# My new animal friends!



## lucyfur (Sep 30, 2012)

I originally wanted two males, but turned out all the males we're adopted before I had gotten there. Anyway, I came to a compromise and decided to give one of
them a boy name, and the other a girl (based on their personalities and spending time with them for a few days)

Anyway, meet Lucretia and Benedict - my cute lil' babes 

































Side note: Does anyone else have a natural enemy of rats in their family? My cat is actually so protective of the babies! If the dogs get near them, he swats at them.
He sleeps beside the cage and Lucy's a huge fan of running after the cat instead of the other way around! It's the funniest thing. He's always been an outdoor cat
and hasn't had experience with many rodents before this, so i don't think he really knows what's going on hah.


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## unlikelyfather (Sep 11, 2012)

Oh, they're cute. That cage seems awfully small for them, though. How old are they?


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Welcome and congrats on (presumably) your first rats!

A few tips.

1. You might want to post photos of their genitals... just so we can make sure they're girls.
2. Quite often girls from pet stores are pregnant if they were housed with males. Do you know if they were kept separate?
3. Those look like pine shavings which are very bad for rats - the scent oils in pine are toxic and prolonged exposure can cause liver failure and respiratory disease (VERY common in rats unfortunately).
4. The seed mix in the bowl is a very unhealthy food that promotes selective eating - meaning they will eat the fatty seeds and leave the healthy pellets in the bottom of the bowl. They likely won't get their full nutrition and they may get overweight and stinky on this diet.
5. Yes, unfortunately, even though that cage (My First Home for Rats) is marketed for rats, it is much too small for anything other than babies. You may want to return it and purchase another cage. If you like the Super Pets, the My First Home for Exotics is much better for rats.


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## jd882 (Sep 16, 2012)

Awww.. very cute babies! Congrats!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Actually it looks like the Grreat choice Aspen shavings, which I used to use but it was dusty probably why it looks like pine. If you can and want to use wood shavings Sani chips is the best Aspen shavings, its made for reptiles and so has no dust since unlike rats Snakes can't always get away from their bedding and rough bedding can damage their belly scales making them immobile, so its recommended for small animals as well.

Seed mixes (you mix yourself) are find, but adding in fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, even leguments (beans) and grains (rice, healthy cereals, oats, ect) are better then store bought seed mixes which often have been sitting on the shelf for a long time. I got a bag of Reggie rat (my guys liked the dog food shaped pieces) and half of it was rotten/had mold. Oxbox is recommended along with Harlen Tekan for lab blocks, which I think are best free fed, judging that your rats don't hoard it, and fresh foods be given twice a day. At lease that's how I do it but everyone else has a different system.

Also that cage would be a great travel cage, so it would be worth keeping along with quarantine if you get more, wait When, you get more ratties  just search on craigslist or sometimes even Hoobly will have (sometimes, not often) a cage that is large and cheap.

I have a cat. Funny thing, she was raised as a wild cat (her mom was a previous stray and was always outside) and was taught to hunt mice, rats, ect. She actually caught a bird one day and spent 2 hours doing nothing but grooming it, and then let it go, which was funny cause she walked away and the bird just stayed there very confused. Anyways she actually plays with the rats. She sees them as her babies, and will watch over them when they are out playing. Plus Storm likes to chase her, they both see it as play. She has never once tried to even put a paw on them. She even once got into their 10 gallon tank (I had it out because they would jump into it during play time, they never lived in it) and even in to their cage. However she has tried to walk on their cage, multiple times, which has always resulted in her getting bitten through the bars.

Anyways, they are adorable  I can help you with colors if you wish


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## lucyfur (Sep 30, 2012)

I suppose i'll try and answer every question / comment in one post.. so here we go.
I got these two beauties from a breeder, not a pet store. I actually have owned snakes before, so I know the conditions that rodents are kept in when they're in pet stores. The babies are 5 weeks old, so I think that what they have right now is good enough for their current size. I know how to sex them, so this was no problem for me even if the breeder hadn't told me what sex they were.

Besides this, they spend most of their days running around my room supervised. I'm a college student, so while I study they are always in and out of bed sheets, going through all of my bedding and running around and playing. 

It's funny that you mentioned the food, because these pictures were taken right after I initially got them. The breeder Since this, i've actually spent at least 3 hours removing all dry corn, sunflower seeds and a few other unhealthy things from their food. I've mixed in some broccoli, celery, tomatoes and a tiny bit of cheese and granola or other no-sugar cereal for a treat before bed.

They are aspen shavings like LightningWolf said above. I knew well enough not to buy pine. I am new to having pet rats, so I will always be searching for new ways to improving their quality of life (hence why i've made a user on this forum, actually!) I am interested in hearing opinions, and stories. 

Anyway, I plan on purchasing them a 4 story cage in the coming weeks since I'll be a bit more busy later on.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

That's great. I always find it funny how people who have owned snakes end up getting pet rats, or have both.

Why remove the sunflower seeds? those are actually healthy and will provide protein and healthy fats, which babies will need. I mean if all they are eating are sunflower seeds I guess I understand, but then again my boys have never been extremely picky and will eat everything in their bowl. (Typically its in this order. Crackers, Cheerios, what ever vegetables/fruits are there, what ever nuts/mushrooms/beans are there, then sunflower seeds and oats)

So I guess you already know their colors? I wanted an excuse to play the genetic guessing game. Oh well. Sorry, I like genetics and sharing information (rat genetics) that 90% of the people on here will never use in their life time. 

There are definally exceptions to the cage rule. Example typically if the rats are out for most of the day, or 24 hours, they aren't going to want/need a big cage. I know a guy who has a rat (he always gets males who can not be housed with other males due to rat aggression but not human aggression) that free ranges 24/7 and has small like hamster/mouse cage for his bed area. So if they are getting out for long periods of time, then that cage will be ok for a Night time sleep area.

Yeah, you have study buddies  my rat Storm seems to always be on my lap when ever I am studying/doing home work, or on the lap of who ever is doing homework or is on the computer. That's how he got his nickname Study Buddy 

BTW what is Lucretia from? Sounds almost German/French/Russian.


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## lucyfur (Sep 30, 2012)

Yeah, it is pretty funny. I have had everything from a 15 foot burmese albino python, to tiny little king snakes and everything in between! I never enjoyed feeding time to be completely honest. I am the type of girl that cries when she sees a dead bird on the side of the road so this was extremely difficult for me. I usually fed thawed mice, but even that was pretty hard 

They are kind of picky. They don't go for the smaller seeds, and honestly i've read varying opinions on sunflower seeds and dried corn. Some people say that sunflower seeds are too high in fat, and others, like you, say they're perfectly healthy and good for their diet. I figured that, until i could truly be certain, to just remove the sunflower seeds from their current food dish (thus eliminating any future problems if i do find out that it is indeed too fattening)

I am not completely certain on their coloring. Ben is a black/brown/grey dumbo and has a white belly. Lucy is completely white from head to paw! Feel free to do guess work though haha

Lucretia is a quite old Roman name, dating back to (i think) 508-9 B.C.

Also, another side note. Reading these first few replies I had felt quite defeated. I spent so much time trying to study what is and isn't good for rats before and after i obtained them. Spent hours going through their food, the whole lot. I am glad someone had something positive to say - so, thank you. Here's something that I actually originally bought for my cat, but he's grown too big for it and the rats have adopted it. It's a tent! I thought it was too cute, and they like to retreat there after they're done playing on my bed hah.


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

Oh Precious! With the capital P of course. And yes, my kitten, Cricket, loves Poppy and Pumpkin...I'm not thrilled about his interest in them since he's the mouser of the house but hes not tried to hurt them at all. He never tried to hurt my previous ratty either, so I don't know. Good luck with your three (hehe)!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

My dream snake is a Retic, don't know why, in every single video I've seen (and on every website) they are said to be Very curious and docile (for a snake). in almost every video they are just slidding along on the ground checking everything out. 

Yeah. I mean, I will help with colors.  Lucretia is not white from head to toe. She looks like a cap Amber or a light Topaz/Fawn (Topaz is the UK term for Fawn, I think it sounds cooler). in 2 pictures her eyes look Ruby (Black or dark brown but when you shine a light on them they are brown to red/ruby color, reason they are called ruby eyes).

Benedict looks like a black Berkshire (reason for the white on his belly, if its not his whole belly and only his chest or just a small part of his lower belly he is an Irish). I wouldn't say he is a russian blue cause he looks too dark. Its possible he carries the blue gene, black rats for some reason if carrying a gene modifier (Blue, Mink, ect) will gain that "tint". He looks like he might be a black carrying blue and mink. Oddly enough the Russian Blue gene if carried by a black rat will make them darker.

Did the breeder not tell you? Every good breeder will be able to tell you the color and pattern of every rat, or at lease give you a range of what they could be if they can not identify it. (unknown color genes can appear in litters)

Sorry that you feel like some of us are beating you up. It happens. A lot of us are just being, well, "Rude" (its the internet so I guess you can make it what ever tone you want, for all I know you have a weird accent) because there are some people who just come on here and just bought rats on an impulse cause they saw it in a feeder bin or thought it was cute. Also a lot of people on here deal with rescues that often get in rats (often pregnant) because they bought rats on an impulse and they weren't taken care of properly, and eventually got bored of it. Personally I don't like to judge people in till I know the full story, I just ask questions if I'm unsure of something.


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## lucyfur (Sep 30, 2012)

I didn't think to ask about the colors, or, if they were mentioned i wasn't paying much attention! I liked their personalities much more. There were i guess "prettier" rats available, but they were all very timid. These two seemed to fit well.

I just started working on a little playpen for the kids. adding 3 or 4 more rooms since i have tons of room in my spare office. I'm only an hour into it, so this is definitely not the end result I'm hoping for!









I plan on covering the bottom with towels or blankets, something to prevent their urine from sinking into the cardboard.


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## Rat lover (Dec 28, 2011)

Precious!


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