Our hearts are heavy today as well as being very tired. Last night was busy and almost a life threatening time for Aurora. We were minutes to the point of running to the vet when she finished delivering her litter. We wanted her to have quiet so we left her alone when we saw she starting to deliver. Unfortunately, she did not want to stay in her nest and kept coming out for deliveries of her babies. A couple were still born and the surviving two (lil boy and lil girl) did not make it.

​We are not sure why she lost her litter, nor why she didn't want to nurse.  Often a mama rat will push away babies that have something wrong with them, along with sometimes consuming the dead. Early this morning, the lil boy was rejected and cold when we found him  but very vocal giving us hope. After feeding him, we were able to see a very small milk band but he passed away before his 3rd feeding. As with any breeding program being prepared with formula and supplies for the babies (just in case) came in handy. We used a rice pack sock to keep the lil boy warm in between feedings, which were every 2 hours.

This morning, we weighed Aurora,  she is back down to within 20 grams her pre-pregnancy weight. As we type this she is running around the cage with her old cagemates eating all the hidden treats.  She will be closely monitored over they next several days.

We excited about this pairing. Lil Miss Llyra is our 5th generation beauty who took full honors as a lil pip back in November's show. We should get several dilutes, and possibly some blues and minks out of this pairing. Babies should be ready for their new home the end of March.

Written by one of the most creative story tellers I have met through the internet rat world, Trish Everett-Kabut. She is a member of one of the rats groups we follow. Thanks to her, I had to put my coffee down for fear of scalding my nasal passages from laughing so hard as I envisioned Bruce's Adventures.  The simple reaction meant that I had to contact her to let her know that her story of adventure had to be shared. ENJOY!! 

Hilarious tale from the rat fostering world!   

Tonight while I was working on socializing my 5 little foster girls, one of them made a bold move! I have been calling her Bruce because she has a white splotch in the shape of a shark fin on her side and I'm afraid it stuck- despite her being a young lady. Anyway, I was bribing her cagemates with rice crispies to come stand in my hand when Bruce, who normally hides in the darkest farthest place from me and the cage door, suddenly bolts for it in the blink of an eye.

She sprouted a tiny black cape out of nowhere, or at least that's what the Blur That Once Was Bruce looked like, and flew to the carpet seeking sweet sweet freedom. Mind you, we moved into this apartment over the last week, so the "office" where Bruce and her cronies are currently residing, is also currently the land of unpacked boxes, blankets and bed linens without a home (yet), meaning that the Blur That Once Was Bruce had many many places to explore! She first ventured to Mt. Duvet to see the famous white peaks, then meandered to pillow valley and the I-Can't- Find-My-Laundry-Hamper Hills. She took a brief detour to check out behind the File Cabinet Grotto before deciding the real place to be was the Under The Desk Drawer Cave. The Under The Desk Drawer Cave was it's usual seasonably comfortable Arizona-esque warm due to its proximity to the floor heater. The Blur That Once Was Bruce was somewhat dismayed when the Hooman That Chases and Feeds Rice Crispies turned off the heat with no obvious concern for the effort she took to save her vacation days and Aeroplan points for this holiday of a lifetime supposedly in the name of her "safety"....

After extensive time spent taunting the Hooman That Chases and Feeds Rice Crispies by venturing ever so slightly in and out of the Cave Under The Desk Drawer, the Blur That Once Was Bruce decided maybe the big bad world outside of the Cage She Calls Home wasn't so cool after all and that the lure of the Igloo She Loved from the Cage She Calls Home was too much to ignore. As the Blur That Once Was Bruce darted into the Igloo She Loved, the Hooman That Chases and Feeds Rice Crispies scooped up the somewhat tired and confused Bruce who once again resembled a rat, not a blur, and reunited her with her cagemates who simply looked up and yawned muttering "ugh, what a drama queen..." before curling back up in a sleepy pile.

All's Well That Ends Well.
The End

***Posted with permission from the 'Hooman That Chases and Feeds Rice Crispies' - Trish Everett-Kabut. She is fostering her girls from The Small Animal Rescue Society of BC.  If you have the room and experience with rats, we encourage you to consider fostering a rat or two in need. If you do not have the room, think about taking some time to visit a rescue to help clean cages, hold ratties and just enjoy the company of others that love rats like you do! If you do not have the time, how about making a food, toy or bedding donation? Rescues are not successful without support.  Be forewarned, those vermin will work their way into your heart, giving you many wonderful tales of adventure to share as well! So what are you waiting for? Get online and find a rescue that needs you.

We were going to wait until Aurora gained a bit more but by her actions and the current weight gain we are looking forward to hearing lil pips(queaks) in another week. On average we have tracked a weight gain of 43 grams by this point in pregnancy. That is with litters ranging from 4-18 babies - surprisingly the the largest gain was one with 11 in the litter. Aurora is pretty much gaining the same as the one that had 9 babies.  (36 grams so far) Should be interesting to see what happens this next week. 

We have moved Aurora to the bottom section of our TCN,  locking the ladder for most of the day. As I type this she cuddled up in a nest full of a whole receipt paper roll. She does enjoy visiting with most of the mischief, however, our new girl Niki seems to really irritate her. Now looking back, timing of adding her was a poor choice on our part. Aurora had the protective mama hormones just starting to surge and knows most likely this new girl won't be watching out for her 'babies' like the rest of the girls in the mischief (her mama, sisters, nieces and Celtic Rose who we added when Aurora was just 5 weeks). Of course that is only our observations as we wish they could talk and tell us what they really want/need.  

Her and Apollo have still had a few visits during the evenings but she has not gone back into heat. The only problem they have had together is when he wants to eat what she is eating.  You can almost hear her say, "Seriously, I am the one with the cravings and you dare want my noodle!?!"  I cannot wait to see the temperaments of their babies. She has always been the quiet sweet snuggle girl and Apollo is our huge cuddly oaf, reminding us of Ludo (Labyrinth 1986). 

We paired OCRA Aurora with OCRA CRUS Apollo this last week. We only leave them together overnight. This is the first time I have not seen them actually mate. It is a bit frustrating to not have instant confirmation but with weight observations and tracking Aurora's heat cycle I can pretty much confirm that have mated.

In Heat?
To know when a female rat is coming into or already in heat is pretty easy if you know what you are looking for.  For basic anatomy here is a link to see what I am talking about Sexing Rats. The female's vaginal opening is directly below her urethra. Many people mistake females for males because they think the urethra is a penis. Here is a picture of our Ariel, being hairless you can see her nipples (only female rats have nipples - 12 in all) you can also see her urethra. The vaginal opening is directly below that. I wish I had a better shot of it but with the link above and Ariel's picture it should help you know more about rats then you ever wanted.  When a female rat is in heat the vagina is open. Sometimes it becomes discolored, a blue or purple hue. Which often shows up in our darker rats.  When a female is not in heat, the hole is tightly closed.  With tracking our rats they seem to go into heat every 5-6 days. Usually a female in heat will also behave a bit different. If you scratch her back she may arch it. She may also be more jumpy, darting and sometimes spinning around. To tell the male she is interested, she will even stiffen her legs and lift her tail.  With our new girl, Pumpernickel, we will even be able to see her ears vibrate when she is in heat. The dumbo mutation prevents female dumbo ears from doing this. 

Courtship
It is possible for a female to get pregnant from a single mounting. However, during courtship, they will mount many times before the male can complete the act. Usually the female is in heat for about 10-12 hours at night but this is not always the case. Our EmmaOreo went into heat around 10 am. I have read, it is very important not to let your male rats 'play' with your female even if she is not in heat, the male might stimulate her to come into heat. What I find amazing, is how a female in heat is also VERY determined to procreate. Rats will usually synchronize their heat cycles. This helps them in the communal living to take care of each others offspring like many other animals in the wild.   A friend's new females actually chewed through their cage and chewed out the male (YES, it pays to watch CSI - the fragments were on the outside of the male's cage)  Both females became pregnant. My friend knew right away for one because she saw a mucus plug. It is a waxy plug in the vulva of the female. It is formed by the secretions from the males and can be visible for up to a day after mating. This prevents other males from breeding her. Like dogs, superfecundation, is one way to keep the genetics diverse within a colony.

How We Pair
​There are a couple different methods for breeding rats. We usually use our single level cage.  On the day the female goes into heat, we place them both together into the cage. Often it is immediate but we will leave them in the cage together overnight. In the morning, we put them back with their cagemates, usually without any problems. Occasionally the male is still a little amped up, so we often provide some yummy extra food as a distraction as he settles back into the boys dormitory. The second method, usually used by larger scale breeders, is a bit longer and less involved with the 'humans'.  They will place the male with one or two females for about 10 days. This method, insures that the female has had at least two heat cycles. However, it does sometimes make it difficult when reintroducing the rats back  with their cagemates. For this reason they usually keep the females in the cage or tub until after the babies are weaned. The male will need to be bathed and slowly reintroduced to his old cagemates to prevent any posturing or aggressive attacks. 

Tracking Weight
Now many of you know, I am a bit OCD when it comes to weighing our rats. This habit has come in handy for me to see that a rat has lost weight quickly over a weeks time. Might not look visible at first but if a healthy buck drops 15 grams in one week that is usually a sign that something is off. We weigh our juveniles and adult rats once a week. We weigh dams daily, starting from day of pairing. This has been a valuable resource helping us and others in knowing if there are complications, predicting how many babies, and overall just plain fun!  Once the babies are born depending on the size of the litter we will usually weigh the largest and the smallest the first few days. If we have runts we have even weighed them before and after us feeding them to insure they 'swallowed' formula. As for determining weight gain for a female. We notice right away a weight gain of 8-12 grams then slowly 2-10 grams a day during first few weeks. The last week there are usually huge daily gains. We have tracked up to a 24 grams gained in just 1 day with our litter of 18 (Spring 2015 'X-Men' Litter)! 

Is She Expecting?
As for Lil Miss Aurora, her weight has fluctuated so far. Last week before pairing her weight was 324g. The next morning it was 214g. The following days it went back up to 324g, yesterday it was 326 and today it is 330. I am tracking her heat cycle to see if she comes back in. We do hope she took last week. If not, this week we will continue with her evening 'playdates' with Apollo.