Monday, April 12, 2010

Here are rat, there 8 rats, soon more rats

Rat recap:

From the first litter of babies (back in January), we still have Mom, Girl 1, Girl 2, Boy 1, Boy 2. (5 adults total).

Last weekend, Girl 1 had one baby. It's pretty weird to only have one baby, but fine by us. The brings us to 5 adults, 1 baby.

Yesterday, Girl 2 had eight babies. Here they are:

See that weird white splotch on the baby near the top? That's a stomach full of milk. Crazy, right?! They're basically translucent for the first week of so of life.

So that brings us to 5 adults, 9 babies. Check out the developmental differences between a 1 day old rat and a 9 day old rat:



Today I was looking at the Mom rat, and she's definitely pregnant too. Amazingly, I could actually see the babies moving around in her body while she was sleeping. Take a look:



You can see a little flicker at 0:06; a kick at 0:26. 1:13 is where the action really starts---there are definitely a wiggly bunch in there. If you make it until 2:16, don't get scared when the other rat pops up in front!
Projects: I've got a writing project on the back burner right now, and also a big project for Maya, those will hopefully come soon.
Oh, and thanks for the comments, keep them coming (even anti-rodent comments are welcome, I'm equal opportunity.)

8 comments:

Run Amy Run said...

Wow. And she sleeps through all of the action.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I saw your reference to the blog on WW (the rats pic) so I had to check it out. I ended up starting from your first post and reading everything. I feel like I know you now! Your blog is great.

The only reason I am commenting is because Dave said he likes to read comments, I am not some freak stalker person. My name is Lisa, I am 35 years old and I am from Indiana. I have a 5 month old son with some developmental delays. We are going back to the developmental pediatrician next week and hoping for good news. Thanks for sharing your family with me. Maya is beautiful.

stacy said...

wow!! That was amazing!!!

Anne said...

OK, this is not funny anymore! The first two rats were a nice idea and interesting science lesson. And ok, it was fun when the mama had babies but this is feeling a bit overboard - are you trying to keep us all away? I definitely think it is time to get a dog.

grandma said...

cool!!!i def. like all things pregnancy and baby-related.i watched when wilma had pebbles(flintstones-cant remember?)jamie had mabel(mad about you--still can't remember?)ok, pam had her baby(i know you know that one!!) i even got up at 1am to watch mrs tennant's dog have puppies once! next time---and we all know there will be a next time--tape the birth!!!

Lisa said...

NICE GRANDMA!!!!

you mention watching several fictional babies and a litter of dogs being born but neglect to mention that you watched your first grandchild enter the world! glad to see where we rank! pfffft!!!! :-P

anyways! i enjoyed the video!!! LOL

Unknown said...

Never imagined that I would spend a Friday night watching a video of a pregnant rat :-) Really cool though.... as long as they are not in my kitchen/classroom!

By the way, I read the blog all of the time! Keep the posts coming- Maya is getting so big!!!

boocat said...

I use birth control on my hamsters. They use birth control on zoo animals, too. I crush a progesterone tablet (NO estrogen, so the boys don't get feminized.) I mix a little of the powder into some honey, mix it together in the bowl of a teaspoon. Then I smear some onto each girl. She licks it off - instant "morning after pill" !