Friday April 21st, 2017
Quick update and a few pictures 
The talk about rats went well. We had a lot of fun talking about all the different 'rat facts'. I threw in a few extras - nocturnal verses crepuscular and diurnal. How lazy our boys are verses the girls, which shows how great the author captured Templeton in the story. We talked about the average one pound in the wild verse the weights of our boys at ALMOST 2 pounds! We also talked about genetics and how they come in so many different colors. They got to see our great video of Pongo's 3 week old babies and the video of our CRUS Christina boggling. Of course told them the importance of handsanitizer before and after each rattie. We also wanted to make sure the boys felt comfortable with each student. We gave each one a snuggly to hold them in at first after about 10 minutes they all wanted them on their laps. So the boys got to be snuggled on even more!  Of course I did have to warn them that without the covers they may go potty. Sure enough Pongo was getting figidity  and wanted to get off to go potty in his box but I was too late. OOPS! good thing I brought handwipes too. This was something I could do so much more often. I loved seeing the kids fall in love the little vermin. 

Our show is complete, so I was going over adoption applications for those wanting to join us in Our Crazy Rat Adventure. I open up my next email and said, 'Huh?' That was promptly followed by a, 'What?!?'  If I had received the email just a few days earlier, I would have sworn it was an April Fool's Joke. 

For those of you that follow Our Crazy Rat Adventure on here and with our Facebook updates you know that I share a lot. A lot of things that are great for us to look back on with the hope to some day maybe help answer questions for others or simply entertain those that love ratties as much as we do. We have had people ask us for help with their Oops! Litters, training rats or even wanting to know about the litter we use or the food we feed. We also have a list of some great resources on the web in one of our Facebook albums. 

So when I opened the next email, to my surprise was the heading, You're One Of Bel-Rea's Top Small Animal Bloggers. The email went on to talk about Bel-Rea, one of the largest vet tech schools in the United States. I looked up Bel-Rea on the web. Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology, in Denver, Colorado, is one of the oldest and largest Veterinary Tech schools in the United States. They have been training Vet Techs for around 46 years. Imagine my surprise as I continued to read that their vet tech students, who are devoting their lives to helping animals, found that Our Crazy Rat Adventure's blog has been an 'inspirational source' for many of their students and was voted into their Top 25 Small Animal Blogs of 2017.  

I do hope their students and many others will continue to enjoy our blog. If you ever have a questions do not hesitate to contact us. We love having others join us in Our Crazy Rat Adventure. 

3 weeks until show date:
Logged onto the computer today and finished registering the rats we will be bringing to the show. I am excited to show the 2016 Winter All Science Litter Girls! We are thinking of bringing the 2016 Summer Perfectly P Litter Boys and 2016 Winter Astronomy Litter Boy.   At the show we are getting a boy from Kobold Rattery – we have already named him Kobold’s The Doctor. (All of his future litters will be Sci-Fi themed) We will also show him at the show. The owner of the rattery is going to clean him up and clip his nails for me! They have another litter I want a boy from but they won’t be old enough until the week AFTER the show. We cannot risk the health of younger babies at a show so we will just have to wait. I was hoping The Doctor would have a buddy for quarantine after the show. They are 5 hours away and I just can’t do the long drive twice in a week. I must keep my eyes out for another boy, if not, The Doctor will just have to get extra snuggles from me for the 21 days of quarantine after the show. Now we are all officially in quarantine before the show. NO rats in, NO rats out until the show (21 days).
 

​2 weeks until the show date:
I just now finished making travel totes for the rats. I decided having them in a tote will limit their exposure to cold, virus, and extra stress than if they were in a cage. Great directions are on Kobold Rattery’s fb page to make these. Supplies all came to about $11 each. (They still need extra clips in corners to keep them from pulling out and escaping)
 
​I have pulled out the show boxes for the ratties and will take turns putting them in the boxes and taking them out to get used to the boxes. I will do this 2-3 times before the show, with the goal of them falling asleep in the box and eating a treat in the box. No stress on show day since the boxes will now be the ‘safe treat box’. 

I have been looking at all our show supplies making sure we have enough hammocks and toys. Looks like we will be making a few more toys for the show. I have a great idea to make a papier-mâché treat hanger. Hopefully I can find the time in the next couple weeks. We also have a litter due next week; we always send a hammock home with our babies and must make more. Now is time to get off and tie some knots for double hammocks. 

1 week until the show date:
OOPS! I just realized I didn’t correctly register The Doctor to show. Thank goodness his rattery has him listed as a baby so they can at least bring him to sell. I did make sure they knew one less set of nails they had to trim.   Right after I contacted them, they had posted on fb a beautiful Dumbo Black Berkshire boy. His dad won’ Best in Show last year! They sent me a video of his temperament and right there I dubbed him Kobold’s Onyx (His future litters will be rock and gemstone themes). I cannot wait to get both boys home!

​3:00 p.m. Wednesday before the show:
Our quarantine is complete!  My husband did a wonderful job converting our kids old two story fort/sandbox into a chicken run downstairs and an insulated upstairs ‘retreat’ where we can relax and read in the summer.  It is so nice knowing that the ratties will not have to quarantine off site. All week I have been checking the thermostat to make sure it doesn’t go below 60*. I have set up our DCN in there. It is ready for the rats after the show. All the rats we are planning on taking, have fallen asleep in show boxes and are very comfortable to be taken out except Pollywog (Inertia escaped one time, the small lid had a broken tab, good thing I checked BEFORE THE SHOW! Could you imagine our class clown running all over the venue?!?!)

7:00 pm Our babies have arrived (Nice little treat to break up the week before show)

4:00 p.m. Thursday before the show:
Bath time complete! All of the rats smell divine. OCRA Pongo had a real dirty tail. It is also what the judges call scaly. I have added a bit of coconut oil to the tail to encourage him to clean it a bit more. I should have started cleaning it two weeks ago, if I kept scrubbing it today it seriously would have stressed him out.

​I am going to wait to trim nails until tomorrow. Last time I trimmed on Thursday they all ‘filed’ them to sharp points by the show.

​ 5:00 p.m. Friday night before the show
I am asking myself WHERE DID THE TIME GO??  I am sitting here looking at all the ratties I bathed yesterday trying to decide who all is going to go.  8 were registered but I think I may only take 4 or 5 girls leaving the boys here. Why leave these beauties at home? Well, each has their own reason for missing out on the show.
 
OCRA Galileo is our beautiful Havana Agouti. I was excited to show him but since we almost lost him to a terrible virus that hit our mischief last summer I decided I can’t take the chance.  Granted the chance of exposure is low within our group of breeders that show. Members put the rats first and most do not focus just on ribbons. Don’t get me wrong, ribbons are fun but our ratties are more important than a piece of fabric. Unfortunately, there is always the chance that a pet owner or someone coming in off the street, is coming from a pet store or even a home that has ill rats. With so many viruses that can be transmitted within 3 hours of exposure, it is a risk that I don’t want to take with Galileo.

OCRA Pollywog is no longer a part of our breeding program. We were going to pair him this summer but he has become so sensitive to noises. He will scream if I touch him after a loud noise happens. It has become so bad; I am not able to make kissy noises unless they are muffled on his fur. If I try to kiss his head and make a smacking noise he screams, soft quiet kisses no problem but noise ‘forgetaboutit’! Not something we want with our lines. I was hoping I could get him used to the show boxes, but the loud noise of the lid snapping on set him off. The show is also noisy and I just do not want to stress him out more than needed. Luckily, I get to enjoy his relaxed tucked pose when I lift him, his beautiful head, perfect ears and adorable face and sweet snuggles in a quiet room. I am hoping his brother OCRA Pongo throws a niece or nephew that look like him but doesn’t act like him. 

​OCRA Pongo is the amazing father of our 2017 Spring 101 Dalmatians Litter. He is a big squishy boy with a wonderful head, great temperament and nice conformation.  His coat is one that we had no idea where to put him. He has a lot of something that looks like silvering, but not on his belly at all where he has a clear demarcation line. He also has a beautiful dorsal stripe. At first we thought he may be melanistic with the unique ticking/silvering. Without taking him to be seen in person I may never know. The coconut oil from yesterday didn’t help loosen up the muck on his tail, I think it isn’t worth it to scrub harder to clean up his tail. I wish I had started weeks ago.  Besides, since I will bring the two boys back, it may be better to have just them out in quarantine in top of the DCN since I cannot supervise them as closely as I would like with the big boys in there too.

​I am still not sure if I will be bringing OCRA Llyra either. She is 19 months which is a bit old to take to a show. She has such a beautiful head. But she has also packed on a few pounds from her 3 litters. She won Best in Show as a kitten at the first show we entered her in. We will for sure be bringing her little girl OCRA Kismet (she has a shorter neck but such a cute fawn like her mama) and her Granddaughters OCRA Tesla, OCRA Velocity and OCRA Inertia.

​8:45 p.m. Friday night
We trimmed all the nails in under 30 minutes. Time to load up the car with the signs, totes and carrier for the boys we are bringing home. I will make up my mind in the morning about Miss Llyra.

​5:00 a.m. Saturday morning – SHOW DAY!!
All the girls are going and I am for sure leaving the boys. We have ‘rat phoned’ each one to make sure they have clear breathing. (This involves holding up the ratties to my ear to listen to their breathing and lung sounds. I also have a stethoscope. The sound healthy lungs make with a stethoscope kind of sounds like the wind blowing through trees)  All sound great! They are NOW in the handmade tote munching on apples and grapes that I tossed in for moisture during travel and the show.  
 
6:00 a.m.
Time to load up! We need to run to the store on the way to get water bottles for the humans and a pair of baby nail clippers for right before they get shown. (Somehow last night I misplaced ours, I love the larger grip in the handle part and need them 'just in case' as I look at nails before placing in show box to be judged.)

9:40 a.m. 
Two rest stops for the humans, we have arrived in Seattle. We are now in line hoping to have a smooth check in. There is a bit of an ‘oops’ while we wait in line. There are a few babies that appear small. As I watch, it appears to me that the health check people have to go through a pretty big check list for each rat, looking at their coat, listening to their breathing and making sure they are overall really healthy to be shown or sold. I am relieve to see that they decide that the babies are too small to sell. Bringing rats that are too old or too young to a show compromises them in so many ways. (which is why this will be Miss Llyra's last show)  They did a great job in handling such a tough situation. The breeder will still be showing her other rats and the babies will stay in their van in their carrier. (Good thing it is such a mild day in WA) Check in went well and we are off to set the table.
 
11:00 a.m.
Table is all set up with the babies ready for the kitten portion of the show. So many people at this show already. It is going to be a great one!

There are vets that work with the CDC/ WA Health Department at the show with a table. With the Seoul Virus to the east it is really nice to have them confirm that there is not a lot of concern for the virus in the PNW. They handed out a handy flyer to breeders and pet owners. They also confirmed that if there is an outbreak in the future, breeders will have the choice for lifetime quarantine which many states are not allowing. 
​ 
A new breeder to the show had not cut her rats nails yet. She came up and asked me to help. After doing several for her I was so glad we bought the baby clippers before we headed up north!
 
Kittens are done being judged. We heard the announcement OCRA Inertia won Best in Variety and Best is Section. OCRA Kismet won Best in Section. OCRA Velocity and OCRA Tesla still scored well but one was too hippy and the other had a head that was too big for a doe.

1:00 p.m. TIME FOR FUN PET PORTION OF SHOW!
 
We entered OCRA Tesla for most laid back. I always found it impressive for a young baby to relax and lay on back but there was a big ol squishy boy that beat her out.
 
We also entered her and OCRA Kismet in the cutest kitten contest. OF course, Breakfast Bunch Rattery brought up their most ADORABLE little blue dwarf kitten – Jokingly I walked off as soon as we saw that cutie. Something about dwarf rats and their amazing big eyes melts my heart.  Yup they won that one fair and square!
 
We also entered Tesla in the Costume Contest. We made a fun spider costume and drew spider webs on my daughter’s t-shirt. There were 4 of us entered (one small dog as a joke) we all got to take home a ribbon. I did get a chance to put Tesla on the floor to show others how silly she was walking in her spider costume. I know there is a video of it somewhere. I hope to soon be able to link to it!
 
The final portion is the People’s Choice. This one we entered Miss Llyra in. She at first tied with one other (applause and woops) At the clap-off she won. Yuppers, the most beautiful girl in our eyes.

​2:00 p.m. Now time for the adults
We entered our big girl, OCRA Llyra in her last show.  She didn’t do as well as she did a kitten, losing points for being so ‘round’ and her coat is not as consistent as a younger fawn.  We didn’t think she would do well but am so glad we did bring her. The People’s Choice Ribbon is a fun little treat to have from her last show. 

4:00 p.m. 
Show is officially over but a few more varieties still on the table to be judged. We came with 3 boxes full of toys, hammocks and fun rat themed stuff. Between what we offered for the raffles and sold at the show we are going home with 1. We saw so many old adopters and met new friends, found the cutest pin to buy. I am so glad we went and cannot wait until the next one.

7:00 p.m. Back home from the show
We put the rats into the quarantine. I guess I took a bit too long out in quarantine. When I got back in to take a shower my girls used all the hot water!   It is everything I can do to avoid peeking on the babies before bed but do not want to take any chances that we were exposed to something during the show. 
  

​Sunday After the Show
Another show down in the books! We have now gone to five shows, taking  ratties for two of them. It is really fun to show the rats but it is also really fun to just volunteer. We are not sure if we will bring rats to the next show in the fall but we will for sure be there to support and encourage everyone else!  They need so many volunteers to help make the shows a success. If you ever have a chance to go to one, and be a part of a club I highly encourage you to volunteer. You will not only meet so many people that have the same type love for rats but you may just get to see one of those varieties that many can only see on the web. Besides what we have in our own mischief, we have now seen Velveteen, Harley, Harvel, Goldens, Siamese, Martens, Silvermane, Marble, Merle, Dwarf and even Manx! 

I will be enjoying extra snuggles in quarantine for the next 3 weeks. We must change our clothes and shower every time we come back into the house from being out there or find 3 hours between visits with quarantine and our mischief inside.  I must stay strong and keep this up. I cannot wait until the new boys get to meet the baby boys after quarantine. 

Now that they have sat in our garage for 24 hours, we put up our rosettes. What a fun extra treat. The Girls Sorority seems a bit empty with mama in the nursery, and the five girls out in quarantine. Cannot wait until 21 days are over!!

So many people have asked me what a rat should weigh at a given age, or how much a mama should gain during pregnancy. This varies a lot due to genetics but also to environment. You have probably noticed that we often post the weights of our ratties. This is such a great resource for us. If we have an older rat that suddenly drops weight (illness in rats move so quickly) we can usually find a problem 'before' it gets chronic. It shows us that a mama maintains her weight while feeding sometimes over a dozen babies, and if a baby is failing to thrive. Over the last couple years we have randomly tracked over 36 different babies up to 12 weeks of age (and beyond) Some were 'foster', some were emergency rescues but most were born here or added here at 6 weeks. One thing we noticed, is that even with a huge litter, on average the rats catch up with their weight at 6-8 weeks with those of a smaller litter. If you would like to see the different weights of 'healthy' babies with litter size, feel free to contact us for this information.

Here are our average weights for babies up to 12 weeks 
male/female
Week one 
 19/19 grams
Week two
32/35 grams
Week three
51/59 grams
Week four
81/93  grams
Week five (numbers off because of male rescue)
110/123 grams
Week six  
151/156 grams
Week seven
209/183 grams
Week eight
271/202 grams
Week nine
292/229 grams
Week ten
320/243 grams
Week eleven
354/266 grams
Week twelve
381/283​ grams

​We rescued 2 boys at week 5, they came to our mischief weighing only 50 & 54 grams.  They were obviously failure to thrive due to their rescue home being hit by SDA (A very infectious virus among rodents) when they were only about a week old. We offered to help these boys with our 'magic potion' since they had not gained in almost 2 weeks. By week 6 they gained over 70 grams (in 1 week) and by week 7 they were holding their own with the rest of our mischief's weights. Once quarantine was over for these boys they actually became some of our largest boys.​

OCRA's Magic Potion for Weight Gain

We came up with this mixture after we had ZERO success with the Oxbow Critical Care our vet prescribed for an ill rattie. Critical Care is for herbivores, we might have had more luck with the Carnivore Care. The best thing about our mixture is it isn't something new for the rats. We offer them eggs every once in a while (They love to peel hard boiled) We are always offering them a mix of veggies and a few fruits. When they are not sick we also train them to take sugar water or diluted Torani syrup from a syringe. Such a great thing to teach them for if they do get ill they will already know the habit.  It is very hard to get them to take a new food because they are SO smart. In the wild they actually will send their weakest to test the new food to make sure they don't die if that isn't an option they will only take a tiny portion to make sure it is safe. If you grind up rat block, that they have already been eating, you should have much success in getting them to eat new foods with that mixed in.  

Here is what we do with our rat block

Take rat block (18% protein) put into a blender to make it into a fine flour type powder. It usually takes just a few seconds. Grind about 1/2 cup - 1 cup for several meals.  Melt tablespoon of coconut oil into skillet. Add yummy veggies and fruits (use shredded carrot, peas, avocado, shredded apple or even banana mashed up) Then add eggs to the skillet. (about 3-4 scrambled raw eggs) Once all in the skillet, sprinkle the powdered rat blocks into the skillet. Stir well, letting it all cook together on med/low with lid. If needed you can add a little water. When it is finished it is almost like a souffle. Offer this mixture to the rat needing a bit more  sustenance, keeping leftovers for a few days in fridge.  If they are really struggling,  we also add baby soy formula to the mix right before we feed them it becomes a soupy oatmeal texture.  In our opinion, soy formula is so much better for them than 'Ensure'  (full of unneeded sugars and dyes) or even puppy or kitten formula which many like to offer to those needing extra goodies. This Magic Potion has NEVER let us down for struggling weanlings, ill or elderly rats.

Rat Milk Composition
14.8% fat (by day 20 it drops to only 4.2%) 11.3% protein

Information from The Rat Fan Club on raising orphans 
Soy Formula 
25% Fat 12% Protein 
Formula for puppies
40% Fat 33% Protein