OUR RATS - Males
On this page you'll meet someof our cuddly boys, who all live together.
"Carawatha Zephrum" - (pic1.1)
Named after the star-trek character Zephrum Cochrane. He is the alpha-rat of the bunch. He is also the oldest.
He's very people orientated and loves to be cuddled.
He is a hooded lavender and was the first of this colour with a traceable background, which gave us vital information into the nature of this colour. Previously this colour had been called both smoke and powder blue. It has since proven to be the non-agouti version of our Fawn rats A-rr.(lavender is aarr). Overseas the aarr rats are much paler, (but then so are their fawns) often due to the presence of the gene for chocolate(bb) which, as yet, we don't have here in Australia, and are usually called beige.
SHOW HISTORY:
Zephrum has been to one show in October 2000. where he took out best in his pigment class(colour) and 2nd in his breed class.
BREEDING HISTORY:
Zephrum has been a daddy three times. His first litter of 11, born in May 2000, was to "Lacock Abhey" a Cinnamon Berkshire. Out of the 4 fawn babies(2 hooded & 2 berkshire) we kept one little berk lady "Carawatha B'elanna". Of the 7 cinnamons in the litter(2 hooded & 5 Berkshire) one little berk fellow "Carawatha Stat" went to a fellow fancier, Robyn Arthur here in Brisbane.
Zeph's 2nd litter of 9 bouncing ratpups was born in September 2000, to an Agouti DU hooded female "RatmanDU Melisande".
From this litter we kept two of his daughters. "Fortune Found" & "Mystery"
His third litter of 8 was born in November 2000, to a Fawn hooded female named "Carawatha Pocahontas".
From this litter we also kept two of his daughters. "Gnala" & "Genie in a bottle".
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"RodentRanch Morpheus" - (pic 1.2)
Named after the character from the Matrix movie, Morph is the "2IC"(2nd in charge), although he tries hard to be the boss, Zeph is just not ready to give up his position just yet.
Morph is the 2nd oldest boy, and though he'd rather eat than cuddle, he's one of the first out to greet you.
Morpheus is a DownUnder Spotted black. He is the first DU Spotted we got and is a good example of what the standard calls for. He came from Cindy Cairns in NSW.
SHOW HISTORY:
Morpheus has not been to a show as yet. This is due to the fact that DU spotted has only just recently been standardised.
BREEDING HISTORY:
Morpheus has sired one litter(of 11) to an agouti DU spotted female
"Carawatha Emou O'Hara" in September of 2000.
From this litter we originally kept one of his daughters. "Scarlett O'Hara" also an agouti DU spotted. However while we were overseas, and our ratties were still here, in someone else's care, she fell ill and we lost her.
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"Carawatha C'ezanne" - (pic 1.3 - coming soon)
He is from the line I call my "sad-sack line". and has displayed all the wonderful traits of this line right from the start. His father, "Carawatha Banjo" was one of the biggest,sackiest ratties of all time (who weighed in at his heaviest at 820gms).
C'ezanne is super cuddly and apt to slide off your hand much like an under-filled bag of water would.(hard to describe). At only 3 months of age he was already as big as most of the adult males. His mother was "Lacock Winona" a Wistar. This coupled with the genes in this big line, he really couldn't have missed. He is the third oldest of the boys.
C'ezanne's colour is a bit of a mystery. While he looks very much like a fawn Cardigan, as a baby (4weeks and under) he looked for all he was worth, to be a silverfawn-complete with pink eyes. At around 4 weeks old his eyes darkened to ruby. His colour is too pale to be either cinnamon or Lynx, and yet it's really a bit too dull to be fawn.
We're not sure why this eye-colour change occurred, and in fact, we had three litters (of which two were unrelated) around the same time do the same thing.
This darkening of the eyes is a trait often witnessed overseas, as I've discussed it with fellow fanciers in both Europe and the US. In Australia though this is not a regular thing. We will need to pay special attention when we breed C'ezanne and may even line breed to try and work out if we have a new gene or gene combination causing this eye change and subsequent unusual colour.
SHOW RESULTS:
C'ezanne was shown as a baby in October 2000. As babies don't compete against adults in the breed classes, even though he placed first, he was the only baby in it.
BREEDING HISTORY:
C'ezanne is yet to be bred.
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"Carawatha Cyprian" - (pic 1.4 - coming soon)
Cyprian is the 2nd youngest of our boys. The chain of command in our boys household would appear (at least at present) to reflect their age. The younger they are the further down they are in the pecking order. He is still an adolescent and very playful. He has a rather reserved nature, and is the quietest of all of our boys. He's very good at giving "Zeph" a hard time.
He is a hooded Black, from our colour-bred black line. This line is an inbred strain, developed especially to enhance the black pigment. Which so far, is improving with each generation. We've also seen some improvement in both their type and temperament with each generation.
SHOW HISTORY:
He has not been shown as yet.
BREEDING HISTORY:
He has not been bred as yet: He is in line to be bred to his sister "Gwinavere"
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"Carawatha Shamus" - (pic 1.5 - coming soon)
Shamus is our baby, the youngest of our boys. He bears an Irish name, due to him coming from our Irish line. However he himself somehow managed to turn out self in pattern. His mother "Carawatha Aluiss" and his father "Carawatha Paddy McArthur" were both Irish. His aunts and Uncles (who were exported to Jenny Thompson & Tania Payne in New Zealand) have produced many very good quality Irish. So we have very high hopes for this boy.
He is an agouti variety, Fawn in colour. He was an only pup, and due to the fact that he got all his mummy's attention(not to mention milk) he's a rather roly little fellow even still.
He is a very curious boy, as active as any of the girls we have, and loves to play the silly's with your hand. His favorite ratty-person is C'ezanne, the two of them are often using each other as pillows in the hammock. Shamus maybe should have been named Tigger for all the bouncing he does, usually "On" his house mates.
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Our newest little boy is still only 3 days old. He is a Black DownUnder Spotted. We've christened him "Carawatha Crying Freeman",(Pic 1.6) and will take some pics of him as soon as he gets fur.
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