I'm so excited!

[MooCowing]

So my mom has been telling me "No more rats after these ones pass on, okay?" for years. About 2 months after she says that she calls me up, "Ohhhh!! There's baby rats!!! I'm coming to get youuuu!!!"

Well, a few months ago she said the magic words. Lo and behold she e-mailed a rat breeder she saw on an ad about baby dumbo rats. I'm starting to think my mom likes rats more than I do! [Not possible... *cough*]

This is the first time I've gotten my rats through a breeder instead of a pet rescue or snake food bin ["rescue"]. I have never, in my life, seen such sweet little babies! :3 They're only about 2~3 weeks old now, and due to scheduling they'll be brought home at 7 weeks instead of 6. The breeder is so nice -- she's going to be sending me update pictures frequently.

Here are my soon-to-be dumbo twin boys. I met them tonight... I had planned on getting one of the twins and one of the adorably-marked dumbo rexes... but the twins stole my heart.


The one on the left fell asleep in my hand and started bruxing, and the one on the right sat on my wrist grooming me. I could almost feel his little tongue!

I'm so excited! I hope these weeks pass by quickly.

[laydeerodentzz]

awwwwwww how sweet!! congrats!

[mtmaughan]

They are just darling!!

[mulder]

awww those are some cute boys!! congrats!! can't wait to hear more about them!

[kristie0593]

awww...congrats..they're little cuties,can't wait to see more pictures of them when you get them.

[laydeerodentzz]

oh.. just wondering, because their twins, apart from look extremely alike, can rats do the things human twins can, like know what each other are thinking? LOL
I keep looking at their photo, how cute!

[clairebee1]

i soo WANT DUMBO's
there so sweet i have looked for dumbo's here i havn't even found an AD yet
Good luck and i bet your mom can't wait !!

[MooCowing]

Haha, I think they can. This will be my second set of "twin" look-alike rats from the same litter. My last "twins" were blue standards. The only way to tell them apart was one was self and the other was berk. I was constantly flipping them over to see who was who lol.
These boys are easier to tell apart. One's got a half-black half-pink tail and the other's got stripes. They're both so cute! I'm so excited =D!

[laydeerodentzz]

haha, I dont know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing LOL- still rather cool if they can .. hehe ..

[MooCowing]

So tell me if this is a good idea.

I was on Craigslist.com the other day looking at large bird cages for macaws. I was bored and just looking. I found a lot of "used" like-new nice wrought iron cages about the same size my sun conure lives in [32l x 23w x 60h overall, cage itself 30h; 3/4"x7" bar spacing] for about $50. Now this triggered a though, which lead to another thought, which lead to another.

I imagined my own bird cage being completely transformed into a rat cage. It would actually be really simple. I could make removable shelving, one full split-off level in the middle and several layers of shelves elsewhere. Hammocks, ladders, the whole bit. It really wouldn't be that hard to do, and if I make them removable I can rotate the shelves so my rats never get bored. I could use a sheet in the pull-out tray, which would make cleaning a breeze. If I find the right cage there wouldn't be a gap in the pull-out tray, or I could always alter it right. My mom suggested leaving the removable bar-tray in and using a piece of sturdy cardboard covered in a sheet as bedding. Anyways... I'd figure that out later.

Once the cage is ready and the baby boys are big enough they wouldn't be able to get out. My boy Archimedes is about 2/3rds the size of the twin's papa and he can't get in the bird cage. So if I find a cage with 1/2" - 3/4" bar spacing it should be good. Not to mention wrought iron cages are much sturdier than a flimsy ferret cage, and will last for 30 or more years.

Think this is a good idea, or a stupid one?

[mulder]

very good idea! that's how i come by my things, find a similar thing cheap and modify it yourself. and it feels so satisfying when you're done

[kristie0593]

that sounds like a pretty good idea.a little confusing to me,but i got the main idea,very creative to come up with,

[MooCowing]

Great! Thanks for the feedback. I needed some reassurance before going through. I'm going to be selling my beloved bass guitar for this =(.

I went to Petco earlier and was cage shopping to get an idea.

Imagine something like this with the following:
http://www.birdscomfort.com/cage_chiquita_dometop.html

The top thick bar going across horizontally supports a super-hammock from corner to corner all the way across. The middle thick bar has a full level with ladder access in each corner. The bottom's grate is removed so that the bottom level is the tray itself. That creates 3 full levels. Between the three levels are half and quarter levels scattered about. I'm thinking two quarter levels near the top, and one half level near the bottom -- but I'd have to have the cage before deciding. Several hammocks, tubes, bright happy colors, and four very spoiled rats.

That's kind of the image I have in mind.

[mtmaughan]

I think making a custom cage out of a bird cage is a great idea, and your plans look thorough. The one thing I think when I look at the picture of the bird cage is to make sure the levels are big enough that there is no way for the ratties to fall more than one level at a time. The last thing you'd want is for them to fall from the top all the way down to the bottom of the cage.

[MooCowing]

Ouch! I didn't consider that one! Thanks for the advice >_<.