Subscribe to Meet My Pet RatsHe had his final vet check today and the vet said he was fully recovered. She massaged his trachea and tickled his nose trying to get the mucous to move around and make him sneeze. But there were no sneezes! Then she listened to his lungs with a stethoscope and didn’t hear anything. She said he could come off the meds, because she didn’t want him to become resistant to them. So I decided to bring the little guys home today. 
They had been at the office for 2 1/2 weeks and now that they are totally better I thought it was time they came home where I can give them lots more attention.
I held each of them up to Pixel through the cage bars so they could sniff each other too. I think they’re going to be great friends. Pixel sniffed each one for a couple seconds then tried to groom their faces. I haven’t tried it w/ Pica yet though since he’s so dominate. I don’t want to stress the little guys out after their big move home. The new boys are still babies practically, so I don’t think there’s going to be any issue with introductions. They’re still too small to go in the cage with the big boys though. So they’ll only get to play together for now.
Hue is becoming quite a pudgy little guy. I think it’s because I’ve been mixing his meds with Turkey baby food. 
Look how big he is:
Hex is moulting I think. He used to have a light gray color (not quite blue though), but now his fur on his hips/lower back and head is turning an orangey/gray/brown color. You can still see his original color on his shoulders. See what I mean?
I’ve been meaning to post this for a couple of days. Hue’s doing so much better! He had a follow up vet visit on Friday. He was still sneezing occasionally but not nearly as much as before. And now, a few days later, I don’t hear any more sneezes. In the week between vet visits, both of the new boys almost doubled in size. The vet had to almost double Hue’s medicine dosage to keep up with their rapid growth. He has another follow up this Friday, and I think he should be 100% by then. But he’ll probably stay on the Baytril all next week too just to be on the safe side. Since Hue was in the last pic I posted, I have a couple new pics of the other 3 boys.
Here’s Hex, he’s getting bigger!
And here’s Pixel winking at the camera and Pica trying to groom my hand.
The new boys had their first vet check up today. Hex is doing just fine, but Hue has the start of a respiratory issue. He’s on Baytril now for 2 weeks. Poor little guy just keeps sneezing! I tried to give him his first dose of the meds tonight, but I’m having a hard time with it. So I’m leaving him in his carrier by himself for a little while with the baytril mixed into a dab of baby food to see if he’ll take it.
Everyone at the vets office was “ooh-ing” and “aaah-ing” over them too. They said he’d come down with “too-cute-itis” and would need to stay at the office longer.
I just hope Hue will go along with the meds and get better quickly!
I lucked out and found 2 new boys on Craigslist. Their litter was born on Easter, and these were the only 2 boys in the bunch. They’re soooo tiny and adorable! And they were handled since birth so they’re super friendly. They don’t mind being held and petted, and they poke their little heads out when they hear someone coming into the room. They’re fur is beautiful too. I honestly couldn’t tell you what colors they are, because they look so unique, and possibly because they’re still babies and have baby fur. Here are the pictures:
Hex - Can you tell I love his belly?
Hue - Check out his little head spot!
I think they’ll be making a vet trip tomorrow to make sure everything is okay. Hue is a little sneezy. So today I changed the litter to Soft Sorbent from the Papurr. I think the scent from either the Papurr or the Timothy hay was making him sneeze. At least I hope that’s all it is…
Their cage came in last night too! I ended up getting the 141 because I couldn’t get the order changed in time 
Oh well. I can always add on with the 143 if I need to. I’ll have more pics of that when I set it up this weekend and move Pixel and Pica in.
I feel so terrible to have to post this. Last night the new boys seemed okay, but this morning they were both sick. I did hear Hex sneeze a little last night, but I thought he was just nervous or possibly allergic to something. But today Hue was sneezing too and had developed some mucous around his nose and eyes. I couldn’t believe they were sick, being from such a great breeder, maybe it was something in the pet shop? Or maybe someone else who has sick rats went into the store and spread it to those rats? Who knows… So I decided to take them back to the store. When I went into the store to give them back, the woman said not 30 minutes before me someone else was bringing their rat back too with the same symptoms. Sounds like they’re having some kind of outbreak. I’m going to scrub everything down with bleach and hopefully I can find a couple of boys some place else. I don’t plan on going to any other pet stores. I had a little bit of a feeling that the pet store was a bad idea. I’m so glad I didn’t skip quarantine, because Pixel and Pica are still healthy now.
Well, I couldn’t wait any longer. I got my 2 new boys today! They’re settled into they’re temp cage at the office for quarantine. I got them from a pet shop near work that gets them from the same breeder I got Pixel and Pica from, so I know they’re going to be healthy and friendly. I thought I might skip quarantine, but after thinking about it more, decided that was a terrible idea. I would hate to think it was my fault Pixel or Pica got sick because I brought home a potentially sick rat baby.
Here’s what everyone wants to see:
Hex appears to be a black berkshire. I don’t know a lot about colors, so I could be wrong. He’s definitely berkshire though, hopefully I can get a good belly shot of him. His little paws are all white and his belly has a big heart shaped white spot. Hue is, I think, champagne self (no white).
Lots more pics to come!
I can’t wait til all four are living in their Ferret Nation together! (By the way, I did get the bigger 142 instead of the 141. Kevin pointed out that I’d regret not getting the bigger cage for them to have more space. He’s probably right.)
Well, I can’t say anything too definite yet. I don’t have any solid plans set up so far. But I know 2 new boys will be coming home soon. I checked the cage calculator and it says my cage is big enough for 4 rats, but I don’t really want it to be that crowded. So I’ll be getting a Ferret Nation 141 for them to live in. Here’s a link to the description of the cage: Ferret Nation 141. It’s one of the best cages out there for rats. The normal FN is twice this size and is called the Ferret Nation 142, but I don’t think I need to go that crazy. The 141 can hold 6 rats, and I plan to top out at 4. Besides, if I got the 142, I might be tempted to fill it up with more rats… and I think Kevin would kill me!
Anyways, I’m really excited, and I can’t wait to introduce 2 new ratties to you all!
Yesterday one of my coworkers gave me a little water fountain for the ratties to play with. They’ve never really been around water, so I thought it’d be funny to see how they react.
The lil guys say “Thanks Autumn!!”
One of these days I’ll try pea fishing…
