Ratling Follow-up
On a much lighter note, however:
Last Monday afternoon, the li'l deviant and I went to Gatineau to pick up five female rats to take to Kingston.
"But Frank, why did you go to Gatineau to go to Kingston? That seems, well, buggered up, man!"
I'm glad you asked: We were going to Kingston anyway to pick up three male rats! That's right, the old 'Palliative Care for Old Bugger Rats Who Are Too Stubborn to Die' is now repopulated with three new, young male rats! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but right now, our hands are kinda full by training them to get used to us, not biting, and getting used to the new sights and sounds.
For a few weeks, we had no names for them, but the one kinda 'called' out to us to be called 'Monkey'. He was all over the place, inquisitive and climbing on the cage like, well, a monkey! He's also the bigger brother of the three, and thereby the most dominant. He will need to know that hands are not rats, and that the hands are more dominant than he. But Momma Rat (li'l deviant) knows what she is doing and this will take time and patience.
The second rat was a little more difficult to name, but it was pretty much unanimous - because of a little nick on his nose suffered from his previous household (not the place we picked him up at, the one before that), we affectionately called him 'Scar-face' or just 'Scar' for short (although I don't think the li'l deviant has seen the 'Lion King' to understand the significance of 'Scar'. She, too, will learn). He's by no means dominant, but he seems to encourage his bigger brother. The two of them remind me a lot of Spike and that little dog that always hops around him in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Which then brings us to our third little bugger. Up until about ... two days ago(?), we hadn't a name for him, until we noticed something unique - he was the smaller of the three, and where Monkey and Scar went, this little one would be in his little igloo, wrapped up in himself, minding his own business. Then it came to me - Box, or Boxie! He lives in his own little box when the others sleep together! And it seemed to have caught on.
Box ... I don't know how he did it, but I have a feeling that he is channeling Wombat - he bruxes for no reason, he's tinier than his brothers, and he doesn't mind (as much) being picked up!
Scar, on the other hand, is a drama queen. Seriously! We pick him up, and he cries out. We barely touch him, and he cries. Trust me when I say that this is the least harmful place that I've ever seen when it comes to animals. The li'l deviant is awesome with her pets, and I trust her with what she is doing. When Scar 'squeals' like he does, he isn't being hurt, he isn't comfortable just yet.
And Monkey, good lords - the li'l deviant is cleaning the cage now, and Monkey NEEDS to re-scent EVERYTHING!! He, according to the li'l deviant, gets 'so worried' when she cleans, 'pacing around' until his items are replaced.
Next post, I promise pictures of the little tykes. They are almost completely identical except slightly different sizes, and two distinguishable markings:
Monkey has a bit of white around his neck
Scar-face has, well, a slight of a scar on the right-side of his nose
Box ... has no apparent markings, which makes him unique and identifyable.
I still think Wombat is around, teaching Box a few tricks of the trade. I'm almost convinced of it.
Last Monday afternoon, the li'l deviant and I went to Gatineau to pick up five female rats to take to Kingston.
"But Frank, why did you go to Gatineau to go to Kingston? That seems, well, buggered up, man!"
I'm glad you asked: We were going to Kingston anyway to pick up three male rats! That's right, the old 'Palliative Care for Old Bugger Rats Who Are Too Stubborn to Die' is now repopulated with three new, young male rats! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but right now, our hands are kinda full by training them to get used to us, not biting, and getting used to the new sights and sounds.
For a few weeks, we had no names for them, but the one kinda 'called' out to us to be called 'Monkey'. He was all over the place, inquisitive and climbing on the cage like, well, a monkey! He's also the bigger brother of the three, and thereby the most dominant. He will need to know that hands are not rats, and that the hands are more dominant than he. But Momma Rat (li'l deviant) knows what she is doing and this will take time and patience.
The second rat was a little more difficult to name, but it was pretty much unanimous - because of a little nick on his nose suffered from his previous household (not the place we picked him up at, the one before that), we affectionately called him 'Scar-face' or just 'Scar' for short (although I don't think the li'l deviant has seen the 'Lion King' to understand the significance of 'Scar'. She, too, will learn). He's by no means dominant, but he seems to encourage his bigger brother. The two of them remind me a lot of Spike and that little dog that always hops around him in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Which then brings us to our third little bugger. Up until about ... two days ago(?), we hadn't a name for him, until we noticed something unique - he was the smaller of the three, and where Monkey and Scar went, this little one would be in his little igloo, wrapped up in himself, minding his own business. Then it came to me - Box, or Boxie! He lives in his own little box when the others sleep together! And it seemed to have caught on.
Box ... I don't know how he did it, but I have a feeling that he is channeling Wombat - he bruxes for no reason, he's tinier than his brothers, and he doesn't mind (as much) being picked up!
Scar, on the other hand, is a drama queen. Seriously! We pick him up, and he cries out. We barely touch him, and he cries. Trust me when I say that this is the least harmful place that I've ever seen when it comes to animals. The li'l deviant is awesome with her pets, and I trust her with what she is doing. When Scar 'squeals' like he does, he isn't being hurt, he isn't comfortable just yet.
And Monkey, good lords - the li'l deviant is cleaning the cage now, and Monkey NEEDS to re-scent EVERYTHING!! He, according to the li'l deviant, gets 'so worried' when she cleans, 'pacing around' until his items are replaced.
Next post, I promise pictures of the little tykes. They are almost completely identical except slightly different sizes, and two distinguishable markings:
Monkey has a bit of white around his neck
Scar-face has, well, a slight of a scar on the right-side of his nose
Box ... has no apparent markings, which makes him unique and identifyable.
I still think Wombat is around, teaching Box a few tricks of the trade. I'm almost convinced of it.