I currently have five boys separated into two cages. Chances are, all of these boys will be picture on this blog at some time or another so it’d be a nice thing for you all to know who they are. When I use my own images, I tag the name of the rat(s) shown in the picture so you know who they are.
Please note that I live in New Zealand where we lack viruses such as Sendai and SDA and I don’t recommend rat-meets in countries with these viruses. All of our rat-meets are closely supervised around the country but problems can still occur.
Currently Tophscar are in a smaller cage as I’m getting a metal pan made, but this is what the set-up of their cages would generally look like (below). The cage is split into two, with coroplast and a wire grill in between the cages to separate them both. The cage holds from 12-16 rats, so they have plenty of space!
Victor
Victor was one of my first rats along with Ferbuson, he was initially named after a TV show called the Dollhouse which has caused me to start a phonetic alphabet theme from there (as the “dolls” or the “actives” in the show appear to be named on that theme also). Victor’s my first ever heart rat and a big chubby, cuddly boy too. He didn’t quite get along with me at first (they were anti-social petstore rats) but soon enough he’s become a giant cuddly-bum - people often ask me how I get him to stay so calm when at rat-meets and expos he’ll sit in my hand and give kisses to anyone petting him. He’s at least 615g and lives in the top half of the big cage with Ferbuson and Calcifer. I often use him as my “ambassador” rat when meeting other rats and people as he generally is a big squish.
Victor, enjoying scritches (he’s also almost always my main photo subject) -
Ferbuson
Also known as Ferb (the name “Ferbuson” stuck when I continued calling him that after meeting a friend’s cat called “Ferguson”), he’s named after the cartoon known as Phineas and Ferb. He’s also quite a big boy but prefers running about to humans - but he’s the favourite of everyone as he hardly pees outside of the cage (including marking). Ferb is also the alpha of the cage and decides who’s in and who’s out - if anyone tries to take his place they’re out. He’s completely afraid of vets and is impossible to medicate - once he heard the vet walk in (with the needle) and ran into the wire parts of his carry cage and almost got his head stuck! Of course, he’s the one that seems to need medicating often (first he had mites which at the time he was being treated through injections, then he had a reaction to some respiratory medication they were one and now he’s had a keratoma, as the vet believes, and is going to need to be injected with the ABs because we can’t medicate him orally). He’s about 590g at the most recent weigh-in, but for the vast majority of his life he’s always been exactly 100g less than Victor.
I believe that the boys would have been at least 2-3 months when I first got them (October 25th 2010) so they’re over a year now. It’s surprising how fast time can pass with these guys, but I’m not prepared to lose them any time soon.
Ferbuson, dove hooded -
Calcifer
Calcifer was named after the fire demon in Howl’s Moving Castle and has always acted quite the fire demon himself with his temper. He was bought from the pet store (yes, I’ve continued to make this mistake and I’m not going to try to defend myself over it because I know it’s wrong) and was a bit of an impulse purchase - when he first bit me I decided that because he was so young I could train him out of it but he’s always bitten even after being neutered. He and I have an unspoken rule that as long as I leave him alone, he won’t bite me - he has no interest in leaving his cage so only leaves to be transported into the carry cage (leaving the cage involves some serious nipping afterwards and a lot of grumpiness). He’s an odd rat too. He’s always had quite a loud respiratory infection despite being young and also has a minor tear in his ear along with being neutered. But recently he hasn’t given me any need to take him to the vets, which is always nice. I got Calcifer the 13th of March 2011 and he would have been about 5-6 weeks when I first got him, so he’s still under a year. He was super easy to intro has he had no interest in being dominant, and was submissive at any chance possible - now Ferb loves him because he seems to follow him around like his own mob member, beating up anyone that annoys Ferb. I believe Calcifer is at least 350g, but has always been a small rat and probably won’t grow much more.
Calcifer, champagne berkshire, in his favourite place (he runs often as a way of relieving stress) -
Topher
Topher is my first breeder rat, the biggest plus about him being a breeder rat is that I know his exact age. Born on the 26th June 2011, he’s a lot younger than the other crew and ended up simply not getting along with the big boys. He’s incredibly playful and is the first rat I’ve had that I cannot turn my back to because he’s straight out of the cage if he thinks I’m not looking. He’s got terrible bathroom habits outside of the cage and despite being seen as one of my “cute” rats he’s not particularly liked by my family - there’s no way he’s allowed on our sofa with the other boys. Along with that’ he doesn’t mind hand-wrestling but he can’t stand scritches and as soon as you move your hand further than his head he’ll run backwards. He’s also a huge plastic chewer and is the one that chewed all of that plastic pan in one of the RPP images. Unfortunately I don’t know what his weight is. He’s also neutered as an attempt to help him calm down a bit but that hasn’t happened. There was also the possibility that he may develop fluffier fur as he was from what the NZ’ers call the “fluffly” lines and while it’s softer it’s no fluffier - he has quite long fur that feels different to all of the other rat’s I’ve felt though so I believe he may have been affected by the lines in some way. It’s a shame I can’t give him cuddles when he’s such a soft boy! Topher is named after Topher Brink from the Dollhouse.
Here’s him not looking very amused at all (black berkshire) -
Oscar
Oscar was bought to keep Topher company as there was no way he would get along with the boys. Unfortunately, he is a pet store rat - I met his breeder though on the day he was coming in and she did appear to be a very sweet person and gave them a lot of attention. He’s the sweetest rat I’ve ever come across, and is the only one that’s bonded to me instantly - he’s happy to hand-wrestle, have scritches, give kisses and has a very cute face. He was almost 6 weeks when I got him and came home with me on the 22nd of November 2011 - the youngest of the mischief of mine. He’s very quickly become a heart rat also, but is another boy that I can’t turn my back to as he’s incredibly quick and will shoot out the cage door when I’m looking away. He’s not once peed outside of the cage yet which is a plus and has also become a favourite of my friends and family. He’s not particularly photogenic, though - but even if he was he’d be too busy exploring than holding still for a photo. Oscar’s named after the phonetic alphabet, but he had a mixture of up to ten names when I first got him - some being Sheldon, Leonard, Alpha, Rory and so forth.
Oscar, black hood constantly on the move.
