

I did not buy these two from a pet store. I also took them into a local vet and they got the all clear in health so I am not too worried


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## wheeljack (Mar 17, 2011)

cheshire said:


> I did not buy these two from a pet store. I also took them into a local vet and they got the all clear in health so I am not too worried


Just an fyi: a vet cannot diagnose several very dangerous viruses via an office visit. SDA, Sendai and CarB are all quite common in the continental US and can only be diagnosed definitively with a serology test AFTER the animal has had 7-10 days to develop antibodies that will show on the test. These tests are not routine and you need to request them. If these are your only rats it's not as much of an issue, but if you do chose to get any more please make sure you are aware of how to do a proper separate air-space quarantine to protect the two rats you've posted about here.

A vet also cannot diagnose if they have poor myco resistance if they aren't having an active flair at the time of the visit. Hopefully they will stay healthy for you, but just be aware your vet cannot check for everything during a routine visit.


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

Thank you for the heads up.


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

Update!!!!!! Warning may be too cute for some viewers!!!!


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## shooper (Feb 22, 2011)

They are very cute! I hate to be a downer, but have you made sure they are the same sex? It is sometimes very hard to tell on young ones. Only females have nipples, thats how I always checked on my young ones.


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

Yep they are both boys the shop I got them from only sells males so they don't have issues with people breeding them :-D That and the vet checked as well. The vet said their little chase around he cage tackling each other are just boys being boys. Once in a while one will start squeaking and they will break apart. Then a few minutes later the one who started squeaking (usually Kyran) will start it back up agan. They nev er hurt each other, even so I am quick to jump up if I hear too much squeaking.


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## Maltey (Jun 26, 2011)

I suppose the one bonus from buying feeders is being able to see them at such a young age. They're so cute!


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

They are growing like crazy still no luck on finding them a proper cage. Dropped off my number at their vets in hope that someone has an extra cage SOMEWHERE. Got told by the receptionist that I should just put them in an aquarium with a mesh lid and a wheel  I did my best to explain I have hopes of getting them hammocks and really did want a bigger cage with levels. Thank god she is not the rat expert there or I would have left. I am converting their cage over to fleece either tonight or tomorrow because I think the carefresh is making them sneeze they are fine out of it in it they sniffle. Oh and they just got a new owl stuffed anamall that may have to wait fo the elusive bigger cage. Wish me luck on that I went to every store I could think of even a bird store and found nothing absolutely nothing on CL nothing on Ebay This cage hunt is harder than I thought >.>


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## Horatio (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm on my second round of rat keeping and this time can't find a decent cage. At the moment I'm using a large bird cage, long and low (relatively low for a bird cage that is.)Accessories are so expensive and have to admit I can't resist shopping for little fixtures and fittings. I've found some great stuff in the aquarium section. Trees with holes etc. Things that fish like to swim through are also things rats like to run through. I made hammocks out of the nets from my son's discarded table-tennis and badminton sets. Tied them to the cage with zip ties. Also found some great Fisher Price toys in Charity shops. My littles have a two story dolls house. a jumbo jet, one of those blocks with holes for putting the shapes through (they put themselves through) and something that might be a babies dish because it won't tip over but will make a very nice summer pool. It's as fun as anything setting up ratties.


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## cheshire (Oct 24, 2011)

Oh wow Ayden would love a swimming pool o.o I gave them their first bath a couple nights ago because of allergy reasons I have to get them used to the water with or without soap. Ayden LOVED IT (Kyran not so much) Ayden would go tromping through the small puddle of water chasing my hand. When it was time to scrub he placed his hands on my fingers and stretched out letting me get his entire body (going from a friends rat who had something causing his male part to become stuck out of the sheath and need a bath he would squeek and fight and everything) afterwards he curled up in his towel and enjoyed a nice head rubbing while bruxing and boggling and cleaning :-D. They are good little boys. I am getting a CN today I hope they are prepared for the room they will have 
I think to Ayden a bath is an amazing expierence going from a reptile store to a CN AND a bath tub where amazingly enough this human can get the gunk off of him he can't reach.. must be heaven.


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