Happy Valentine's Day!

Wired Magazine Makes a Plea to Reconsider the Rat

The Intriguing New Science that Could Change Your Mind about Rats, published by Wired in January, takes an in depth look at rats and empathy. It talks a lot about the study blogged about previously (More on Rats and Empathetic Behavior) but goes well beyond that study alone to take a close look at rats and how they behave toward each other and whether or not they may have more complex emotional motivations than many give them credit for. It treats rats, even wild rats, with respect and sympathy. It is a good read: educational, professional, and positive. Be sure to check it out.

Lilly May Have Gone Into Heat

Lilly

As you may recall, we adopted Lilly (and her three boys) almost a week ago. When a volunteer went to pull her from the shelter, she discovered that the shelter staff had put Lilly back in the cage with her sons - a situation that was likely going to lead to pregnancy. We chose to adopt her anyway and put her on pregnancy watch.

I have been checking Lilly every evening for signs of going into heat - as an indication that she may not be pregnant. Good news! Yesterday, I believe I witnessed signs of Lilly being in heat. I was massaging her hips and every time I did that, she would friskily hop away. I even think I saw her ears vibrate at least once. When I looked at her lady parts, her vaginal opening appeared very "open."

I am no expert (never having had an intact female before), but I believe these are all signs of heat. And the signs were quite obvious to me, so I am fairly certain Lilly is not pregnant.

That is a huge relief. As interesting as raising a litter may be and as cute as the babies may be, it would have been quite a challenge to raise all of those rats (we already doubled the number of rats in our house when we took Lilly and her boys) and to find them all good homes. I would always worry about the rats that found new homes: Were they taken care of? Were they getting necessary vet care? Did they get attention? Did they have rattie friends throughout their life and a good cage and diet? Add to that the potential megacolon risks from high white markings, and it is a welcome relief to be reasonably certain there will be no more babies in Lilly's future.

So now I plan to move her to another cage - one with more space and fun things to do. I will check again in 4 to 5 days to see if the signs of heat recur, just to make sure I have this right. I can't wait to get her spayed and put her back with her boys.

I am thinking about ordering another Dual Critter Nation for Lilly and her boys. If they can be successfully introduced to the other rats, we could make it a Quad. If not, they can live separately in their own DCNs.

The Boys Have Names

My sons have once again named our new rats:

 

And here is one of Lilly (we didn't have enough blocks with the letter "L" to spell her name):

 

 

 

Nesting or Redecorating?

Lilly is in a travel cage right now. I was generously given a tank with a lid in case she gives birth, but I couldn't set her up in that right away as I needed to patch a hole and get a water bottle hanger that will attach to a tank. I have all that now and can get her moved, but because of the poor ventilation in the tank, I want to wait as long as possible before moving her. The travel cage has a deep pan, so if she does give birth unexpectedly, it will be safe for the babies for the moment.

This morning, I awoke to find all of the scrap pieces of paper towel had been stuffed into the igloo and the sheets lining the bottom of the cage were torn from the opposite end of the cage and stuffed inside as well.

Lilly still doesn't look like she has a pregnant shape to me. Is she just bored in the travel cage or is she nesting? Is there any way to tell? I don't know. I am debating moving her to the tank just in case.

The New Rats

Yesterday, I picked up the new rats. This is momma Lilly (agouti hooded):

 

Lilly says "Hi"

 

And these are her three boys, as yet unnamed:

 

When you have a nice cage with lots of hammocks, huts, baskets, and a space pod,
the best place to sleep is always the litter box.





The boy on the far right facing away from the camera is a silver fawn hooded. The other two boys facing the camera are a lighter color that was described to me as a "soft oatmeal wheaten color." Their markings, I have been told, are capped stripe. They are likely high whites and thus carry a megacolon risk. I took this picture without flash to try to bring out the color a little bit.

The person who pulled them for me was kind enough to give me a tank with a screen lid to be used as a maternity cage if necessary. There was a small hole drilled into the bottom that I have to patch up before I can move her in. Lilly is very tiny. It is hard to believe she might be pregnant. But I did steal a quick look at her tummy and I can see some tiny nipples (something I have never seen on our past girls). This morning, when I fed breakfast to the rats (mixed veggies and banana today), I noticed that Lilly had pulled as much paper towel as she could from the cage bottom and stuffed it into her igloo. Could be nesting behavior. Could be typical rat rearranging the furniture. I am going to weigh her every day to see if she puts on any weight. Last night she was a mere 242 grams.

They are all very timid, but I think they will warm up to us quickly. All are sweet, none are nippy, but Lilly will gently grab a finger stuck between the cage bars (not a bite and doesn't break skin), so she may have been fed treats through the bars in the past. I can tell they are interested in us. Lilly will come out when she hears my voice, but sometimes, if I get too close, she runs back into her igloo. I can tell she wants some attention and loving, though. The boys spent a lot of time sleeping in a rattie pile in the litter box, but toward the end of the evening, they had ventured out of that litter box and down to the lower level, where two took up residence in the wooden hut, and the third moved from hut to litter box to tube. None have climbed into a hammock yet so they are probably not used to them.

I am giving them all a little time to get used to their new environment.

Things May Be about to Change

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been following the fates of 4 rats surrendered to a Chicago-area shelter: one mother rat and 3 male offspring. The rescue that sometimes pulls rats from the shelter did not have any space for them, so they were stuck there with a time limit over their heads.

I thought for sure the 3 boys would find homes - especially since Petfinder doesn't often list much availability in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, with the closest available rats to me usually being in either Wisconsin or Indiana. I was afraid that if the boys were adopted, mom would be left behind, and if that happened, I was going to take her.

However, the shelter did not list them on Petfinder and these rats continued to go unclaimed at the shelter. So eventually, my husband and I decided we would take all four and spay momma so she could live with her boys afterward. When I took Jeremy in to the vet for his post-neuter appointment (everything went great with his neuter!), I also made an appointment for momma rat's spay, even though I did not yet have her.

Unfortunately, when my online contact went to pull the rats from the shelter, she found that the shelter had put momma back with her boys, even though she had told them to keep them separated. I am guessing that cage space was at a premium, but unfortunately, the solution to that problem doesn't include putting intact males and females together. That only creates a greater demand for cage space.

I was told she was very likely pregnant and is showing signs, so she may be due soon. I was given the opportunity to return her to the shelter, but no good could come of that.

Needless to say, I have adopted 3 new boy rats and one most likely pregnant momma. The momma's name is Lilly and I am told she is an agouti hooded around 6 months old. Two of her boys show high white markings, so if she gives birth, we have to be aware of megacolon as a possibility. I will be picking all four rats up later today.

If we do get babies, this will be my first (and hopefully only) litter. I admit, I am inexperienced and don't know what I am doing in this arena. However, I am far from the first person to take in a rat only to find out she may be pregnant and others have survived this ordeal and done just fine with the rats, so hopefully, we will too.

Since I likely will never do this again (unless I become more involved with rescue), be sure to expect lots of pictures. And be sure to tell me when I am doing something wrong. I am still holding out hope that maybe she is not pregnant - and if that turns out to be true, I will be thrilled. But if she is, I am hoping for an uneventful and extremely small litter.