RIP Trouble

The post I knew was coming , but dreading. My little Trouble passed away at nearly 31 months old. He was plagued with a fair few problems towards the end, but always greeted me with lots of licks and bruxes. He was a truly special boy who will be sorely missed.

I decided to introduce the hairless boys to Taz and Quinn so that I wasn't left with a boy alone. It is going quite well, a few squeaks but Atari is a drama queen so I expected it. But Taz and the hairless boys soon snuggled in the igloo but Quinn wasn't bonding

I have infact just removed Quinn as he flew into a rage at the hairless boys, and they are all petrified of him. Will let him calm down and try again but it might be that he wont accept them. Trouble was quite a pushy rat too. It means that Taz and Quinn might have to be a duo still but I really dont want this as it leaves the potential for a lone rat.

Now my explorer is empty in the bottom , in the next week (hopefully) I will be dismantling it to rebuild so that the section with the gap is in the middle and not the bottom, so that it is one big cage instead of two smaller ones. I'm looking forward to it, but i'm also not lol, as I can see it taking a while. Will be worth it though.

I'm also looking for things to decorate it with...I have lots of stuff but I want to kit it out some more for them. I hope they appreciate it haha though looking for new things is always fun. Internet window shopping

Some pics

Mocha

Gorgeous Splodgy belly <3

Aeon isnt amused

Luna hiding her cute nose :(

Pink

Rave

Pilots wonky tail...been like it since he was a baby, its never bothered him

Atticus

Atari- had to bribe him with chocolate

Atari dragging chocolate from my fingers

Trouble

nasty lump :(

Quinn

Pretty Taz

WOW long time!

It has been SO long since I have updated this blog...so much for keeping a regular blog...Must try harder..maybe that could be a new year resolution lol

So a lot has changed since I last updated had a lot of losses

Percy,Wade,Ninja,Rogue,Eden,Jinx,Harley, Asbo + Felix

So a lot of sadness, Plus Trouble will be leaving me shortly. He has a large lump on his neck that is starting to become a nuisance to him. I will be sad to see him go, he has been with me since he was born two and a half years ago. He has had a lovely life though <3

Aswell as sad losses there are a few new faces

I got the chance to take on Atari's 2 Nephews and Niece. All hairless, a top eared black eyed male , the spit of Atari actually called Atticus...A dumbo with black eyes and a kink in his tail, Pilot..and a pink eyed doe...Pink....Princess Pinkie Pie to give her her full title..which became Princess Pinkie "pirate" Pie when she, like Atari had to have an eye removed after it ruptured...less than a week after Atticus lost one of his..he really is a mirror image of Atari now.

Pink also was a doe I wasnt going to get...I had decided that I was going to stick to bucks but since have done a 180 and changed my mind and now its does all the way. Well in a few years I may run two groups again but for now I just want to have one group to clean out etc


This in mind, I got three new girls to join my pair that were left , to make them a group again
Mocha- gorgeous little Mink berkshire top ear. A bit flighty, but bruxes loads for me when she comes out
Luna- tiny seal point siamese hooded. Dumbo but small ears lol. Sister to Aeon and owner of very cute little pink nose
Aeon- Looks white with ruby eyes, think she may be a siamese roan... has a tiny bit of darkening on the outside of her ears.


Thats it for rat updates. But cant leave without a Dexter update
Dexter is now 15months old, and is still as cheeky as ever. Would sell his soul for food which makes training with treats simple, but he isnt keen if he thinks that there is nothing in it for him. Pretty certain there is beagle in there which explains his major stubborness. He loved christmas , he was spoilt rotten

Happy Second Birthday...+other stuff

..To Trouble, Harley, Quinn, Eden + Jinx! Does not feel like two years since they were born lol. Didnt get a big celebration due to me being on limited movement atm (more on that later) but i shall be making it up to them. They are still fairly spritely for their age although Harley has a lump under one of his arms , and one of Jinx's hind legs is a bit weaker then it was. Trouble is still trouble but I dont see that ever changing.

Since i last typed ( I dont update this nearly enough,I really must change that!) had two sad losses. Gonzo my lovely russiah blue hairless passed away and my gerbil Storm also died, leaving Rayne alone. Rayne was sad for a few days but seems to be doing well now. Gerbils are terrible for pining. Apparently introductions for female gerbils are very tricky too and seldom fail :(

Dexter is still keeping me very busy. I forgot how hard work pups are lol , being so many years since Casey was young. He isn't happy unless he is with me constantly , work on his separation anxiety is on-going, when we went out last week he stayed quite nicely in his crate with the aid of a kong and a bone. So hopefully he will go from strength to strength. But being as i suspect part doberman he will stay very much a velcro dog. Other issues are his ability to destroy toys, we are on the hunt for some really tough ones, the extra strong kong toy has held up so far. He had a puppy play date with a gorgeous staffy puppy , who returns this weekend so that shall have to be a blog entry with some pictures lol

Getting onto me being on limited movement, on sunday evening I stood on a plug in my garage and now have two holes in my foot , and it is incredibly sore. Dexter of course doesnt understand this and keeps veering dangeously close to my injured foot, im just waiting for him to hit it. I'm hoping it heals soon because hes wondering why I'm not playing with him so much..poor pup

Even tough boys love their mummy...

Or so my lad Trouble says lol. He has been realllllyyy grumpy the last few days ,Asbo is his whipping boy at the moment now that I have moved Taz and Ninja out of the top cage into the bottom. Taz has been a bit wheezy and I think its due to the stress of Trouble constantly flying off the handle. Things seem to be going well, Dylan has had a few goes at them but I think they are gelling back as a group. So I'm hoping things still keep going well in that department :)

I will be consulting the vets about Troubles bad moods if they dont reduce soon. I bathed him today and used a spot on incase he has mites cos he has seemed itchy recently. I'm thinking about castration but I'm not sure how much good it will do on a 20 month old rat, surely if it was hormone based it would of subsided by now. I'm hoping that its just mites making him a little tetchy and he returns back to normal. He is normally a dominant guy but he just flys into rages. I'm also considering the chances its a brain problem. Just need to wait and see if his attitude improves a little.

No matter how tetchy he is with the others , he is still all sweetness and light with me , which makes me laugh. After his bath I had him wrapped up in a towel and he was bruxing his head off. When he bruxes his eyes really boggle quite far haha.

In other rat news they all had a small piece of bread with chicken liver pate on it today...they enjoyed it a lot. My mum spoils them as much as I do lol

Trouble!

I'm sure everyone has a rat like Trouble. He is my biggest rat and has a really grumpy attitude and can be puffing and having tantrums at his fellow cage mates. His short temper was the reason I split the boys into two groups in the first place , as while he is fine with placid rats, rats who are silly or have the audacity to try and play with him (Gonzo) get pinned , puffed and told off.

So today when I saw him kicking off , I wasnt suprised. He doesn't hurt them , but it can scare the bejeezus out of more sensitive rats like Asbo. Wasn't suprised to see it was Asbo he was having a go at , so i removed Asbo out of the corner and moved Trouble to try and distract him.I then noticed blood so automatically checked Asbo but it wasn't him so checked Trouble to see one of his toes was bleeding. Cue a good while trying to stop the bleeding by putting pressure on the toe and holding the base to stop blood flow for a minute to take the pressure off. I even tried flour (Cornflour is recomended but trying to hold a squirming, bleeding rat while you root in a cupboard three feet above your head..well I used the first thing to hand) Flour got eaten, he thought it was a tasty treat. Eventually due to putting pressure on it , the toe stopped bleeding. I have suspiscion the toe was dislocated as it was bent but moved straight when i tried moving it so he must be quite sore poor lad. I have put him in the hospital cage to A) rest B) calm down. I will see how it looks in the morning, but he has cleaned it and used it to scratch with so I think all is well.

What amazed me about him is even though he is so big, he reverts to utter mummys boy with me. He is like one of the Mitchell brothers lol. Even though his toe was sore he was licking me like mad. But then again he has known me from a pinky so I guess that commands some respect.Even for a mardy boy like Trouble...I sure named him well...

An introduction

I got the idea of starting a blog due to reading a few others , and seeing as my pets are such a big part of my life , i decided to base it around them. I dare say there will be bits of my (boring) life that doesn't involve them but it will be mostly them lol.

I'm currently owned by , one elderly (14 and a half year old) dog, one syrian hamster (Echo), two gerbils (Rayne and Storm) a bearded dragon (Ryuu) and 17 rats (12 bucks and 5 does). I also have a cockatiel (noisy little...Neo) who isn't strictly mine, he belongs to my mother but i like to think hes a bit mine too...hes very noisy but an amusing bird to have around.


The rats are going to be the main stars of the blog (as the name suggests), not that the other animals aren't loved or interesting but theres definately more to tell about them but as with me, the other animals will get mentioned.

for starters this is my introduction to my rats

ladies first
Lola- she is my mink capped girl who was bought with birthday money in October 2008 and is the first rat who was really demonstrative and made me realise that rats are different from other small pets. She is top rat and still has her cheeky streak even at her age..she reminds me of Sophia from the Sitcom Golden Girls shes definately a tough old lady
Eden and Jinx- These two came from two of my rats being very naughty and surprising me with 14 babies! they are grouped together because they are so similar although Jinx has a very naughty personality and loves to run onto the top of the cage , run to the back and then giggle while i try to catch her , then walk back and let herself be caught. I realised this was a game to her when i accidently left the cage ajar and she was still in the next morning when i was certain she would be the first to escape. Her sister Eden has a more grumpy attitude and is prone to having hormonal tantrums if i want to cuddle her. Both these girls are gorgeous british blue agoutis though Jinx is a berkshire and Eden is a self. This is another way to tell them apart as Edens feet are silver while Jinx has little white feet.They are litter sisters of Trouble.Harley and Quinn
Rogue- Rogue is a russian blue roan with a wonky blaze. She is also hairless so unless you knew you wouldnt be able to tell what colour she was lol. Shes pink , where she would be russian blue and its a slightly darker pink than the bits that would be white and you can see her blaze if you know where to look and look carefully.She is litter sister to Dylan and Gonzo
Rave- Rave is my last girl, she is a black variagated rex. She is very pretty and has lovely curly whiskers (hence she got her name, they look like they are having a party lol) She has a dominant personality and is trying to become the new top girl, Eden and Jinx aren't keen to let her though

The boys
Trouble- Trouble is a agouti hoooded. He is one of the biggest rats i have ever seen, weighing in at over half a kilo and being about a metre wide..ok thats me exagerating but hes a chunky boy. He is kind of grumpy,  he didn't like some of the younger rats ideas of fun and used to huff and puff at them. He lives with brothers Harley and Quinn and two other males (Taz and Ninja) who are brothers. Athough Trouble looks big and tough if i talk to him he will brux and boggle at me lke a madrat through the bars.Mummys boy lol
Harley and Quinn- These two are ridiculously similar. They are both agouti berkshires and Harley has a bit more white on his tail than Quinn, and Quinn has a bit more white on his stomach but its very close and they have to be compared side by side. They also have very similar personalities, they bascially just follow Troubles command lol.
Taz and Ninja-These two are brothers given to me by a good friend of mine. Taz is a black berkshire (his tummy splotch looks like a fat cat lol) and Ninja is all black with one eye, he had to have it removed after a fight. They are both very laid back boys, with lovely soft thick fur and allow me to cuddle them.
Dylan- This rat is the vainest rat i have ever known! He is gorgeous and he knows it! Dylan is a russian blue point siamese berkshire so instead of his feet being pointed like they should be they are white. This rat will strike a pose if the camera is anywhere near him. He got his name from his docility, coming from the "relaxed" rabbit on the magic roundabout and the character named Dylan from the Diary of a crush series. A lot of people love Dylan, i love his looks and the fact he lets me give him huge hugs and kisses and doesn't seem to mind.
Gonzo- Gonzo is named so as he is russian blue and was fuzzy as a baby,after the muppet.And also because im a fan of Hunter S Thompson. Being a hairless he has purpleish skin but still has little white berki feet <3
Like the muppet, Gonzo is a natural clown and loves to play although the others dont always appriciate this eg mardy Trouble. He is a very sweet little guy.
Asbo- Asbo is as his name suggests an antisocial lil rat. He spooks very easily and is frequently found hiding behind the storage box that is in the cage for their substrate. He has a bit of a sly personality and has bullied smaller rats on occasion. He is an agouti bareback with a bit of a blaze, so could also say undermarked capped. I dont think he is all bad but his nervousness means he doesn't show the best of himself.
Felix- Felix is an overmarked black roan. He has roaned out a bit but still has greyish black markings, some roan out completly white. Personally roan isn't my favourite pattern as they lose their colour but Felix chose me. He was the one that kept climbing out of the carrier onto me so i decided to keep him :) He also was a bit of a dare devil having escaped on the way here and climbing up the drivers leg as they were driving fairly fast up the motorway. I can't rememer why i called him Felix, i think it was just a name i picked as he was black and white.
Percy- Percy is a pink hairless with black eyes, and is either a banded or normal roan genetically although i dont know which colour. Percy came to me with his two sons and is such a sweetie. He has had upmost patience with them even as they have grown to his size. No rat could want a better dad. When he came to me he wasn't sure about my other boys but he has bonded well with them and even got the courage to tell Asbo off when Asbo was having a go at his son Wade.
Wade- Wade is a hairless dumbo, if he had hair he would be a black roan. He is the son of Percy and the brother of Atari. He was the biggest of the litter and is a real cutie. He isn't the cleverest rat and although bigger frequently got play attacked by his smaller brother Atari who was often the victor. Has a bit of a hero worship of Gonzo as he is a dumbo too, im guessing the top eared Percy and Atari teased him about his huge ears. Gonzo was delighted to have someone to play with!
Atari- Last but no means least is Atari. The rat with the fan club lol. Atari was the runt of the litter but as they say good things come in small packages and he is definately one of them! He has always had a devil may care attitude and trouble shining in his eyes, and even though he had to have one removed the other one still contains it. He woul be a banded agouti husky if he had fur. He is quite fuzzy and has grey fuzz down his back. He does so many funny things that i made him his own facebook account and he certainly seems to have more brains than his brother Wade. So much so i'am going to start clicker training him, i think he will do well at it, and the fact he would sell his soul for a choccy button means it should be fairly straightforward lol

I suppose i better say a little about myself. I'm 25, female and rat obsessed (as if that isnt obvious) So much so we are known as the rat people at the vets, and i just need to say im bringing a rat in and they know who it is on the phone hahaha

i hope theres still some people who read to the end, my next entries shouldnt be so long lol what an essay!