Ferret Presents

I am a sap for giving things to the boys. Here is something I acquired 2nd (or 3rd?) hand from my friend Jennifer and her sister Meagan.

Rudyard as of now has yet to explore it because he was sleepy, but Jack went over it and enjoyed it.

Babes at 3

Babes are three weeks old and will be soon to leave their mamas! Below are pictures of the cute little vermin, all scurrying about and switching up the litters and feeding off both mommas. It's a sweet little community!

Sam missed out on this trip cos he had homework. So I brought Audrey along and she was my photographer.

(PS: Devil Rat and Misty have made up and are good friends now)

 Momma shot! If you look closely, you can see her very abused nipples!

 Misty's fave.

 Nomming on chips. FYI: don't feed your rats chips. 

MISTY IS VERY VERY VERY BAD. The End.

 Streeeeettcchhhhh.

 This is Goku. I called him that because of the dotties on his belly looking like a Dragon Ball from DragonBall Z.

 Misty's favorite again. This time in Misty's hands instead of on my chest.

 Babies decided the food bowl was a good sleepy spot.

 Audrey took a good textured shot of this rat's tail.

 Nomming.

 Momma got tired of letting her teats be suckled, so she left. This is what rat babies look like when their milk supply suddenly disappear.

 Tired Momma from working so hard.

 This is Link, called so because his back pattern looks like a sword.

 Suckling.

 Goku again.

 Suckling

Link

Ratlet Update

Here is the proud momma of one of the litters. Misty suspects that this litter is older by a day because all of these little fellas have open eyes and are bigger than the other litter. We took pictures mostly of this gal's litter since they were more active and mobile. 

  

Apparently, she is a very high-strung momma.  Misty described her as "pure evil" and "the devil," however she didn't act out when Sam and I played with her and Misty's kid swears up-and-down that she has never behaved badly with him. I bet its because this lady is out-to-get Misty. :D

But in all seriousness, yes. This rattie is pretty high-strung. I hope she chills-the-fuck-out afterwards.

I don't know what that will mean for the babes, but they are being handled and properly socialized since birth. So they will probably be okay. :)

 

Here is our other momma, who is a sweetheart and a full blue color. We didn't shoot too many pictures of her babes because I didn't want to disturb them. But here is one beautiful ratlet that has a full black coat.










It's soooooo cute! And PRECIOUS! I can't wait until they open their eyes because THEN personality happens.

Apparently one full blue lady(or guy) in the other litter is a nipper and is hyper. We also noticed she will wrestle down to the bottom pile of her kin so she can be warmest.

By the way, I'm probably going to keep calling all the ratties 'she' until their balls drop. So DEAL. I'm also uber excited.

Also, on top of all the other great things, I believe that today they are officially TWO WEEKS old, which means that they are half-way to being weened from momma WHICH MEANS that we all get rat babies in two weeks.

Q: When is a good time to clip a ferrets toe nails?

Answer: 
 When they are sleepy! Because you get to clip their toe nails AND you get to spend some quality time with them. Ferrets who are more used to interacting with their humans throughout all stages of the day are ultimately more comfortable playing with their humans.

If the furrt keeps waking up, convince them to stay still with a nommy treat. Also, it is always helpful to have a separate pair of hands helping out... one person to hold the ferret and treat, other person to hold ferret paws and nail clippers.

Will you Dance for Coffee?

I am lying in bed. I do not want to get up. We forgot to turn the heater on last night, so it is cold. I am clinging to my bed sheets, thinking about the day before me.

"Coffee?" Sam indicates as he comes out of the shower.
"I made it yesterday. Your turn," I say.
Later, as he sits at his computer for his morning ritual of zombie games and facebook checking, he turns to me. I am still in bed, still bathed in the bedsheets.
"Why aren't you making coffee? I made coffee yesterday," he says.
"I made coffee yesterday," I say. "It's your turn."
"I made coffee..." he trails off, his eyes searching the room like a wiley critter. "Um... I made coffee that one time."
"I'm not making coffee!" I insist.
"I danced all day yesterday," he says.
"When? No you didn't."
He begins jiggling in his seat, moving his arms sporadically. "I'm dancing now. Dancing for coffee."
I point to an open area on the floor. "You want coffee so bad, bellydance for me right there."
He gets up, near the spot I pointed at, and begins doing his own rendition of snake arms. "I'm dancing," he tells me.
"Move your hips," I say.
"I AM moving my hips!" he tells me. "I'm a boy, I don't have hips."
He then proceeds to sit down. I get out of bed and make coffee.

How Clara Learns

This is the first part of photosynthesis. This is apparently the only way I can properly understand things. Also, I have a test on Wednesday.

****Correction: I have been informed that in the second photosystem in the drawing, there is no water involved. So.... just erase that. :)

What Makes Clara Happy

Obsessive Compulsive Weasel

The Grinch and Max have been in the ferret cage for about a week or more. I can't count, so I can't tell you.

When I first put them in there, Jack was slightly concerned. You see, its not where they belong. But it seemed that eventually he got over it and didn't mind their presence in the bedroom area and the feeding area (Max hung out next to the food bowl and the Grinch dominated the pillows and blankets).

Well, this morning like every morning I let the ferrets out so they may romp about before I have to leave for class. They are typically very excited in the morning and I feel like it is a good way to start my day. They can be so silly when they are excited.

While I am sitting on the futon contemplating my lab on photosynthesis, I hear Jack climbing into the ferret cage. I hear him scuffle up the ladder (my ears are trained, you see, so I don't have to watch them every second; I can just listen to their mischievousness).

I hear him pat about in his bedroom.

And then, I hear something different. It is a BANG! noise, like a twang. Like someone may have been pulling very hard on something, lost the grip in his teeth, and fell back against the bars in the cage. That or just a simple fall. I couldn't tell, so I looked.

The Grinch was on the floor outside the cage. Jack was up-righting himself from inside, then hopping out. I would say that his look was very determined. He grabs the Grinch by the scruff and takes him away into (and I did not see this, but I know from experience where his stash spot is) MY bedroom behind MY dresser (sure enough, I am correct).

Then, Jack comes back. He jumps into the cage, climbs up two flights of ladders, and I know he is about to take Max from the feeding area. This is very high up and on a surface that, when the doors are open like they were, I deem unsafe.

So, to smooth out the process, I pick up Jack and Max and put them both on the floor. He is a little confused at first (perhaps he wanted to do all the work himself?) but eventually picks Max up by the scruff and takes him away too.

Polar Bears Kick Ass

A Ratlet Litter

After Ganymede passed away, I got an interesting message from my friend Misty. It said this:

What
The
Fuck.
I woke up this morning to TWO litters of baby rats! Somebody at the pet store is gonna have my foot up thier ass!

It's kind of... well, I'll be honest. I'm a superstitious person. And I sort of think this is amazing. My mother told me when I was young that when someone dies, they die because they are giving room for a new birth. She explained to me that my great-grandmother had passed away within a few weeks or so (I think it was weeks; I'll have to ask for specifics) of my being born.

So what do you think I think?
I think that nature has worked its magic. If there were ever a reason do believe fully in the powers of natural balance, this is certainly a good place to start.

I'm not a preachy type, so I'm going to stop there. But seriously, folks. Seriously. Just think about what everything in life naturally tries to do. It tries to balance itself. It tries to keep homeostasis. Our bodies do it, the earth does it, populations do it (exception would be humans because we keep trying to defy the balancing act).

ANYWAY,
I'm writing this post because I really want to share these photos Sam took of Misty's new batch of babies:

Gana-med, Ganymedley

My dearest, sweetest Ganymede:

I will miss you. I will miss your tender caring hands and your love for your fellow rat and person.

I will remember how you always loved Sam so much; when he walked into the room even if you were hanging out with me for a bit, you always wanted to be with him. I'm so glad that you guys had each other. I'm so glad that he was so important to you.

I will always smile at empty glasses of water because of you. You liked to drink out of them so much.

I wish we had had more time together after Vincent, just you and me and Sam, but I know you felt you were ready. I know that you would not have moved on if you felt otherwise.

I'm going to miss you and your quirks. I remember when you kept me and Sam up at night because you were working on your house... or you were really really thirsty... or you were working on breaking up your plastic floor (that was quite a feat! I'm still in awe over the huge hole).

Remember when we called you Snowball sometimes because you still had all your baby fur? And remember when Victoria barbered you and you had naked patches? And then you got your old lady fur, which was all wirey.

All of my biology notes from this quarter have been nommed to bits by you.

I am going to miss you so much Ganymede. I hope you are happy and safe and warm with Vincent and Victoria, and even Mark and Liam-- although you didn't know them very well (they are very sweet; don't worry).

Much Love and Dental Work,
Clara and Sam