Pets - A third rat joins the family

I'm not sure what got into me, but I had the urge to own another rat. Back I went to Gumtree looking for baby rats, and I found a breeder that had a couple of gorgeous mink champagnes and I really wanted to have one!

My other choice of rat - the one at the front

So I went to her place and looked at all her babies and they were so cute! There were two I had my eye on - one had a great stripe down her back and the other was runt of the litter.  I ended up taking the runt, as she was so tiny and cute, and I named her Elsa.

I brought her home with a new cage in case she didn't get along with Diamond and Tyrael, but I didn't need to worry - they weren't aggressive to her at all, and she ran around the cage exploring and eating her little heart out from my home made food hopper - yep, using those McManus cubes!

Diamond and Tyrael are 4 months now, and the size difference between them is amazing - they look like giants compared to Elsa!  But after one night at her new home, her little belly was full of food and I don't doubt she will grow quickly.

The toilet training is NOT going well.  I tried keeping a litter tray of material different to their other stuff, but they seem to enjoy digging in it and tipping it out more than using it!  Perhaps what I should do is keep a litter tray that has litter in it, and everywhere else have NO litter.  I have been lazy with litter training lately, so I might have to start doing it again.

I ended up buying the McManus cubes and the rats think they're great - the one drawback is that the lot is infested with moths and their larvae so I keep having moths flying around in the bathroom, and inside the food bag.  I might have to look at it next time before I buy it, but it's lasting a while.  Like my little food hopper?  I got the idea from google - it's a great way to put the cubes so that the rats don't take them all and hide it all over the cage.  I spent a couple of hours weaving some wire into a lid for it so the rats didn't get in from the top, and its all going rather well!