Tuesday, September 21, 2010

PRINCESS MARIGOLD: New Addition to the Real Raw Rattie Family

Hello! Meet Marigold! She's the new raw rattie in town! She came to join Cat last Thursday...
Mari: Bounding with Energy!
Cat was at work and the man there said he was going to take her to the pet store. What?! She had been living with another female rattie, who passed away, and the family felt that they weren't paying much attention to her. So, it was a trip to the pet store---and possible euthanization as Marigold is over a year old (and who'd want to adopt such an "old" rattie anyway?).
Step in the heroine: ta-da: Cat came to save the day and rescue the fair lady rattie.
"Sure, I'll take her home with me," Cat told the family.
The man gave her a box and she punched some holes in it. On the bus ride home, Cat frequently made sure to check up on the silent missy, offering her finger, at times, as a means of comfort that she was right there if she needed it.
And what a missy indeed! What a flirt!!
Cat figured there might be some action, heck, even some trouble, when boy met girl, or male rattie met female rattie.
Marigold was in heat! Zuko was trying to catch her all night, but this one, she's got energy, boy!
Mari (her nickname, pronounced Maw-ree), would hunker down, wiggling her little tush and ears. She'd wait and then, when Zuko approached and was quite close, she'd bound away! Zuko never seemed to tire of trying to catch her, but it seemed clear that she had the advantage. Running all over the kitchen, it was apparent that she was the jogging queen. Zuks, he remains the rock climber!
Zuko, in the end, actually seemed to be winding down...or was it that he was trying a new approach? Mari was flirting boldly with him; he'd be trying to find where she'd gone and hid herself, and she would pop over to see him, almost rubbing noses with him as if to say, "Here I am!"
Zuko became quieter, almost stopped chasing her, in fact. He appeared to be...waiting.
Cat got tired of watching the ratties run around in the kitchen and went to watch a movie with Daddy. They both heard squeaks and squeals...Later, Cat found the mucous plug in Mari, indicating that Mari was no longer as pure as when she first arrived.
WOW! So much action happened in one night! The REAL RAW RATTIE family got a new addition, Zuko had a hot and steamy date, AND a long-term girlfriend that he knocked up in the first night. THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, MARI IS PREGNANT!
Well, that last part might be tweaked a bit as Cat researched that ratties can have lots and lots and LOTS of babies...and it wouldn't be fair to be putting multiple pregnancies on Mari, especially with her age.
Indeed, female ratties go into heat every 5 days. They can have multiple litters and the number of babies, or ratlets, can be between 6-15, possibly even up to 24!!
Cat isn't sure what plan of action to take after the ratlets are born: she may neuter Zuko or else she will have to keep Zuko and Mari in separate cages. The latter seems a might unfair; a bit of an understatement as Zuko was having a royal fit. Cat had separated Mari and Zuko for the night, not wanting to hear all the mating noises (ratties can mate up 100 times in 24 hours!!). Zuko, being Zuko of course, was having none of it! He eventually settled down, but only after: throwing over his water dish, overturning his litter box, dismantling the staircase and biting the cage wires. Ah, Zuko!
The next day, Cat washed the cages and put them together. Zuko was also put out because he LOVES his BIG HOME INTACT. He loves having TWO rooms for himself and climbing up to where his room is located, right under the penthouse floor. Now, of course, he's been sharing his quarters with Princess Mari. She's all female, all right!!! She's already made attempts at re-decorating the place, removing what she purports is too many papers in the bedroom and (just today) displacing the contents of the litter box (stinky already?!).
Mari and Zuko have ceased to mate, but Zuko still chases her around, playing and teasing her. She has tons of energy, loves to jog and even bounded up onto the kitchen/living room barrier! Zuko and Mari play in the long plumber's tubes, hide behind the kitchen cart- Mari is even small enough to squeeze behind the wall and the home cage! Like Zuko, she loves to climb the cage and check the view from on top....They certainly seem like a match made in heaven!... Let's see what happens when the kiddies arrive and what kind of parents they are going to be!! That should be in 2 1/2 weeks! Stay posted on events until then!
Ps. Cat is doing a JUICE FAST!
PPS. Better and MORE pics of Princess Mari & Prince Zuko (and the RAW RATTIE TRAIN) coming soon!

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