Scruffians Rattery

Author: scruffians

  • Rats on the pet bus

    Rats on the pet bus

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    Costs (for up to 4 rats):North Island – Pet bus: $75 Carrier: $30 Drop off: $30 TOTAL: $135South Island – Pet bus: $98 Carrier: $30 Drop off: $30 TOTAL: $158 I’m happy to send rats out of Auckland on the pet bus. You can find out all about the process on the pet bus website…

  • NZ Rat Markings

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    These are the makings that can be seen in NZ rats.

  • NZ Rat Colours

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    These are the that colours that can be found in New Zealand.

  • Rat Colour Genetics

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    It took me quite a while to get my head around rat colour genetics because information specific to the colours we have in New Zealand is really limited. We have significantly fewer colours than overseas and this means that almost all the information I could find online was way over complicated and confusing. I think…

  • Temperament Scoring

    Temperament Scoring

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    Up until now I’ve just judged my rats’ temperament by the overall feel of them, but the other day I found a grading system for temperament and decided to write a similar one to use on my own rats and future babies. (Feel free to use/modify it as you like!) A lower score suggests a…

  • Introductions

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    Rats are social animals and need to live with at least one friend. However, it can sometimes be a bit of a process introducing a new rat to into a group. I have found that, usually, new rats are happily living with the others within a few days, but sometimes it can take a few weeks to…

  • Rattie Food Diary

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    One of the very best things about rats is that they can eat almost anything. That means you can use them for cleaning up your leftovers and you never have to worry if you forgot that they needed more food while doing your grocery shopping and went home without it. To give an idea of…

  • Rat Growth – One to Two Weeks Old

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    This post tracks the growth Blink and Otter’s 13 babies during their second week (you can read about their first week here). [one_half][/one_half][one_half_last]The babies have grown quite a bit more hair in just 24 hours and now have super shiny, velvety coats. They also have fingernails! I’m pretty confident there are 4 boys (2 hoods,…

  • Marking Genetics

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    I’ve found it quite hard to find information on rat genetics that’s relevant to New Zealand. We have a very limited number of colours and markings compared to other countries due to import laws so often the information online is confusing as it talks about genes that we don’t have here. The genetics of the…

  • Toilet Training Rats

    Toilet Training Rats

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    Rats are pretty clean animals, and are usually easy to toilet train. If you are planning on toilet training rats you’ve already had for a while you’ve probably noticed they do the majority of  poo in one or two areas of their cage. Take note of the most popular poop spot. Now you need to find…