The Rat Room

Today was another good day. The rats were more relaxed and generally happy. Max even ventured into Gera’s cage to check things out. Things were tense but nothing else happened. Rory visits Gera’s cage every so often, he then becomes puffy and I gently move him out of the cage and he forgets why he machoed up in the first place. Gera had a great time exploring his out time play area. He’s so happy go lucky, he’s loving and sweet. He’s curious and brave and ever so gentle.
Even better was Little Doc with Rory and Max, they don’t seem to care about the little guy anymore. So this tells me that Max and Rory need to have their run ins with Gera and Meeko so that they can then accept each other. With time, this will happen, I can see Meeko getting braver. He’s also loving the girls so much, especially Chu.
Two more days before the big chop chop… getting nervous as always, but they need the neuters.

The girls checking out the cage. Gera saying: welcome honeys.

Yesterday I was questioning myself about the intros. Why do I do this?
Today I got my answer. I opened up the cages and Meeko immediately started to popcorn. He was bouncing all over the place. Soon after, Gera was bouncing around with him and that’s with having Little Doc sitting next to them. Even with his bully attitude, it wouldn’t stop the fun. When doing intros the main thing to watch for is aggression. Aggression makes the other rats scared, skittish and stressed. So if you want to know how things are going, always look for the omegas, are they happy? Are they playing and paying no mind to the bullies? If so…then you know everything is going to work out just fine. During the hour, I had rats out in the open, running, playing and exploring. There was the odd scuffle but nothing majour. At one point Gera got upset because the master stasher Molly was diligently working at emptying out Gera’s dish. Molly would pop into the cage, pick up a block and carry it over to her cage and stash. Finally, I would stop Molly on the steps, grab the block and hand it back to Gera who was on her heels. He would promptly return it to his stash. It was such a great out time, even Rory was doing his version of the popcorn, the head binky… the happy Rory dance.
This is it… this is why I do this.
Have I mentioned how much I love rats?

Happy baby Meeko, it’s all about him.

Today went a little better. But mainly because everyone knew to stay away from Rory and Max. Max made it clear that he doesn’t really want new friends but he’ll tolerate you if you keep your distance. Rory on the other hand did go into a frenzy trying to flip the little Doc, I was rooting for him but he eventually grew too tired so I removed him and calmed him down. I told him it will be easier once Doc is neutered. Rory knows what needs to be done and will find the right technique to flip the arrogant boy but it will take time. So I told him, I’ve got nothing but time my sweet Rory. We can do intros for weeks or months if you like, there’s no need to move them into your home, not before you are ready. The girls would love to have the new boys move in tomorrow but I’ve got to think about my manrats. This will work out even better especially when I add the Chief next week.

The beautiful but troubled Chief.

As I suspected, day 2 was worse. Why? because this is a time when they start to recognize each other and no longer tolerate their behaviours or simply their presence. Rory was having a heck of a time, same as Max. Max was not approachable and I think the new guys knew this. Poor Meeko, still quite young and unaware of the proper rat etiquette didn’t know Max was not in a mood for a chat. Meeko stayed one second too long next to him before Max went after him. Luckily, Meeko is a mexican jumping bean and he avoided any gashes, all the while screaming like a banshee, so much for keeping a calm energy, I think I was frazzled from the start. Meanwhile Rory was heading the Spanish Inquisition with his two top girls behind him. He was on a mission to seek and flip. Poor Gera stayed out of his way at all cost. This all started within the first 5 minutes of the out time. I didn’t know how I was going to last the full hour like this. Little Doc was in scenting frenzy. If it has atoms, he rubbed it. He and Bianca certainly made quite the pair. She hot on his heels begging him to mount her. I kept reminding her that she was spayed but she paid no mind to me. Finally it was too much for Rory. He retreated and went for a very small nap. After his nap, he was happy as pie, running all over the place and checking things out. I was amazed at his transformation. Even though Doc entered his kingdom, he didn’t let in to him, he simply followed him around. Finally an hour came around. I was fed up with Doc and told him that I’m going to chew off his gonads with my teeth if he kept up his childish bullying. Yes, of course I was kidding but he doesn’t have to know that. Friday can’t come fast enough. That’s also when Chief gets done and his intro into this dysfunctional family will start. I can’t wait…NOT.
I’m so hoping tomorrow will be better. Yes, I did the full hour. I don’t know how I survived it.

Meeko and Max, seconds before Max jumped him.

Rory and Doc…May I be of assistance?

Doc and Bianca… Rory the voyeur.

A pooped out Rory.

After a week of neutral ground intros, the rats are usually ready for familiar ground intros. That’s if all went well previously.
So today was familiar ground. I needed to calm myself first as it’s always nerve wracking. So many things can go so wrong and real fast that a calm energy is really what you need and what you want your rats to feel and get from this intro. I have 3 little souls I need to look out for. Young Meeko, being pretty much hairless could get hurt very fast. he’s young and scared. Young macho Doc who is unaware of the damage big bucks can do to little arrogant weasels. (no offence weasels) And finally Rory. He pretty much worries too much and feels he needs to control a situation when he really doesn’t. Thank god Chu was on Rory duty again today.
Now, I don’t recommend any cages during familiar ground intros. A cage is a source of hostility, stress and frustration. It is claimable territory which already belongs to someone. But in my case, I’m very attuned to my rats and their body language and I am fast at stopping anything before it starts. Best thing though, after a week of neutral ground is a week of familiar ground without the cage.
Today, I opened both cages, Rory’s cage and Gera’s cage. I armed myself with multigrain Cheerios and away we go.
Interestingly, Max is alpha. I thought it was Rory but it really isn’t. Max is a good one too. Little Doc was walking about all macho and flaunting his junk (only intact boy in the crowd) when Max comes out and sets him straight. Doc makes a run for it and no longer seeks gonad adoration. He decides to play with the girls instead. Even Max was fine when Doc would come past or even little Meeko. Max is turning out to be a fantastic big manrat. Things were fine in the beginning as they always are especially when food is available. Food distracts the rats from each other. I guess their stomach needs are stronger than hormones. lol But don’t kid yourself, this is not always the case. I’m lucky I have no aggression in any of these rats. 40 minutes into the intro and Rory has had enough. He decides to pick on sweet Gera. Which is lucky for Rory cause Gera is pure love. Chu sensing Rory’s stress runs to him and makes him flip her instead. Meanwhile, Rory is trying to catch up with Gera with a Chu on his tail. Chu flips didn’t seem to help Rory at all so I decided to cover him with both my hands, all his body length and press his head down to the floor. After a couple of seconds he immediately released his tension and was ready for play. Rory looks at you in such a way, like he’s trying to understand you all the while he knows you can see deep through him. He’s definitely got a deep soul. I decided to end it soon after. Gera had had enough of the stalking and needed time out fast. He runs into his spot in his cage only to find Doc had claimed it. This did not go well. Doc takes a grab out of Gera’s side, not ever breaking skin cause he’s really all talk no action and Gera whimpering. That’s when I said everyone go home. Which is too bad because for some, they are just starting to have fun like Meeko and Rory but my nerve were getting shot and I needed a coffee badly. So everyone went home, all safe, all sound and happy.
Tomorrow should go a little worse as day 2s usually are but then it’s all downhill from there.
I have survived initial familiar ground intro with cage and no animals were harmed during the process.
We are happy campers.

When doing intros, you can really check out the workings of a colony. You find out who’s the good alpha, the backup and the ones really running the show.
Things are going great, I’m quite pleased with the group so far. Max must be feeling better about the intros because he was all over the place today and not too upset about Doc, even Meeko used Max as a hiding spot.
So it seems that Rory is the alpha or the group lets him believe that. Since discovering the power of flipping, he wants to do that to everyone… a little neurotic. But I’ve also noticed that there is a girl assigned to each big male. Chu takes care of Rory and Scout takes care of Max. When Rory becomes too stressed and searches for a rat to flip, Chu runs to him and presents herself. He flips her and feels good about it. She’s never far when Rory gets in a mood. As for Scout, she’s checks up on Max constantly and will even lie next to him when he’s too tired to move. Max and Rory are good buddies. Max loves to be dominated by Rory. You will find Max crawl underneath Rory and wait for the Rory karate move. If Rory doesn’t do it, Max keeps after him until he does. Very funny group that one. Molly the matriarch loves to check everyone out and get a cuddle. Bianca, my little hussy is truly enjoying intact Doc, if you know what I mean. lol
Gera is just along for the ride. He’s content with whatever is happening and where anyone stands. Meeko still needs to gain more confidence and he’ll be just fine.
Saturday will be intros on familiar ground. Should be interesting…

Rory and his girl Chu releasing some steam.

The sweet Molly.

Little Doc.

Gera doing his thing.

I’m a glutton for punishment? Not really, I knew Gera needed more buddies. His little Meeko can get annoying and Gera loves to cuddle. I have been doing intros with Gera and Meeko with Doc but it wasn’t going so smoothly. Doc would constantly try to aggressively dominate the boys. So my intros are now with Gera, Meeko, Doc with the Rory and Molly crew, in all 9 rats. My worries were Doc and Rory. Rory can be a little neurotic in his alpha role. But, I was worried for nothing.
I placed all the rats on a neutral spot which caused them to stress and be somewhat fearful of the new place. This works in our favour and forces rats to bond. I placed a big bowl of baby cereal in the middle which was very well received. lol
The intro lasted an hour and with no real issues. Some interesting dynamics… Doc settled right down and respected Rory as alpha. Not once did Doc dominate anyone. He was a good boy. He needed a father figure to keep him calm. He sure had a ball sniffing up all the 4 spayed girls. Bianca, my little hussy enjoyed the attention too. At one point, Rory towered over little Meeko and that totally freaked him out, immediately Max stepped in between Rory and Meeko. Interesting how Max became the peacemaker. Almost like allowing himself to be the punching bag. Gera at first only wanted to be with me. For me to take him away, but eventually he enjoyed all the extra furries around him. Finally at the end, I took them back to their cage one by one, leaving Doc and Molly for last. The two were cuddled together for the longest time. Doc looking at me with his big sad eyes… my heart broke as I could almost hear him say: can I keep her mom? Do I have to go to my cage all alone again? In time sweet Doc, in time you won’t be alone any longer.

In this pic: Meeko, Max and Gera

I’ve had several people ask me how old do rats live till… the average lifespan is quite shocking and a reality check.
Rats have an average lifespan of 2 years. If you do everything well as in healthy diet, clean and proper habitat and lots of mental and physical stimulation then you might get them to reach 2.5 years to 3 years.
And if you are really lucky and your rat has some amazing genetics, then you can have them live to 4 years.
I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had a few rats reach 38 to 45 months old. It’s a bittersweet blessing having them with you so long. When they reach a certain age, most rats require special care. Most lose their hind end mobility, some more severe than others. Some develop what can only be described as dementia. Some develop cataracts and kidney disease… but these strong rats with their strong will to live certainly makes you see the world in a different light.
My Davis will soon be 38 months old on June 23rd. He’s the last of his litter, a little guy with good strong genes.

Back in June, I also picked up two sweet boys. They were suppose to go to my sister’s place but some unfortunate event has prevented the adoption to go through so I took them in instead. Meeko is a young double rex boy and Gera a most laid back sweet rex.
These two weren’t always together. They were put together by chance and luckily it worked out very well. It was without any doubt that it would work because even though Gera is a much older boy (16m) he is the sweetest most loving rat I have ever known. Gera knows rat talk and body language and adjust his to match his buddy. He knows when to be submissive and knows when it’s time to stand up. But he’s most happy on a human. He will seek you out and won’t leave you alone until his out time is over. A real people rat.
I was worried that Meeko would lose that baby happiness being with an older rat but nope. Not with Gera, Meeko is his happy bouncy popcorning self with Gera and Gera gets into the baby bounce with him. They are a ray of sunshine in my life right now especially with having to deal with Doc and Chief. Those two frustrated rats are trying real hard to forget their past. Doc is able to have his out time with Gera and Meeko and once Chief and Doc are neutered, the real intros will begin.

Please meet Meeko and Gera:

A member and moderartor on the Rat Shack forum wrote this article on water. It’s very well done and should be read by all.

We’ve had questions about what water should I be giving my rats. There are a lot of opinions and personal choices. Here is some information on the different types of water so you can make a choice. I used to work for a water purification company and learned a lot during that time.

And by another member, SQ writes:

Rats need to be given water that does not contain either chlorine or fluoride.

Note: it is also very important to clean water bottles and the sipper tube well every couple of days