BROOK
(the rat formerly known as Brooks)
The habitants of alt.pets.rodents were correct. The rat (formerly known as Brooks) now known as Brook was female. As female as you can get. Thanks to the fine rodent fans of said group, I took Brook out of the boys cage and put her in a just cleaned ten gallon tank.
The next morning, she kept slamming the plastic box (used to ship my daytimer stuff) against the glass. I finally got up to move the box out when I noticed some squeaking. First, I thought it was from outside my bedroom door, where I had put the boys cage. They're always wrestling.
Then, I looked closer in the cage and saw little pink fingers. I wiped my sleepy eyes to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.
Babies.
Seven little, healthy (so far) pups. She was setting up her nest. When I had gotten up in the middle of the night, she had moved all the bedding to a huge pile in the middle of the tank. She had literally pulled a piece of paper from out of the bottom of the bedding and ripped it all up to create her nest, then spread the bedding back around the tank.
My thanks to those in the group who pointed out (after looking at pictures of her) that she was a girl and not a boy as we had originally thought. The timing was perfect.
She's doing great.
She's eating fine. I put a small dish of peas (she loves peas) next to her and she's finished half of it so far.
Babies will all be up for adoption at the appropriate time.
Stats
Name: Brook (the rat formerly known as Brooks)
Babies: 7, sexes unknown as of yet.
Date of Birth: December 6, 1998
Father: Unknown as of yet.
WHO KNOCKED UP BROOK?
Could it be the feisty Felix or the timid Claude? The gentle Oscar or the mentally challenged Monty? Here are the Vegas odds:
OSCAR - 4-1 odds
FELIX - 2-1 odds
CLAUDE - 3-1 odds
LUKE - 2-1 odds
MONTY - 10-1 odds
Brook is a very human friendly rat. She loves to climb over me. She loves peas. She's a huge rat packer. She'll hide food for days. She likes to be pet. She's clean and a very healthy girl who gets along with all her (former) cagemates. So half of the pups' personality will hopefully come from those qualities she possesses.
What about the father?
* If it's Felix, they'll be strong and feisty. Maybe aggressive. But definitely strong. Can take baths or put up with surgery with the best of them.
* If it's Oscar, the pups would be the most desirable rats you can imagine. With Brook's great human friendly qualities, and Oscar's gentleness, they'll be poster kids for rats as pets. They'll always want to be pet, they'll want to sleep with you, they'll want to be with you all the time. They'll hardly ever fight, except to play. They'll most likely never chew on anything precious (at least neither Oscar or Brook have).
* If it's Claude, they'll be gentle like Oscar, but also a little timid. Claude, who loves to play with Monty all the time, but is deathly afraid of Felix, loves to hide. He'll go places he's told not to and knows not to no matter how many times I tell him no. And he does understand the word "no." And they should be pretty too. But again, if Claude is the father, they will be very desirable babies.
* If it's Luke, they'll be very smart. Luke is far and away the smartest of my lot. He loves to play. When he was a baby, he would play with the big boys as if they were his size, despite the fact they were twice as big. If the Lukester is the dad, they will be really cool babies.
* If it's Monty, which is highly unlikely, it'd be hard to say what qualities they would get from him. Monty loves to play (with Claude mostly) but he had a stroke when he was younger and his real characteristics are hard to say. When he was little, he would always come on my chest and sit or play. Monty never stays put for more than a couple seconds, except to sleep, so it's unlikely he's the father. But then again, anything is possible.
If you'd like to reserve a baby,
email me. They're free and I'll deliver. You can watch their development right here.Thanks to everyone in alt.pet.rodents for their very appreciated help.