Just had my quarterly photoshoot sorted yesterday and ready to update the rattery website but wanted to show them off here first :D If they only have one name its because they aren't shown or bred, they were rescues. I'll include full pedigree names if i can! Hakuna Matata, Redwall, New World and Bongo Fury are breeding affixes, I breed and show by Redwall, so anything with my rattery name alongside was bred by myself] Clive [Ruby Eyed Topaz] New World Guns and Ammo [Or Crash as a call name] [Satin Agouti] Daisy [Dumbo Agouti Hooded] Dora [Roan/Husky Black Eyed]
Redwall Elvis [Self Black] Hakuna Matata Big Damn Heroes [or Firefly call name] [Rex Burmese] My new little baby girl Hakuna Matata Lady Godiva [Dumbo Rex Ruby Eyed Himalayan] New World High Voltage [or Hazard for call name] [Satin Agouti]
Redwall Wingardium Leviosa [Burmese] Redwall Lumos Nox [Black Eyed Siamese] Maurice [Blazed Bareback Black] Redwall Memphis [Self Black]
Bongo Fury Onyx Orchid [Dumbo Russian Blue] Hakuna Matata Pandoras Box [Rex Burmese] Bongo Fury Pearls of Paradise [Head spotted Berkshire Russian Blue] Hakuna Matata Penelope [Burmese]
Redwall Ridiculous [Black Eyed Siamese] Redwall Spartacus [Black Eyed Siamese] Hakuna Matata Tigers Pride [Rex Burmese] Tilly [Mink]
Hakuna Matata Vespa [Rex Black] My other new baby Hakuna Matata Wolf Whistle [Dumbo Rex Himalayan] Zero [Agouti Missmarked Hooded]
And another of the new girls together! Whistle and Godiva And there we have it for now! I miss my Ariel who is on loan to a friend at the moment to try and sort out her 'cage politics'! Shes a very dominant rat so shes sorting out a cage for a group of rats that all want to be the underdog and are freaking out, bless! Its working mind! We've not done badly at recent shows either, Vespa won a specific doe award, Penelope got a 4th best doe out of 20 something in her non-variety show, Leviosa got a Best Burmese, and then second in her catagory, Maurice won a 3rd best buck in non varieties, Lumos got 3rd in Siamese, and the biggest achievement of all, Clive, who was handed to me at a year old as a rescue, having never been out of his plastic storage box cage, and never handled, kept on sawdust with hardly any food or water, has now finally stopped biting, is enjoying cuddles, has intergrated in with the big boys, and his lung scarring from the sawdust is easing. Bless my boy!
Aw FANTASTIC pics Whiley! I love rats - I had a mink for a few years while I was at University. She was lovely - although she was more like some strange big hamster as her mother had chewed her tail off when she was born... I got her as a rescue rat and spent many happy hours with her running up my sleeves and going to sleep in my bra! She went back to the animal care shelter we got her from to be bred from as she was a lovely natured thing! I haven't got over hearing that one of your rats is called Clive! And I love the new arrivals - they have the cutest big whiskers ! Thanks for sharing your pics and keep up with the successful showing! You certainly have your hands full there! Kath
Thank you Kath! They're worth it. I work as part of a project with the National Fancy Rat Society to better the domestic species as they have been so over bred in the pet shop industry. We do a lot of genetic research and collect every little thing we discover with behaviour and health. First and foremost we breed for those two things, colour, etc comes after. Every rat we breed from has a 5 generation pedigree or has to be acceptional in order to be bred from, as our hard work can so easily be broken if a rogue tumor tendancy gene slips through, so we export and inport all over the world to keep the gene pool fresh for outcrosses. We all work for rescue too, so we all know too well how many other rats are out there in accidental litters or done by well meaning people who want some babies, so we make sure its worthwhile. Its tough, and takes a lot of time, money, energy and emotion, but so worth it.
Yes they're beautiful! And they go all mottled when they moult, they're my specialty to show, if you hadn't guessed! Thank you Julie!
Well done Whiley - sounds like you are all doing a great job and acting incredibly responsibly. I have to admit that I was unaware of the work the Rat Fancy Society did, so thanks for explaining it all so clearly. Bravo!
Its okay, i'm proud of what i do, usually people think we're just a bunch of mental people, but we're all heart! Okay, we're mental too, but still :D If you ever want any reference to health options for ratties let me know, theres plenty beyond baytril. I often tell my vet what i want to try, and if its legal, we'll have a go. Any chance you can slip me a bottle of ivermectin so i dont have to pay stupid comsumer prices :D
My beautiful Onyx! We nearly lost her earlier in the year. Pneumonia is awrful in rats, really drags them down quickly. But with various antibiotics and 24/7 cuddles she made it through
