​Sunday 10 pm 10/21/18 
​I am writing this​ as I am heading the 3 hours back to Woodland, WA from Everett, WA.  This is a day I NEVER want to repeat. 

Last night I tucked every​one in the mischief​ to bed before checking on the ratties in quarantine.  I had let both Mamas ​of our current litters (Timeless Litter and Painted Desert Litter) ​visit the ​Girls ​Sorority so ​I could do a belly check​ on the babies to make sure everyone had good milk bands.  Everyone was doing great!

This morning, I was woken up by the air compressor (we are remodeling the guest bathroom and only have 1.5 days a week to work on it​ so this project has been going on for several months​) at first I didn't think anything about it but then jumped out of bed and rushed to the rat cages.   The poor mamas were a frazzled mess.  CRUS Princess Willow was running all over her cage trying to break out with a baby in her mouth.  OCRA River Song was climbing the bars and running back and forth​ walking all over her babies​ as well.  I immediately rushed to take the cages to our bedroom where it was quiet. I put blankets over them and checked to make sure they settled down when I gave them food.  Both mamas were on their nests​ nursing so I figured everything was okay. I proceeded to do our morning routine of checking on everyone else.  

I came back ​a ​couple hours later to check on them and ​CRUS Princess ​Willow was laying on her stomach off to the side of the cage away from her nest.  I normally would think ​she was ​just ​taking a break but when I opened her cage, to take out the normally empty bowl, she had not touched her food​ ( yummy egg and other goodies)​.  I called her name, Her ear twitched but nothing else.  I then begin to slightly panic.  I reached in to ​pet her​,  nothing.  She was breathing but unresponsive.  When I picked her up she was limp.​ ​She was breathing slower then normal and was not putting up any fight as I poked and prodded her abdomen.  My first thought was she had a seizure or stroke. I then worried she was septic from a baby she should have delivered.  Hence the prodding her belly. There was no smell ​coming from her opening ​and her babies were thriving so that was ​really ​not the issue.  ​As I considered what could be wrong, ​I put all but 4 of her babies, and their nest box in with River. Hoping those four would at least keep her from developing mastitis​ along with making her feel a bit better with the release of oxytocin that occurs from nursing​. If a rodent has a scare sometimes they take a little while to ​perk up after the adrenaline wears off. I was hoping this was the case. 

After about another hour, ​I took the​ 4​ babies out and cleaned their bums with a q​-​tip dipped in warm water​ ​( ​neonates cannot eliminate on their own.​)​ ​I began calling a few of our different vets to see if anyone was available for rats on a Sunday afternoon. ​ ​There is a 24 hour clinic about an hour away and one of their two doctors that specialize in pocket pets and other exotics would be in that evening. ​Her tail and limbs felt cool to me so I decided it was prudent to check her temp before I put her on a heat pad.  It was 93* (rats usually run 95.5-99.5) I held her on the warming pad and she would turn her head​ slightly to look at me​ but the rest of her body was completely flaccid​.​ ​It seemed that she was beginning to improve just a bit from her shock because she actually moved her tail for the first time in hours. My hopes were up that we were turning a corner. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes of slowly getting warm, Willow passe​d away in my arms.  To say I cried is an understatement.  

​Fast forward to tonight along I-5 somewhere near Seattle, I don't expect anyone to understand why I needed to deliver 5 of the babies from the litters up north to​ Panzy's Place Rattery ​for their wonderful Roan mama, ROUS Danger Baby to help nurse.  Hindsight I may have found a mama closer but knowing it was such a long drive, I believe ​the main purpose for this mama so far away to be available,  was to keep me from hovering all evening with Mama OCRA River Song and her now 20 little babies. (Thank you my friend, Erin AKA my night time driving chauffeur, for helping spare my sanity just a bit) 

It pains me more than I can even begin to explain, knowing there is the possibility she could have literally been scared to death. I am writing this all down as usual​ because I believe in​ being completely transparent​ and want others to know that breeding is not for the 'faint of heart'. We all take such a huge responsibility and I feel that I failed Princess Willow. I have never lost a mama before. I have had emergencies that required vet trips to save their life but their was nothing that could have been done for her in the short time.  Of course, it is heartbreaking to know this may have been prevented.  We do not know for sure what caused her stroke or heart attack. She was in ​obvious ​shock​ prior to passing away​. (​I​f she had a seizure she would have been warmer not colder) One great thing, is a majority of the rat breeding community can be supportive and helpful. Knowing another breeder was able to offer her mama, with even BFFR offering to take them, helped me not feel so lost in those first hours. Unfortunately the community can also be very harsh and opinionated. Posting this, I take the risk of some being upset that I did not take more babies away.  As many of you know I am OCD with weight checks so I do feel confident that I will be able to track the weights of the babies and mom to make sure all stay healthy and receive anything they may need to help them flourish. 

​Monday 10:30 am 10/22/18

The current report is the 5 babies up north all had great milk bands last night and Danger Baby is nursing them along with litter of 12 ten day olds. GO DANGER BABY!! 

As for River's brood, the babies here have been shuffled to one HUGE nest. At one point she had 3 different ones. Yes 20 is A LOT of babies. I was shocked knowing she had given birth to 17!  The largest litter we have successfully raised was 18. We most likely will need to supplement a few. I am still tired and really, I mean really wanted to count babies last night to make sure all made it but I knew that River Song was doing a great job (the best she could)  I have the supplemental formula, bottled water,  paint brushes and the tiniest peripheral venous catheter and syringe all ready for any babies that might need it.  I had weighed ALL the babies hours prior to the tragedy and they are all 11-14 as of yesterday. I am hoping they at least held their weight as Mama OCRA River Song starts to produce more milk.  ​

Monday 1:30 pm 10/22/18

I was not planning on taking any babies out to check on them until tonight or tomorrow because I felt River Song needed to be able to settle down and get a groove. Today when I was placing food in her cage she hopped out so I took the chance to double check they are were okay. Happy to report, all 20 look great and have gained weight. They are 12-16 grams! (Just 4 of them being 12 g.) They will be a week old tomorrow afternoon and on average my one week old babies are 19 g with the range of 14-24 g for all size litters and different lines.  She has elongated her nest and has carefully filled the mounds around the nest with food so she doesn't have to leave to eat. It looks like a little bunker.  At this point we are going to make sure that 'bunker' stays stocked! 

UPDATE DECEMBER 1ST, 2018

WOW,  What a whirlwind the last month has been. I am so pleased that ALL 25 babies from both litters survived and were all adopted some by new rat owners, a few previous adopters. wonderful experienced families and a few breeders (well except 4 that I kept for future lines.) OCRA Prickly Pear and OCRA Haboob - CRUS Princess Willow's babies &  OCRA Kiera and OCRA Wyatt- OCRA River Songs babies.

​I will be taking a little break from breeding  until spring, enjoying the ratties, teaching them a few tricks (for spring time at school presentations) and possibly getting ready for the show in the spring. Hope to get the website a bit more updated as well.  I miss Princess Willow and her quiet stares demanding attention, in the past few weeks I have begun to believe her little girl Prickly Pear is up for the task of stare downs to make me open the cage for demanded snuggles. 

I have been so busy the past few months and only able to update on our FB page. We have some beautiful new additions in the mischief AND are now expecting our last two litters for 2018. Make sure to go check it out! 
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Oh before I forget - 
The last RatsPacNW show in 2018 is next month. This show is going to be for Pet Rats! I cannot wait to see all the costume creations and sweet pets that will be attending this Ratapalooza 2018 on November 3rd. 

Not to long ago I posted about the need to make sure you have a plan in case of emergencies for your pets. In these emergency situations no thought to proper quarantine is often given. The main plan is to make sure the animals have food, water and shelter.  In the best world, proper quarantine is vital for the health and safety of our pets and the caregivers.  

I recently had an adopter ask me if I knew of a person or place that could 'pet-sit' her ratties when they went on vacation. Several of my friends would be great options. However, those that love rats already have rodents and would need to quarantine the new guys for the short time they are in their home.  I have done this for adopters but really hate the fact that I cannot luv on the ratties like the rest of my mischief since I need to shower/change clothes each time I visit them out in our quarantine or wait three hours to to come back into my house by running lots of errands 2x a day. Not realistic. When we do have rats in quarantine for 3 weeks, my dear husband usually checks on the ratties when he heads to work, making sure they have food, water and the temp is correct. I then go out before bed to let them run around on me giving luvs, check their food and water then head to bed after a shower - avoiding my own ratties nightly routine to keep everyone 'safe'. Not ideal but necessary when we come back from shows, or add new ratties to our mischief. 

Since so many adopters have asked me if I know of anyone, I would love to be able to keep a list of people in my area that love ratties but do not have any rodents. If you are in Oregon or Washington and would like to be added to this list for a chance to love on ratties while others are on vacation please contact me either through the Facebook page or through the website.   I can always remove your name if you get ratties or other rodents but it would be amazing if I had some names to share to help others in need of a vacation get away for their lil pipsqueaks. 

[Disclaimer: You will have to fully vet any and all people that you will want to watch your ratties. I will simply provide you with names that are given to me. Please make sure you get references etc....]

We get most of our stuff at Winco Foods in their bulk section – except for the dog food, sunflower seeds, rolled barley and groats - all of which can be found at feed stores much cheaper.
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January 2018: We have adjusted the mix recently to give our ratties a bit more block but to still keep the variety they love and taking out a few extras that were not benefiting them.

• 3 parts (24 c) rolled barley
• 1 parts (8 c) rat 18% lab blocks or 1 parts (8 c) senior dog food of high quality 20-22% Protein Only natural ingredients please! 
• 3/4 parts (6 c) sunflower seeds
• ½ parts (4 c) oat groats
• ¼ parts (2 c) mix yellow split peas /flax seeds and lentils
• 1/8 parts (1 c) dry veggie noodles
• 1 cacao chip per rattie each week when we check their weights

​As a smaller breeder I take my time focusing on improving our lines with around 4-6 litters a year.  If you are a pre-approved adopter on our wait list, nothing has changed except the timing of our litters. I will contact you as soon as we have babies available for you. If for some reason the wait is too long, I encourage you to contact a local rescue and let me know if you would either like to be kept on the list for future ratties or be removed so I can let the pre-approved adopters after you know. 

Did you know that a Mama rat can get pregnant again right after giving birth to her babies? If the male rat is not removed from the cage PRIOR to birth, the female will deliver another litter 3-4 weeks after her first one arrives. (this could mean 25+ babies for mama) This does not give her a chance to recoup from the first litter beginning to wean and means more babies will need to find a loving home, which is not always easy.  

I often get emails from new rat owners telling us they just adopted from a pet store or from a 'breeder' where they got two rats but think one is the wrong sex. I can pretty much guarantee that the female is pregnant if she is over 6 weeks of age. This is not an ideal breeding age (females should really be closer to 4-6 months/300 grams to give them the optimum health and successful litters) No matter how much you want to have them enjoy each other's company male and female rats cannot play together. (unless the male is neutered or female spayed) When rats breed they only need a few seconds, yes seconds!   I often encourage those with two babies different sexes to take one or the other sex back to where they got them and get one of the correct sex as a companion.

Of course sometimes we also hear that someone adopted two females (correct sex) but one or both are pregnant and deliver 1-3 weeks after joining the family. This is not something everyone is prepared to deal with after just adding new rats to the family. Most important all babies need to be sexed correctly, especially by 4-5 weeks of age. Though the males are not always able to, they sometimes can breed their mama/sisters by 5-6 weeks. If this happens the whole crazy cycle can start again!! It is not always easy to find good homes for 'the oops! litter' babies. 

What happens when people can't find homes for the babies??? This is were many rescues have stepped up to help the new rat owners and those that have gotten overwhelmed with 'oops! litters' Right now a great rescue in British Columbia has a plethora of babies. A social worker brought in two mamas and their new babies the end of November 2017. Unfortunately, the mamas had already been bred again prior to joining Small Animal Rescue Society so they have BABIES!!! LOTS OF BABIES on the way! in need of good homes. 

Because we have such amazing support in the rat community Best Friends Rodent Rescue in Washington is also helping in the efforts to get the SARS babies home.  What a great way to start the new year - with an new furbaby or two! Contact them at  sarsrats@gmail.com to see if they have a sweet baby or two to join your mischief. 

If you are not close to British Columbia, don't be discouraged there are so many rescues out there with babies and lovable olders in need of furever homes.