Ratty Corner and the Brandywine Rats

Health:
29th November 2009 - Ivermectin just in case.
2nd December 2009 - Neutered.
4th December 2009 - Post op checkup. All OK.
11th December 2009 - Sore patches on his flanks from scratching his sides too much while scent marking his new world. Hopefully they'll heal when he calms down.
4th May 2010 - Sounding a little wheezy. Will see if it continues.

About Jet

Jet came to live at Ratty Corner on 29th November 2009, at around one year old. He has lived alone for a while, and needs some time spending with him as he has a habit of biting with little warning.

2nd December 2009 - Jet has settled in well, is learning to go back to his cage nicely after freerange, and has only put his teeth around my finger once. He's gone in to be neutered today, so hopefully in a couple of weeks he can join a group of girls. Logic is telling me to put him with the smaller group so it won't be too overwhelming for him, but instinct is saying he would fit in better with the group of 10. We'll have to see which wins out.

3rd December 2009 - Nailed me good and proper, two deep punctures in my finger with the top teeth. Thankfully my nail stopped the bottom teeth. My own fault for getting over confident and ignoring his warning. Hopefully it's hormones not habit, and the neuter will make a difference!

11th December 2009 - Looking promising. Came willingly onto my (gloved) hands with no attempt to bite, flank glands are not as soaked after freerange so his hormone levels are probably falling. The main problem now is my lack of trust, not Jet's. We're going to get there.

12th December 2009 - I started using welding gauntlets to handle Jet a few days ago, which worked really well as he wasn't at all worried about the smell of the gloves, and because when he bit he tended to get the seams which got him nowhere. Today I switched to my normal suede winter gloves which are fairly thin, and he totally ignored them. We've had a couple of fairly friendly cuddle sessions which he accepted without any problem, climbing on my arms and letting me stroke him. All I need to do now is regain enough confidence in him to take the gloves off.

His post-neuter 2 weeks is up next Wednesday, and I've decided to add him to the smaller group of girls. There are seven in that group at the moment, but two will be coming out to have litters next weekend, and two are aging so won't be there for too much longer. Once I'm sure that the two girls have had their litters safely and won't need to go back in with their cagemates right away, I'll start introducing Jet to the group. If there are problems I'll back off, as I don't want to stress the old girls too much, but all being well he'll have some friends soon.

18th December 2009 - Jet's getting so happy and bouncy when he comes out to play. You can see how much he's enjoying himself. He hasn't threatened to bite for ages, but I haven't been putting my fingers in front of him if I can help it. He's now learnt to come back to his cage for teatime when I call him, which makes life much easier.

24th December 2009 - Bit me again, but not too hard. I left my hand resting on his table.

27th December 2009 - Tried intros with the five girls. He got far too rough with old Rose so I had to take him out in a hurry. We'll try again when the oldies have passed on.

4th January 2010 - Tried intros with the big cage of girls. Unfortunately Jet seems to feel that the way to introduce yourself to a lady is to jump on her back and molest her. I rescued him from the rolling ball of fur using the welding gloves, and he only has one bite to his side which doesn't look too deep.

27th January 2010 - Well he's still on his own. I'm not sure who to try him with, as he's had spats with most of the others through the bars of his cage. I'd hoped to have him settled into a group by now.

5th February 2010 - We're trying him with just Maisy and Moselle. So far so good. Moselle is bigger than Jet, and Maisy is fast and can jump right over him from a standing start, so he's not having much success at dominating them.

8th February 2010 - It didn't work out with Maisy, but Jet and Moselle are now living together. They're not interacting much at all, but they're tolerating one another and hopefully they will form a bond eventually.

15th February 2010 - Minty has passed away, so Maisy and Angelina are being introed to Jet. It looks like it may work. Moselle is happy to be back with her friends.

19th February 2010 - Jet is living in the same cage as the girls, but still existing separately. The girls sleep in one place, he sleeps in another. I feel so sorry for the little man. Surely they'll let him into the gang eventually?

25th February 2010 - Rather than let them all settle and then reintroduce Effra and Wandle and the baby girls back in in a few weeks, I decided to just go for it, so they are now a group of nine. They're in one level of the Explorer at the moment, but as soon as they bond into a group they can have a second level. Effra is now the alpha, Angelina is old and to one side of the pecking order, but it remains to be seen how the others will settle.

26th February 2010 - It's worked. Jet was sharing an igloo with three girls today. So, so happy!

2nd April 2010 - Maisy is not accepting Jet and is harrassing him to the point where he's losing weight. I've split the group into two for now, 5 in each group as we have a visitor living with them for a month.

9th May 1020 - Jet is very happy living with the three girls. He's still not friends with me, but at least he's not on his own and he seems to be enjoying life.

Pictures