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Rat litter born today!
Feb. 22nd, 2024 06:21 pmThe heatwave dropped to normal summer by Wednesday, high 20s-low 30s. I think it's had a flattening effect. I've been more bleh than usual, that's for sure, though temp was down enough to do some gardening today as well as working on the Zombie Epic. Aaand tomorrow it's back up to 40^C hereabouts, so I guess at least I get to use work's aircon and not my own on Friday.
This time next year that won't be the case, because the litter from which I'll be choosing a couple of boy rats was born today. So far there's no news but "pink grubs" and "at least 12" from Alison. Rats are very undeveloped when born and won't even open their eyes for another two weeks.
Why boy rats? Well, I happened to start with them and it's easier to keep to one sex because having both in one house tends to lead to more rats that you didn't plan for. I also discovered that male rats, which grow larger than females, are less athletic than girls, so ratproofing your house is less difficult with boys. For instance, in Alison the rat breeder's house, parts of it are sectioned off for the male and female rats. The boys have a barrier that's about a metre high or a bit less, which you step over to go in and out. The girls have a barrier that's at least, um, a metre and a half and also a section attached to the top that curves over, making egress more of a problem for any energetic type who manages to get up that high. And they do. There's a gate you have to open and close quickly.
When ratsitting a friend's 'teenage girl' rats, I saw one of them climb the jamb of my closed bedroom door, up to head height on me - so 5 and a half feet, I'm stuck in imperial for my height - so that she could dive into the backpack I had hanging on a hook there. The boys don't even try to do that sort of thing. I think it's the way their backsides spread out, and also they get dragged down by their torpedoes.
All that's probably tmi, sorry.
In weather stats; on Monday, which was the night the temperature only went down to a minimum of 28^C from a max of 43^C, the 15 highest temperatures on the planet were here in Western Australia. Go us? Carnarvon missed out on their record by one point of a degree - 49.9^C.
This time next year that won't be the case, because the litter from which I'll be choosing a couple of boy rats was born today. So far there's no news but "pink grubs" and "at least 12" from Alison. Rats are very undeveloped when born and won't even open their eyes for another two weeks.
Why boy rats? Well, I happened to start with them and it's easier to keep to one sex because having both in one house tends to lead to more rats that you didn't plan for. I also discovered that male rats, which grow larger than females, are less athletic than girls, so ratproofing your house is less difficult with boys. For instance, in Alison the rat breeder's house, parts of it are sectioned off for the male and female rats. The boys have a barrier that's about a metre high or a bit less, which you step over to go in and out. The girls have a barrier that's at least, um, a metre and a half and also a section attached to the top that curves over, making egress more of a problem for any energetic type who manages to get up that high. And they do. There's a gate you have to open and close quickly.
When ratsitting a friend's 'teenage girl' rats, I saw one of them climb the jamb of my closed bedroom door, up to head height on me - so 5 and a half feet, I'm stuck in imperial for my height - so that she could dive into the backpack I had hanging on a hook there. The boys don't even try to do that sort of thing. I think it's the way their backsides spread out, and also they get dragged down by their torpedoes.
All that's probably tmi, sorry.
In weather stats; on Monday, which was the night the temperature only went down to a minimum of 28^C from a max of 43^C, the 15 highest temperatures on the planet were here in Western Australia. Go us? Carnarvon missed out on their record by one point of a degree - 49.9^C.