# VirtuRatz



## cagedbirdsinging

A programmer in Australia made up a very neat game that I think most of you may enjoy.

It started as a very simple genetics tool to predict hypothetical litters, but turned into a breeding simulation game. While it sounds odd at first, I am 100% supportive of this as hopefully it may curb the desire for some to play with real rattie lives. It relies on enough people playing so that rats can be traded and outcrossed, so the more people, the better.

Come play with us?

http://www.virturatz.com/


Note: The link on the home page for the program seems to be a bit broken, so just send an email to [email protected] with the username you would like and they will email you your password.


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## Phantom

I sent an e-mail request. I love genetics sims because of all the different combinations you can come up with. I used to play Howrse. I'm currently waiting for Rat Realm and Rat Tails to open up as well. I hope to see you on the site! =P


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## Jackie

sounds cute, I'll try it!  
No interest in bringing real rat babies into the world here! (I'd love a neutered male for my pack someday!)


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## Phantom

Jackie said:


> sounds cute, I'll try it!
> No interest in bringing real rat babies into the world here! (I'd love a neutered male for my pack someday!)


I have three neutered boys and two girls. I've had an accidental litter before, and I have no interest in dealing with future litters either. I'm glad they create online simulators like this one. It let's people have fun without bringing actually rat babies into the world.


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## Jackie

omg this reminds me of the petz series (dogz and catz) for pc! I loved those games. I hope this game will be fun like that!


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## Mike&Sully'sMummy

I'm playing Virturatz! My username is MelHunt182 and I'm really enjoying this game so far! Although I know nothing about genetics and breeding (never tried it and never plan on it, I've only had boys) so i'm still learning at the minute but it's really cool!


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## RexRat

Does anyone have screenshots of this?


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## Jackie

Lol my rattery is Dat Rat Rattery and the prefix is Hi (lol no relation) so it'll say Hi Fontina if the rat is Fontina. 
My username is Jackie.

also...


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## saratherussiandog

Jackie said:


> omg this reminds me of the petz series (dogz and catz) for pc! I loved those games. I hope this game will be fun like that!


I loved those games so much!!


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## PaigeRose

I'm a sucker for virtual breeding sims so I'll definitely be trying this out!


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## Kinsey

I am joining now


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## cagedbirdsinging

It's still small and there aren't fancy graphics, but I believe they are looking into it. Also, it's only Australian varieties at the moment.


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## Kinsey

I am waiting for the email response back. So impatient.

Nevermind. Got it. I'm going now.


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## cagedbirdsinging

The first time you get an unexpected surprise in your litter, you're hooked! I'm VHR in the game.

I have several good starter rats up in the marketplace. You can already see what happens when people start breeding willy-nilly as there are many rats being put up for adoption with not great health and temperament.


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## Kinsey

I have a few decent guys already (and no more money..oi! Cages are not cheap). Got lucky with a downunder hooded with good health.

I have one who is satin too and a girl who's pregnant. Very impatient for her bubs to come. She is a Silverfawn berkshire and so was the sire.


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## nanashi7

I'm going to check it out. 

It does sound nice and realistic. Maybe if more want-to-be breeders played this they'd see why they shouldn't breed (cost, inferior lines, etc). Again haven't played just by your guys'comments. 


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## Finnebon

I'd love to join and try it out too, but whenever I click the "click here" to send an email request, all it does is open up a new blank window in chrome. : /

I can get the e-mail address from right clicking on the link, would I just send that email address my desired username?


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## thejollyskipper

cagedbirdsinging said:


> The first time you get an unexpected surprise in your litter, you're hooked! I'm VHR in the game.
> 
> I have several good starter rats up in the marketplace. You can already see what happens when people start breeding willy-nilly as there are many rats being put up for adoption with not great health and temperament.


It looks like I adopted a couple of your rats. I'm focusing more on the health/temperament scores, so I like buying from the marketplace. It's amazing how low some of the scores are. Poor guys are never going to be adopted.  I'm so glad this is a game because I could never handle this in real life. 
(BTW my username is seddybean. Haven't bred any yet.)


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## thejollyskipper

Finnebon said:


> I'd love to join and try it out too, but whenever I click the "click here" to send an email request, all it does is open up a new blank window in chrome. : /
> 
> I can get the e-mail address from right clicking on the link, would I just send that email address my desired username?


Yep! They'll eventually send a reply with your password so you can login.


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## cagedbirdsinging

Yes, you'll just use the email from the link. I think they are aware of the problem with the link itself. I'll put that in my original post.

So far, I'm really pleased with the program. It's fun, but also so educational and there are always folks wondering about genetics, etc.


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## cagedbirdsinging

They just added rat shows to the game!


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## Lesti

I'm joining! Sounds great!


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## Jackie

Rat shows! I can't wait! I want to enter one of my kittens but she's too young at the moment. I decided to be a little more practical but still funny. Now if you get a rat of mine instead of Hi _______ your rat will be Dr. ______. It makes sense, I'm Dat Rat Rattery.


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## Lesti

How long does the confirmation email take?


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## saratherussiandog

Lesti said:


> How long does the confirmation email take?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I emailed them 3 hours ago, and still haven't gotten the email. Maybe it's nighttime in Australia? ???


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## Lesti

Maybe...I emailed them at about the same time.  impatience rules my life!


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## Crezzard

I can't wait to play This it sounds fun. An iPhone app would be good x


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## Jackie

Don't hold expectations too high guys! It's a really simple concept, but I like it  Basically you buy a cage and rats and your goal (I assume) is to get friendly healthy rats and try to get rare colors/hair types, by breeding rats.


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## Jackie

Also, the point is to make enough money to keep up your rattery!


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## RexRat

So I'm assuming that this website is totally safe? 
Hehe, I'd still like to see any screen shots if people have them. What does the market look like?

...I'd be so tempted to rescue all of the rats with low scores but I have to tell myself that this is just a game.


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## Jackie

ughhh I want a rex but I can't find one! lol
Here's the marketplace.


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## RexRat

Woah! That looks so fun! Plus, memorizing the genotypes (I believe that's what they're called anyway) is really hard for me haha...so this should help! 

Do you get pictures of rats or just names? What does your rattery look like too? A cage or a list? 
Kind of off topic, but the rat in your profile picture is absolutely adorable Jackie!


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## Jackie

There is my cage lists and one of the rats in specific. They don't all have pictures. Like some of the rare ones don't (all of mine have pics so far). Had to make the screen smaller to get all the info


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## RexRat

Yay! Definitely signing up! This looks great!

Is the game easy, in a way? I have no experience in rat breeding, and was never good at genetics...so I don't want to mess up anything.


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## Jackie

Well hopefully not, as we discourage actual breeding! That way you can do it in game and not for real! haha.
It's just a fun little game to do!


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## Hey-Fay

Sounds fun! I don't want any real litters either, Lilly's was enough. Three babies were a handful, I don't think I'd ever be prepared to take care of a litter of 5-20. I'f I want babies I'll go rescue some.... wait, wait, I did lol


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## Jackie

blarg, now I'm addicted! Haha I already have a couple cool coat patterns including lightning blazed and head spotted variegated. I need a rex!


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## cagedbirdsinging

I don't think any (or many) rex coats have been up on the market since the breeders that do have it have only just gotten them. I've been looking for a carrier, at least.

What did you cross to get your silk and markings? Was it just a lucky pet store carrier?


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## Jackie

Silky Whiskers was from the petstore. He has one silk son as well.  I saw at least 1 rex rat on the market yesterday but I had just started and didn't know to snatch them up.


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## saratherussiandog

How long does pregnancy usually last?


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## Jackie

Each week is 4 hours. I think it only takes 4 hours for pregnancy to make it a faster process.


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## Phantom

What's everyone's username? Mine's Phantom, same as the forum.


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## Willow&Faith

I'm waiting for a confirmation e-mail. Does anyone know if there are hairless/double rex rats in the game? I'd love to breed some of those (not irl, obviously)! What about dumbos? I'm so excited!


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## saratherussiandog

Willow&Faith said:


> I'm waiting for a confirmation e-mail. Does anyone know if there are hairless/double rex rats in the game? I'd love to breed some of those (not irl, obviously)! What about dumbos? I'm so excited!


There are standard and rex coats. I don't think there are hairless but I'll check! No dumbos, because I think they don't have them in Australia. It a nice, fun, little game 
And my user name is LovelyRat 
I can't wait until Lily has her babies,it been 6 hours


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## Jackie

There are double rexes. No dumbos, Australia doesn't have them which is silly. :/


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## Willow&Faith

That kind of sucks. I don't have any dumbos myself, so I was kind of hoping to have virtual ones. XP Oh well. It's still awesome!


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## Kinsey

My username is the same as here.


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## Hey-Fay

Phantom said:


> What's everyone's username? Mine's Phantom, same as the forum.


Hey-Fay!


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## cagedbirdsinging

It's only limited to Australian varieties at the moment.

If you go into the litter predictor, it will list all the colors and coat options available.


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## Jackie

I don't mind at all. There are plenty of options! I mean Kity is from Australia. I wouldn't want her to make american rat genes just for us. I'm just weirded out that it's impossible to have dumbos in Australia. You think there would be a safe way to have them without bringing in any diseases.

My name is obviously Jackie on there too.


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## kityakana

Hurrah I can post now.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the game, it's great to have so many new players! 

I would like to have American varieties one day but I have to learn some more genetics to do it! Aussie rat genetics are super simple. 

If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to let me know!

Kit


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## saratherussiandog

Are buff colored rats pretty common or not?


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## Lesti

I see them in the pet store a lot so I think so... 


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## kityakana

Buff rats are black rats (aa) with a ruby eyed dilute (rr).
They are relatively common, but are less common than plain agouti and black.


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## Jackie

omg I just bought my 2nd pet store silk rat. Lucky me tee hee


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## saratherussiandog

Here is the Facebook page ;D https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=405460912932573
Oh, and I just got a ruby eyed chocolate from the pet store. Haha, it 1 am here and I'm still up playing


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## Jackie

Ooo nice!  Sadly he's 2t 2h so to the market he goes...


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## saratherussiandog

My chocolate is 6t 2h  I was kind of tempted to buy your silky but I have like 30 dollars now


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## Jackie

There's cheaper silks now in the market. Better stats too. I will just sell him to the wanted section for 50 if he doesn't sell.


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## saratherussiandog

Yep I just bought a silky(had to quick sell a rat to pay for it ) Oh my gosh, I need to get off now!


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## Jackie

Me too. Must sleep. ughh


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## cagedbirdsinging

kityakana said:


> Hurrah I can post now.
> 
> I'm glad everyone is enjoying the game, it's great to have so many new players!
> 
> I would like to have American varieties one day but I have to learn some more genetics to do it! Aussie rat genetics are super simple.
> 
> If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to let me know!
> 
> Kit


Welcome! This is kcartwright856 here (VHR prefix). I hope you don't mind that I put this up. I wanted to help get the word out and get your project more testers!


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## kityakana

I don't mind at all! I'm thrilled that people are actually enjoying it - I thought it may have been a bit of a niche thing that wouldn't really interest many people.


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## Ratbag

Jackie said:


> View attachment 128193
> View attachment 128201
> 
> 
> There is my cage lists and one of the rats in specific. They don't all have pictures. Like some of the rare ones don't (all of mine have pics so far). Had to make the screen smaller to get all the info


I bought your ANA Macho I believe ;D He's the pappa to my first litter


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## Jackie

Ratbag said:


> I bought your ANA Macho I believe ;D He's the pappa to my first litter


He was one of my first rats. I named him Macho but the ANA marking isn't mine. I bought him from the market.


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## Jackie

Huzzah!


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## Phantom

The new stud system is awesome! I just put up my male Rex, Simon, for stud for those of you who want to try your luck at a Rex. =P


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## Jackie

It's not up yet. She's going to work on it. 

Speaking of which, I've been trying to help her out by answering forum questions. They were asking about it there.

I'm hoping to get a double silk this pregnancy. Muahahaha <3 silky goodness.


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## Ratbag

Jackie said:


> He was one of my first rats. I named him Macho but the ANA marking isn't mine. I bought him from the market.


He's back up for sale now, I need the money


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## Jackie

LOL s'okay Ratbag <3

I literally bought someone's rat and then resold it for more a minute later. You are just fine.


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## Ratbag

Jackie said:


> LOL s'okay Ratbag <3
> 
> I literally bought someone's rat and then resold it for more a minute later. You are just fine.


There are so many up for sale though...I wish I'd been a bit more patient and waited when buying my first rats so they would have had better ratings... I got fairly decent ratings on Macho's babies but as there are far more with higher ratings I have a feeling I'll end up selling to the pet store 

Is the only way to make money via selling/studding/winning competitions or does the bank account replenish at any point? I saw something about interest on the money in the bank...do you know how that works?


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## saratherussiandog

You can collect bank interest once a day I think. There's a button at the bottom of the bank page that says "collect interest" I think kit is working on maybe a game to add or something else to make money but it can't be too easy or else it wouldn't be as fun


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## Flying-Dumbo-Rat

Mm, I just got my password in the email. First thing was what I do on any breeding sim game; put some money in the bank for later. Sometimes I spend too often, even online...heh.
Anywho, it seems really cute and interesting so far!


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## Phantom

I got an idea as to how to make money besides shows in the game. For a small payment we could let our rats be therapy animals. Having a rat become a therapy animal for a short amount of time could also have a side effect on performing actions on that rat. For instance, you can not preform any actions on your rat for a certain amount of hours (breeding or shows). It could also have a good effect on the rat, for instance it could have a 10% chance more or less to improve it's temperament of the rat by 1. Pet store rats would not have their temperment effected since the goal of the game is to breed better rats. 

Another idea would be for rats to perform tricks or run through obstical courses to earn money. It would be a lot like the shows. There could be another factor besides health and temperment added to the game for this, maybe titled Memory? All rats would be born with 0 Memory and it could increase through training. Rats with higher Health and Temperment would have a better chance at increasing Memory. As with what was stated above a rat being trained or performing in a competition would not be able to do certain actions for a certain set of hours (maybe a week o keep things fair since rats have short life spans). 

These are just my two cents. =P


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## Ratbag

Flying-Dumbo-Rat said:


> Mm, I just got my password in the email. First thing was what I do on any breeding sim game; put some money in the bank for later. Sometimes I spend too often, even online...heh.
> Anywho, it seems really cute and interesting so far!


Oooohhh now I get it! So that's why it says I have zero in the bank when I actually do have money to spend. In that case, I am going to earn zero interest since I didn't deposit anything in the bank - oh dear - I only have $5 left now


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## Jackie

silky bebes


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## kityakana

I'm hoping to put a rat agility thing in Phantom. 

I have so many plans and not enough time!


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## Kinsey

So are any of you artistically inclined? I am a little. We really need the art for some of the colors.

I would be willing to do it with the lineart but I cannot promise it will be good..


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## Phantom

I'm pretty decent at drawing (I've taken some art courses.) I also have a Bamboo Create sitting around here somewhere. I can try drawing up some models to see what you guys think if you like? 

As far as the dumbo rat ear gene the gene I believe is du and it is recessive. So a rat with standard ears without the recessive gene would be _DuDu_. 
A rat with the recessive gene and a normal standard eared gene would be _Dudu_. This rat would have normal standard ears.
A rat with two copies of the gene would be _dudu_. This rat would have dumbo ears and would be showing the recessive gene. 

Even though they are less desirable traits and often come with health problems it would be cool to have Manx and Dwarf rats. I know they come with several health problems in real life, but since it is a game maybe they can start out with low health and temperment scores that could slowly be increased through passing generations?


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## Isamurat

Just joined. It will be interesting to see how it shapes up to real life lol. So far I'm focusing on high h and t scores oddly like real life. Means I have silverfawn and agouti starters. Just waiting for my girls to get old enough to breed. 

I can draw ok. Not so experienced on tablet but dont mind doing tge odd thing. Maybe we could have a thread on here for people to donate images


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## Ratbag

Isamurat said:


> Just joined. It will be interesting to see how it shapes up to real life lol. So far I'm focusing on high h and t scores oddly like real life. Means I have silverfawn and agouti starters. Just waiting for my girls to get old enough to breed.
> 
> I can draw ok. Not so experienced on tablet but dont mind doing tge odd thing. Maybe we could have a thread on here for people to donate images


I have a lovely boy (hooded apricot) with a 13/13 rating up for stud if you're interested  (My username is 'Fladdermus')


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## Isamurat

Wow, i will definitly look into that, got a bit to wait yet before my girls grow up. For some reason i decided to do it closer to what i would do in real life, which would be to get a pair of young girls and see how they go. Get a few show results and judge whose the best...


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## aimleigh

My username is flashjack


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## Crezzard

I wish they had this an an app for iPad x


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## ratswithfoxandbear

I am so into this game. I am trying to time everything to avoid accidental death, though!
The username is RatswithFoxandBear. I just had my first litter!


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## Jackie

accidental death?!


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## saratherussiandog

Silk babies


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## Jackie

ugh I haven't even gotten a double silk yet.


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## Phantom

I made a thread for artwork donations to this website in the Lounge. If anyone has any artwork donations or wants to help out here's the link:


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## saratherussiandog

Jackie said:


> ugh I haven't even gotten a double silk yet.


Want to buy my double silk? ;D I'm LovelyRat in the game. 
LRZ TwillyFemale6 weeks (Juvenile)SelfSilverfawnPinkDouble SilkT8/H5


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## Mouse

I just joined! My username is Mouse, my prefix is SNO and my rattery name is The Mouse House.


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## Jackie

saratherussiandog said:


> Want to buy my double silk? ;D I'm LovelyRat in the game.
> LRZ TwillyFemale6 weeks (Juvenile)SelfSilverfawnPinkDouble SilkT8/H5


Harhar! I got 3 double silks in a litter today!


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## thenightgoddess

I am playing to its the same username as on here. I just picked up a 6 week old female Chocolate silverfawn rexsilk from the marketplace. She doesn't have the best health but I am hoping I can make babies with a healthy male and change that.


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## Flipcandy

@thenightgoddess: The chocolate silverfawn rexsilk that you bought from the marketplace was bred by me!  Sorry about the health, it's something I am trying to improve too.

P.S. We have the same number of posts too! What a coincidence.


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## aimleigh

how do you get the health and temperament up on virturatz?


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## ratswithfoxandbear

aimleigh said:


> how do you get the health and temperament up on virturatz?


Selectively breeding. I went into the Market and found rats to pair from other owners. I intentionally found the healthiest and had a litter of all 12+ Temperament and 13+ Health. Sadly, I just logged in and everything has been reset for me. Ah well, time to start over!


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## thenightgoddess

Everyone has been reset....I don't think I am going to play anymore now. I don't want to wait as long as I did to get just one litter just to have it erased again. :/ I came on today expecting to have a new litter and two more I could breed and now I have nothing. I feel like she should have at least kept the rats that were already made with the same system and just made the new system for new rats or found a way to change current rats. If say one week was only a half an hour for a real week or so and your rats couldn't starve to death during that time so everyone could build back up again I might play. I feel like a lot of people that have built up good breeding lines aren't going to want to start over again.

...Im also a little upset that the rats that I had are gone


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## Isamurat

It's the downside of the game being in alpha testing mode. I see it as a great opportunity to have another go at it.


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## Jackie

I don't mind. When a game in in alpha you have to accept that things changed. I've been a member for 4 days, like I am not going to complain. It is a good chance to start over and hopefully the game play has changed for the better!


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## saratherussiandog

I like the fresh start. Now I know how to spend money more wisely. I had some silks, double silk, rex, and double rex babies but I don't mind. I really love playing it.


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## FallDeere

The game is still heavily under contruction and she did post a warning that everything would be reset. I had just had a litter of double rexes, but I am glad for the chance to start fresh with more knowledge now. Chances are, this won't be the last reset before everything is done but that's the thing about joining when a game is in Alpha.


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## Flipcandy

I hope the game won't get reset anymore, but can understand and will accept it if it does. I think I may have just bought the first rex rat to appear in the market! That's definitely plus after coming back and finding my show-winning rat gone and my cages reset.

ETA: I didn't buy the first rex rat. But I sure am happy with my head spotted hooded rex rat!


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## Phantom

I actually welcome the fresh start. It gives me opportunities to try other things and fix a few mistakes I made the first time around. For instance, I kept running low on money the first time around and now I actually know there is a bank that you can gain interest in.


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## ratswithfoxandbear

Phantom said:


> I actually welcome the fresh start. It gives me opportunities to try other things and fix a few mistakes I made the first time around. For instance, I kept running low on money the first time around and now I actually know there is a bank that you can gain interest in.


I need to use this! I was having tons of trouble with money, too.


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## Mike&Sully'sMummy

Anyone else having trouble logging on at the minute? I can connect to any other internet site except virturatz. Is it just me?


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## thenightgoddess

Am I the only one that can't get on the game right now?


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## Mike&Sully'sMummy

thenightgoddess said:


> Am I the only one that can't get on the game right now?


Mine is working now!


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## apac

How do I get a cool prefix for my rats names in this game?


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## Jackie

Click on your name and you can change the prefix and rattery name. 
Pet store rats will not have a prefix because they're not bred by you, they're from the pet store.


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## Quisquose

I just Joined! I'm Quisquose on the game, and my prefix is Q. Love it so far!


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## brundlefly

Oh dear.. mine's still not letting me log in


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## saratherussiandog

Is anyone else having trouble with getting on to Virturatz? I went on a while back and everything was SUPER slow and now i can't even get on.. All other websites work fine though. 
?


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## Ratbag

saratherussiandog said:


> Is anyone else having trouble with getting on to Virturatz? I went on a while back and everything was SUPER slow and now i can't even get on.. All other websites work fine though.
> ?


I'm having the same problem.


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## Isamurat

it is being a bit glitchy at the moment, i've had rats not ageing for a couple of age up periods, and trouble logging on on my phone and tablet. am in now on my computer and its working ok right now. I think the developer is having a family easter weekend so hopefully she will be back soon to try and fix it.


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## Crezzard

I got bored of it after a couple of days x 


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## madsnake

my name is myminizoo and my rattery is The Dapper rat


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