Three Muskateers

Here are my rat buddies. I was giving them cat food as a treat, and they all just lined up like that. I just had to snap a picture. If you look closely in the background you can see the latest batch of pinkies (15) in the igloo. The Himalayan is the male, his name is Stud, and the girls are Salt and Pepper.

Very nice looking trio and cute picture! Funny how they like cat food as a treat. I don't have any cats, but my rats love getting dog food as a treat. Silly things.

Sounds like they doing well and producing lots of babies. Which Mom are the new pinkies from?

Ohhh, by the way, I have one that looks like your Pepper. I love your Himalayan.

Those babies are from Pepper. Salt had her last babies on the 13th, so she is already a few weeks along into her next litter. I can tell already. Because she is hairless, I can tell sooner than with Pepper. Hopefully she will have more this time. I've almost given her up as a breeder and might keep her around as a pet only. Her last two litters were 4 and 7. :shrugs:

Bobo's Mama said:

Her last two litters were 4 and 7. :shrugs:

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If it makes you feel better, I have one female pulling that on me. It's not like she's very old either. She's just never done very well as a breeder. Thankfully, the other female and my other trio are doing much better.

I got Salt and Pepper on July 4th weekend. The petstore said they were 10 1/2 weeks old at the time. Fast forward to now. That makes them about 9 1/2 months old. Pepper has always had large litters. 14-17 babies. Salt's biggest litter was 15, but she ate HALF the babies! :headbang:

I forgot to mention it before, but Stud is Pepper's son. I've raised him since he was a pinky. He is so sweet and gentle. He has never bitten me once! The girls on the other hand... well, when I first got them, they were nippy, because the petstore people never handled them. Now they are fine though. Salt just loves to cuddle and "groom" my fingernails. Anyone need a manicure?:grin01:

I'll be the first to admit, I get just as much enjoyment from my rodents, as I do from my snakes. Who says you can't have scaly friends and fury friends too? I like 'em all. :crazy02:

Bobo's Mama said:

Who says you can't have scaly friends and fury friends too? I like 'em all. :crazy02:

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I know what you mean. I practically live in a Zoo now. What with, 6 mice, 2 rats, 3 fish, 1 hamster, and 2 snakes....AND my b/f. lol :grin01: So don't worry I know what you mean. lol

Looking at Salt just gave me a chuckle this morning . We've had the option to order hairless rats, though I hadn't seen a live one til I saw your pic. For some reason I just don't think they'd sell too well lol. Does she do alot of grooming on Stud and Pepper since she has no hair of her own? :grin01: Really cute pic, they look sweet together.

Its actually pretty funny to watch her groom herself. She has to grab ahold of her skin with her hands and sort of bunch it up to get to all the right spots. There were three for sale in Omaha, which is where I was living at the time I got her, when I picked her out. One of the other ones was the same price as her, $4.99k, but one of them at a different pet shop was 14.99. Although, I think it was fully grown, as where she was 10 weeks old. Also I think it was from purebred lines that had been shown before too. I think for feeders, they would be difficult for a snake to eat because of the hairlessness. Their skin is very "stretchy".

Very nice looking rats... I have 7 of my own, pets only though, they dont breed I had a hairless that I fostered until I found him a home and he was a riot. So full of energy and SO warm!

Well, I was right about Salt being pregnant. And like her last two litters, this one was small as well. :shrugs: She had 5 babies, one of which was dead, but Pepper makes up for it with her large litters. When the time comes to raise up Salt's replacement, I don't think I'll be raising one of her daughters. I will probably pick one of Pepper's.