In a few days we will take out Truffles, who is the head rattie in the Girl's Sorority. She will do well to keep Aurora, Ariel and Artemis in line! Our objective is to keep the peace among all the mischief for smooth re-introductions after delivery. This will mean that there will be play time with the feisty little girls and Celtic Rose, however it will be short and sweet. We have not decided if EmmaOreo will remain with Celtic Rose through delivery or not. Usually we separate them completely for the first 2 weeks except for play time, that happens during a mama nursing break. After reading so many articles and studies on rats, it seems that their communal living is one that relies on EVERYONE helping everyone. As long as EmmaOreo isn't pregnant we feel that she will just be an asset to the mama. If we notice any possible dangers we will promptly remove her. We are hoping to allow her to be a nurse maid as well as several of our females do this starting at the 2 week introductions.
A fine example of how the ratties help each other. While taking the picture of Celtic Rose cramped in her bear bed above, we did notice EmmaOreo and Truffles collecting all the paper in the cage this morning. They were building a huge nest in the bin we used for their litters. As soon as they stopped, Celtic Rose carefully squeezed out of the bear bed and marched over to the bin and promptly claimed it as her own.