a tail of rattas

proper introduction to my girls and boys...
*pictures to come later*

Bellis (black hooded)
so named because the markings on her right shoulder look like a flower, (bellis is the latin for daisy). she’s somehow ended up with the nickname ‘Belly’. appropriate seeing as she is getting a bit of belly, and definitely likes her food. she is so much like Gytha it’s unbelievable. even in the way she looks at me sometimes, and her whole personality. if I was buddhist i’d say she is the re-incarnation of gytha. she has this look she gives me when she wants to come out - i think it’s her pleading look - where her ears are pushed as far down the side as her head as possible, like she’s trying to be a dumbo rat. it works every time. i think mainly because it reminds me so much of her sister, Lil Lottie, who died at 6 weeks old.

Lyra (black berkshire)
very very shy. i’ve spent hours and hours with these girls and Lyra is still shy and wriggle and anti-human. think that’s just her personality though. i try not to take it personally. i notice glimpses of her trying though. like last, i was playing with Bellis in the cage, and she was hanging out very close, perching on my hand at one point. but when i moved my hand to stroke her she ran off. i am determined to crack it with her.
and i’m determined to make her like the others. the 4 girls are still living apart, and it’s mainly due to Lyra. even with a slice out her ear for her troubles she’s still not giving up the fight.
she has a gorgeous berkshire belly, with the white bit spliting and going up to each forearm.

Pantalaimon (black self)
so named because she’s black like Lyra and i had grand hopes of them becoming best friends. she’s a delicate little girly. i’m starting to wonder if she was the runt of litter because she’s so little. loves her mummy, totally. i open the door and she’s on me in less than 5 seconds. during intros with the Belly and Lyra she’s more interested in trying to get to me, when i’m cleaning her cage out she wants to be with me. she just loves me for some reason. and i’m not complaining. it’s great to have so much attention off a rat!
has an annoying habit of trying to clean my teeth for me. i’ve never had any rat do this and now i have three (the boys as well). but my little Pansy is the master of it - she even goes for the wisdom teeth, until i get scared i’m going to choke on her. and i have no choice - if i refuse to open my mouth for her she pulls them open with her paws, and she has VERY sharp nails!
currently sporting the permanently surprised look, because of mites. the only part of her affected was above her eyes, and now she has two little bald spots.

Lily (silver fawn hooded)
the start of my (and nat’s) GMR problems (GMR = get more rats). i saw an post on the ratty forum i go one for 2 little sisters that needed a home: Lily and Poppy. me and the original girls (Bellis and Lyra) were still pretty upset from Lottie dying, and i thought we could all do with some more playmates. i fell in love with them because of their colour - i’d never had ‘ginga’ rats before. turns out Poppy was going to keep a lone rat company, but Lily now had 3 little black friends to play with. so I had Lily and Pan and nat took the other two. (nat then went on to get another 4, including a disabled ratta!)
she is an adorable cheeky little minx. she vibrates when she comes out after the boys. she is very licky, but doesn’t like smuggling me much - prefers to go off exploring. but when she’s had enough of that, she’ll come and curl up down my jumper. the mites got her two, and worse than pan - had a big bald patch on her side for while which is growing back nicely now. she was very good about me putting the cream on her. in fact, when she saw me putting the glove on (i don’t need the steroids!) she would come running over and wait patiently for me to adminster it. she’s also good at playing bowling on the wii with uncle john.

Vimes (pale silver fawn/champagne hoodie)
my big squishy boy :D the fault of GMR and a little bit of me telling adam how squishy boys are supposed to be and him wanting to see for himself. Vimes stole my heart on their rehoming post - he was about 10 weeks old and looking like the most adorable little white rat i had ever seen. out of his 7 other brothers i chose Modo as well. Vimesy boy had his baby moult and turns out he wasn’t white after all and actually a gorgeous greyish hoodie.
he can be a bit of a grumpy sod when he wants to be - bit me twice while was out the other night - but i have threatened him with cutting his (disproportionally huge) ratty balls off and he has behaved ever since. he is another teeth licker/jumper sitter. these boys have finally discovered the joys of hammocks and now i can’t get them to shift out of them.

Modo (silver fawn berkshire)
ssh!! Adam’s favourite. named after the gardener in the unseen university in the discworld books (and Vimes his the head of the nightwatch). small than Vimesy but even squisher. he’s very gentle and loving, but when he’s out he never sits still. he’s also cheeky - stole half my toastie the other night!
he really does have the cutest little face. i think he has picked up on the fact he’s daddy’s favourite and boy does he milk it! he made a good first impression on my mum as he widdled on her! he likes chicken soup (and toasties).