So, I got vermin...
I wound up getting three rats from Mainely Rat Rescue, in Maine, as they were already doing a transport down to Long Island, and it was easy to throw another few rodents on the pile, as it were. Lady's a female PEW (pink-eyed white; your standard 'lab rat') with a standard coat and dumbo ears; Creme Brulee's a female black hooded rex coat with standard ears, and Dominic, Creme's cousin, is a neutered male black berkshire (he's got a white stripe running down his belly) with standard ears and a rex coat. Dominic's coat is definitely more 'rexy' than Creme's, though hers still hasn't grown back all the way from minor surgery to remove some abcesses.

Though they had some problems at first, after a week, I've managed to mostly get them into shape and being good rats.

So, without further ado, here're some pics I snapped a few minutes ago. The cage is a Martin's, the R-695, IIRC; it's 30Wx18Dx36 high, and is quite the monument on my desk.

Dominic looking for treats. Lady and Creme are still in the blue hut.

Dominic's usual position in the hammock.

Lady wakes up. This also shows most of the cage.

Dominic and Lady begging for treats.

Explorin' time. I have a small mostly-rat-proofed area under the shelf that the cage is on where the rats can come out and play. The usual route is out the door, onto the speaker, and then onto the pile of fleece. This picture also shows the rex coat well.

Lady looking out from under her blanket, dubious of the camera.

Creme Brulee showing up, though she didn't much want to participate today. Usually she's one of the first ones out, but I think the camera flash was really bugging her out. ;)



No, I didn't name them; they were the names they came with, and for lack of anything else, I started using them. Then after a day I had them answering by name, so I couldn't really switch gears on them at that point; it'd fry their remarkably agile yet tiny little minds.