RIP boys < :3 )~~

I am very sad to report that both Freddie and Squiiggle have passed away :o(
Freddie suffered a very short illness that lasted just 24 hours for which i am thankful and we decided one week later that Squiiggle was only deteriorating and he was taken to the vet to be put to sleep :o(
I shall miss my boys dreadfully and even now i still expect to see Freddie's beady eyes watching me from the top of the cage as i potter in the kitchen.

Thankfully the "babies" don't seem to have suffered too much, i am sure they miss them in their own rattie way though.

squiggle is a curly ratty

Squiggle's curly whiskers

This is Squiggle's curly tail
Apparantly it is a genetic fault, i thought he'd had it squashed when he was a baby!

fruity ratty

Squiggle spots the apple

after some thought and careful planning he reaches it

Why didn't he just climb up on the door??

rattie photos

There haven't been any rattie photos for a while so i shall make up for it today :o)
This was taken on Saturday 8th March. Squiggle's having a snooze on the lower level and Brian is napping in the box above him, unfortunately for them they keep chewing big holes in the boxes! Not long after this he slipped through the hole a bit more and then moved.

No photos i'm afraid

but i had the most lovely cuddle with Freddie last night. He was all snuggled up inside my cardigan and laying on my shoulder then when imoved to get more comfy he did the same and ended up laying in my cleavage! He was wedged in with just his head showing and he stayed there for absoloutely ages! I've never had such a lovely cuddle from him and it really made me happy that he is now so happy to spend time with me :o)

Plenty of room

For everyone to ignore each other! :oD

I reckon there's room for a couple more in there too :oD

I went to P@H yesterday as we needed rat food and i just happened to be passing the adoption section when i noticed a group of ratties all curled up together in their log house... fortunately for me they were a group of girls so they stayed where they are ;o)
I also happened to be just passing their regular rat cages and they had a rather handsome looking fellow in there who was a dusky grey colour. I prised myself away quick smart and have vowed to never look in the rat cages again - i can't have a rat stash like i can my wool ;o)

I also took a trip to Sainsbury's for some rat friendly cereals for their dry food mix. I follow the feeding plan of Alison from the Shunamite Rattery and they have a mixture of rat pellets, rabbit food, dry pasta and breakfast cereals. I managed to pick up four different cereals so their mix is nice and full of variety again now. Luckily they are all cereals i like too and i have been making the most of having a box of cornflakes in the house ;o)

The BIG day!

All the ratties are now in the BIG cage! WOOTWOOT!

It went smoothly, a couple of William/Squiggle scuffles but other than that all was well :o)
I'm so pleased, i can't tell you!
The cage is looking a bit crowded at the moment with lots of fabric shelves but that is purely because i don't want any long drops which could hurt any of them.

This picture of Freddie reminds me what an old fella he is now, when he was a youngster he'd never have been caught napping and now he does it all the time - mind you, he still sleeps with one eye open ;o)

silly william!

He just can't seem to get comfy!

Bless'im!

sssshhhhhhhhhhh!

William's sleeping!


I can't help smiling at this photo, i was convinced he was going to fall out of the hammock!

teef!

Freddie and Brian were all comfy when William went into one!
He really doesn't like not being the Alpha rat, but he's just too little to fill Squiggle's shoes yet i think and Squiggle has definitely let him know this! Bless him, he does try and make himself assertive but Squiggle ends up just sitting on him and he soon gives up again!
Hopefully they will make peace with each other as the strangled squeaks that William lets out are just too much to take sometimes and although they aren't even touching each other you would think that he was being murdered!

how'd you do!

As promised, here are the photos from the groups first day together :o)

Brian went in first as he is the most accepting of everyone, he had a run around and was then joined by Freddie.

They got on fine, no scrapping at all, which was great!

So, in went William as he is the baby most likely to get all antsy with the Bigboys, the fact that Freddie doesn't have his boy bits any more was definitely a factor in how well the intros went i think ;o)

After a while it was time for Squiggle to go in. This obviously didn't go as smoothly. He is the Alpha rat and there has been most tension between him and the babies so i was expecting things to kick off. Fortunately it was all calm for a while and after much running around, smelling their new environment and each other they all settled down for a nap :oD

YAY!

At time of writing all four boys are in the small cage together - in a hammock! ASLEEP!!

YAY! *does a happy dance*

I've got to take the dog to the kennels so i am keeping my fingers crossed that they're still all in one piece when i get back but there haven't been any major dramas so far, and i have some extremely cute pictures to share when i get home :oD

I got them all out this morning for their free-range together and they all snuggled into the box more or less straight away so i figured it was the territory thing that was the problem. I took the small cage apart and cleaned it thoroughly and took out the shelf and hammock and just put in one new hammock and covered the floor with newspaper, carefresh and some strips of newspaper for Freddie if he needs it - he likes making nests, bless him. I also put the litter tray in so that the big boys can teach the babies what it's for :oD
Once it was all clean and put back together i put Brian in as he's the calmest of the four, he had a run round and a sniff and then i put Freddie in with him. He also had a run round and a sniff then it was straight into the hammcok for a snooze! Brian and Freddie were fine together so in went William - there was a little tension on William's part but before long he was in the hammock with Freddie while Brian continued to ping round the cage. Then it was Squiggle's turn to go in, i was most worried about him as he is the Alpha and William really doesn't get on with him. There's been some squeaking and mouth opening but nothing serious and they've all been sleeping in the hammock together!
I'm not sure how i am going to cope over the weekend, i might have to ask a friend to pop in and make sure they are all alive on Sunday morning but as long as it continues to go well today i am going to leave them in the small cage for a few days to give them a chance to get to know each other properly and to sort the heirarchy out :o)

At the moment i am feeling very happy, i think Squiggle is too as he was bruxing and boggling in the hammock earlier much to my amusement :oD

Right, time to take Lukey to the kennels for his weekend of partying and then it's off to the supermarket for supplies for tonight's PAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAY! :oD

And today's free-ranging

went incredibly well. Several hours were spent snuggled up in their box on the sofa. They all came out together for food and drinks and even Squiggle seemed to accept the presence of babies. Unfortunately when they all went in the cage together it went pear-shaped again :o(
Lots of squeaking, shrieking and running away. I left them for a couple of hours but there was no let up so at the moment they are both inside my cardigan snoozing. I don't mind though cos it means i get some bonding time with them and they'll be going back in the cage again later, even if only for an hour or so. I've been looking on the fancy rats forum for assistance and have a couple of things to try but whatever happens i don't think they'll be spending this weekend in the same cage as we are going away and i will be worrying the whooooooole time about them!


<3 )~~~

hehe

Free-ranging again!

Poor William's face :o(
Luckily rats do heal really quickly and it had knitted together within hours and the scab has nearly come off already.

Even Fatboys need a bath!

They are all fine together as long as they aren't in a cage! They spent several hours on the sofa in and out of the box, running round, sleeping, eating... no problems whatsoever! Put them near the cage and it's huffing and hissing, squeaking and playing at statues!

So i braved the inevitable fights and scuffles and after the boys had spent some time together free ranging i put them all back int he Fatboys cage... it seemed to be going quite well, there were a few squeaks from the babies and some hissing from the big boys but nothing too serious.
It was only when i was pssing the cage on my way out that i noticed William has a huge gash down his cheek :o(

I don't know when it happened, i was there the whole time but i'm guessing that Squiggle (or Freddie) made a lunge for him and caught his face :o(
I think it was Squiggle because Freddie actually isn't being that bad, the result of not enough hormones i expect!

So, the babies are in the big cage, the Fatboys are in the little cage and we'll try again tomorrow!

Sunday Sunday - looks good to me!

Sunday morning freeranging - all is well in rattie land - so far!

The Big Bed Adventure

The boys had their first meeting today on the bed. It went really well, there was no fighting at all, in fact the fatboys barely glanced their way! I'm really pleased as the babies have been living in the little cage with the Fatboys old litter and newspaper and it's getting really smelly, hopefully if intros continue to go so well they'll all be together before you can say RATTIEEEEEEEES!

Freddie was my main concern as he used to have "anger issues" but it seems the castration has really helped with this and he has really settled down. He allowed the babies to follow him round and hassle him quite a lot and then curled up under the cover when it all got too much for him :o)

Squiggle was slightly more apprehensive but then he's like that anyway, he's very nervy :o(
He did the same as Freddie though and went for a snooze when it all got too much and didn't mind whent he babies went for a nap too.

The difference in size surprises me every time! I can't believe that the Fatboys used to be this small!!

Meet the babies!

William and Brian are here and settling in well to their new home.
They are currently residing in the spare cage until i am brave enough to attempt intros with the Fatboys!

William is a little shyer than Brian, probably down to the pink eyes, apparantly they have worse vision than dark eyed rats but he's very friendly and not hand shy at all which is great!

Brian is very very inquisitive and runs round like he's being chased by the devil! He is constantly on the move and always looking for trouble! He is also very licky and affectionate and given half the chance would be in my mouth like a shot! Unfortunately for him i won't let him do it cos i think it's gross but it doesn't stop him trying :oD

been a busy bee!

I was up and out early this morning for a trip to Lidl because they were advertising a beech effect cabinet for £19.99 which would be perrrrrrrrfect for the rat cage to stand on. Since i moved the rats from the corner last August they've been standing on my little fold up table and it's getting gradually more and more rickety! We were toying with the idea of getting a kitchen cabinet but the sizing isn't right and Roj is too busy with work to fiddle around cutting one down to the right size and so it's been put off and put off... but i made an executive decision and went to Lidl :oD
It took a little under an hour to build (bearing in mind i am a girl and a bit cack handed!) and i am soooooooo pleased with the result - i am very tempted to get a second cabinet for the other side of the door so that i can put my sewing paraphernalia in it ;o)
Before - rickety little table and clutter on the floor -


After - shiny cabinet with clutter hidden away :oD

More illness

Feeling slightly sorry for myself this evening. The cold is coming out more, i cant stop sneezing and my hands ache. That could be something to do with the chiropractor pulling them about this afternoon though. The session went well, if pain and torture are your thing :o(
She worked on my neck and shoulders which hurt, she worked on my jaw, which hurt even more and then she worked on my trigger points in my bum which hurt for ages cos she couldn't work the tension out :o(
Luckily i had a lovely couple of hours in the LYS with Lisa to make up for it, see the knitting blog for more details ;o)
Speaking of the knitting blog, i'm wondering if it's such a good idea to have two separate blogs, after all knitting and crochet play quite a big part in my life, i wonder if i should have kept them all together. Ah, well, too late now. Hopefully beta.blogger will get their finger out and give me a blue migrate button and i can have them all in one place :o)
Herbert's taking his echinachea well, i've put it in their water so all three boys are getting it. He's also got a tissue next to the cage with some vicks on it to try and ease his congestion which does seem to be working a little. I've finally managed to get all three boys in together! YIPPEE!! It's been blummin hard but hopefully we're done with the fighting now.