So Licky Rattery
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008
Well, last night I finally got around to taking photos of the kids. I meant to do it on Sunday, but had so very much going on. We did some work on our house and fixed my broken scooter. Its tough not having your wheels for a whole week. Fortunately, my friend's husband was able to fix it with little difficulty. Anyway, last night I decided to take the pictures and got the crazy idea to do photos of all our rats. For those of you keeping track, we currently have twenty-six rats in our rattery. It took me 2 hours and I took over 400 photographs! I just spent several hours going through them all and picking out the blurry faces and the grumpy looks. But now everyone (except Duo) has an updated photograph. In case you're wondering, Duo, who is still nursing her babies, didn't want to have anything to do with having her photo taken. I can't blame her and wasn't about to fight with her.
Anyway, the kids are still getting bigger every day.
Hope all is well with you!
Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
Well, the babies were separated from the mommas last Tuesday. They're all growing big and strong and eating tons of food. We combined the two litters together about two weeks ago so that the mommas could do tandem feedings and get an occasional break. Everyone has been getting along splendidly. Some of them will be starting to go to their new homes in the next couple of days. We'll really miss these little guys.
On another note, Duo is getting very pregnant. If our suspected conception date is right, she still has a week to go before she's due; however, I can't imagine her going that long. Her belly is already bulging on the sides and that doesn't usually happen until about three or four days before birth. I guess its just a waiting game now. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and lets hope for lots of healthy babies!
Monday, Oct 6, 2008
Well, Cameron got himself hurt on Friday (amputated the end of his right middle finger); so we both spend a bored weekend at home. The good news is that we got individual shots of all the kids and thought up 21 names for all the little bubs. We went with a fire theme and an old person insult theme which we've been working on for a while. Check out the new litter pages and all the fun names and photos!
http://solickyrattery.webs.com/teslaxlifelttlirony.htm
http://solickyrattery.webs.com/teslaxlotsahoopla.htm
Friday, Sep 26, 2008
We have had two litters born here at the So Licky Rattery! Tiberius of SLKY and SLKY Lotsa Hoopla had a lovely litter of 10 babies and Tiberius of SLKY and SLKY Life's Little Irony had a litter of 11 babies. Lotsa Hoopla's babies should turn out to be mostly Himalayans, some Siamese and some PEWs with a few being Dumbo eared. Life's Little Irony's babies should turn out to be half Siamese and half Himalayans with a few being Dumbo eared. I'll work on figuring out sexes and maybe dumbo ears this weekend and hopefully have an update on the website sometime on Monday. As you can imagine we'll be quite busy over the next couple of weeks. You're welcome to ask questions about specific litters and babies, though we won't be taking individual reservations until October 10th. If you want to have a looksy at the sweet little ones - Irony's babies can be seen here http://solickyrattery.webs.com/teslaxlifelttlirony.htm and Hoopla's babies can be seen here http://solickyrattery.webs.com/teslaxlotsahoopla.htm . We'll start working on names as soon as we know numbers of boys and girls and when we can start distinguishing them from one another.
Hope you are all doing well and Have a Great Weekend!
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008
Our dear Tiberius passed away today. Last Friday, we noticed he was very ill and urinated blood. We took him to the vet on Saturday and found out that he had bladder and kidney stones. They weren't able to schedule the surgery until Tuesday morning (today). He hasn't been eating well and was loosing weight quickly. The surgery was almost finished when his little heart gave out. Sorry, I can't talk more about it right now.
We love and miss you sweet buddy.
Wednesday, Sep 10, 2008
Well, we had every rat breeder's worst nightmare happen last week. We had a cage break (deft little ratty paws up to no good), and we suspect that two of our little girls may be pregnant. We have decided not to do an emergency spay to end the pregnancies. The girls are still so young, but they are very close to a safe weight. So we're going to cross our fingers and do everything we can to ensure their health and safety. We'll keep you all updated on their progress and if we have litters here in a couple weeks, I'll announce them and let everyone on the waiting list know of their availability.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
After 23 days of waiting, Gnocchi has given us 10 beautiful, large healthy babies. Let me start a few days ago and give all the wonderful details!
Gnocchi has always been such a sweet girl and from the beginning, we figured she would be a good momma.
At this point she began getting extremely loving and cuddly. I had of course kept my weekend open and took Monday off so that I could play with babies. My girl Gnocchi had other plans. On Monday, June 16, 2008 (day 23) around noon, she finally went into labor. One of the babies was stillborn, but she gave us 10 very large, healthy looking, beautiful babies. They are all eating very well, and she seems very busy keeping them in line.
They are much bigger than I expected. They are each about 1.5 inches long and about as round as my thumb. We felt so sorry for Gnocchi Momma because she has always been so petite. They all seem to be eating well and all have nice healthy milk bands. I'll keep getting photos as they grow!
Congrats to Momma Gnocchi and Poppa Tiberius!
Friday, Apr 4, 2008
I'm currently trying to figure out the genetics and possible flaws behind the spots that Tesla has developed on his back. He seams to have developed growing spots around 3 1/2months. They started as two small spots just under the high spot on his back on the tail end. They've grown together and are almost to the base of his tail. I'd been wondering if this is just his coloring darkening up as he gets a new coat of fur and is it considered a fault to have a point that is that big.
I posted these questions on the RSA forum and got the following responses that I thought I would share for anyone interested:
"Based on description alone (and not a photo) I would say that you are seeing patching on your Himilayan which is not what you want. The pattern should be smooth and 'together', not in patches in different places. If he is molting and it is just the point at the base of the tail encompassing a larger portion of his back end, then that is good. If it stays just patchy, though, it is considered undesirable although does not take away from an otherwise great rat :) "
"Those look like bad moult patches to me. Colorpoints can go through some truly crazy moult patterns, but the longer you select and breed for rats that don't patch out like that, the better off you are. Colorpoints also need a nice, consistent temperature year-round, since temperature affects the depths of point and moulting. However, most of my colorpoints do still moult out at seasonal changing."
Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
Well, I finally got all my kids registered with NARR. I'm so excited! It just feels much more official now.
I've been doing lots of research on genetics and have decided that Gnocchi, Tiberius, and Tesla are all Himalayan. The problem is that they are also either hooded or Berkshire - thus, no points on their feet. I'm thinking that if I add a self rat into the line I should get the points back on a few of them. Once again, I'm needing breeding stock that I'm having trouble getting. I have a few connections lined up for later this year to hopefully get a few very reputable rats. I never imagined how difficult it would be to get started. I'm glad I'm taking things slowly.
All my kids are growing nicely. Tesla has developed a darker spot on his back. This will probably exclude him from my breeding line, which is a shame since he is so sweet. Tiberius has become the Alpha male, but is still a big baby. Vanya has become extremely territorial. Whenever the boys even come near she tries to bite them. Its a good thing she'll never be a mama. Gnocchi is pretty much the ideal little lady. Lydia is Vanya's follower. She'll do anything to please Vanya.
Friday, Feb 1, 2008
The kids are all doing well and growing big. Gnocchi's coloring darkened up a little bit this week. Her points are now much more of a chocolaty brown. I'm so torn as to whether she is Siamese or Himalayan. I've been doing a lot of research on standards so that I can better classify my babies.
I'm also trying to decide on future litters. I'm thinking that I will start with an inbreed of Gnocchi and either Tesla or Tiberius. This will help me to see what kind of genetics I am working with and how strong their Siamese/Himalayan genetics are. I don't see that there will be any health problems doing this since their parents were completely unrelated. If I get a good solid Siamese or Himalayan female from the pair, I'm thinking that I can then line-breed her back to her uncle (Tiberius or Tesla). This should establish a good Siamese/Himalayan base and hopefully be a start of my Siamese/Himalayan line. I'd like to start the first breeding around May or June of this year.
I'd also like to breed Lydia to start a Berkshire line. I'm still looking for a sire for her. Hopefully, I can find one soon, so that he is ready to breed when Lydia is.
Friday, Jan 4, 2008
Our old girl Bethena passed away on Monday, January 1, 2008. She died peacefully with a yogie in her mouth. We think that this was so the other rats wouldn't take it while she slept. The yogie was buried with her. She was shy of 3 years by about a month. This makes her our longest lived rattie. Her health had deteriorated and we were debating the idea of euthanasia-thankfully nature took its course first. We love you Bethena and thank you for all the good times.
