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new lads
13 years ago
I've acquired two new lads recently.
First is Pierre. He was up for adoption in the local pet shop, and I usually try and avoid the adoption section as I know I can't resist a lone boy. But Jon came up to me, when I was being all good and avoiding that area, and said 'don't look in the adoption centre.....lone boy.'
I had no cash on me to give the adoption fee, so Jon handed me some and said 'get him'. Couldn't not!
He was originally a rat that was in the sale tank, but no-one wanted him. So he lost all his friends, and got bigger and older, and they decided to keep him alone 'behind the scenes' until room became available in their adoption centre :( They also said he was 'nippy'.
I don't know how long he's been alone, but Im guessing by his behaviour, quite a long time, and from quite a young age.
He is, my best guess, about 5-6 months old. His behaviour is very strange, and is what makes me think he has been alone too long at a critical stage of his development, as he doesn't know how to be a rat, and has no social etiquette.
First time I got him out for a run, he was very excited, not nervous at all, and clearly happy to have some company, even if it was just me at first.
As they stated, he was nippy, but not in an aggressive way, simply in that way that rats who have been taken from other rats are nippy; they haven't learned the boundaries.
It is normal for baby rats to test things with their mouths, and to nip to initiate play. You'll see them do it to each other. However, there is a limit to how hard these nips are allowed to be, and rats learn this from one another (if the other rat squeaks, that means you've been too rough!) and babies learn this very quickly.
As their owners, we can also continue this on by 'eeping' when our young rats nip us.
Pierre clearly never learnt this, so he thinks it is acceptable to nip hands a little too hard. He doesn't draw blood, it doesn't hurt, but I don't let them get away with this, because I've seen it escalate in some rats.
He also wags his tail madly whenever he is touched.
Tail wagging in rats happens sometimes, but no-one has ever conclusively diagnosed what it means.
Some rats do it when they're tense/angry, others do it when they're happy/excited.
Best theory is that it simply means a strong emotion, so it could be either.
Pierre does this a lot, another indicator that he is unused to stimulation and excitement.
But he's a lovely boy, looks like he'll be a very fun, curious, outgoing boy with a bit of work.
Today, he met some other rats. His behaviour with them wasn't much more polite than it was with me. He desperately wanted to play, but didn't know what was acceptable. So there was a lot of him chasing others, nipping them, humping them and trying to initiate play in quite a rude way.
Dakota, tolerant soul that he is, played back a little, and groomed him to comfort him and tell him to calm down, but Pierre then targeted Geordi.
Geordi was a little less tolerant, and pinned Pierre down to tell him off. Pierre got a bit freaked out, no-one has probably done that to him for a while, and he didn't understand what he'd done wrong.
Dakota then groomed Pierre like he was saying 'its alright mate, but you came on a bit strong!'
Currently, I put Gorgeous George in with Pierre until he can get properly into the group, because George is calm and tolerant, and can teach him gradually how to behave.
Here is Pierre on his first day here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=e2612d48b2
Secondly is Diablo. I treated myself to him, he is a breeder rat.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=bacac6e015
Diablo is a Marten. This is a new variety of rat that was discovered around 2010. In parts of Europe, they are still called 'red eyed devils'. But here, the rat fancy did not like the name because it added another 'negative' to the image of the rat, which they don't need. I like the name, but I can see how people don't want rats linked to devils.
So they became Martens after the rabbit variety.
They are currently unstandardised, so cannot be shown, and as they're new, they seem to come in a lot of variations at the moment. I adore martens, and have the second I saw them, I think they'll become a favourite variety of mine.
As they're new, it is not yet know what the gene is or whether it comes with any negatives. These things can take time to show up, for example, it was only recently that BEW rats were 'banned' from being shown at NRFS shows due to health problems associated with the variety. And they've been around years.
So here is baby Diablo. He's very wee, but oh so cute. I've not had a little 'un for a while. He lives in Doodlebug's group, with the nice, gentle rats. He settled in fine. He looks to be a bit like he'll be a cocky little lad!
The ragged ear was like that when I got him from the breeder, looks to be something that occurred when he was very young as it is well healed. Perhaps mum got a bit overzealous when grooming her babies!
First is Pierre. He was up for adoption in the local pet shop, and I usually try and avoid the adoption section as I know I can't resist a lone boy. But Jon came up to me, when I was being all good and avoiding that area, and said 'don't look in the adoption centre.....lone boy.'
I had no cash on me to give the adoption fee, so Jon handed me some and said 'get him'. Couldn't not!
He was originally a rat that was in the sale tank, but no-one wanted him. So he lost all his friends, and got bigger and older, and they decided to keep him alone 'behind the scenes' until room became available in their adoption centre :( They also said he was 'nippy'.
I don't know how long he's been alone, but Im guessing by his behaviour, quite a long time, and from quite a young age.
He is, my best guess, about 5-6 months old. His behaviour is very strange, and is what makes me think he has been alone too long at a critical stage of his development, as he doesn't know how to be a rat, and has no social etiquette.
First time I got him out for a run, he was very excited, not nervous at all, and clearly happy to have some company, even if it was just me at first.
As they stated, he was nippy, but not in an aggressive way, simply in that way that rats who have been taken from other rats are nippy; they haven't learned the boundaries.
It is normal for baby rats to test things with their mouths, and to nip to initiate play. You'll see them do it to each other. However, there is a limit to how hard these nips are allowed to be, and rats learn this from one another (if the other rat squeaks, that means you've been too rough!) and babies learn this very quickly.
As their owners, we can also continue this on by 'eeping' when our young rats nip us.
Pierre clearly never learnt this, so he thinks it is acceptable to nip hands a little too hard. He doesn't draw blood, it doesn't hurt, but I don't let them get away with this, because I've seen it escalate in some rats.
He also wags his tail madly whenever he is touched.
Tail wagging in rats happens sometimes, but no-one has ever conclusively diagnosed what it means.
Some rats do it when they're tense/angry, others do it when they're happy/excited.
Best theory is that it simply means a strong emotion, so it could be either.
Pierre does this a lot, another indicator that he is unused to stimulation and excitement.
But he's a lovely boy, looks like he'll be a very fun, curious, outgoing boy with a bit of work.
Today, he met some other rats. His behaviour with them wasn't much more polite than it was with me. He desperately wanted to play, but didn't know what was acceptable. So there was a lot of him chasing others, nipping them, humping them and trying to initiate play in quite a rude way.
Dakota, tolerant soul that he is, played back a little, and groomed him to comfort him and tell him to calm down, but Pierre then targeted Geordi.
Geordi was a little less tolerant, and pinned Pierre down to tell him off. Pierre got a bit freaked out, no-one has probably done that to him for a while, and he didn't understand what he'd done wrong.
Dakota then groomed Pierre like he was saying 'its alright mate, but you came on a bit strong!'
Currently, I put Gorgeous George in with Pierre until he can get properly into the group, because George is calm and tolerant, and can teach him gradually how to behave.
Here is Pierre on his first day here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=e2612d48b2
Secondly is Diablo. I treated myself to him, he is a breeder rat.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=bacac6e015
Diablo is a Marten. This is a new variety of rat that was discovered around 2010. In parts of Europe, they are still called 'red eyed devils'. But here, the rat fancy did not like the name because it added another 'negative' to the image of the rat, which they don't need. I like the name, but I can see how people don't want rats linked to devils.
So they became Martens after the rabbit variety.
They are currently unstandardised, so cannot be shown, and as they're new, they seem to come in a lot of variations at the moment. I adore martens, and have the second I saw them, I think they'll become a favourite variety of mine.
As they're new, it is not yet know what the gene is or whether it comes with any negatives. These things can take time to show up, for example, it was only recently that BEW rats were 'banned' from being shown at NRFS shows due to health problems associated with the variety. And they've been around years.
So here is baby Diablo. He's very wee, but oh so cute. I've not had a little 'un for a while. He lives in Doodlebug's group, with the nice, gentle rats. He settled in fine. He looks to be a bit like he'll be a cocky little lad!
The ragged ear was like that when I got him from the breeder, looks to be something that occurred when he was very young as it is well healed. Perhaps mum got a bit overzealous when grooming her babies!
They're both such handsome boys, though! Especially little Diablo- despite it not being fantastic that it's there... the nic in the ear is kinda cute. ;~; I'm a sucker for things like that.
I had a rescue lad, Captain Howdy, who had never been taught how to nip or play nicely. He was so very bouncy and playful, but he never knew when to stop and his previous owner was terrified of him. He'd ripped a hole in the back of her hand!
When I got him, I let him free range and realised quickly that he was in no way aggressive, just really over the top excitable. And sure enough, when I played hand wrestle with him, he ripped a pocket in the back of my hand too! I eeped at him, and had to do it a few more times, and he stopped. Never bit again. You have to do a proper high pitched squeal, like another rat, but I've never had it not work on one of these kinds of rats.
I was never very impressed with the Harleys, to be honest. I found the actual line of rats to be a little unfavourable, visually, coat aside.
No social skills whatsoever. Just terror and confusion at other rats.