Rats in Retirement

[frankykeno]

Just thought it would be fun to get out Casanova and HoneyChild for some pics today. I checked back in my records and on threads here and found that HC delivered her first litter of feeders for us (fathered by good old Nova) back on December 4, 2005 and her last litter for us almost exactly one year later. So it turns out much to my delight that my two favorite rats aren't 2 years old quite yet. I'm figuring they are both going to be 2 around June 07 so it's nice to know we've a bit longer with them as they are both in great shape for older rats.

Here's a pic of HoneyChild with that first litter that started it all for us rodent breeding-wise (15 big healthy pinks!)....



Becky, you probably remember us laughing on the phone about HC being so "blonde" she couldn't figure out how to use a rat wheel. The other rats would happily run on it. Poor HC would stand beside it, upright, madly paddling away with her front paws spinning it, very confused about what the whole big deal was. Occasionally in her excitement she'd try to add in a back foot to the effort and of course fall over (I think the other rats were laughing at her by this point LOL). Sometimes she'd figure out to actually get in the wheel, but then just sit there, totally clueless about how the other rats actually went round and round on it. Oh well, she's a lovely rat...maybe not the smartest one around, but a nice female and she made us a lot of lovely feeders over her full year of breeding activity.

HoneyChild today at about 20 months of age, retired and happy hanging out with the weanling females where she plays the role of den mom to the whole crew.....





Casanova back in the day, at the height of his prowess as the rat colony king. He fathered hundreds of feeders with not one genetic issue in his offspring no matter what female he was put with. Qute a lot of his offspring carry the odd "hook" at the top of his stripe....



Casanova today, still doing very well even after surviving an almost fatal attack by an adult blue rat we had for a short time. He no longer rotates in with the females but seems to be enjoying his laze about life in the male only tubs. His current status is "Stud Emeritus" lol. His son, SuperNova (from the last breeding of HoneyChild and Nova) has taken his place and thankfully carries his sire's almost perfect personality....





Casanova and Supernova (from a few months back)....



I know it's terribly silly to get this attached to rats in a colony but these two are favorites and will be terribly missed when they pass on.

[Vomitore]

It's understandable to say you'll miss your rats. Rats are one of the best pets I ever had! ... That and my imaginary 300 feet python

[rabernet]

They are both very sweet! My favorite rat (besides Noel) is Mrs. Snuggles, my black hooded. She always hops out of her enclosure when I open the lid and is the only one I trust so far to explore and then come right back. It gets so now when I pop the lid off to refresh water or food, I just keep one eye over by her enclosure and sure enough, out pops Mrs. Snuggles for another adventure. If I sit by it, she'll explore, crawl into my lap back into the enclosure, then right back out, over and over! Funny girl! I'm going to really miss her when her time comes, so I can understand how attached you are to HoneyChild and Cassanova!

[JLC]

I can certainly understand. I still miss one of the feeder rats I gave to Kisasa...and I only had her for a week. There are definitely some little rat personalities that will patter their way right into our hearts.

[frankykeno]

Well with these two ratties it's pretty easy Judy. Both have always had extremely nice natures and produced between them some lovely feeders and future breeders. They were my first pair to mate so I got to learn a lot from them about how to raise and care for rats in a colony setting (a bit different from the pet rats I was more used to). I hate to admit it but looking back on our purely pet rats days, my feeder/breeder colony rats are way healthier and are living longer! We had a tendency I think to overfeed and give way too many fattening treats to the pet rats and I'm sure that wasn't good for them as they generally didn't make it to 2 years of good health. I've been much more careful with this colony and other than Stubby, none of the adults carry excessive weight.

[JLC]

Jo....I find myself eagerly anticipating years down the line when you can report to us how long (on average) your retired rats live under the most excellent care that you give them.


I have a feeling your averages will be noticeably above the standard ideas for pet rats.

And may Honeychild and Casanova live to be ancient, wise and spry old ratties!

[recycling goddess]

ya i have some definite favorites as well. although we only have three retired girls right now... cookie and rosie are my favorites... and of course becky is my daughter's fav.

so all three are cherished!

[frankykeno]

I'm trying to keep decent records Judy to see especially with the females, if resting them well between litters is really paying off in the long run. My instincts are yes at this point as I have both HoneyChild and Alita retired and both about the same age at 20-22 months in fantastic shape. No real sign of illness ever, no cancers, no pronounced spine or patchy fur that one often sees in older rats. Casanova is a bit patchy around the eyes now but then he's had a much more active life with being the only male in the colony for most of his life. I think rotating males will help enhance their last months as well, plus widen our genetic pool of course.

With a solid 12 months of productive breeding out of each female and ending up with a rat that's still in good shape I think I'm happy with our setup as it stands. I most likely don't get more litters as even if they breed longer they've bred less but I think I'm happier that they aren't worn out after their reproductive time is done in the colony. It does cost a bit to maintain them after they aren't producing but I figure what the heck, they sure helped Mike and I keep snakes. They have their roles still in the colony to stay active and busy with the other rats and can enjoy a bit more interaction with us humans since they aren't busy raising litters or breeding.

[JLC]

Hehehe....I would imagine the cost of keeping up the retirees pales in comparison to the savings netted by all those feeders they blessed you with!

[frankykeno]

Hehehe....I would imagine the cost of keeping up the retirees pales in comparison to the savings netted by all those feeders they blessed you with!

Lordy yes! We used to spend a small fortune buying live rats every week ($5.00 a rat!) and we only had 5 BP's back then. I can't begin to do the math on how much I've saved since December 2005 by raising our own feeders.