I will shortly introduce them to you at the bottom of this page.
20-02-2017
I am still a bit worried about Farah, se has been into heat for about 3 days now and that is not good as they should be into heat every 3-5 days. I am going to check if this will continue, otherwise unfortunately Luna and Farah probably have to switch their castration. I don't have the money to both castrate them now and I think Farah then needs to be helped sooner. I am going to look what happens the coming days, otherwise I will make a phone call to the vet.
Yesterday, one of my friends came to visit me from Den Haag. She also has 7 rats, but has males and some castrate females. You naturally want to offer drinks to your guest, but I could offer a very special Farah beer to her :P
12-01-2017
Today I saw Farah acting strange. She seemed to have an insult that continued for 1-2 minutes. She seemed to have a problem with her balance, looking as if she wanted to fall to her right side and wasn't really responding to me calling and poking her. Her tail was limp and this is not normal. I freaked out and started filming a bit, in case the vet wanted to see it. After a few seconds of filming her behaviour I called the vet. Just when I wanted to make an appointment, she stopped. I then emailed my clip to 3 different vets, one who is really famous in treating rats in the Netherlands (Dierenkliniek Lunetten). The one I called for the emergency said this was normal behaviour, the other 2 said this was not normal and wanted to examine her. I went to the specialised vet and they couldn't find anything. She got a shot of corticosteroids and I needed to come back the day after, then they also couldn't find anything. Conclusion: she probably had an epilepsy attack. We definitely hope this doesn't come back or that otherwhise medication will help her.
Footage of a part of the insult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93geJz-ov7g
WARNING: the content of this video might be shocking!
28-12-2017
I am a bit shocked that I almost never wrote here :O. A lot has happened in the mean time. I went to Guinea-Bissau, West-Africa, from July to October. Unfortunately in this time both Lilo and Luna died. And they both had to be put to sleep because of a brain tumor :'(. I was not there in their last period and I hate myself for it. Also our dog, who became 14,5 years old, died because of a brain tumor :'(.
However, the other 5 girls are still here and since Luna died, the group atmosphere has improved a little (Dakota is attacking especially Farah en Faye a lot and that behaviour declined a little after Luna died). I will enjoy them a lot. However, both Tennessee and Missouri had to be operated on a tumor within the same month. Because of the very high veterinary costs, I decided to (temporarily) stop my rat hobby after these 5 are dead. They will stay with me until they die ofcourse! Only if one stays here alone, I will not only think about myself, but bring here to a shelter, so she never has to be alone. Rats are social animals, so I would never want to take that away.
But now are the christmas holidays and I therefore made a christmas cage (they are now in half a Royal Suite) and I made some christmas pictures :)
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| Christmas cage overview |
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| A fire to stay warm (only paper and willow branches) |
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| And a small (paper) christmas tree with some cookie gifts |
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| Farah |
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| Faye |
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| Tennessee |
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| Dakota |
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| Missouri |
My rats:
Lilo (born 29-08-2015 - died 14-08-2017)
Lilo is almost 1.5 now and she is the fattest of the group. She started off as the alpha, but now I think she has almost the lowest rank in the group. She is cuddly and a real attention seeker. Sometimes she just comes to sit next to you, staring into the room. At only 1 years old she already got a tumor that got removed and she got neutered. She never got tumors back, but in june 2017 her hind leg paralysis started to worsen. She could still climb and to everything. Then she started to become very weak and was seeking attention and cuddles more than normal. It took 3 veterinarians to figure out what was wrong. Apparently she had a brain tumor and was blind for already a few months and because she started to get worse and worse, she was put to sleep. She didn't even become 2 years old. Lilo, I will miss you!
Luna is Lilo's sister and the bitch of my group. I don't know what happened, but she started biting. As long as she is not near my cheek, nothing will happen. It is really strange. She never liked being petted and I definitely respect that. She just roams around with the rest of the group. Because of her behaviour she will get neutered very soon, hopefully it is an hormonal problem that will be solved this way. Luna started to get sick after Lilo, which became clear when the rest of the group started to ignore and bite here, they were even walking over her as if she didn't exist any more :(. Not having the exact same symptoms as Lilo, she started to walk circles. This could be an ear infection, but that was not the case. Also Luna had a brain tumor and when she at one point completely stopped to eat, she was put to sleep as well. Even though she was kind of a bitch, I will still miss her!
Farah (born 30-03-2016)
As my rats are kind of my children, you can't have favorites, but oh my god, Farah is the rat I fell in love with from the instance I met her. When she was 4.5 weeks and I went to the breeder to pick my choice, she already started licking my hand, she had to come home with me with 6 weeks and she did! She never stopped licking my hand and she is just amazing. She is the most chill female rat I have ever seen and attention horny. She comes when you call here and is just a cutie pie.
Faye (born 30-03-2016)
Faye is Farah's sister and she is also really nice. She is also an attention seeker, who can come when you call here. She is the smallest and thinnest of the group. While others are on a diet, she gets spoiled with extra food :P.
Dakota (born 16-04-2016)
Dakota, Tennessee and Missouri are sisters. Dakota is a rat that likes to explore, but also likes some attention now and then. She has the softest coat of all 7, so I really like it when she comes for a stroke.
Tennessee (born 16-04-2016)
Tennessee is more introverted. She comes for a stroke now and then, but she is mostly roaming around, causing problems xD. She can jump pretty far and therefore tries to get places I don't want her to go. And as with small children, they do what they aren't supposed to do and go places you tell them they can't :P.
Missouri (born 16-04-2016)
Missouri is pretty timid. She is that "oh-noo-hands-are-super-scary"-rat. When you want to hold her, she squeaks and peeps, but letting her do it on her own speed, she even comes to visit you (as long as those hands stay far away enough) and she even sometimes jumps on your shoulder to chill a bit there. I accepted her as she is, but I want to train her to overcome her fear, as it is really hard to go to the vet if that is needed or to take care of any wounds she might get.
Updates will be posted above :)
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