Meet The Holiday Ratty Boys! (Pictures coming soon...)
Jack Travis is a beige berkshire Dumbo Rex. 'Berkshire' means his belly is white (it's the most DELICIOUS shade of creamy white, too!) and 'Rex' means that his hair and whiskers are curly-ish. His coat feels a lot rougher than the other two boys' coats because of being a Rex. 'Dumbo' means his ears are uber cute. ;-D They are on the side of his head (instead of the top) and they stick out (instead of up) nice and round.
Asti and Korbel are beige hooded standard rats. 'Hooded' means that they are beige all around their upper torso, including the head and there is a trail of beige going down their back that leads to the tail (doesn't quite reach it, though). 'Standard' means they have smooth, glossy coats and their ears stand up straight. The ears are also a little smaller than the dumbo version. Asti and Korbel are SOFT!! Jack Travis' coat makes you want to "scritch, scritch" and Asti & Korbel's coats make you want to "pet, pet". ;-D
Today is their first day living together!!! When you introduce rats to each other, you can't just plop them in the same cage because sometimes that can cause excess stress and escalated fighting (which can mean "injuries and vet bills"). So you start them off gradually, hanging out in the same space and building up to larger amounts of time. Because these three boys are babies, I was able to get them to hang out for quite a long time right off the bat. The first day, they spent about 3 hours together! The second day, I let everyone hang out in their own cages all day so that Asti and Korbel could spend more time getting used to their new surroundings (namely, new smells and new sounds). Today is the THIRD day and they are all in the SAME cage and there have only been a few squabbles (which is normal).
It's a very exciting day. :-D My little family is complete.
I call them the Holiday Ratty Boys (HRB for short, if I'm so inclined) because Jack Travis was born on Thanksgiving and Asti & Korbel were born on my wedding anniversary to Bear. :) So they are just one bundle of celebration!!
Pics coming soon!
Asti and Korbel are beige hooded standard rats. 'Hooded' means that they are beige all around their upper torso, including the head and there is a trail of beige going down their back that leads to the tail (doesn't quite reach it, though). 'Standard' means they have smooth, glossy coats and their ears stand up straight. The ears are also a little smaller than the dumbo version. Asti and Korbel are SOFT!! Jack Travis' coat makes you want to "scritch, scritch" and Asti & Korbel's coats make you want to "pet, pet". ;-D
Today is their first day living together!!! When you introduce rats to each other, you can't just plop them in the same cage because sometimes that can cause excess stress and escalated fighting (which can mean "injuries and vet bills"). So you start them off gradually, hanging out in the same space and building up to larger amounts of time. Because these three boys are babies, I was able to get them to hang out for quite a long time right off the bat. The first day, they spent about 3 hours together! The second day, I let everyone hang out in their own cages all day so that Asti and Korbel could spend more time getting used to their new surroundings (namely, new smells and new sounds). Today is the THIRD day and they are all in the SAME cage and there have only been a few squabbles (which is normal).
It's a very exciting day. :-D My little family is complete.
I call them the Holiday Ratty Boys (HRB for short, if I'm so inclined) because Jack Travis was born on Thanksgiving and Asti & Korbel were born on my wedding anniversary to Bear. :) So they are just one bundle of celebration!!
Pics coming soon!