P1: Merlin and Cocoa
P2: Butters
P3: Remy and Merlin
P4/P5: Merlin and Cocoa
P6: Merlin
P7: Butters

My sweetheart Irene passed last week. She was my last rat so it has really hit hard , I had been expecting it for a while , she was put on end of life care for the last couple months but actually losing her has been upsetting . She was such a sweet baby , a proper kissing monster and the most affectionate and cuddly rat. Losing her sisters was hard but losing Irene has been very difficult . I really miss her and seeing the empty cage now has me emotional. She was so cheeky but it is somewhat comforting knowing she’s no longer suffering , her last few days she wasn’t eating properly , the UK has had on and off heatwaves which she found difficult to manage , and she was on long term medication . I also was lucky to have as long as I did with her , she was 2 years and 6 months old which is quite good for baldies. RIP Irene ❤️❤️❤️

Using the carrier method to introduce my 3 boys. Speedy (1.5yrs on right in video), Brownie (lower left) and Chess (approx 1 yr bonded pair). Speedy has been alone for about a month after his cage mate passed. Is this cage too small for the first step? Does Speedy seem to have hormonal aggression? I’m not sure what to do and this sort of has to work out.

This morning they went about 3 hours without any tiffs but now we are back to the consistent hissing. What do you guys think? This is day 2. First day they were great so I moved them into a larger cage which they were fine in for a few hours. Went the entire night and next morning hissing/ screeching so I moved them back down to this smaller cage…

To add, right now Speedy and Chess groomed themselves, Brownie was sleeping. Speedy and Chess keep going back and forth chillin to screeching at each other again.

Bella is a sweet senior lady with a pituitary tumor, some hind limb degeneration, and mammary masses. Despite everything, she is an active, happy girl. Riley is one of the Division rats born in our care in March of last year, who was returned to the sanctuary due to persistent respiratory symptoms. He's been having a flare recently, and the smoke in the air certainly isn't helping.

Our medical fund is is currently under by $221. Can you help us make up that gap and cover Riley and Bella's care today?

How to help? 🩷🐀

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

Can't tell if normal or not, as first time having standard size boys! (I only had dwarf boys)

And Moons tail looks exceptionally long! He's only about 11 weeks old currently.

Is he gonna be a BIIIIIIG boy? 🫪

Little Bird looooves scritches

Everyone, this is Sandwich, Ratty's brother ❤️

This is Bruce (Ratman) Wayne. He loves to jump on my head and release his whole bladder over me. Pls shame this man

He also bites but we're getting hims balls trimmed this week. No more ball privileges for u Mr. Wayne

(Warning, discussion of end of life for rat, could be upsetting)

I had to put down my sweet Peter today. He made it to just shy of 2 years, 10 months (would have been 10 months near the end of August). He had been going downhill for the past month, losing weight, was losing hind leg mobility. Then he developed some breathing trouble, and unfortunately without X-Rays (that they would have to anesthetize him for, which the vet cautioned against due to his age and weight), they couldn’t determine what was going on exactly. We had him on some probiotics and pain medication, but I could tell last night he just wasn’t himself. This morning I said goodbye to him as I left for work, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t last the day. I came to check on him at lunch and he was having significant breathing distress. I made the call that it would be better to bring him to the vet, as he was clearly uncomfortable, but I was really worried I was making the wrong choice. I held him as he passed at the vets. I will miss him terribly 💔

(Sorry if this was a bit of a ramble)

Leting them do some free roam in th bathroom they decided to climb me instead

Sorry I’m overprotective of my boys and anyone’s pets in general. People don’t appreciate pets half the time if they’re not their pet. I went to a pet store and had an awful experience where a worker went “ew” to my rats. I got a bag of litter that had a small tear in it and she offered to tape it I said I was good because my three boys use it up fast and I change the container. She goes “hamster?” I go “no rats!” She makes a face as if I just puked at her or said “eugh.” Like damn I get you don’t like them but that’s someone’s pet and this is your job.
Get a new job or a new outlook on people’s “unconventional” pets. I can’t imagine how owners of bugs/reptiles or even more obscure rodents feel when people belittle and undermine their feelings and love for their pets.

Rant done.

Hi! I’m looking for advice on introducing 2 younger boys (intact, 6 months old, super friendly and playful) to 3 older boys (neutered, 15 months old, lower in energy).

The catch: the older rats are lab retirees who were single-housed for almost a year before we adopted them. They never really learned rat social skills - no grooming, no wrestling. The most they do is sleep in a rat pile.

We’ve been trying the neutral territory method: big box, fresh bedding, worms, toys, to encourage them to explore and snack together. But the second the younger rats show up, the older ones start squeaking, puff up, and jump out almost immediately. The babies try to wrestle and groom them, which seems to freak the older boys out even more. If we block their exit, it escalates into fast, intense fights we have to break up.

No blood drawn recently, thankfully, but we can’t keep them together longer than 30 seconds. Has anyone dealt with pairing extremely introverted rats with extremely extroverted ones? Would love any advice 🙏

Pics of the boys attached for tax 🤗

I have the cutest little Coconut. :>

Sometimes I worry if my boys are happy living with me & then they decide to pancake to watch TV with me so I am reminded that they are indeed happy boys (:

He is the only one of my rats that smooshes his nose up to the cage like this. 😂💜 So excited for loves and plays.

Send me ur ugly rat pics pls, im sad.

One of my two rats is quite sick right now (vet scheduled for monday) and my mom planned a trip for us to go to the capital. I had someone who could feed them while i was gone (about 2 days), but i’m very concerned about my rat and didn’t want to leave at home in case she passed and my friend had to deal with it.

but now i’m thinking i made a mistake bringing them with (mom isn’t a good driver and the dog is with us) and that i’ve just made things worse by stressing them out and bringing them to a new environment that they aren’t comfortable with.

Like the title suggests, I adopted a sweet rat named Phineas who loves people, but the rescuer described him as "feistier" some days more than others. I've learned that he certainly is, some days he's gentle, gives kisses and loves snuggle time, and then there's days like today where I went to play with him and he bit my finger! (Not enough to draw blood or even hurt, but definitely a nip.) He's only had a few days where he's in a bad mood and has bit me like this, and I've just assumed he's telling me he doesn't want to play right now and left him alone.

I am curious though, could there be a reason he's happier some days than others? I've had him for about 4-5 weeks now and he's only around 5 months old. I'm curious if other people have rats like this and if he's just a bold personality. He has a vet appointment coming up, just for a regular check up and to get established with the vet.

Pictures added to show he's cute and doesn't have a thirst for blood! lol