Whats new in August

We welcome back a former resident, Captain Morgan. Sadly, he did not florish in his new home as we had hoped. Instead, he made it quite obvious that he wanted to come back. He returns to us minus his man-bits, and will obviously be resuming his pet-only status at the rattery. We missed his one eyed boggling self.

I am reconsidering my litter plans a little. I am going to be very selective about my next several keepers. We want to thoroughly evaluate all of our breeding rats to be sure the rattery is going the proper direction.

The one litter we may cancel is JM Nimue x RDPY Kerrigan, unless we get a decent waiting list between now and then. We are thinking we'll move back RRR Stardust's pairing with RDPY Kerrigan until we breed her sister, RRR Venice, as well. That way, I can pick the best of the two litters at the same approximate time.

Our RRR Astrid x RDPY Vale pairing will probably be moved to early-mid October. In light that it took her aunt some time to concieve, we don't want to wait too late. She'll have from October to January to concieve and we run less risk of her becoming too old. We are hoping to see some blazing with this pairing.

We are waiting to breed Heath and G until they are a year or older so that we can monitor the line more closely. Their sister Astrid will be 9mo old when we pair her to RDPY Vale. The three siblings come from RRR's original breeding pairs.

We are proud to say that we still have two of our three keepers from our first two litters. RRR Dobbie Junior (32mo old!) And RRR Leander (31mo old). We lost RRR Madmartigan (born March 2008 w/Dobbie Junior) the winter of 2009 to unknown causes. This longevity is what we hope to encourage in our lines. We look forward to enjoying DJ's and Leander's company for many more months to come! DJ is still spry enough to run on their wheel. :)

Available Rats

We have a few available rats here at RRR.

Everyone must fill out an adoption application prior to any final decisions. The adoption application is essentially a screening process to help us place our rats in the best possible homes.

You may occassionally find retired breeders listed as available. This decision is made soley on the rats fit in a breeding household and their bond to rats who are adoptable. If we feel a rat would do better in a pet only home, or have a rescue in need of a companion of similar age that that particular rat is bonded to, we may make the decision to let a retired breeder go. This decision is made for the benefit of the rats, not due to space factors or our convenience. We love our rats and wish for them to be somewhere they are happy, even if that is not with us. Some rats just thrive in a breeders household.

Available females:
Taj- Pearl merle berkshire smoothcoat dumbo.
-- Taj was a compulse buy of my mothers. She was part of an accidental litter that was consequently sent to a petstore by a local college student. I do not know her genetic background, but her health has been spotless throughout her time with us.

Taj was a bully at first and is still very willful, but she now resides happily with our resident girls. We would consider letting a retired breeder go with her so that she may have a companion similar in age. She may beat up or harrass younger females, though she has mellowed a lot in her adulthood.

RRR Igraine - Black capped/patched DU smoothcoat dumbo
-- Igraine was born to JM Nimue and RRR Navarre in March. She closely resembles her mother in looks and temperment.

Igraine is a good girl and loves her attention. She's particularly fond of playing in a blanket and rooting around. I tend to hide treats under them for the girls to find.

She has a younger cousin (RRR Nymph- 6wks younger) who is also available and could be placed with her or a home with other female rats.

RRR Nymph- Russian blue Variberk Double rex dumbo
--Nymph was born to RRR Sorcha and RRR Melod in May. She tends to be more hairless than otherwise.

Nymph is a bit more shy than her sisters were and tends to spook more easily at loud sounds. We think she'd open up better in a quieter household with less hussle and bustle. She gets along very well with her cousin Igraine and they are often found sleeping in their food dish (oddballs lol). They could be adopted as a pair.

We may have a couple boys available soon. We're wrestling a decision currently.

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We recommend emailing the text only adoption application to maidenbloodx@hotmail.com with the title 'Adoption application- (your name)' We may not be receiving all electronic forms due to webhost difficulties.

Breeding Plans

I am currently considering my future breeding plans. Through much planning and consideration, we are likely to not have another litter until this fall. September or October.

The specific litter announcements are not ready at this time. We're still pondering those! We would consider one more litter this summer if we have a rash of reservations in the next month or so.

I believe our last pair of girls will be reserved in the next few days. We are currently discussing their adoption with a recent applicant.

Welcome RDPY Kerrigan and RDPY Vale of Avalon

We would like to welcome our two newest additions from Rat Dippity Rattery in Michigan. A huge thanks to Kat of RDPY as well as to Tony of RH and Jen and Debbie of JM for helping transport.

RDPY Kerrigan of RRR is a Black dalmation smoothcoat dumbo. Just after getting home he was comfortable enough to sleep in the crook of my arm. He's a good sized boy with good dumbo ears and great body type! He should make a wonderful addition to our dalmation and downunder lines.

RDPY Vale of Avalon or just "Vale" is a Triple dilute smoothcoat dumbo. He is even bigger than Kerrigan and thus already a big squish. His favorite place so far is in his quarantine mom's hair. He comes from Russian blue lines and should improve our Russian blues and Russian doves. There are also blazes in his line so we may see some in his future litters!

Both are going to surpass the size of likely all our boys. We hope to see bigger rats from our lines in the future with the addition of these two lookers. Thanks again Rat Dippity!

RRR Sorcha x RRR Melod

Black variberk downunder rex x x Russian blue? berkshire rex

I paired Sorcha with Melod on the 13th. This is partly to help determine Melod's color. We think the mink or RED in his pedigree has made it appear different and modified the color. We just can't seem to agree and hopefully this will help answer our questions. His furr is entirely different from any of our Russian and American blues. His eyes are ruby, not black.

We will have all dumbos with standard, rex, and double rex furr. We hope the babies get their dad's comfirmation. He has gorgeous ears and is well proportioned whereas Sorcha is a bit lithe and narrow faced.

We will be expecting black and russian blue, possibly some RED. We have a good chance for downunders in this litter. It should be an interesting litter.

Play day for them while I clean

Today is cage cleaning day again. I intend to bring both cages out, rats and all. I'm going to set up the playpen in the grass with some tunnels, toys, wading pool, and a climbing jungle I bought. Not that they are likely to use the wading pool lmao

While I clean one groups cage, they'll be playing. The second group will get to enjoy the sunlight while inside their cage. Then I'll switch them out.

It requires a lot of work on my part, but they seem to love it. I miss it when it gets too hot or too cold out.

Nimue and the babies will be out too, but the babies can't enjoy the playpen. I'll probably let Nimue out with her lady friends and put the babies in the shade.

I think everyone could use a little fresh air! Pictures promised :)

Is it weird that I can't wait to clean cages? lol

Website issues

Our website is currently down due to technical difficulties. Our provider has changed servers. We hope to get everything straightened up and back online soon. In the meantime, please watch our blog and take a look at our photobucket for the latest pictures, particularly of the new litter.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z191/rodere/nimue-x-navarre/