George & Henry

Well, even though it's only mid-afternoon, I shall blip, because I'm absolutely 100% sure what (or rather who) I'm blipping today!

Meet George (standing on his front paws) and Henry (lying on his tail). They are the newest and youngest members of the family, and are just ADORABLE! They were both 6 weeks old yesterday and I'm besotted with the little fellows already! George is an Agouti, and Henry is a Russian Blue Berkshire!

So, this morning started like a "normal holiday/weekend day" (get up late, pancakes and so on). Then I set out for the rat breeder's house to go and collect the little lovelies!

What a world! A whole SHED full of ratties, lovely ratties of all ages, sizes and colours. Sputniks with noses and tails peeking out (not just 2 like Charlie and Moses, but lots and lots of them), hammocks and baskets, and lots and lots of interested twitching noses!

And, in the midst of all this, in a cage with George's brothers, were George and Henry. We stood chatting about ratties and held one of them each, while they wriggled and sniffed and George decided to lick my little finger!

Other notable rats I met were a litter, slightly younger than George and Henry, and a very old man, who is around 3 years old and just gets up to eat then goes to sleep in a nest of bedding all day. I looked into a cage full of does and was greeted by a very lively lady, who was clearly wanting to know what a strange person was doing there - it turned out to be George's granny!

I've never even met any of my pets' parents before, let alone their grandparents!

And on the subject of grandparents, I noticed from the information I was given about Henry that his paternal grandpa was called Kinky Boots - how cool!

On the drive home I chatted to them and played them Bach's Cantata BWV140 on the car stereo (introducing them to the music that will feature strongly in their lives from now on) and when I got home the Wonderspouse admired them in their carry box. I took them upstairs to their waiting cage and there was just one stop before they settled in to their new home - the scales. George is 130g and Henry 160g. I shall monitor their weight as they grow - at the moment George weighs less than Laura the hyperactive hamstress!

Then I had post to unpack - various bits of rat paraphernalia and bedding - feels like a very ratty day today!

And now I'm giving the little chaps a few hours to settle in in peace while I have a rest on the sofa and nibble a few Christmas chocolates and so on. They look so SMALL in their sputnik - Charlie and Moses pretty much fill a sputnik the same size when they're both in there.

I think they have a bit of growing to do!

I shall certainly provide them with everything a much-loved pair of little ratties would want!

:-)