Scruffians Rattery

And finally this crew of accidental babies! Their eyes are open and they're wiggling all over the place now

And here are Opalite's little cinnamon rolls, absolutely thriving and growing like weeds in their foster home. It wont be long until their eyes are open and they get to the super cute stage

Here are River's little ones - growing well and colouring up :)
I was expecting 50% agouti in this litter but 6 out of 9 are gingers - there should definitely be some cinnamon in there but there's a chance of fawn and argente too. And maybe even pink eyes (silverfawn and apricot)

We really really need some more good rat breeders in NZ. Over the last few years a few of our most longstanding breeders have stopped or put their breeding on hold while they do other life things and left a bit of a void. I've heard through the grapevine another really big (but quite unethical) breeder is winding down so there's plenty of room for newbies.

The NZ Fancy Rat Society is a super supportive group of breeders and rat people who are always keen to help people start up (me in particular). We can help you with everything - finding rats from carefully bred healthy families, sharing studs, getting set up with cages etc, finding homes for babies, helping with the care, ethics, and husbandry side of things, and just generally being supporters and cheerleaders.

A couple of my current litters should be pretty good to breed on from if anyone wants to work on the fluffy line, and if you'd prefer to focus on markings there will be some potentially suitable future breeders born (hopefully) toward the end of the year.

Breeding is incredibly rewarding and, once you're set up, not a super expensive hobby (usually). My first litter was born in 2017 and I'm more than 10 generations down in some families! Here's a pic of a lovely golden family - starting from my first stud Rufio, all the way down to my potential future breeding boy Tiger Stripes. I could have added a few more generations in there if I had gone down the maternal line but it wouldn't have been so matchy matchy 😆

Look at the pretty pretty markings in this litter! I love it when you get berks and hoods in the same litter - it makes them so much easier to tell apart at a glance. Some of these little ones will be looking for new homes at the end of next month. Who's your favourite?

River's little ones are here! All looking OK, though some have little scratches on their backs - likely from River pulling them out with her teeth😬 They're all full of milk and look strong and healthy though. There are 9 and a mixture of agouti and lighter shades I think going by their eye colour.

River is still holding on to her babies but is VERY round so surely they'll be here soon.

Opalite had her babies on Tuesday - 7 beautiful round healthy looking little ones. They're doing really well in their foster home though Opalite is being a bit of a shark - hopefully she'll settle down soon when her hormones ease off a bit. They're the pale babies - cinnamon for sure and maybe argente and apricot too.

In a major opps, one of the little ladies from my last litter went to her new home pregnant! The boys cage is now locked so there's no chance of the kids putting a baby back in the wrong cage. Luckily her new person was very keen to give breeding a go, so I set her up with all the things she'll need and she's doing a wonderful job raising the litter. Her little girl had 11 babies and is doing really well with them. They're the dark babies - black and agouti (can you spot the difference in colour at this age?)

Some of these little ones will be looking for new homes at the end of July so make sure you're on the wait list if you're keen - lots of fluffy expected in these litters!

https://scruffiansrattery.co.nz/adopt/

Avaliable ratties!

I have 3 sets of little friends looking for new homes. I've talked to a few different people about them but I've forgotten who - so if youre keen please comment here or send me a pm :)

2 baby girls, ready to move out on or after the 16th:
Scruffians Wind in the Willows (Willow) - agouti berkshire
Sruffians Xtream Ways (Moby) - agouti hood (fluffy/nz angora)

Willow is one of the 'terrible trio' from her litter - the ones who are always sneaking out when the kids open the cage, the ones who are having a full on wrestling match on top of their mum when shes trying to snooze, the ones who will climb your leg while you're mid step to get a shoulder ride. They're exactly how I like my girl rats and I'll be keeping one to carry on the family. Willow is a best friend/heart rat kind of girl. (First 2 photos)

Moby is as sweet and demure as she looks in her photo. A real cuddle bug and an extra fluffy fluffy rat. She's a bit of a homebody and a bit lazy so whoever gets her will have to keep an eye on her weight. She's a little angel. (Second 2 photos)

2 wild and free late-teens ready to move out whenever a suitable home comes along:
Scruffians Tomb Raider (agouti slightly variberk)
Scruffians Teensy Weensy (black variberk)

These two were returned when their people could not longer keep them. The'yre coming up to 6 months old and have had a great start to life. Theyre very well socialized and a bit over the top like their mum and auntie. They've only been back a couple of hours and Teensy has already piloted a Lego spaceship, stolen half a marshmallow, and attempted to hitch a ride on the dog. If youd like to add some chaos to your life these are your girls. (Phots 5 and 6 are them as kids, ill get some updated ones ones soon - theyre still just as cute!)

2 12ish week old boyos, ready to move out now:
Scruffians Ulidon Spider - cinnamon berkshire boy (fluffy) and his hooded bestie from Winnie's Rattery

These two are typical fluffy line boys. Sweet as honey and a bit dumb. Spider is happy for my 2 year old to carry him round all day and just dangles like a noodle from her sticky litte hands. Hes a saint. (Photo 7, 8, 9 and 10)

Opalite is having a holiday with a potential new breeder who will be raising her litter. Here she is on the day she left looking not very round yet. She was probably only about half way through her pregnancy but she's due any day now!

Babies will be cinny berks with a chance of other agouti based dilutes (maybe apricot and argente) and hopefully fluffies.

If anyone else is interested in breeding, fostering a litter is a great way to start out! You get to learn the ropes with the support of experienced breeders, and don't have to worry about buying anything extra or finding homes for the babies (unless you want to). I really love helping new breeders start out so get in touch if you think you'd like to start your own rattery :)