The Rat Room

If you happen to live in Ontario, Canada, and you are looking to bring rats into your home, please keep in mind Chelle’s Critter Haven.
Chelle and her husband Graham have been doing rat rescue for some time now. It’s always difficult when you first set up a rescue and to actually follow through with it but these two have made it seem like they were born for this kind of work. They are amazing with rats, take excellent care of them and should be the first you go too when wanting a rat. Chelle can help you choose which rats would fit into your family, she can also guide you in intros if you’d like to have the new rats live with your current little guys. She will always be there for you should you need info or support in any way rat related. And if you can’t adopt from Chelle at this time, please consider donating. Rescue rats don’t come cheap. With Chelle, they don’t just sit in a cage and wait for a home. They get regular vet care, the best of food, toys and lots of human interactions. You can find more information at her website: Chelle’s Critter Haven.

Now on to Chelle’s Critter Haven’s rat of the month!
September belongs to Helena.

Chelle writes:
Helena was surrendered to us with her sister, Venus. She is about 18 months old. She was fed table scraps her entire life, and her poor diet caused some, shall we say, excessive weight gain. But now, with a proper diet, she is quickly going back to the weight she should be, has a much better coat, and has gained lots of personality and spunk! She is still a little chunky, but we like to think that there is just more to love!
There are so many more reasons to love her. She, as well as her sister, is very well socialized and loves being handled, held, and especially cuddled! Because she is older, she is a bit more relaxed, and is content to curl up in your lap and be loved.
She and Venus have similar types of markings, but do have differences in their colouring, as well as their size, so they are quite easy to tell apart. They would be great for someone who is new to rats! They would love to have an owner who has a quieter home and doesn’t mind adopting older gals.
Feel free to ask about or come meet Helena! You will fall in love with her chubby physique, her loving personality, and her overwhelming beauty!

You can find more info and pictures on Helena at the Rat Shack forums or at Chelle’s Critter Haven.

Helena:

The two groups have been continuing with their intros or out time for quite some time now. On Saturday all three cages are moving into their rat room. It’s going to be a big change for them but I’m hoping that this will be the time to add the Gera group with the Rory group. Hopefully, that ladder that separates the two sides goes up for good. The last few out times have been good. Both Rory and Max no longer seem to be on the war path. They aren’t happy when they run into Gera, Meeko, Doc and Chief but they don’t turn into Cujo either. I would say they are ready now to try living together. I do expect some scuffles and break downs once they are together but not all out war. It will never be the Waltons… these are rats after all. A good working colony needs to have its alpha and those working with him or against him. Some challenges are always healthy. I know that once Max is challenged and flipped, he will submit like he did to Rory.
Well… at least I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a happy union. 5 days to go.

Max sniffing out Chief and Doc.

I adopted these 5 boys almost 1.5 years ago. These boys were made to be hawk food. But the hawk at the Science center died and the food went up for adoption. They were all going to be put to sleep but on person took pity on these helpless little souls. The boys were never really friendly from the start. It’s no wonder really since they were not bred to be pets. They lived in a shoe box not even big enough for them to stand up. Corn cob for bedding, water and pellets for food and nothing else. Instead of forcing them to be social and to bond with me, I decided to concentrate more on getting them buddies and a stable, secure life. Eventually, a couple of them warmed up to me. Rocher, especially, he even learned to fling himself in the air to grab hold of my shirt to climb up and get his veggies from me. Bug allows me to pet him as well. But Matou, Darcy and Echo were never approachable. They do enjoy their rat buds though. They live with 6 other very sweet pets, born into a loving home with a loving rat mom and a loving human mom too. These rats taught the Science North boys to be gentle and stable.
But much to my surprise, the last few weeks, the boys have come around. As I sat on the floor during their out time today, my heart warmed up as I was able to pick up each one, give them a kiss and some cuddles without a fuss, without any protest.
I always thought that forced socializing was the only way to bond with rats but giving them space and respect works as well… not as fast as the forced socializing but in the end, it paid off.
You have to know with each rat how to proceed, how to treat them… to respect their past and who they are and who they need to become. It’s always harder with rescues as they always carry baggage along with them.
Now, instead of just loving them from afar, I can actually rub their soft furry sides on my cheek and steal a kiss here and there. These boys make rescuing totally worth it if not wonderful.

Any Facebook addicts out there? The Rat Shack has a Facebook group. We are celebrating the changing of the leaves with a photo contest on Facebook. So come one, come all and shutter away. Post your pictures of ratties and their fall props in the photo section. Be sure to title it Fall Photo Contest. You have until September 30th to submit as many pictures as you like. Please make sure the photos are yours or you have permission from the author.
Can’t wait to see all your rats in the fall!!!

Rats are sneaky. You best keep an eye on them or they’ll disappear and get in all kinds of trouble. I’m used to rats like that. I’ve always had one or two in a colony that I have to keep a watchful eye on. Come to think of it… all girls. Coincidence?
So today, I was doing my out time with the Gera/Rory group. Things were going well, everyone was having fun and after about an hour the rats start their naptime. They usually just plop where they are and have a snooze. The young ones not so much. And the girls… not so much either. So about this time, I do another head count. 1. 2. 3. 4…. 9. I do a recount, cause it really should be 10. My heart starts to race but I don’t panic. I start making noise, calling them, not using their names cause I’m not sure which one went AWOL. Another count, 9. I panic. It’s been 15 minutes with 9. I start calling them by name and it feels like they all came to me one by one from one corner or another but I’m still at 9. That’s it. I take out the big guns. I know that if I stand up and grab the veggie container and start to dispense, all of them will come running, no matter where they are. I stand up on my wobbly legs cause I’m in mid panic at this point and what do I see? Little Miss Chu. What a surprise. On the table. Serving herself. Now I know where to look first.
My heart hasn’t yet recovered… but I fear, I better get used to that. lol

Gera, taking his ratnap.

Back in July, a wonderful volunteer with the Toronto Animal Services contacted the Rat Shack about some rats desperately needing homes. Two of them were sweet gals named Thelma and Louise. The girls went into foster home and put on pregnancy watch as all females should be. You just never know when was the last time they were in contact with males.
Well, they were right to be worried. Louise gave birth to 9 sweet little baby rats. They are back at the shelter now, nursing and growing like weeds. They will soon need homes of their own. These pups happen to be super adorable with their button nose and black and white markings. They will surely make a wonderful pet.
You can read about them in this blog called Feathers, Fur and the Occasional Fang
And also view each picture of the babes individually. They definitely have that wow factor in them. If I wasn’t so full up in my colonies, I’d be swinging by Toronto and snatching a few of these fellas up. If you live to far away, there might be a way to help with transport. Many people on the Rat Shack donate their time and transport efforts to help unite rats and good homes. So please have a look, open your heart to a rat in need.

The last few play times with the Rory group and Gera group has taken on a pattern. I have noticed that the first 15 minutes is about Max going after either Meeko or Doc. The little ones get freaked out, scream and run. But the next hour, all is well. Max stays about, but not obsessed with bullying. He also seems to respect Gera and Chief. I wish Chief would wake up and take over as alpha. Gera doesn’t want the position, he’s pretty happy being beta but to go all out and flip and pin, that’s just not his thing anymore. Someone has to take over and set those big boys in their place. Both Max and Rory don’t want to be alpha but they need someone to be real soon or they will continue to cause havoc with the babes.

The Chief

So we are pretty much still doing out time together, changing cages and all that jazz. It’s working out pretty well. At first I wasn’t so sure. Max really got stressed out and went on a rampage sorta, in a cool rat kind of way. Max is not a meanie, just gets overwhelmed and if you are near, he’ll let you know about it. A few days later and he’s still not that happy with the other boys smells. But he’s getting better. He’s actually not seeking anyone out but he doesn’t enjoy company much during out time. He’d rather roam around alone. All the others seem ready for the move. Even Rory! Rory happily moves about, especially during out time. He’s quite content with life and when a new guy walks by he doesn’t really mind at all. Gera… well, he’s just a happy boy. The main friction right now is Max and little Meeko. Doc and Chief stand up to Max but not Meeko. Meeko shrieks like a banshee and runs for his life. So on and on we go. No move yet.

Gera coming out for out time.

Rory happily munching on a block, one he found stashed away by the pro Molly under the cage.

I have been waiting for a rat room for a very long time. Finally my oldest son is moving out. He’s going into residence at Laurentian University leaving me with an empty room. We are slowly fixing it up, making it perfect for the rats. I chose a slate grey green colour for the walls. I’ve added a big flat ball type thing for a light, which gives off a lot of light so the darker colour paint and flooring will work out nicely. The floor is a walnut oak laminate wood. I’ll soon be adding a thick baseboard and new curtains as well. The first week of September will be rat move in day. I need to get all my stuff done by then and it would be great if I have the Rory and Gera group living together by then too. But still not holding my breath on that last one.

Here’s the room before:

And so far with the new paint and flooring:

Honestly… everything would go just right if only Max would accept the other boys. I’m pretty sure even Rory would be ok with the new guys if only Max would tell him that everything is ok and no need to panic. But no. Max is constantly sounding the alarm, warning of an impending invasion. He’d rather stay separate than to unite. Typical Quebecois. lol
So we will keep doing the switcheroo of the cages in the hopes that he’ll get used to the smells and finally accept the boys. Poor Chief got the brunt of it today, a little cut up on his rump but he’ll live. I bet the ladies are going to love his war scars.

A few pics of the gang.