Baby Screamers

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beowuuf
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by beowuuf »

I've split this thread once, it's some other admin's turn - perhaps the fuzzle having admin who went OT in the firts place! :p
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cowsmanaut
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Re: Baby Screamers

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it's about babies, how is it OT? Baby rats are omnivores like us and can actually share our colds, flu, etc. They just happen to develop faster. As a grandfather of sorts I've had to step in and help out the stray find it's way back to mum. Keep them warm. make sure regular food was there.. as mum burns through food and water like crazy. For the two of us, it's like watching a film on child birth and raising. Some things will be similar, others will not. Took a while to get used to the regular screaming for example. In the beginning they rarely stopped, now they've settled. I know many human parents who have said the same. It's also exciting to now see them picking up little action of their parents and to understand how much of genetics is also instructions on how to do certain things. :) it also makes me wonder why humans and rats are so horribly defenseless? we're omnivores, not really predators. Yet our babies are prone, and scream without regard for their own safety. A baby deer, will lie still and quiet if there is a potential for predators. Anyway, the point here is that we have a lot in common despite the differences. These little ones growing peach fuzz equates to the same as the human child finally getting a full head of hair. The main difference is it all happens faster. Which is exciting to see how it all plays out, but reminds us to appreciate the time we DO have when we have our own children, because eventually that part has to end.

I'd like to seem more human baby stories in here for sure.. but since they do not seem to be forth coming .... I dunno.. to me babies are babies.. well, mamal babies anyway. Why must humans always segregate ourselves from the other species? I think the observation of birth and development is interesting beyond it's simple cuteness, and that the commonalities we share can also remind ourselves as parents or future parents that the world we pass on to our children should continue to contain the children of the various other species, and that our children understand their place in that world. :P
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T0Mi
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Re: Baby Screamers

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There is this unfinished reply in my "type_offline.txt":

"she is now fully grown (6 years) and looks so much alike her father.
She learned a whole lot from her mother too"
:

(click for the funny part)
Spoiler
- avoid manhole covers at -all- costs and don't ever step in puddles (there are horse-eating tigers in them)
- bite him from behind if he deserves, then run away and squeak (use your cuteness to your advantage)
- be nice to that human while the pockets are still full of treaties, THEN bite him.
- if you find yourself with a saddle on your back, wait till he is up there and then: send it flying. :-)
- you'll get the most fun knocking over the wheelbarrow when it's full!
- if a poopie got on your food, give him a funny look, he will do the job.
(combined first-hand exp and c/p from other maniacs)
Now this sounds like parents talk. :-) If someone happens to become a 'real' father, he'd interrupt the "whooo, wheee" by the announcement of the newcomer.
And then earn more "whooo, wheee". :wink:
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cowsmanaut
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Horses are up and walking pretty fast aren't they? I guess their personality expresses itself pretty fast. A lot of babies take a lot of time to show us who they are. We struggle to figure out whats wrong from something that has only one method of expression at first.... scream. Sure later they start to crawl/walk and grab things, bite, and various other things.. but at first you get very little from them.
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Re: Baby Screamers

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yes, it takes them about half an hour to stand and follow their mom and little more than a few hours to keep up to the pace of the herd.
I guess their personality expresses itself pretty fast.
To be honest: I have no idea, really. After all, I just saw maybe 4-5 horses grow up and only one so close as with my filly. And as with any kids you get to see every day, you hardly notice the change that is going on.
As I found my little one, he was just a few weeks old and I instantly not only knew he is the horse I'm looking for, but also without respect, aggressive at times and very dominant, so I knew there was a rough way ahead of me (and him). In times he got into puberty we were constantly fighting whos "wearing the trousers". At the very beginning for example it was impossible to stand near him, when he was eating. And it happend 2 or 3 times I've been knocked out unconscious and found myself laying on the ground, shirt torn away and covered in equine salvia. :shock:
I could tell more horsestories at this point, which probably could shed some light, but I won't. :-P
(look for "tschibi!" on the tube if you want to see him having his "crazy 5 minutes" and me doing the horse-talk)

Hey, and keep us updated on the fuzzies! I just love Ameena going "aww, cute". :D
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Jan
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Re: Baby Screamers

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T0Mi wrote:I just love Ameena going "aww, cute". :D
LOL, indeed, me too! It's worth it! :)
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by MasterWuuf »

I'm still trying to figure out what O.T. means.
Orc Tales?

Awww, cute. :D :P
"Wuuf's big brother"
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Off Topic
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Jan
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Re: Baby Screamers

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MasterWuuf wrote:Awww, cute. :D :P
Nah, it doesn't sound so great from you. :|
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by Ameena »

Rofl, Tia looks knackered in that pic ;). And aaaaaaaawwww the ickle bubbies are so cuuuute :D. They look as though they're nearly at the eye-opening stage. How old are they now?
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Omg. Until now I've never really realized they... they have... hands. I mean... hands. Omg. :shock:
How long until they will take over the world?
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Re: Baby Screamers

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T0Mi wrote:How long until they will take over the world?
[simpsons] Hail rats! [/simpsons]
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Re: Baby Screamers

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their eyes do open, but only for a short time, they are 15days old so just past the 2 weeks. They have sampled food, though only those containing milk. A little goat cheese and some yogurt drops with honey in them. Which of course you can expect.. all of them like the sweet little yogurt, though the goat cheese was more of a tough sell to some of them. Just like kids eh? go for the candy first.

Also their little hands become quite skilled.. right now they grip the drops to chew on them, or fingers to nibble and lick those too.. They are quite used to having hands in there which is great. and exactly what we wanted.. since both Tia and Henri came from pet stores where they were born in a cage with no real attention.. so they were rather unwilling to trust at first and took a lot of human rat time to get there. This way when they go to new homes they will be still a bit like "Who the hell are you?" but a lot easier to accept the new hand. Anyway, back to their hands.. they have little pads on them which give a great grip and both henri and tia use that grip to hold your finger for a bath, or to reach through the bars to grab things they shouldn't have and pull them into the cage :P We've learned this lesson many times.. like when Henri managed to catch the corner of a tissue and then ended up with the entire box in his cage.. just a small rat surrounded by white.. I was not pleased.. but now I think it's funny.

They are also jumping and wrestling now.. but again.. their awake time is only a minute or two and then they pass out again.. using all their energy to grow. :D
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by Ameena »

Aaaww, ratty temperament is affected by that of teh parents to some extent, but obviously exposing them to plenty of human contact will help loads too :D. Also if you poke your fingers through the bars at them and never feed them through the bars, they shouldn't ever learn to bite when you put your fingers through the bars - my boys never did. I'd poke a finger through and they'd all sort of excited in a kind of "Ooh! Ooh! What's that! Is it...is it...?" and sort of sniff it eagerly for a second, then sort of go "Ohh, it's just a finger, bleh, I can't eat that :P" and ignore it ;).
Regarding the tissue box thing, hehehe aaw that sounds cute ;). Have you tried giving them a whole bog roll? Maybe hang one up in their cage or something so they (well, maybe not the babies yet, but Tia anyway) can pull it all off as bedding and then demolish the empty tube as well ;).
Another great thing about rats is that you can make them toys so easily from bits of random crap in your house - anythign made of cardboard, for example. At college I used to make them various toys out of cardboard boxes and hide dog biscuits inside them for the fuzzles to dig out, then they could sleep in the box afterwards or something if they wanted :D.
So what does Henri do through all this? Does he have a friend to live with or is he on his own (rat-wise)? I suppose if any of the babies are boys you can put them in with him, maybe, when they're a bit bigger or something and once you've introduced them, obviously ;).
How many babies were there, again? And what are you gonna do with them? Keep them all or find new homes for them?
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Re: Baby Screamers

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When you stick a finger through for Henri he bows his head and leans in to be scratched... he's such a suck. I will put one of the rat boys in with him and one in with Tia. This way they both have buddies without having babies :P Henri is just fine with the babies already, the boys have gone to visit him a few times and he's always been made aware of them from day one. The cages are right against one another..
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Aaw cool :). Henri sounds so cuuuute...I presume you mean you will put one of the rat-girls in with Tia, not a boy, lol...
How old are Henri and Tia anyway? One thing I've seen done is for someone to keep rats in threes. That is, if they already have one older rat alone, put in ywo youngsters for company - that way, when the older one dies, the other two still have each other for company.
Can you move over here to England and live in Chatham or something so I can sneak into your house and cuddle them all every time I get a chance? ;)
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Re: Baby Screamers

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I'll move the chatter unrelated to the babies back to general... my last baby update on them will be weaning.. we'll see how that one goes :D Since so far they are eating the little bits of goat cheese and the yogurt things.. but haven't really tried anything else.

edit: just tried green grapes. Meant for Mum, but she turned her nose up at it for some bread.. the babies on the other hand swarmed the one little grape that I had to put more in.. HUGE success. Perhaps because they are both sweet and juicy.. but now they are fighting over them :P I can hear the complaints as I type :P
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Rofl aaaaw :D. When I first tried giving my boys a grape, they weren't sure what to do with it (sniffed at it a bit then left it alone), so I pierced the skin slightly so that some juice came out. I think a suitable term to describe the resulting reaction (when I put the pierced grape back in again) would be "Om nom nom!!!" :D. After that, I could put in unpierced grapes and they'd remember and just chomp down on them straight away.
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Re: Baby Screamers

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very bad news.. today I got up and tried to put my hand in the cage and all of them ran away from me, clinging to the back wall. Yesterday they were all swarming my hand licking it. I've done nothing I can think of to get this response and I can not for the life of me understand what it is. I don't know if anyone has heard of sudden behaviour changes in baby animals or humans?

update:
apparently I get to feel like the april food.. only it's not april yet.. after several hours worrying trying to handle them and spend time with them, watching them hold fully still or shiver in fear.. shrinking away from me.. suddenly.. I'm their best buddy again.. almost 2 mins after writing the above?? I had some help.. I gave them some parsley.. but that's hardly enough to cast out all fear?? is it.. just bring a treat and all is forgotten????
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Oo-er...that sounds weird. Presumably you didn't startle them with a sudden movement because you'd know if you did that and I'm sure you'd know not to. Maybe you'd been handling something that smelt weird (to them) and it made them freak out a bit? Or maybe before you went over, something else nearby had scared them and they were still scared when you approached? Our rat babies never freaked out like that - maybe it was just a weird random one-off thingy...
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Re: Baby Screamers

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cowsmanaut wrote:apparently I get to feel like the april food..
Is this a typo or some sort of metaphor I haven't heard yet that makes me go :shock:?
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Re: Baby Screamers

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april fool.. not food :P
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by T0Mi »

Couldn't it be one of them had a "being chased" dream, similar to those we tend to have from time to time? And then 'infected' the others with panic?
Maybe you'd been handling something that smelt weird (to them) and it made them freak out a bit?
like eh... morning breath? :-P
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Ahhh, April fool lol...that bit had me confused as well :D.
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Re: Baby Screamers

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well, Babies are seperated and weaned.. one more week before they can go to new homes.. some of them anyway. I know I can't keep them all easily.. not enough room for them to really have a great life if i kept all 12. we're going to keep half I think. It's no a matter of picking the ones we get along with best, which is hard.. one can be a brat one day, and a real sweetheart the next. All the boys except one are generally good natured, the females on the other hand have 2 that I get alone with always and the remainder seem to have this indifference towards me at times. A sort of .. "oh go away human and don't bug me" thing :P This of course led to me doing something bad today.. I gave the boys shrimp.. one each. The girls on the other hand didn't really get any.. I did put in two cut up, but Tia ate them all.. I'm not even sure she chewed... then i felt mean.. so I gave them some banana..

Anyone else get that? the infant human or animal is being a bit of a prick so you try to withhold a treat you had for them.. but then give in later on? :P
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by Ameena »

Aaaww, I hope they all get good homes, the ones you don't keep :). Girl rats tend to be a bit less "friendly" than boys. I mean, they can still like attention and stuff, but males tend to be more laid back and docile and stuff while females are usually more skittish and temperamental. Well, they can be - we had one called Nugget who would sit right against your neck if you put her on your shoulder, all nice and warm and furry :D. Males tend to be more content to lie down in the corner as a big furry blob or trot around at a moderate pace while females prefer to charge about everywhere and explore stuff. Of course, you can get females who like to sit around and males who don't understand the meaning of the term "sit still", but it tends to be more the other way round.
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Re: Baby Screamers

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Lucas:
Image
But I swear it's not venomous!
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by beowuuf »

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWw
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Re: Baby Screamers

Post by T0Mi »

Wow! I don't know what to say.

You're a Daddy now! :D

Congratulations!
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