Posts tagged Mabel
Pumpkin, Pingu and Bramble
0A couple of weeks ago Charles and I added a few more members to our family – three more baby rats! We originally wanted two more to live with Mabel and Heather, as the intro between them and Miggley just wasn’t working, but when we found out that the breeder we use had three females left, we decided to get them all.
The three new girls are called Pumpkin, Pingu and Bramble, and they’re currently ten weeks old, and incredibly cute! Here they all are…
Pumpkin is an Agouti Berkshire and is a little feisty thing. She’s very confident and keeps play fighting with Mabel, which is always fun to watch.
Pingu (so-called because she’s black with a white belly!) is my little shy girl. She’s smaller than the other two, and quite timid, but she’s so loving. She reminds me a lot of Mog in her demeanour and appearance.
Bramble is an Agouti Hooded Dumbo – my first ever dumbo rat! Just look at those gorgeous ears. She’s feisty like Pumpkin, and also likes picking play fights with her big sisters.
The three new girls have the same dad as Mabel and Heather, which I think made the introduction process a lot easier. After a week of quarantine we let all the girls meet each other on neutral territory, and they got on straight away. Nobody showed any signs of aggression, and after two intros they were ready to live together!
Charles and I also invested in a Savic Royale Suite cage, which is a top-of-the-range piece of kit. It can fit about twelve rats, but we’re sticking to five for now, so they’re very lucky in terms of space! The five rats have now been living together since Monday, and we’ve had no trouble. In fact, they’re all like best of friends! Every morning I find them squished into one bed together asleep – so cute!
Naomi x
Introducing Heather and Mabel
0A couple of weeks ago I had to say goodbye to my beautiful heart rat Mog. She’d been suffering with a pituitary tumour for a little while, and though we tried every treatment available, it unfortunately got too much for her and she had to be put to sleep. I was absolutely heartbroken and I still miss her like mad, as does her sister Miggley, who was left alone.
Rats are very sociable animals and aren’t supposed to live singly, which left us with no choice but to get her some cagemates! After contacting many breeders all over the Midlands, I eventually managed to find two young females from Destiny Rats. After a week of waiting, last weekend we finally got to collect our new babies, and here they are…
Heather is a Russian Blue Berkshire, and Mabel is a Buff Berkshire, and they are both now nine weeks old, and so, so soft and cute! As they were handled from a very young age by the breeder and her family, they are both incredibly friendly and loving, and we get mobbed every time we go up to their cage.
We have only just started the introduction process with the two girls and Miggley, so they haven’t met properly yet, but they are very curious about each other from afar. They will gradually be introduced over the next couple of weeks, and eventually they will all be living together in one big cage. Hopefully they’ll all get along fine!
I plan on blogging about how the introduction goes, so check back soon for an update.
Naomi x
P.S. Miggley says “kmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm8ppppppppppppo[pyu”