Teenage ratlings!
Sun, Feb. 13th, 2011 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterTeenage ratling Flickr set
As you can see from the pictures, the ratlings are growing at an enormous pace! They are still smaller than Ed, especially their faces, but they can't sneak climb up my sleeve anymore because they're heavy enough for me to feel. Also, one of them no longer quite fits in my hand. I think they are getting slightly squishy tummies already, ahaha. I cannot help it! They are so greedy when I give them food. They've also already lost most of their baby fuzziness as the longer, sleeker guard hairs have grown in. They look much more dignified now, but I kind of miss the fuzzy newness. Oh baby rats. You grow up so fast!
I can also tell they are entering adolescence because they're getting a little nippier (normal in guy rats). They are still just as fast and bean-like as ever, despite their increase in size, and Momo and Haru are now having a ton of fun rolling around and trying to win over each other. Alas, this also means they have learned they can gang up on poor Ed. I swear, every time he comes into sight, I can see the ratlings going, "OMG! BIG RAT EEEEE!!!"
In other news, Ed and the ratlings have been happily cohabitating for two weeks now. There wasn't much drama after I stuck them together, with the exception of some expected rat pecking order fights.
See, how come romances with all these dominant and alpha males never seem to do rats? There's sure a lot of guy posturing and alpha ratness going on in my house... I guess people do not find it nearly as sexy and exciting as wolves or leopards. (I don't either, but I also don't find wolf or leopard pack dynamics particularly sexy or exciting either.)
Ed was handily winning for a week, and then Haru and Momo got bigger, and now they tag team and both jump on Ed at once. Poor Ed! You were only the tallest rat in the cage for a while! I mean, he still is, but I don't think he will be for long...
Haru, in particular, loves Ed (haha, maybe I should call Ed "Yuki" now). They sleep in the same hammock, Haru dogs Ed's feet everywhere he goes, Haru tries to climb on Ed's back, and Ed mostly benignly tolerates it, although every so often, he flips Haru onto his back and grooms him just to prove he still can. I don't think Haru can take on Ed by himself, but once Momo gets in there, it's a different matter.
The ratlings, probably because I got them so young, have absolutely no personal boundaries. For example, Haru just tried to eat my nose. They regularly bounce up my shoulders and then back down and up again. Ed and Al were more skittish, although by the end, they really liked hiding under my clothes. Momo still loves just sitting at the nape of my neck, even when I'm walking around, and half the time he sticks his tail under my nose to balance himself. Also, he tries to chew my hair. This is nice, except it means I am getting rat scratches along the back of my neck, which is one of the few places I didn't have rat scratches before. The worst are the random ones on my face, when I try to kiss their bellies and they object (I am slightly allergic to them, so the scratches itch for a while).
Ed gave me a giant scare on New Year Eve, in which he had trouble breathing again, but after I took him in to the vet the next morning, she said it sounded like nose congestion, not chest or lungs, and gave me more of the antibiotic I was already trying to refill. Also, she said Ed looked like he was one-and-a-half, not three, which makes me feel better. He is definitely waddling around now, since his hind legs aren't working as well, but he's amazingly spry and energetic given his age. He reminds me a lot of Ren, who would basically lunge for food and beg for treats up until his last day, despite his balding fur. Ed, probably to his own relief, is not balding, since I think that is a rex rat thing.
Also, after I had the cage in the bathroom for a week and none of the rats figured out how to escape—the ratlings are still small enough to fit through some of the bars—I moved them back out. Of course, now both Haru AND Momo have figured out how to get out, although I think Haru in particular was very confused. I came back, and he was sitting on top of the cage, like he wanted to know how to get back in.
As you can see from the pictures, the ratlings are growing at an enormous pace! They are still smaller than Ed, especially their faces, but they can't sneak climb up my sleeve anymore because they're heavy enough for me to feel. Also, one of them no longer quite fits in my hand. I think they are getting slightly squishy tummies already, ahaha. I cannot help it! They are so greedy when I give them food. They've also already lost most of their baby fuzziness as the longer, sleeker guard hairs have grown in. They look much more dignified now, but I kind of miss the fuzzy newness. Oh baby rats. You grow up so fast!
I can also tell they are entering adolescence because they're getting a little nippier (normal in guy rats). They are still just as fast and bean-like as ever, despite their increase in size, and Momo and Haru are now having a ton of fun rolling around and trying to win over each other. Alas, this also means they have learned they can gang up on poor Ed. I swear, every time he comes into sight, I can see the ratlings going, "OMG! BIG RAT EEEEE!!!"
In other news, Ed and the ratlings have been happily cohabitating for two weeks now. There wasn't much drama after I stuck them together, with the exception of some expected rat pecking order fights.
See, how come romances with all these dominant and alpha males never seem to do rats? There's sure a lot of guy posturing and alpha ratness going on in my house... I guess people do not find it nearly as sexy and exciting as wolves or leopards. (I don't either, but I also don't find wolf or leopard pack dynamics particularly sexy or exciting either.)
Ed was handily winning for a week, and then Haru and Momo got bigger, and now they tag team and both jump on Ed at once. Poor Ed! You were only the tallest rat in the cage for a while! I mean, he still is, but I don't think he will be for long...
Haru, in particular, loves Ed (haha, maybe I should call Ed "Yuki" now). They sleep in the same hammock, Haru dogs Ed's feet everywhere he goes, Haru tries to climb on Ed's back, and Ed mostly benignly tolerates it, although every so often, he flips Haru onto his back and grooms him just to prove he still can. I don't think Haru can take on Ed by himself, but once Momo gets in there, it's a different matter.
The ratlings, probably because I got them so young, have absolutely no personal boundaries. For example, Haru just tried to eat my nose. They regularly bounce up my shoulders and then back down and up again. Ed and Al were more skittish, although by the end, they really liked hiding under my clothes. Momo still loves just sitting at the nape of my neck, even when I'm walking around, and half the time he sticks his tail under my nose to balance himself. Also, he tries to chew my hair. This is nice, except it means I am getting rat scratches along the back of my neck, which is one of the few places I didn't have rat scratches before. The worst are the random ones on my face, when I try to kiss their bellies and they object (I am slightly allergic to them, so the scratches itch for a while).
Ed gave me a giant scare on New Year Eve, in which he had trouble breathing again, but after I took him in to the vet the next morning, she said it sounded like nose congestion, not chest or lungs, and gave me more of the antibiotic I was already trying to refill. Also, she said Ed looked like he was one-and-a-half, not three, which makes me feel better. He is definitely waddling around now, since his hind legs aren't working as well, but he's amazingly spry and energetic given his age. He reminds me a lot of Ren, who would basically lunge for food and beg for treats up until his last day, despite his balding fur. Ed, probably to his own relief, is not balding, since I think that is a rex rat thing.
Also, after I had the cage in the bathroom for a week and none of the rats figured out how to escape—the ratlings are still small enough to fit through some of the bars—I moved them back out. Of course, now both Haru AND Momo have figured out how to get out, although I think Haru in particular was very confused. I came back, and he was sitting on top of the cage, like he wanted to know how to get back in.
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Mon, Feb. 14th, 2011 01:53 am (UTC)Anita Blake books
Wed, Feb. 16th, 2011 12:20 am (UTC)Like you, I abandoned the series. It got pretty awful. Sad, because I used to love it, and I still enjoy the earliest books as long as I make myself not think about what happens to all the characters in the future. The first author signing I ever attended was one of LKH's. When she signed my book, she complimented my t-shirt (which had a siamese rat on it!) and said Rafael would love it. :D I have fond memories of that signing, and it makes me sad to think how out there LKH has become.
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Wed, Feb. 16th, 2011 04:55 am (UTC)EVEN MORE RATTY CUTENESS FOR YOUR VIEWING DELIGHT.
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Thu, Feb. 17th, 2011 02:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 14th, 2011 03:07 am (UTC)Aww! I'm so happy that they're getting along with Ed! Does he seem more content now?
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