Update

I know it's been awhile since I posted. It's been sort of busy with getting everything set up and put together. I did not get into ECU School of Medicine so I will be able to spend the next year (at least) in Chapel Hill which is really exciting for me. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do, but I have some things in mind. I spent a couple of days in Wallace last week and will be going home to Shelby for the Memorial Day weekend.

The boys are doing so well. They are growing so quickly. I've decided to keep track of their weights so I can see as they grow. They are so funny and are getting used to me and seem to know their names. Last week we did a major play time on my bed. I have some pics from that. This week was a major cage cleaning and introduction to water since Cody had gone to the bathroom on Rex and both had messy feet. They, like most rats, do not like the water...at all. However, they were willing to let me pour water over them and neither tore up my arms too much.

As for their weights. I'm weighing them once a week. I just started last week when they were 6 weeks old. At that time Cody weighed 131 g and Rex weighed 167 g. This week (7 weeks old), Cody weighed 174 g (43 g increase!) and Rex weighed 214 g (47 g increase!). Needless to say, Rex is a piggy boy. He eats anything and everything. Cody is smaller, but his appetite is growing. He likes to steal Cheerios from Rex when Rex is being careful enough. I guess Cody is getting Rex back for all the times Cody shared his Cheerios. Both are extremely curious, and rex does well outside the cage...once you get him out of the cage that is...Cody will just run right out of the cage and up my arm. He has taken to sitting on my shoulder and observing the world from the higher perch. Rex just likes running around and trying to find as many Cheerios as he possibly can :) Both are adorable and have a great following!

This is it...

Well, I'm officially a UNC graduate and officially on my own. It's a little scary. I'm not used to being by myself like this. I'll definitely have to find people to hang out with so I don't get lonely. At any rate, I've gotten the apartment cleaned up for the most part. I still need to work on my closet and desk, but other than that, everything looks really nice. It's definitely going to take me a little while to get used to not having my family or Austin around. I'll probably try to get several visists in...
The rats are doing fine. Rex is getting so big. Cody's pretty big but no where near as big as Rex. However, I think that Rex is a softy because he still gets beat by Cody when they wrestle. I really like having them around. They are getting used to me slowly. Today is the first day I'm going to try out weighing them. It could be interesting. At any rate, they are really sweet boys and everyone in my family thinks they are adorable!

Cleaning Day

Just an update. The boys went through their first official cage cleaning. They didn't like being taken out of their big cage only to be shoved into the little travel cage. Rex tried to make a run for it and scared me to death! Fortuntately, he ran under my desk where there's really no place for him to go. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I traumatized him in the retrieval process. He'll surivive. He got some Cheerios when he finally got into the travel cage with Cody. Needless to say, after that fiasco, everything else went smoothly. The cage was really easy to clean. Just pulled out the middle half racks, and replaced all the liners. I pulled out the dustbuster to sweep out the bottom of the cage, then it was back in with all the toys, hammocks, pillow, food, and the boys. They ran around a little, then went right to their favorite spot in the tube hammock.
Also, during free play today, Cody spent a lot of time on my shoulder it was really cool, though his whiskers tickled my neck. Now my right ear is very clean thanks to him :)
I haven't gotten around to weighing them yet...

Growing Up...

The boys are doing great! They are both so full of energy. They get in these spells where they run all over the cage like they've been given caffeine. It's so funny to watch! I've been having free play with them in the bathroom since it is the smallest room in the apartment and the most rat proofed. They love it. Yesterday, Cody took to climbing up my boyfriend's shirt and tickling him. It was so funny. Rex is slowly warming up to me. He will crawl out on my arm now with only the coaxing of a single Cheerio which he LOVES. I have never seen a creature that loves something as much as he loves Cheerios. He'll even steal Cheerios from Cody. The first time I took them out for free play, Rex wouldn't leave the bonding pouch so Cody would go out the get the Cheerios and bring them back for Rex.Now they both enjoy exploring me and the bathroom. It's a lot less stressful to interact that way than in my room where there are so many places they can get lost and hurt. They also enjoy play wrestling with each other. Sometimes they scare me because they look like they are playing so roughly, but neither one has any injuries. At first Rex wouldn't leave the green igloo. Now both boys sleep in the tube hammock together. Cody has also taken to climbing out on top of the cage when I open the door for them. It's fun to watch them climb around all over everything. They have a lot more energy than Petey ever did. It sounds like in a couple of months they'll start to become "squishier" and lazier. I can't wait for the point where most of what they want to do is be held. Next Wednesday they'll be moved out to my new apartment. I'm really excited about it. I'm sure they'll do just fine and they'll have so much exploring to do. Tomorrow will be the first cage cleaning as well as the first time they get weighed. It should be interesting...