Kitty was in season last night, so had a one-night stand with Diggory in the Mary cage. Fingers crossed.
I'm having real problems stopping my girls climbing on Kitty and Glitter's cage. I'm going to try to make a cardboard cover to go over the top this evening, as I've had four bitten toes so far. You can't blame Kitty and Glitter - they're in a strange place, in a strange cage, with strange females climbing on the cage.
I've bought a third new Explorer cage. I'm going to replace the boys' Cavia Hotel with one. I love them! This is the girls' setup:
I've just painted the third and fourth cage trays. I am a very messy painter! Trouble is, it takes about three weeks for the paint to dry to the point where the smell is gone, so I can't paint them all quickly. Can't leave them unpainted because rat pee doesn't seem to be too good for galvanised steel. The two unpainted trays that are still in the cages are getting very stained. Handily I have the trays for the third Explorer, so I can get those done then swap them for the unpainted ones.
Kitty and her mum have settled in really well. They're actually coming back for teatime when I call them after their evening freerange. I've managed to block their cage off so the others can't bother them, which has helped a lot. Fingers crossed that Kitty is pregnant! We should know tomorrow night as that is when she would come in season.
The two little hellions seem to have decided that I'm their friend after all. I haven't been bitten for several weeks now. Makes it much less stressful getting them out.
I'm planning to move the six lads into the bottom level of an Explorer cage, and sell the Cavia Hotel. The Explorer will be slightly smaller, but easier for them to get in and out of at playtime, and far quicker to clean out. They've all had a look around it at playtime and seem to approve. I've fitted almost the same amount of toys and tunnels in there.
Once I've sold the Cavia Hotel I can put together the third Explorer in its place, which will mean that all of my male groups can have a ground floor cage with the girls above them. As it's the girls who tend to bite intruding boys that will be the safest way round to do it, added to which the girls are more agile at running up and down long ladders.
Well I'm fairly sure that Kitty is pregnant. She's looking increasingly round and hasn't been in season since I mated her with Diggory. She should be due on the 24th or 25th. I'm trying not to get too excited but it's difficult.
Day 19. There's no doubt now. She's lovely and round.
Kitty has moved into the birth cage, a Savic Ruffy. Her mum, Glitter, is still with her for now. I've put the cage inside the top level of an Explorer cage, with the doors taken off the Explorer. That means that when the other rats come out to play I can put the big doors back on and stop them bothering Kitty.
9am. Kitty looks too big to be true. She does honestly, as they say, look as if she's swallowed an orange. She's made not one, but two nests, in each back corner of the cage, and she's wandering from one to the other. I reckon by the time I get home from work I should have extra rats. Asked my 'kids' to text me if it happens.
11pm. Kitty had 12 babies early this afternoon. Little pink jellybeans. I thought she might not want to come out this evening, but I put the cage on the table, opened the door, and she cleared off to explore as usual leaving me to babysit. So here are some pics of her babies, 6 hours old. We seem to have a couple of unexpectedly light coloured ones in there, so heaven knows what they will be. We were expecting agouti and agouti Essex, with maybe some blacks if Diggory carries black. One little one seems to have a piece of bedding welded to its back, and one has a tiny cut on its face, but otherwise whole and perfect.
Last modified: Monday, 29-Sep-2008 09:52:54 BST
