June 2010

6/21: Lysithea gave birth to 16 babies today!  Litter page and pics tomorrow.  Mom and babies are doing well.  I also updated pretty much all the pages around the site in small ways.  

I removed our responsible breeding page.  I feel there are just too many variables to apply a set of rules as far as what makes a breeder good or bad.  Everyone's situation is different.  I know that I have posted things in the past, on forums and elsewhere, about the "right" way to breed, and judged others' practices.  After having been breeding for almost 2 years, its become abundantly clear to me that there is NO one right way, or one set of rules or one method that is right for everyone.  I breed the way I feel is right but I can not make choices or know what is best for anyone but myself and my rats.

6/18: New picture of the babies posted on Midnight + Kasugami's Litter page.

6/16: Midnight + Kasugami's Litter is now one week old!  All the babies are thriving and Midnight has been a spectacular mom.  Her sister Lysithea is due at the end of the week and is getting a huge baby belly!  I posted a new picture of FHR PH Kirby, and also linked up new pages for FHR Jacob, FHR Rider, FHR Sugaree, and FHR Scarlet.

6/14:  I posted a new picture of Midnight's litter that I took yesterday morning before work.  Mom and babies are doing great!  Lysithea's belly is very round and her litter is due at the end of the week!  I updated the My Rats pages and reorganized the links.  They are now text only links to make updating easier.  All of the individual pages will be linked up shortly.

06/10:  Very happy news today!  Yesterday, FHR Midnight gave birth to 6 healthy babies!  Their first picture is up on the litter page.  Mother and babies are doing very well.  Midnight also now has her own individual page, and the proud father, FHR PH Kasugami, has new pictures up on his page.  All the babies in this litter will be either kept or reserved, but Midnight's sister Lysithea is now pregnant!  Her babies are due June 21.

06/03:  FHR is remodeled for summer!  I decided to update/remodel this site for now, as the new site is a work in progress and may continue to be for quite awhile. ;) So the site has a new look for summer and I have updated many of the pages as well.  In some really exciting news, Midnight and Lysithea are both on their way to producing litters, the 5th generation of the Black Eyed Siamese line.  The waiting list is filling up already (especially for females) so do not wait to apply if you are interested in babies. The FH rats section is in need of update, and I will be doing that as soon as I possibly can, with new pictures of all the rats and new pages.

May 2010

05/20:  Hello everyone!!!  Im sorry to all who have been checking this site for updates that have not come.  Its been a hard few months but things are slowly getting back to normal.  I have been able to cut back my hours at work finally so I have more time again for the website and finally have enough time and resources to breed another litter.  Yes, I want to start with the happy news first- FHR's 2nd 2010 litter is on the way!  It will be the 5th generation of the Black Eyed Siamese line that started FHR.  FHR Midnight, a black self dumbo, was bred to FHR PH Kasugami, and Russian Blue Self.  Midnight is a nice sized female, at 7 months she already weighs 378 g (her starting breeding weight.)  She has a great temperament, calm and gentle, and always tucks when you pick her up.  She is perfectly marked with no white and nearly perfect round dumbo ears.  Kasugami is also a very nicely tempered rat, who tucks perfectly for me every time I pick him up.  He is a large male at over a pound but never fights with cagemates: he is docile but holds his own well.  He is almost 15 months old, and has had no health or any other issues in his lifetime.  His mother Mimi is still here with me and she is almost 2 and in great health for her age.  I expect black self and siamese pups with a chance for dumbo ears, black eyed siamese, and russian blue selves or points.  Babies should have excellent temperaments and size.

Now for the sad news.  It has been a couple of quite hard months for the rattery.  We lost a couple of our favorite ratties over the past few months.  First, on 3/19, we lost our beloved Ilia.  She was 26 months old.  She went peacefully, fell asleep in her hammock and did not wake up.  I took her body to the vet for a necropsy, but nothing was found to indicate anything but a natural death of old age.  Next was Moegami.  We knew his death was coming, as he had been diagnosed with aggressive cancer (not heriditary thankfully,) but it was still really hard to see him go.  After his surgery, he made some recovery, but after a few weeks he began to slow down.  He didn't appear to be suffering but he began sleeping more and more.  I finally made him a euthanasia appointment, but he ended up not waking up from his nap that day.  

We also lost another fairly young and very well loved rat, FHR PH Waddle Dee.  Waddle had been diagnosed with an ulcer, after I noticed his stomach seemed to be bothering him.  He seemed to get better but then after I came home from a weekend trip I noticed he had taken a turn for the worst and passed away.  He was taken to the vet for necropsy but nothing unusual was found, no masses, blockages or issues of any kind.  Only a few short days later, on 4/29, his mother, our heart rat Kiki (FHR PH Kyoto) was euthanized.  She had been diagnosed with a mass in the abdomen in February.  I had to bring her to the vet to be put down once the growth had gotten so large it seemed to be affecting her breathing and ability to live comfortably.  A necropsy was done and it was found that Kiki actually had a large, cystic structure attached to her stomach.  It was not an abscess or a tumor but actually a cyst.  These are not known to be hereditary but since her son, Kirby, had a sebaceous cyst removed from his back I will be looking very carefully for any genetic link.

Finally, just this past week PH Link passed away.  Link was basically our mascot and loved by so many people and other rats. We are missing him so much!  Link was born in the first litter I ever raised, a foster litter for Paper Heart Rats.  Link was a wonderfully squishie, sweet, adorable boy with a tiny head and tail, large body and an amazing personality.  He always comforted the other rats who were ailing.  He took care of the babies, who always met Uncle Linkie as their first introduction to adult rats besides their parents.  He was also a ham who loved to pose for the camera and get attention from every human around.  Link was very healthy, although overweight (he was a neutered male) during his lifetime.  I noticed one day he simply had no energy, although he was happy to lick pudding off my finger.  I placed him in his XL pocket hammock and his girls all clamored around him grooming and laying with him.  The next morning he was still there but had passed peacefully surrounded by his ladies.  He would have been 2 years old in June. 

As you can imagine, its been a hard past few months around the rattery as well as quite expensive.  However, I cannot say I was not warned about this, from many breeders.  It is said that around the 2 year mark of a rattery (ours comes this summer) is when most stop breeding, give up, overwhelmed by the losses, the vet bills, caring for elderly and sick rats (if you keep your retired breeders, that is) keeping up with the dozens of adopters and babies you have placed, keeping up with the hours of daily work a rattery requires, it certainly takes a toll.   

At the same time, the work being done is so rewarding.  The emails I get every week, with updates, pictures, happy tales about rats and their children and the funny and wonderful things they do.  The many rat owners who have loved their FHR rats so much they are out there spreading the word about what great pets rats are, and creating new rat lovers.  The Rats popularity as a pet is on the rise, which can certainly be a double edged sword for the rats themselves.  There are many new breeders out there and lots of them are back yard breeders just looking to make a buck.  As the rats popularity increases, the education of rat owners also needs to increase so that responsible and accountable breeding and rescue can take place and be supported.  The welfare of the rat needs to improve in the way that other species have been chosen by our society to be given special care and concern.  Rats are no longer simply vermin or lab animals to people in the United States.  More and more they are viewed as pets the same as a cat or a dog.  Anyway ill get off my soap box.  

My point is that as hard as it can be sometimes, I am dedicated to this breeding program and to helping rats improve their image and their well being in our present society.  Part of that is by breeding rats who are truly great pets, and in general are more of a benefit to the person than a burden.  Networking with other Pro-Rat people, breeders, rescuers, pet owners, and joining forces to educate, breed better, and actually work together to promote rats and their place in our culture.  

One thing that does worry me, though is an unfortunate disdainful attitude I have noticed in our community.  Rat breeders look down on other rat breeders, rescuers seem to look down on all breeders, breeders look down on people who do not yet breed.  We should be encouraging people and understanding there are different ways of doing things, accepting others without judging them.  Instead I see the opposite happening, to the point where some rat clubs have basically become secret societies that pretend to be public and open clubs for the entire purpose of continually striking down other breeders and clubs.  

We as breeders, owners, rescuers, need to join together, support and help one another.  More people than ever seem to be interested in rats and pets these days, and our community is growing.  You know you have heard the term "horse people" "dog people" about people dedicated to a certain species of animal.  What will people think about "rat people" one day?

Ok this has gotten WAY too long but I want to end it by saying that a NEW FHR website is in the works and on the way!  All future updates will be done in the new site.  I will be building it entirely myself this time and as such it will be SIMPLE I can tell you that!  I need a format that is easy for me to create and update and move to a free host one day if I need to.  I also really want to thank all the wonderful, supportive and awesome people out there, you know who you are, adopters, friends, fellow breeders and rat lovers.  Your help and knowledge, your love and support is what helps me through the hard times, I couldn't do it without you guys, so thank you :)

March 2010

03/14:  Lots and lots of updates today!  I am sorry I have not updated the site in awhile, but I was without internet for over a month, and dealing with some family issues as well.  In hope I have made up for it with all the updates today.  Almost every page on the site has been updated in some way.  I have had a couple people ask if I am still breeding and the answer is an absolute, unequivocal YES.  I am dedicated to this breeding program for the long haul.  However, my website will never be my first priority.  I don't get to update it or be online nearly as much as I would like.  My time always will be focused on caring for and interacting with the rats.  I have heard it said, that anyone without a website these days cannot possibly be a good breeder.  I have to say I totally disagree with that statement.  Coming from a livestock background, some of the best goat breeders in the world do not have a website!  Why?  They are outside, milking, cleaning, clipping, cutting hay, feeding, watering, deworming etc, then sleeping and doing it all again the next day.  People who want their goats WILL find a way to contact them and track them down without a website.  There may be a day when FHR doesn't have a regularly updated website, but it will not change the quality of the care of the rats or the breeding program itself.  Anyone who has adopted from FHR has the phone # and can call me to talk anytime.  A website, while a convenient way to share information with other breeders, is mainly an advertisement.  A way to find adopters for rat babies.  This is not something I need to use my website for, however.  I do it as a way to share information, educating others, and sharing photos for others' enjoyment.  So please be patient with me, I will answer emails and post pictures and updates as I am able.  

Anyway, back to the rats!  Some changes have been made to future breeding plans.  I have decided not to do anymore breedings until summer.  Two of the FHR rats are dealing with some health issues (check the Health Tracking page in the About FHR section for more details and updates) and my vet fund has been depleted.  I just don't have the financial resources right now to raise another litter.  I need to fill my vet fund back up again before I can do that.  While I do not ask for donations, I have received a couple and I greatly appreciate that.  Thank you very much for all the support you guys have shown me in this difficult time!

 I did a photoshoot with a few of the FHR ratties, and new pics are up for PH Ilia of FHR, PH Wild Rose in NYC of FHR, FHR PH Dyna Blade, PH Link, and SERR Susannah Dean of FHR.  Also new pages and pics up for FHR Odin and FHR Lysithea.  More photoshoots will be taking place over the next month and I expect to have updated photos of every single rattie posted by the end of April.  New pages coming soon for BVR Wednesday, DAZL Ring-A-Ling, FHR Midnight, FHR Jacob, FHR Rider, FHR Sugaree, and FHR Scarlet.  Also I will get my photos of the Fall RFL rat show posted soon under the gallery section.  For now, here are the new pictures of foundation doe PH Ilia of FHR, taken at 25 months old.  She is a grand old lady and much adored!  Still very healthy and acting like her same lovely self at over 2 years old.  

January 2010

01/28:  New pictures of Dyna's litter have been posted.  The babies are now 6 weeks old and doing very well, healthy and thriving.  The litter produced a first here at FHR, our very first double rex, in FHR The Professor.  Also, a new page was added for FHR Father Ralph.  A lot more new pages and pictures are coming soon for all the new babies that we adopted or were born here and kept in the 2nd half of 2009.

01/19:  New pictures up on the Rose and Waddle Litter Page.  All 11 babies are doing well, even the runt has almost caught up to his littermates.  Rose has been an exceptional mother and the litter is very fat and healthy.  I'm very excited to announce our first Mink and Cinnamon pups were produced in this litter!  These are the colors the Downunder line will be focusing on improving.

01/11:  FHR's first litter of the new year is here!  Check out the Rose and Waddle Litter Page for the babies' first pictures.  I was not sure if Rose was truly pregnant at first, as her weight gain had been somewhat erratic, but it turns out all I needed was a new scale :)  Rose and babes are doing great.  This litter is a huge gain for the Downunder line.

01/03:  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Big updates for the new year!  FHR Health Tracking page has been completed and published.  You will find health records for all breeding animals and offspring produced at FHR, past and present.  Also, new pictures posted in Kate's Gallery.  I do have one sad bit of news to post though.  PH Midna passed away in her sleep yesterday.  She had just turned 2 years old.  She will be greatly missed around here!  RIP Midna.