Fancy Rats in the Lion City!

Muji's grown into a strapping young rat




The blossoming of Lola...named her after an infamous 19th century courtesan, Lola Montez...google her and you will be surprised by her notoriety.

Will post up Rocco in his new home soon, courtesy of his new guardian, Julius!

Below is the link to this awesome 25min documentary shot in Australia about Fancy rat shows. It is really one great video and I seriously urge you to watch it. It's about keeping rats as pets, as well as on-site interviews with Fancy rat judges as well as competitors. I love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlIgS5uKUEk

Dear little Rocco will be going to his new home tomorrow. It's hard to let go but in order to keep peace, I need to. At this point, both Muji and Rocco gets along wonderfully but then once Rocco matures then they might engage in rivalry for Lola's attention.Male rats will get into serious tussles resulting in wounds as they have powerful teeth, however without the presence of a female, they can get along well with some light squabbles. In the case of the happy trio, the day will come when Lola will get in between both males.

Anyway, Rocco will be going to a very good home, his new owner is very experienced with keeping rats, and I was impressed with his large and spacious cage set-up for his existing ratties.

Rats do well in same sex pairings, and many breeders will insist on selling a pair of ratties rather than a solo one. This is to ensure that the rat will not be lonely, rats unlike hamsters are social creatures. They do well in pairs, and when you see a pair of rats sleeping together, with its snout resting on the other's back...you can't help but go...awwwwwwww

In future, when La Lola becomes a mother, I will have to ensure that the babies go to good homes as well. But til then, I hope to help share with others the joy of keeping these cuties in my journal.

Rats by nature are very clean animals...they spend lots of time grooming and cleaning themselves. When people talk about dirty rats, they are talking about the environment...namely a manmade environment like the garbage heap, drains and sewage. Rats in natural environment do not have to put up with such polluted environment. So who do we blame?



who says I smell? It's your shoe!

However, before we get all misty eyed about how malinged rats are, and how they make wonderful excellent pets (which is true)...we need to get practical about one thing...the smell.

Rats' pee do smell, and especially so for male rats. This is something that you either try your best to control with frequent cleaning, air fresheners, zeolite etc or simply put up with it. Rats themselves have virtually no odour but their urine do, and no matter how much cleaning, you do have to put up with a little whiff. It's part and parcel of keeping a rat.

Naturally, what type of housing plus bedding you use will make a difference. My ratties also use a litter box (yes, they can be litter trained) which helps.

My rats are placed right next to my bed, and with all my 'odour control', I still get a very light whiff now and then. If you can't handle any form of odour, don't get a rat or pets for that matter.

You must take responsibility for their well being as well. Rats' noses are very sensitive and can be subsceptible to respiratory problems due to ammonia build-up. Never keep them in a tank, as ammonia builds-up quickly. Feeder rats are commonly kept in large fish tanks because it's easy and holds in smell to the detriment of their health. To their keepers. they are just reptile food. For our pet fancy rats, they deserve far far better. So you should invest in a spacious cage, preferably taller than it is wide as rats love to climb. Wire cages are also good fun to climb, and ventilation is good.

Try to avoid galvanized wires as they hold in the smell. Coated wires or stainless steel is better for rat cages. Pick up a pet rat and smell it, you will know it doesn't smell at all...so remember dun blame smell on rat, blame it on housekeeping.

However, rats make such wonderful pets with their endless antics that a little whiff now and then is a small compromise. Dun you think so?

Had a huge scare just now...I was cleaning the pull out tray just now, and then forgot to push it back. The sound of scrabbling drew me back and I found La Lola and Muji both digging at the narrow gap...Luckily they were too big to crawl out and run.

Then my heart sank when I realize Rocco would be able to skip out easily and sure enough, the little RAT was missing! Argghhhh....

I went through the whole room with great anxiety as first I don't want to have all my wires chewed, as well as Hagar, my pet dragon chewed on as well.....this is so not happening

I then whipped out the power suction vacuum and went through the room with a vengeance, literally hoping to suck him out...no luck.

Finally after I almost gave up, I decided to look into my storage boxes for books, and found him staring innocently up at me with a 'Oh..I wonder where you been' look. I scooped him up, and he was quite calm and then deposited the fugitive back into Rat Alcatraz.

Phew...now I can sleep easy.

Muji's growing up fast...His pillows (polite term for his B**LS) are getting huge...anyway, at the tender age of 2 months, I caught him molesting La Lola, who being the flirt she is...at just 5 weeks, the little lolita actually seemed to welcome his attentions.

Drastic actions need to be taken....she's too young to become a mother, and Muji's way to young to father rat pups as well.

It's late now, and Muji's sleeping in his balcony while the babies sleeps in the pipe...

Have been thinking about the future situation for the 3 ratties. I am concerned that Muji and Rocco will one day be forced to choose between Lola and brotherhood, and knowing men.... LOL

I have more or less decided to house Lola separately but that would mean finding her another roommate so she would not get too lonely. Leaving her with any of the boys would mean babies, and I am not prepared to breed her until I have confirmed homes for the babies.

The other option is to rehome Rocco to a good home...though I am quite reluctant. It would be so cool to see Rocco as an adult with his gorgeous Mink coloration. I think best option is to house La Lola separately before the boys' hormones kick in. Muji might seem big but he's just 2 months... so still pretty much a baby.

They do look very happy together, no fights just some strong handed grooming from Muji at times, which could be a very subtle form of grooming, but no chasing at all. Rocco pretty much stays outta of the way, while La Lola always manages to find time to hang around the big boy.

As promised, this is a glimpse of their rattie castle :o) The blue & pink hammocks were hand-made by me, and I got the yellow plastic chain from DIY shop. I modified a tall bird cage as the bar spacing is narrow, not more than 3/4 inch for rats, and the height is good as rats love to jump and climb.

Today, I would like to share about my ratties and also about the ratty situation in Singapore. Muji is my first Fancy rat, and actually I got him together with his brother Fuji (now renamed Blanket) by his new family. Fuji was a light Champagne hooded with pink eyes, he actually looks like a typical Albino rat at first sight, but look closely and you can discern a faint hooded marking almost ivory in shade.

Muji himself is a cream/beige hooded with dark ruby eyes. Both their parents are feeder rat rescues, meaning their breeder saved them from a harsh reptilian fate. Sadly, from what I do know, many rats are basically treated as snake food in Malaysia and Singapore.

Both Muji and Fuji were super calm, having been well brought up by a caring breeder, a young lady who loves rats, hamsters and gerbils....as well as leopard geckos and other creepy crawlies...LOL

Miss Lola and Rocco were actually destined for execution when I rescued them from an untimely fate, their blue hooded brothers and sisters were more unfortunate, and I was quite upset at not being able to get them out of their situation in time. There's apparently a shortage of rats..and the snakes are hungry....

It was indeed a great blessing that all 3 rats get along very well. This is their second day together in Muji's home cage - and there were no ugly squabbles at all, and Muji acted like the perfect gentleman to his new housemates.

As Rocco is a boy, I was worried that Muji might not take kindly to a rival for Lola's affections. Well, I do see the seductive Miss Lola sharing Muji's coconut hut catching some intimate shut eye while Rocco hides out in the tunnel. Last night Rocco was spending quality time with his big bro in Muji's balcony right at the top of the cage.

Will take some shots of their rat mansion soon so you guys can have a better idea. Watch out for that!

Now for the local ratty scene, there are only a small handful of rat lovers locally...the 2 legged kind I mean. Most rats kept as pets are albinos, and quite a few originated from Farmmart where a lady is selling each for about $15. Expats who moved to Singapore and thought of getting a beautiful Fancy rat like in the US or UK are sorely disappointed by the lack of choices. I truly believe that many potential rat keepers are turned off by the lack of colors. Many people simply do not like albinos with the pinkish eyes and all. This is tragic because regardless of colors, rats have wonderful temperament and are absolutely delightful characters.

Albino rat below makes lovely pets:


This is where I come in, I want to bring the joy of rat keeping to Singapore, and I want to do it through this journal. It is important to first understand what keeping rat is about before one tries it. I have heard some gave up their rats because they didn't realize that rats get much bigger than mice, up to 500 grammes is not unheard of. Blanket's new owner has a female rat that's 700 gramme, almost the size of a small bunny...super cute. Some are not ready to committ the space required for a rat's home. Rats require large cages, small hamster cages are not suitable and are just way too small for an adult rat. An adult rat will not be able to squeeze through narrow hamster tubes. It's like keeping an arowana in a jam jar...plain cruelty.

However, the opportunity to do up your rat castle or mansion is simply a great boost for creativity. I made mine out of a tall bird cage, and I fashioned 3 levels with a small balcony, and hand-made hammocks. I also attach a yellow plastic chain for them to climb and play. Rats simply love to explore and play. It is really fun to watch them playing in their spacious homes. Rats are also thoughtful animals, they are fully conscious of what is going on around them, and unlike hamsters, they truly become hand-tamed and recognize their names and have different personality.

Rat homes come in many styles:

From cosy...


To Lavish!


Rats are among the most intelligent animals on Earth...on par with elephants and dolphins. The other factor about keeping rats that one should also consider is the smell.....that i will cover in more detail in my next entry. Til then....take care and rest well!

On behalf of my 3 lovable hooded rats, I would like to welcome all of you to their world...the world of the little Hoodinis!

Meet Muji, my beige/cream hooded dark ruby eyed male - Leader of the pack
His lovely mistress, Miss Lola MonCheeze - Lilac hooded black eyed female
and her boy toy, Rocco - Mink Hooded black eyed male

Let's show you the hooded gang, here's LOLA MONCHEEZE! A lilac beauty!



Below we have Muji - the big brother of the group at only 2 months, and young Rocco right at the bottom: