# The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darlings



## 2manyrats

I have quite a few ratties in my life. Technically, only five of them are mine, but I live with my boyfriend's rats, and I'm about to move in with a good friend who has three girls. So, I consider them all "mine" in a loose way. Plus, very few of the rats are actually living with their "owners," because so many of the rats are in quarantine that consolidation had to happen! 

Also, I just added two boys to the horde today! A local petstore had two cute boys I couldn't resist. I've always wanted a Himalayan and a rex.

Here's my #1 girl, my first rattie love, and complete and utter darling: Butt-butt, also known as Butts, Buttsies, and Miss Butts. She'll be 1 year in a few weeks. She's a silky dumbo beige self. She's extremely cuddly for a girl, and enjoys lounging about while having her cheek rubbed. A rabid wheel runner.


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My other girl is also new, she's a "rescue" from a petshop with deplorable conditions. She's the one on the left, and her name isn't quite decided upon. Also a dumbo. The one on the right is a friend's, named Possie. They're currently in quarantine.










And this is my first new boy! I'm not sure how old he is, and the petstore employee didn't know a thing about him. He might as well have dropped from the moon, for all that kid knew. Anyways, I believe that he is a Himalayan, and he appears to be either quite old or just very out of shape. He's barely able to climb to the hammock in his cage, but he's very friendly and likes to be petted. Standard ear, red eyes. I've been calling him Mr. G (for geriatric).










This is the other new boy, who is an unbelievebly friendly rex. He's a very pale color, lighter than my beige girl, and is darker on the butt and nose. He's got a lighter underbelly, too. Standard ears, red eyes. His name will probably be Fuzzbutts.  He's probably 4 wks old.










Icky (short for Icarus), the black with the white blaze, is also my boy. He's very timid and needs more socialization, but he's coming around. He's also got the cutest white socks, white belly that extends all the way up to his blaze, and a little white bit on the end of his tale. His white explosion of whiskers are amazing, too. What a cutie, and he's also a silky! Pickles is the cranky, chewy rat on the right, and belongs to my friend. 










These are my boyfriend's boys, Mephy (Mephisto) and his son Data. They run on the wheel like there are monsters chasing them! Mephy, 1 year, and Data, 2.5 months.










Finally, this is my friend's prize girl, Lily. She's sweeter than sugar, almost as soft as the rex boy, and has the shapliest rat butt possible. It's kinda scary. Just over a year old.


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## fallinstar

*Re: The Horde!*

aww all such sweeties icarus is that after the cartoon caracter (plz excuse my spelling)


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## 2manyrats

*Re: The Horde!*

Nope, the guy who flew too close to the sun. My bf named him, and I'm not sure why he decided that was a good name for a rat.


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## fallinstar

*Re: The Horde!*

lol cool


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## Poppyseed

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

Hopefully he doesn't run towards lights or candles D:

Cute babies! i luff the hoarde XD


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## twitch

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

those are adorable looking little babies. i want to give them all scritches and kisses. the fur on the rex looks so SOFT! 

but the size of the pictures did make it a little dificult to see everyone. i got it done in the end but perhaps for future reference (for everyone) 600x600 is a large picture but it will fit in the screen without having to scroll across. it will also be easier for slower speed users to view. you can easily resize pictures by using most picture viewer programs that can be downloaded free. which can also be found by googling.


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## Night

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

Third to last picture - was that a cage they were in at the pet store/shelter? That thing looks nasty with all that rust


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## 2manyrats

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

Sorry, I'll resize them. It's easy with Photobucket. I forget that people still have dialup.

Night, that's my old cage that I just replaced with the Ferret Nation. It's a birdcage from the 1960s that was in my parent's attic. It wasn't rusty until it got rat pee all over it! Unfortunately, I still have to use it a few more weeks... since my FN is too big for my dorm room. Also, with the addition of the new boys, I need it for quarantine temporarily. Once I'm in my new apartment that cage is getting permanently retired.

Believe me, I can't wait (and neither can the ratties). I'm itching to get that FN setup so badly that I've already got the bedding & decorations planned out & purchased/made.


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## DonnaK

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

When I first looked at the pictures, I was so sure the first one was going to be a boy. What a big girl she looks!

You have beautiful ratties


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## 2manyrats

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

Thanks.  I'm very proud of the ratties I've managed to collect in an area where there are no legitimate breeders. They all have wonderful personalities (except Pickles) and so far *crosses fingers* no health problems save myco (well, and a few cases of pneumonia resulting from improper quarantine - learned my lesson on that one). 

Oh, and the first girl's only ~380g. She's long but very trim/athletic-looking when she stretches out.


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## Poppyseed

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

I would buy some plastic cover spray for that cage in the meantime. You can purchase it at a hardware store for less than $10 and it would be good to hold them over till you get your ferret nation.

But so envious of you and your ferret nation D: I want two D:


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## 2manyrats

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

The only reason I haven't sprayed the pan is that I'm worried about them chewing on the coating. I looked at all the sprays at Hobby Lobby and didn't see anything that looked rat-safe.

I've been heaping the bedding really high (that's why you can see the grey matteboard blockades around the sides, to prevent it from coming out), but Pickles is a crazy digger and moved all of the bedding into a heap in the center.

I also clean the pan with baking soda regularly, and heat it in the oven everytime I clean. It used to smell like ammonia, but oven-heating really helped. 

If they're not touching the rust, isn't that okay?


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## Night

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*



2manyrats said:


> If they're not touching the rust, isn't that okay?


So they never, ever touch the sides of the cage? It really isn't a suitable cage at all, even for very short use (a few hours). For a fairly cheap alternative, you can modify a large storage tote into a cage.


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## 2manyrats

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

I googled and searched on goosemoose, and I didn't find anything that said rats would have health problems from a rusty pan, especially one where there is a very heavy coating of bedding covering the rust. I'm sure it wouldn't be good for them to chew on the rust, but the boys quarantined in there have not been digging down to those areas. I took Pickles and Icky out once I realized that they were digging down to the pan.

Also, I normally use a paper lining underneath the bedding that completely covers the sides. I just ran out of butcher paper.

Someone posted two cages on Freecycle in my area, and I've inquired about them. If those don't come through, I'll use a rubbermaid container as a base.


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## OnlyOno

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

although it's not ideal, i don't think that the rusty cage is harmful to their health. if they ingest some of it, so what? a toxicity of iron will reduce absorption of other minerals, but not by a significant amount. deficiency, on the other hand, will result in poor immune response, reduced growth, and anemia. just thought i'd mention.

i guess i've never seen a non-toxic spray paint, so i don't know what you might use in a place where they might chew. how about taking fabric and weaving it through bars and such to cover the bars?


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## ladylady

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

ive been looking at buying pain to cover the wire I bought. I asumed the covering on my cage is probly toxic if you eat enough. Ive seen heat resistant, non chip spray on paint for Â£6


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## Poppyseed

*Re: The Horde! --- debuting my new boys, Himi & rex darl*

The plastic spray I was thinking of seems to be the ones on every first pet cage you see lol.


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