[amandahoney]

this is only the second time everyone has been out together. skunk is still in her own cage for the most part, and olive and matilda are in another. the first time i let them out together, matilda and skunk kept doing that aggression thing where they stand up against eachother at arms length- you know the thing- and then matilda would get flipped and squeak a little more than indignantly. she actually seemed scared, so i thought i'd give them some time to get to know eachother better someplace neutral. (good idea/bad idea?) their "playground" is my big round chair with a "rat sheet" over it (which looks rather gross but is mostly just stained). (i took the tubes and boxes away for a while so that i could take pictures and so matilda couldn't just hide out in a corner of a box in her antisocial way.)

here they are.

 

[Berks]

i love the pic where theyre facing the wall...thats too cute! I member when i introduced blossom and dandy. there was so much excitement and squeaking and i thought they were fighting, but it was just ALOT of power grooming. I always tried to do it on neutral ground, but somewhere i could intervene if needed. I love olives little face. their all cuties!

 

[DonnaK]

They look and sound just fine. Only you know when you are happy to put them together properly, but standing up and "boxing", wrestling, squeaking, chasing... all this is normal and their way of establishing who is the "alpha rat". As long as they're not injuring each other, you're best to just let them go the course. I know it's hard to watch/hear...

 

[OnlyOno]

more time can never hurt, so yeah, not a bad idea.

and about that spot thing, i honestly have no answer, but would like to add that picasso had a wierd spot on her rump that got lighter and darker in contrast to the rest of her skin as well, but it has altogether disappeared in the last month, so i wouldn't be worried about it. i think she's about 5 months now, so yeah. anyone got a reason for it?

 

[jando426]

The 2nd one is really cute. It looks like Skunk is saying "Now this is a wall, don't run into it."

 

[amandahoney]

and about that spot thing, i honestly have no answer, but would like to add that picasso had a wierd spot on her rump that got lighter and darker in contrast to the rest of her skin as well, but it has altogether disappeared in the last month, so i wouldn't be worried about it. i think she's about 5 months now, so yeah. anyone got a reason for it?

i wasn't really worried about it- it was more that i wondered (i don't know a lot about genetics and markings, really) if she might eventually end up with three colors, or if that's impossible. all her brothers and sisters had black or gray markings (hooded or capped) except one, who was a light butterscotch-colored (i liked her markings, but the owner of mom rat wanted to keep her). can three colors combine in one rat?

i guess i should just wait and see what happens, but... i'm rather impatient, and i want to understand everything. now.

 

[twitch]

three colors is possible but VERY rare. its more likely her going through a molt. their coats will change texture and sometimes will lighten or darken. in the process of molting they will sometimes look like they have little patches of lighter or darker fur. this is most likely what is happening with olive

 

[fallinstar]

aww they are so cute

 

[Strike2]

Nice.

 

[Nazarath]

They are so cute! I also love the wall picture as well. Just take your time with them i'm sure you'll get to see them as good buddies soon .