If you weren't sure before, there's no question now. These are real rats. They do everything rats do. Wash themselves. Drink out of the water bottle. Eat regular food. Play around. Climb. Dig. Hide. They are reaching their cuteness quotient. I wish everyone could come over and look at them. They are great little ratties.

I came home yesterday and found that the boy's cage had been opened. They had gotten out. It was my own fault. I hadn't latched their entrance correctly. With super scientist rat Luke in the cage, if there's an opening, he'll find it. I looked around and found that all three of the, Luke, Claude and Monty had gravitated toward my room and were all lying around in there. Then I noticed that the bathroom door where I had Brook and the babies in their tank was slightly open. I rushed in there to find the lid had been moved over, most likely by Luke. Brook was gone and I couldn't find the babies. I was scared s**tless! I wasn't concerned that Brook was loose with the boys. I was worried that the boys might have eaten the babies. It was Monty who I was most afraid of. He's messed up in his head and doesn't know what he's doing. If he got near the babies, he would surely kill them. I looked all around. I found Brook running around my room by herself. Luke and the others were just kind of lounging around (Felix, by the way, is in his own cage in my living room). I looked under the bed, under blankets, in the boy's cage, everywhere. I couldn't find the babies.

I was praying that they'd be alright, but I was looking for carcasses now. I just couldn't find them. I went back into the bathroom and looked in their tank. They were under their towel. All of them. Safe and sound. I'm sure Brook made sure they were safe their. She is as good a mom as can be. They were happy to see me and moved all around my hand. That was a huge relief. I started handling them right there, so happy to see them all okay. Brook came up and did her usual climbing all over me (I had separated her from the boys by this time). I'm scared to say, but I assume she must be knocked up again. Luke is the one who tries to get to her the most. I don't know how long she had been with the boys, but it was at least for a couple hours. Maybe I'm lucky and nothing happened. She's a quick little girl, that Brook.

As I played with a couple of the babies in my lap as she climbed all over me, she moved to my lap and took one of the babies and started running away. I knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted the boys' cage. She took the baby right into the cage and placed him under a blanket in the cage (the boys were in my room at the time). She quickly moved back to her tank and got another baby. At first, I was going to stop her. But then I thought, the babies are growing so fast, it wouldn't hurt if they had the boy's cage for a week or two. I could put Luke and Claude in the tank for a while (Monty stays in a smaller tank by himself at night because he causes too much havoc amongst the boys). The babies won't be here for long, so it couldn't hurt if they had the cage. Plus, there was much more room in there for them to run around and play.

Once in the cage, the babies went wild. They loved it. They were climbing all over the walls, all through the tubes, under the blankets, on top of the bottles, everywhere. They dug tunnels in the bedding, wrestled and shared corn and beans with their mom. They also still tried to get milk from her too. I haven't seen her feeding them when I'm around, but I notice them follow her and try to get milk. She usually moves around.

The babies are eating really well. So far, they're eating everything I give them: peas, corn, beans, cheese, cheeseballs, regular rat food, etc.. I've seen a few of them getting water from the water bottle. They also really love to snuggle together in an old shirt I threw in the cage for them. They've got it all nested out and comfortable.

Dusty got in the hammock and couldn't get down.

Every single one of them looks great. Their fur has come in nicely. They're all active healthy. So far, the whole progress has been perfect. Brook has been a very good mother and the babies have come along great.

The little beige one (the golden girl I call her) is the prettiest of them all. Her fur is so nice and she is the friendliest of the babies. She is always the first one to come to me when I approach the babies. She's a great little rat. I really haven't named her yet since I won't be able to keep her, so I'm letting whoever the lucky person that gets her have that honor, unless I can't find an owner for her for a while. I don't want her getting too old without a name. I'm hoping someone will claim her asap, name her and then when she's ready to go, she'll have learned her name by then.

Dusty is a playful little tyke too. He looks the most like his mom out of the bunch. One of his sisters has the same coloring, but more white on her sides. He's a fun little guy.