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More Dalmations

Some more dalmations! and little 'bum' and you will see why he is named that :p

[frankenwats]

Hey Lovely Lady! You probably don't remember me but we adopted a couple of your lovely boys from you about 5 months ago (wow! is that all?). Anyway, I'd just like to say they're going so well and are so adorable. They're beautiful creatures and they both have their own little personality. I've just uploaded some pictures of them to my Tumblr which you're more than welcome to have a look at (plus you can go back and watch them grow up too if you want!). Just thought I'd update you. Thanks again!x

Hey gorgeous!! I most certainly do remember you! Actually I have a knack for remember all of my customers and particularly the gamers :3 Im absolutely thrilled to hear they are going well and behaving themselves (though I have been accused of breeding cheeky little blighters who may also have a talent for escaping and undoing locks)

Im on a Mass Effect 3 marathon so Ive been neglecting my rat blog a little over the past week but Ill reblog all you ratty pics asap. Update pics are my absolute favourite.

Hearts!!!

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looking forward to seeing my rat boys tomorrow, I miss them so much :(

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Rumple Rex girl! double-rex.

Here is another hilariously naked Drex girl! 

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The girl I kept <3

This is the girl I am holding back from the Drexes. She is just SO funny and I had to share some pics with you!

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Harry potter lightning blaze :p

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Rattikins Itchy: An Australian Blue rat.

There have been a lot of misconceptions about the Australian blue rat which appear to mostly come from ignorance and bad lines. Rumours such as females 'bleeding out' and sudden deaths coupled with failure to thrive have been in recent times accepted as fallacies or issues unrelated to the colour with the original line. 

Our blues are absolutely beautiful and my boy Itchy is absolutely huge and just beautiful! 

For anyone wondering yes: Itchy only has one eye! When he was a youngster he took a claw to the eye during playtime and over a period of six months his body reabsorbed the eye and he now looks like a real badass with his quirky squint! he is reasonably unperturbed by his vision.

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Our Dalmations!

We have taken over the Dalmation line from Rocket Rodents in Richmond, NSW and they are all now being paired. Im very excited to continue to work on this line and hopefully I will have dalmations available to the public soon.

The thing with this line is that wile attempting to improve things like temperament (which is already of a good quality) and size (which directly affects health) its also a matter of selecting for markings making this project an interesting selective juggle but one that we will continue indefinitely!

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Working on the Sydney Royal display?

Thought people like might to see some of the information panels so far and contribute!

Have an idea for our display or something you think would contribute? tell me about it!!!

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RATTY PHOTOSHOOT! Tonight felt like a good night to bust out the camera! Enjoy!

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[frankenwats]

Top left: Moriarity accosted my head.

Top right: Moriarity was dying to see what the computer was.

Bottom: Mycroft loves being scratched behind the ears. He does the happy-face-squinty-eye thing that cats and dogs do. :3

[frankenwats]

Hi! I just stumbled upon your blog a couple of days ago and flew through the whole thing in no time. I'm working on becoming a first time rat owner within the next week or so, and I'd like to learn as much as possible before I do so. Do you know of any other informative rat blogs you can suggest for me (or anyone else) to check out? Thanks!

oh well im very excited for you!! 

There are a few good places for rat info, and a few blogs I follow that Ive seen pop up in my feed with some really great advice. As far as forums and things go I can give you a review of a few Ive used or seen.

Australian Rat and Mouse forum

The Australian rat and mouse forum is very family friendly forum with lots of good info. People on there range from new rat owners (largest portion of the community) to veterans. *whispers* Im perma-ban from there though :p

The RatNation

The RatNation is a forum that has a slightly more 'adult' environment (so things like swearing are unmoderated) its pretty heavy on genetics, science and medical discussions pertaining to breeding and or owning rats. Its userbase is comprised of mainly veteran breeders, geneticists or people new to breeding/owning rats who want to explore the more technical side of things. The RatNation is run by myself and so you can expect the kind of people/information on there to be fairly similar to what you might find on my own blog. Things like feeder-breeders, necropsies or culling are not outlawed and can be discussed freely in the feeder or medical threads and there are also loads of fun pet oriented sections and community sections too. Basically The RatNation is the most 'open' forum as far as acceptance and debate of topics are concerned. 

Goosemoose Pet Portal

www.goosemoose.com

Goosemoose tends to be a bit more moderated and discussion of things like breeding or culling could get you flamed out of the forums, however there is also lots of info on there and its a good place to source info and ask questions. From my own experiences Goosemoose tends to be very 'pet' oriented and its userbase can at times be very set in their ways and unaccepting of anything else.

Rat Guide

 I highly recommend Rat Guide for all kind of info particularly for medicating rats. I reference this site all the time especially for calculating dosage rates. They have some great case studies on various issues as well that you could encounter.

Rat Behavior.org

This is another absolutely fantastic resource that all rat owners new and old should know about. Loads of photo references too!

Blogs

I have come across lots of really great blogs on tumblr here with ratty info on them. Here are a few (if you arent already following them!)

Myrattysunshine.tumblr.com

army-of-fuzzbutts.tumblr.com

ratpeopleproblems.tumblr.com

rattietails.tumblr.com

for-the-love-of-rats.tumblr.com

effyeahpetrats.tumblr.com

rats-attack.tumblr.com

cutegirlswithrats.tumblr.com

many-splendored-rat.tumblr.com

wonderfulworldofrats.tumblr.com

theratdiaries.tumblr.com

effyeahrats.tumblr.com

rat-it-to-me.tumblr.com

wrathofmenses.tumblr.com

They are a few of my favourite ratty blogs so if there are any there you arent following then give them all a follow! Most of them take Q&A's :D

[frankenwats]

This blog is making me so happy oh my god I used to have rats they were just the greatest little companions; when my third died I was too upset to get more. I need to get more I miss them so much. Question though, since then I have gotten two cats and have had them for a while. They're somewhat curious and I'm worried they might go after the cage? Just keep it out of their reach I guess? Figured some advice in this subject would be better asked than ignored.

You know I had rats when I was younger and then when my Mr Rat died I was rat-less for about four years or more. Now that I have them back in my life I cant fathom why I didnt get more at the time. They fill my life with more joy than I can describe and if that joy spreads on to you through my blog then rainbows and glitter will pour out of my ears!

Cats and rats are a funny thing and definitely worth asking about! Personally I have two cats. My girl Schrodinger who is about 6 years old was introduced to rats when she was a grown cat. Schrodinger is well trained anyway and responds to 'no' and knows what I mean when I say 'Be gentle!' and so at first she was allowed to play with Lab-Rat on the bed under strict supervision. Lab-Rat was completely undeterred by her and now two years later Schrodinger can play freely on the loungeroom floor with the boys unsupervised and theres no trouble at all. Brak is coming up on 6 months old. He is still a kitten and while he is fine running around and playing with the big boys I dont trust him unsupervised with any of the smaller, faster moving rats. He doesnt want to EAT them, he just thinks they are incredible fun and I need to be careful he doesnt get too carried away and hurt one by accident. The bigger boys can give as good as they get so should Brak accidentally be too rough he will probably come out of it with a nasty bite, or a giant rat chasing him across the loungeroom screaming at him. 

Generally if cats are real 'hunters' then Id be careful with them around the rats while outside the cage. In most cases its unlikely that they will attempt to harm the rats inside the cage. A lot of the time a supervised meeting is best. They need to realise that they are fellow pets and not the same as the rats outside they might hunt or catch. cats are sensitive little souls and so training needs to be approached very differently to the way you would with a dog. If your cat already has a certain amount of verbal queues like "no", "get down" (off the bench) or calling sounds and voices like universial cat whistle, kissing noises or their name then it makes it a bit easier because often a "no" when they are getting a bit rough will make them stop what they are doing and look to you, or back off. Unlike dogs, you really cant punish cats because they can be very sensitive. A scolded cat might make the connection to stay away from you, as opposed to realising that it was its activity that caused the scolding like a dog might. 

Basically you will need to test the waters. Each animal and situation is a little different but in many cases actively trying to keep the rats away from the cat will make the situation worse. If they are in a place where they cat can sit next to them or watch them closely more often than not they get used to them and they become less of a novelty. Rats make great cat TV :p

If you havent already see it here is a video of Schrodinger and Lab-Rat playing together on the bed a few months after they were introduced. (note this video was made under our previous stud name of Jack Black Rodentry)

http://youtu.be/JipvaTY2Dmo

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