# Meet the Fifteen Furballs!



## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Well, I thought it about time that I introduce my bunch of troubles!










This is Katie, oldest of my lot (she's now 2 years old) and, as you can see, hairless (well, double rex but yeah). She's very much expects 'Your Majesty' treatment - she's happy for cuddles, so long as SHE'S the one cuddling YOU! She's also got a bad habit of taking a rat nugget, having a bite or two, then picking up a brand new nugget and leaving the first one!


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This is Jake, my oldest male and again, a hairless. He's a lovely boy (and HUGE) but quite shy. He's recently discovered the floor, and with the floor he's found a lot more confidence, so he's finally joining the rest and turning into a big ole bundle of rat-pain-in-the-butt. LoL










This is Ritchie. He's looking grumpy for a reason. He's got an on/off skin condition right now, so his skin's all red and itchy, and he's just got over a mouth abcess. Bless him. Other than that, he's a nuisance when it comes to exploring. You can't keep him away from the girls cages!










Hola's to Andy! He's an odd little boy, shy with people but packed full of confidence once he hits the carpet. He's the only one of all my rats that will brave the wrath of the cats and escape out of living room (or bedroom) the second the doors open to wreak havoc on my mum's bedroom. Lol. He also hurt his leg a few months ago, and when he runs now his tail runs with him - at a 90' angle to his body. It looks very odd! (But xrays show it's fine, don't worry!) Lol. He came with his two brothers, Luke and Eddie, who have both died  and he misses their company dearly










And this lovely is Ben (the one laying over Pooh's leg) at one of the rare moments he allows me to take a pic of him! Ben was my first hairless male and he's a strange little character. When he was younger, he had a 'fur phobia' meaning if any rat with fur came near him - he cried like a baby! Lol. Now he's grown up a little, he'll happily take on the smaller boys for a brawl, but even now, if anything big and furry comes his way - SQUEAK! He's also known 'Sexy Ben' because whenever a girl hides in the sofa and refuses to come out - just holding him nearby will tempt them out quicker than using any of the other boys! Lol










This is Gus and he is a proper ladies man! He's an adorable little fella who loves his cuddles. He's afraid of absolutely everything though, so the closer he is to you, the safer he seems to feel. He is brother to Jack, however, after Jack got a little boistrous one day and cut open Gus' tummy they've been in separate cages. Now they're quite happy playing together (75% of the time) all over the sofa and bookshelves!










And this is Jack! He's got one of those personalities that mean EVERYTHING is a game, even if it means teasing Ben and Jake - when he loses an eye or a tail, I'm sure he'll learn his lesson. Until then, I'm sure he'll continue to harrass them through the bars of their cages! Plus, don't you think he has a lot of hair for a hairless? Lol. And this is before he grew his winter jumper!










LouLou in the laundry bin - doesn't she look cheeky? She's just lost her sister, T-baby, so she's being given lots of extra loving. She's a lovely little (although she's HUGE) girl, but kind of mean to the other girls. She has the social etiquette of Jaws. She does get on quite well with Katie though, they love a sleep over in each others cages.










Lol, this is Ivy, my super fat little girlie. She is so spunky she keeps me laughing all day. She's terrible for dinner-knicking. The other week she ran off with a whole sweet and sour pork ball and it disappeared - until a week later we saw Katie had found the half that was left and was running it behind a different sofa! Lol










This beautiful little thing is Daphne. She's fully grown, but the second smallest of the bunch. She's incredibly petite and delicate about everything she does - except when it comes to scrapping with Ivy (her cage mate) and she'll deck her every time! (Please bare in mind that Ivy is at least twice the size of Daffers! Lol










This is Max, my little miracle. We adopted her and her brother from the vets after their nest had been dug up in a field by builders. The nest was destroyed and all the other babies died, but the builders bought them to the vets who called me - being the crazy rat lady - asking me to foster them. They hadn't yet opened their eyes, so we had to hand feed, potty etc them for a few days. And, well, now look at her! She's tamed VERY well! I thought we may have had problems, but she's never bitten/tried to bite and loves to have a run around in the bedroom - she even makes sure she runs back to me to make sure I'm still around! Lol. She's VERY smart, she'll run to me when I call her now, which she never used to do and LOVES to jump. Unfortunately though, her brother Oz died at 6 weeks old because of a clotting disporder. We never released Max back into the wild for fear she had the same problem - as it turns out though, she's absolutely fine 

The following 4 little girls are my most recent additions. Lily, the smallest of the 4, is a mini whirlwind of trouble. She's completely addicted to trying to rip open all my JUST WRAPPED christmas presents! And she can scale a chest of drawers to get into my wardrobe. Other than that, all of them seem to have been thoroughly spoiled by their previous owner (they had to be given up because the previous owner was going to be kicked out of her apartment unless she got rid of the rats) and love to cuddle and play.










Lily!










Kitty










Jennie (a photophobe!)










Niki

I hope you enjoyed meeting them! Lol


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## sweet_dreams91 (Oct 19, 2007)

Oh my god, 15 rats! How do you keep up with them? Haha. I was so happy to read about your ratties. Great Photos too!

Do Double Rexs lose their hair once they mature, or are they born like that?


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Lol they run me ragged, and they're going to make me grey before 22! Lol but I love them to pieces. It's great seeing how different all of them are.

And the Dbl Rexs are born that way. Some of them have more fur than others, like Jack, who's fuzzy all over but Daphne has almost no hair at all. She has none on her body, only whiskers and tail hair. Katie is pretty much the same - but because she has black fur what little she has you can see more lol

EDIT: Then again, I'm doubting myself. They might have fur as babies - I've never bred them though so haven't seen them as baby babies, and whenever I've bought/been given mine, they've always been..well..pretty much hairless. I'm on a mission to find out though

Edit AGAIN: I've just read that they grow hair but lose it at 3-4 weeks old. AHA! Something I never knew!


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## glindella (Sep 9, 2007)

They're all so cute!! I loved the fuzz-less ratties  I guess they grow on you


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## AustinXAPMX3 (Oct 23, 2007)

Ive never liked hairless rats lol but yours are cute. Nice pics


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## Sdaji (Oct 28, 2007)

Oh dear! Sorry to see that! What's wrong with your poor rats? Will their fur grow back? I hope they get better! Does poor Ritchie have the same skin condition which lead to Katie, Ben and Jack going bald? I hope not, poor little thing  Maybe they need extra bubble baths to keep their skin clean and free of pathogens, or maybe they just need more love.


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## magickat (Oct 19, 2007)

That is definitely worth 4 1/2 hours of labor each week! <3 <3 <3


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## Trika (Oct 25, 2007)

lol sdaji; if you fully read the whole thing you would know that they are born that way infact its actualy a type of rats. i personaly think they are all adorable especialy Daphne, i wish i had one but sadly i am not allowed any more rats untill i move out.


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## Sdaji (Oct 28, 2007)

Trika: so they can't be cured? Don't they get cold? Isn't it cruel to have a rat without fur? It's a bit like forcing someone to spend their whole life naked! Okay, I suppose bubble baths and extra love aren't needed, except for Ritchie.


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## Meghan (Jul 31, 2007)

I wish I could have 15!!!I love nakies


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Hairless rats actually have a higher metabolism that regular rats - this means that they keep themselves as warm as if they had fur - but that doesn't mean a little extra bedding can't be used to keep them all snuggly. They are bred to have no/little fur (true hairless rats look very sad, they have no whiskers or even tail hair or eyelashes!) so there is nothing to really 'cure'. I think they're gorgeous!

The only things I have to do with my hairless different to my furries is make sure their nails don't grow too much (they scratch themselves and each other easily) and feed them a little extra protein to compensate for their high metabolism  There's no dramatic 'care' difference that I've found

And yes, Ritchie needs lot of love - he HATES baths and even the cream I have to put onto him makes him scream like a baby for a good few minutes (it doesn't hurt him, he's just a baby and doesn't like the smell lol)


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## taralyncouture (Aug 23, 2007)

I think jack is the cutest thing I've ever seen. He makes me want to shave my rats =] jk


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

dumbo hairless are probably the cutest creatures i've ever seen in my life and every time i look at my own she makes me squeal.

i don't know if anyone answered this but double-rex rats are born mostly naked but definitely covered in hair. they lose most of this as they age, and often keep hair on their faces and their legs. you can see hair grow all over their bodies and then it fades away again in cycles their whole lives. true hairless are born totally naked and stay that way.


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## kaylaface (Sep 6, 2007)

awe they are all so cute! You're lucky to have them!


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Thanks very much guys.

Lol OnlyOno - my mum absolutely loves Gus to bits! She thinks he is the cutest thing since sliced bread. Unfortunately - I'm not allowed favourites lol, but I do think he is incredibly cute. He's scared of everything though! Last night, I took him in with me when I had my bath, Jack and Ben came too, and Gus ran off to hide behind a sponge, with just his head poking out. Very cute!

He's also afraid of bubblebath (when I let the bubbles really froth up to the edge) he'll sit there and sway his head watching them as if they're going to attack him LOL


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## lostbutnotforgot (Apr 19, 2007)

Goodness, I think no animal should ever be named Jack! My cousin has a rabbit named Jack and he's just vicious! lol. All of them are adorable though! Where did you get your hairless (double-rexes)? They seem so healthy, even your older ones!


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Yeeeeah, Jack is a bit of a junxed name it sounds like. Jack is a little bugger now he's grown up and has a bit of weight to throw around. He loves people to people cuddles, but when Gus is feeling cuddly and wants to play, Jack gets all grumpy-man on him and one of them ends up getting hurt! Lol

Ironically, I bought most of them at a sh***y petshop, where ALL the animals are bred for sale and sale alone. I'm a sucker really. Poor Jake was in the shop for 3 months when I decided enough was enough and bought him home (there were 5 fully grown rats in a tiny tank - I would have taken them all home if I could!)

They're all quite healthy, Katie's got some lumps that need removing (next week, cross fingers!) but she's 2 years old now and other than the odd chest infection with her and Jake - they're all perfectly healthy. Ben has 'rat-acne' which the vet can't seem to cure - my poor pimply little dude!

I love hairless' so much. (But don't tell my furries that!)


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## daisy184 (Oct 29, 2007)

i d NEVER seen hairless rats before joining this group.
At first i thought ewwwww.. but now they have grown on me tremenously, so much so i want one of my own.

They kinda remind me of a sharpei we had, with all those wrinkles...


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

They're cute, aint they? The wrinkles make them cuter.

Although, most of mine aren't wrinkly...the creases you see are fat rolls! LOL


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## daisy184 (Oct 29, 2007)

i can imagine belly raspberrys on a hairless... i wanna baldie!


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Lol they all get raspberrys! They make great little pets, and don't need much different from regular furries. Even if people do give you the 'ewww' look when they see them


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## lostbutnotforgot (Apr 19, 2007)

Ration1802 said:


> Even if people do give you the 'ewww' look when they see them


I think it's even worse when they're double-rex with patches of fur. People think they're diseased! 

Is Katie spayed? She just seems so old for a rex/hairless! I hope my girl lives that long and stays healthy!


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

None of my girls are spayed, I've just been really lucky. When she was younger she suffered quite a bit from URIs, but since she's 'matured' she's been fine. The only problem we have right now are 3 (possibly 4) lumps on her belly, which I'm getting removed now before she gets any older.

As far as I've learnt (which may or may not be correct - I've not done too much research into it) double rex's live almost as long as regular fancies. It's the true hairless rats that have a shorter lifespan (1 1/2 years!) because of their breeding and likelihood of illness'


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