Might be getting some babies! *Marking expert needed!!*

Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:17 am

I got three girl rats from Celynny about 11 days ago. Lulu, Hushy, and Happy Blue Girl. Happy had come from a pet store to Celynny about two weeks before she gave all her girls to me- and as everyone knows- a petstore rat comes with many Ifs, Ands, or Buts. Her If could have been illness..or preganancy- anything. But Ive tackled petstore rats my entire life, have raised many litters of babies and have delt with many illnesses, so I took them, and am happy I did so. That being said, lol.

Ive been fatterning them up, not on purpose..I just am an over treater. My rats are always squishy. Happy has been gaining weight steadily, but I took some time to really look at her today and she does have a very large, round, solid belly. But it doesnt look like shes swollowed an egg- her very large round belly is actually pretty relative to the rest of her body. Only one nipple was visable due to ruffled fur, they were not prominatly showing. If she came to Celynny roughly two weeks before I got her, and Ive had her 11 days- and she was impregnanted anytime very close to when she was took home (since really if it had happened anywheres from a week or so earlier, she would have had them by now) it should be around now, right? And her belly should have appeared much quicker, shouldent it have? I realise the only way Im going to know for sure is to wait probably one week longer (that will give it roughly a month since she was brought home from the pet store) and see what happens. But Im just an over thinker and am dieing to know. Her belly is firm, but fat and round, not just in the lower belly, but the entire below her is fat. Her arms and legs are fat too. Im trying to convey that shes not a small rat that woke up this morning with giant egg in her belly.

when I stand her up, of course her belly shows, but if I stand my older rat blueberry up, they have identicle matching bellies. Happy just grew hers in about 11 days. She was healthy, and meaty when she came, and her belly has probably grown about half an inch in 11 days. Does this sound like pregnancy? Shes still very very active.

If shes a standard blue female- will she have possibly any blue babies? I dont know the genetics. Do only males carry blue? Without knowing the father, is there no idea at all to even guess what she might have?

I would like to know if she is or isnt..even though I dont think I can find out for sure unless it happens or doesnt

But I would like some time to be prepared. I can GET prepared in an hours notice and a quick trip to the pet store, but Im still anxious and curious. I wish I knew exactly when she came from the petstore to count out exactly how many days (guessing that she would have had to be impreggnated the day or before she was bought) I have until I find out. Hmm.

Shes so very active, running, climbing out..if that belly was pregnancy belly, wouldent she be slowing down and being lethargic?

Anyway..let me know if you have any advice. Its been a while since Ive had a momma rat, and the last ones Ive had all were small rats that woke up with huge bellies, so it was very easy to tell. Happy has me stumped.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Last edited by Reeney315 on Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:42 pm; edited 4 times in total

Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:24 am

Rats normally start looking like they swallowed an orange anywhere from 2 1/2-3 weeks. If it has allready been over 3 weeks, than I wouldn't worry. She is just probably getting chubby!

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:27 am

I keep asking her "Happy, are you pregnant?! TELL ME! I KNOW YOU KNOW!" and shes like. Mom. Stop. And then runs off to pee on my couch.

Thats about it. lol

I hope shes not pregnant, just because Its hard to have babies and not have the room to keep any. You cant have babies and not get attached to them, and then cry when you send them off to homes. And what if I cant find homes? These things are def. things to worry about. Mmm. Maybe I just worry too much.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:31 am

Any belly shots of her? If she's getting a huge belly, she's probably only days away. The usually start getting all fat about a week or so before the birth.

Plenty of girl rats stay as active as ever throughout the pregnancy and raising of the litter, so no, she wouldn't necessarily become more lethargic. Some do, some don't.

As for the color of the babies, blue is a recessive gene...meaning, in order for the babies to be blue, both parents must be blue or carry it. So, without knowing the color of the dad you really won't be able to predict the babies.

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--Brittany

"He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom."

Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:45 am

Okay, here are belly shots.

Isnt she cute? Check her tail position to see how Im holding her in the pics with her head not in them. Depending on how shes holding her belly, sometimes it looks huge, and sometimes it doesnt.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:09 am

Uh oh basketti-hos >_>
I hope you're not angry. I SWORE I seen leapfrogging and ear flutters. o.o;;;
If she is pregnant, I have my fingers crossed for like..one baby..

She looks pregnant to me. =/

As I told you on AIM she was in a tank with a Cinnamon (gender unknown), a few black hoods, a beige hooded odd eye, and some REWs (possibly PEWs). This is what Robert remembers.

Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:48 am

In some of those pics she looks pregnant, but in others she just looks squishy. I'd prepare for a possible litter now, by making her a nice comfy maternity cage, just in case.

All of my girls are active right throughout pregnancy, and most don't stop while raising a litter! They'kk be running around with babies in tow, the poor things!

Good luck, whatever may happen!

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*~*~*~*~*~Hayley & her vermin friends~*~*~*~*~*

Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:57 pm

Good idea...Ive gone ahead and put a nursery together. Nice tissue paper bedding for her to make a nest in when shes ready. When I went to bed last night, I told my boyfriend to watch her and listen to her like a hawk and if she seemed to act funny like she might be getting contractions at any time, to move her quickly to her baby aquarium. When I went to bed, Lulu was picking on her and she was screaming very unlike herself very often, so maybe by the end of the niight he'd had enough because Happy was in the aquarium, but no sign of babies. She was just sleeping. Ill have to ask him later today, but shes all set if she does explode with babies.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:43 pm

Keep updating! Has she popped yet??

Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:46 pm

Awwww hehe! Mr. Green

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Arvay and the Squirmin' Vermin

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'

--Erma Bombeck

Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:47 pm

Well, shes been in and out of her nursery tank..we generally put her in there when we arent home to watch them. It makes her furious, she hates being taken out of the cage with her friends, but we have to have her seperated for when she has her babies...its been a few days, and Im not sure if shes gotten any bigger or not, but her nipples are popping out, so shes def. pregnant. When I hold her, she feels like shes so full of them, so Im very careful in how I move her around to support her large belly and not squish it. I will post the moment she pops! Mr. Green

I love that pic. Isnt that the most disgruntled frown youve ever seen from a rat? hehee

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Last edited by Reeney315 on Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:56 pm; edited 2 times in total

Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:48 pm

Not only post the moment she pops, but we want pictures too!

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Loving Mum to my rattie boys, Zipper and Ty
Bestest Bud to Milly, the greatest horse ever

Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:09 pm

I will take plenty of pictures. Out of all the rats I have, Happy really was the best one ot have this happen to, I feel confident that she will allow us to be near and a part of her babies lives, even in the first few days.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:26 am

Aww what a pretty rat

Good luck with her! I wanna see baby picz!

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~*Allie*~
Puppy: Pepper (my big suck) Kitty: Kitterz
Birdie:Mehico aka.Cheeky
Ratties: RIP Penny...i miss you pretty girl <333
Peaches n' Cream..2 bRATS
Jibroney!! --new rescue rat

Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:17 am

I see eepers in your future!! I think its going to be a small litter of big babies or a big litter of really small babies...my guess 4 Shaz

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Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:52 pm

Four would be so perfect- I could handle four!

Ceylnnys joking guess: One big fat huge girl baby.

Then I could keep her! Lmao. I would name her Bertha.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:54 pm

Today is day four and no sign of babies..shes sleeping a lot, but then again shes in an aqaurium without much else to do. When I hold her, she just feels so uncentered and she seems so bulky with that belly, I just can beleive that she would have just gotten this fat this fast. Shes got to be pregs. But ive been sorta guessing "well, if she goes another 5 days, shes not pregnant." So..Im not sure what to think. She doesnt seem to have gotten larger..so maybe she just got fat and I didnt notice? I dont want to guess around, Ill keep her along another 3-4 days and decide then what to do. I have no way to know when she was impregnated, but her days of gestestion either way are running out. Ill just wait a fewe more days, maybe she'll have them tonight.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:18 pm

I swear I seen her acting like she was in heat though...So hopefully she's just really fat! =/
Thats weird, unless she got pregnant the DAY robert got her for me, then yeah another 4 or 5 days would do the trick.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:25 am

Well, we will be having babies tonight Im sure!

Happy started to get mean to Blueberry, so her friend has gone back to her normal cage. Shortly after getting rid of the company, Happy began Nest Building. I get her the end of a peice of TP and let her pull in as much as she wanted, and she took quite a bit and has wound it up in her corner. All of the bedding has been moved to a giant pile, and the baby volcano is taking shape.

Not only that, but If I thought she was large yesterday, then I didnt know what large was. Shes humungous. We expect babies in the next 24 hours. I will post when they arive!

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 3:20 am

PICS!

Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:05 am

I got excited with Hero about a week before she popped (as I was worried she was pregnant at such a young age..) as Warrior was licking her bits and really after her and Hero wasn't stopping him.. wiggling etc..i stopped him anyway.. as at that point i wasn't sure if she was pregnant or not.. Crossed Fingers

Anyhow, she popped a week later. I wasn't sure for a while, as I thought she might have just got bulky.. but she was more cage protective etc.. and then gave birth.. The arrival of 9 squeaky pink things Yogie Dance

kinda gave it away!! But she's such a good mum, and so cute.. She just sleeps flat out when she's tired and lets them suckle! Sorry... these are the first baby rats I've seen and they're so cute!! Mr. Green

Also, I was kinda worried as I've only had her for 2 weeks and haven't bonded as much as I would have liked before this kind of thing happened.. But she's been great, I take her out and she's more interested in going for a run than making sure I don't kill her babies!!
Good Luck tho!! It's such a great experience (especially for a baby novice like me!!) and it's scary how fast they grow!!

Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:52 am

Its sad how fast they grow..dontcha wish they would stay beebees forever? I guess its the same with animals and people like, the younger the cuter. Ive got a towel over her 'quarium for privacy, shes asleep in her nest so Ill leave her alone for now. I forsee babies to be here very soon. Mr. Green

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:11 am

REMEBER a watched momma rat never gives birth with you stareing at her!! Wait for a peeping sound you will know it when you hear it. Its like a little high pitched meep meeeeeep noise...then peek..lol Shaz

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Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:24 am

	MerlinsMagic wrote:
	REMEBER a watched momma rat never gives birth with you stareing at her!! Wait for a peeping sound you will know it when you hear it. Its like a little high pitched meep meeeeeep noise...then peek..lol Shaz

I like your style! Wait until she's popping out kids and can't protest, and then stare at her pushing pinkies out of her. All without protest..muah ha ha. You're a crafty one wink

Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:16 pm

Haha!! I missed all of that.. she waited til I drove 2 1/2 hours away for a weekend and then squeezed them out.. Probably for the best as I don't think I could have resisted putting my fingers in and feeling them.. Nosy owner that I am.. She had a chance to settle, and seems to be doing great!! They're all squeaking now, and she's chattering away to them.. I wish I could understand!! Mr. Green

She's been cheeky tho and covered her nest right over!! Awwww I can't wait til they move around and see and grow hair and.... Yes. I'm excited!! It's soooooo cool!! Mr. Green

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~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:21 pm

Well, when Josh came to bed last night at around 4:30am, he had heard the telltale meeping, and she had already popped out three. I checked on her this morning and shes bright eyed and active, with seven healthy and live babies! The moment I opened the 'quarium top, she was right there to greet me. She then proceeded to walk across the table to get to the other cage with the other girls. I opened the door for her, and while she was in there saying hello to everyone, making sure there was nothing good in their food bowl she didnt already have, and checking that the wheel still worked (? Dont ask me.) I took some blurry pictures of pinkies Mr. Green

They are blurry because I tend to shake the moment Im supposed to hold still, and I cant hold a camera still. Thats why all my pictures are blurry -.-

But anyway, she came back after that, checked on them, and was on her way out again but I stopped her because I just really needed to get my shower and get ready for work. So shes back on her nest of them again now feeding.

Seven is a good number, it could have been 10..12..14! But seven is a good safe litter. I will post pictures when they get fuzz..when they open their eyes..everything.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Last edited by Reeney315 on Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:29 pm

Congragulations!!! They are beautiful. Keep us all updated with the latest news and pics Mr. Green

Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:06 pm

AWWWW jelly beans. Shaz

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Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:29 pm

Milky bellies! ~sluuurrp~

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Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:53 pm

I came to work to tell my coworker- Im twenty years old and a grandmaaaaaa! Hoorray! I cant wait to go home at lunch and check on them.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:23 pm

lucky!
Happy was a good one to have babies though. She's so friendly and nice ^_^

Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:44 pm

I am seeing myself as lucky! Mr. Green

I didnt want/need babies..I cant keep them permanently, and really wasnt in a place where I was ready for babies in my life right now- but none of that changes the fact that she was pregnant, the babies were coming, and they are here now. I refuse to see it as anything but a blessing- whether I was ready for them or not. I am happy and joyful in their birth, and will delight in raising them and enjoy every moment that I have with them until they are grown. And then after that, my rat situation will go back to normal with my girls, and it will have been a good experiance. Theres really no other way to approach the situation

Im happy, and they are so cute.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:02 pm

Will you sex them when you go home?

I want to know how many boys I get to start harassing robert to let me have

Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:27 pm

Shoot- I went home to play with Happy but didnt think to sex them..Ill do it tonight. I let Happy have full living room outside time- its the only time I trust her to not disappear. No matter where she goes, she has to stop every few minutes and come back to check on the babies Mr. Green

I gave her about 15 minutes of running around time an dman, she didnt stop moving once. While she was busy we cooed over the babys and Josh held one. They are very sweet and squirmy. Ill check out their privates tonight, lol.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:53 am

The babies are already getting pigment in their skin, and their little ears are popping off the sides of their heads. 5 of the seven have dark hooded markings (still dont know what color..probably black.) and the other two are very pink, and are probably PEWs. I took some pictures of how big they are getting:

Happy gets outside time multiple times a day as shes bored to death in the quarium with the babies. We have to put her back though- she doesnt check on them enough in our opinion, and we dont feel comfortable with her leaving them without attention for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. We've been holding the babies, and cant wait for their eyes to open!

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:30 am

and the boy to girl ratio?

Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:31 pm

I'm not sure of their sexes yet, Ive look at online photos and then at the babies and man, all my babies look the same. I figured- hey. How hard can it be? Compair them. When one doesnt look like another, you have two piles. But they all look exactly the same! I guess my eyes arent skilled enough to see a different yet, or maybe they are mostly boys or girls- Im not sure. Ill be able to tell more as they develope I guess.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:37 pm

i sexed mine roughly at 7 days.. there are photos on my thread, update of the birth.. a lot of them look similar, but as they're so young it might help..

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~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:27 pm

Those pics did help! Ill try again tonight. They are only 3 days old right now, but ill try my best.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:19 am

Well, using those pictures I was able to sex them! Once I knew what to look for it was easy.

BOYS

Boy 1- pink baby, probably going to be PEW
Boy 2- Black hodded, mismarked- theres a pink star/stripe on his forhead where white will be!
Boy 3- Same as boy two, but his white spot is a little different.

GIRLS

Girl 1- Probably a PEW
Girl 2- Same as boy 2-3 with a white spot
Girl 3- Same as boy 2-3, and girl 1..with a white spot. Is this weird that so many of them have these facial markings?
Girl 4- Black berk

Thats what ive got. Im pretty excited to see if their colors change any more before their fuzz grows in and to see if my predictions are correct.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:22 am

She was probably physically intimate with a goofy looking msnrat >_>

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:40 pm

The babies are not turning out to be black hooded and pews at all!

So far there is one thats all black, one thats all black except for its entire bottom half/belly. Two black hoodeds that each have a star of white on their forheads. One black hooded that has a T shape of white on his forhead..and the two PEWS? Why, they are growing feight markings as well! They are like ghostly gray markings, I hardly noticed them at first! What color will they be?

Cmon Celynny, you know you want him!

The babies.

Can you see the grey on the pinkies? especially the one on the back. Not only are they hoodeds of some kind, they each seem to have white markings on their faces as well.

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:52 pm

OMG The T rat is so mine (assuming we can afford to come get him O_O)

Check out that gorgeous baby! ^_____^

Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:06 am

Sorry on the terrible pic quality. Can anyone guess what the pink babies will be though? And is it abnormal to have so many of them (6 out of 7) to have facial markings?

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:12 am

Well form what babies I can see...
looks like a varigated with head spot, a bareback and some berks (one or two being possible variberks or whtiesides berks). The pics are not that clear.

Amy

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Phoenix Gate Rats
www.pxrats.com

Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:17 am

Yeah, two of the babies that are all black have the two white stars on their forheads, and then one has that T shaped white on his face, and a black berk. But then these two pink babies that are growing pale grey fuzz- atleast I think its grey, even they have head spots although you cant see them in my pictures really. But I wonder if they will be grey, or tan, or what. Ive never seen a baby with that color fuzz- guess Ill have to wait a little bit longer for them to get some fur!

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:18 am

That all being said acutally, do you all think Ill have an easier time homing these babies than I would if they were PEWs and Black hoodeds plain and simple?

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:28 am

is there any chance you could have blues? i have a blue in my litter.. and there was no blue in my doe's litter (and she must have mated with one of her brothers..) but they were pink and then went a funny grey beige colour while they were still pink.. let me see if i have a pic of him/ her when it was pink..

is that the kind of colour? otherwise might be fawn or champagne.. i have a champagne, and i guess that could look grey as it comes thru.. would also be ruby or pink eyed.. just an idea, as i have no reallll clue about colours! i like my rats funky rather than showy!! Mr. Green

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~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:28 am

woah.. sorry that was massive..

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~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:59 am

Actaully that looks exactly like them, so I guess they will be light blue! Cool!

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:02 am

Babies!!! *wants one*

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~Mikaela and the RitterRatten~

Blaze~Shadow~Luna~Chinchilla~Malt~Merry~Pippin~Nim~Tiri~Cinder

Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:17 am

aren't they the coolest?! i love baby rats.. i'm being really cheeky tho, i'm staying with my boyfriend and his parents *HATE* rats ( i know.. how is that possible?!) and I now have 14 of them.. :s only slightly more than the 2 i arrived with!! Mr. Green

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~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:29 am

That one even has the white marks on the face like my two..do you have any adult pics of it so I can se ewhat these two might look like as adults?

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Megan and the Hyper Hoppers. Blueberry and Butterfly, Naked Evee, and Chii.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:23 pm

hmmm im sure i posted a reply... weird. goto www.photopucket.com and look for bored_bel they're all on there

_________________
~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Sun Feb 12, 2006 2:40 am

Right here are some pics of Salty..

hope these help.. can't believe they were pink only a few days ago!!:s
|b

_________________
~Bee~
Scamps
Warrior
Hero
Maggie n Flo
The Bunch of Tiny Pinkies

RIP Poncho.. The best second hand rat there ever was Mr. Green

Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:59 am

awww, great looking baby. Looks like a russ blue or mink notch capped with headspot. Very very cute! The lighter colors take longer to "see" than blacks. Congrats again!
Amy

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Phoenix Gate Rats
www.pxrats.com