I just purchased 4 of these little guys this evening. I've actually been looking for them off and on since I heard of them (on this forum incidently; Basil). On a whim I googled them this evening and came up with some for sale! The guy, of course, is a feeder-breeder and was liquidating his colony. He was actually going to sell the whole colony tomorrow, but was nice enough to hold 4 young females for me. Hopefully they're young enough not to be preggers yet  Lucky little girlies, considering they were going to be boa food. They were only $4 a piece too  He even asked if I didn't also want a male (no thanks).

I understand that they're not big on being held, but I'm hoping since they're pretty young that they'll adjust to my zoo well enough. I'm not really interested in handling them overly much in any case. Aside from my rats and dogs, I'm a look type person. I'll also need to pick up some items at work for them (house, wheel, etc) since most of my stuff is intended for mice/hamsters or it's big enough to accommidate several adult rats.

I'm going to pick them up monday morning (since I'm off from school for Veteran's day). If I'm lucky I can convince a friend to drive me down there, since she's already familiar with Bannister.

I'll definately put up pics  I'm going to get them tomorrow morning. Hopefully they actually are all female because they sound pretty young. Kansas is a horrible place to get exotics, so I was pleasantly surprised on it. Unfortunately, I'm driving solo, so I'll need luck on that  and several maps. And lots of time and gas...

EE!! So cute!!  you'll have to show pics as they grow. 

These guys are doing a great job of growing. I'm going to have to separate sexes this week, as the boys now have their parts. I've read that they are later to mature than domestic mice/rats, but as my friend says, "Abstinance is the best way to prevent babies!" (I think some people should follow that philosophy). But they've figured out the wheel and have actually become friendlier. They'll come out and look at me when I talk to them. Still not crazy about being picked up though. They still have huge ears, but their tails are getting longer and their bodies are also getting more rat-like.

I did come home to a scare. Lately it's been very warm out, 70s! Well, today it dipped down into the lower 30s, and is now snowing. I totally forgot that these guys don't tolerate cold very well because my other animals are like ladeedaa, it's 68F oh well (except my lizard; she does the reptile equivilant of hibernation-- and me, I hate anything under 78F) They were all shivering and shaking like crazy, really lethargic. I rushed them upstairs, steamed the bathroom, and put a reptile heat pad under the tank. Then I shoved food at them for their metabolism. They're doing much better now.

Cold and awake:

If you were closer to me, I'd let you have the boyos Because I'm really not too keen on having two cages, but I guess that's the hazards of the feeder-breeder picking your babies. The problem I'm running into is that they're still very small and I don't really have two TANKS. Might have to employ the dreaded critter trail until they get bigger   

I was actually considering the bin idea, since I got the 2 girls, 2 boys, and now the 2 buck mice. But, really, I like the bird cage for my girl mice. The spacing is small enough that even the girls can't get out and the cage is well ventilated, plus the tray just pulls out. And I use the bird perches as something to climb on and the feed cups as litter trays (the girls' idea actually). Then again, it's cockatiel sized cage, so it also fits the four girls very well. I might do something similar with the boys eventually.

Thanks, I've come across that link when I first considered getting them and was researching. It's probably one of the most informative I've found.

I don't know if you knew about this one:
http://www.altpet.net/rodents/breeder.html

It lists rodent breeders all over the US. I'd eventually like to get some spiny mice and zebra mice and I found a breeder in St. Louis and another in Independence via this site.

Wow, I had no idea how adorable they are! I think they are now on my "list" of future pets I want to get.

lol, I guess the little bugger took a stroll.  I read on a care sheet that they breed at 3 1/2 months old..so maybe your girls are just getting fat 

And right when I'm about to get more rescue rats in...I see african soft furs for sale on craigslist in IL  why why why??? Why always when I can't take them in. *sigh* 

Hehe, just let me know and you can send me a ratling back in the spring  Your girls (cheesecake and cherry, I think that was the names from the previous family) are doing wonderfully. Easiest intros I've ever done (mostly because they intro'd themselves one day while I was cleaning). Both are big kissers and think its funny to use me as a climbing toy. The fawn girl is crazy. The rex is a bit shyer and calmer. 

As for the little buggers, they have now decided that they are terrified of being held  I'm used to catching squirmy critters, but these guys are super fast! I wonder if they have a stage comparable to baby mice's hopper stage where they just run and jump like crazy. And they are the slowest growing rodent I have ever seen. Must be why they have such a late sexual maturity as well.

No new pictures, as the little monsters are way too fast to hold for pictures now. Just some observations, all of which seem to be in line with my research before I got these guys. The male bites now, not hard but I'm sure that will change in the future. The females let me pet them and even seem curious about it, but I can't pick them up now. They live in half a hollowed out coconut and barely fit, so they've grown quite a bit (when I got them, all 4 fit in the same shell). They are roughly the size of a small gerbil or a very large fancy mouse, so they have some more growing to do. This is odd though: the females are much bigger than the male, and not just fatter, they're actually longer. I actually read on another site that females can get preg. as early as 7 weeks but the males take longer to reach maturity, so they're probably not preg.

Unfortunately, the same male got loose again (my fault; I dropped him when I was trying to get him back in an aquarium). He may or may not reappear because some of the rats have free-ranging since his disappearance (aka the rats let themselves out of the FN when I opened the door and then played hide-n-seek under the dresser/bed/fishtanks if I don't catch them before they hit the ground--little miss fawn is the worst offender-- they think this is a fantastic game, me not so much). I left a cage out for him if he wants to come back.

This I find interesting, because everything I've read about them says that they get extremely distressed alone, but the runt boy seems perfectly fine without his brother around. He comes out and runs on the wheel, eats and drinks like normal, and sleeps where they slept before.

Saydrah: who knows. I might just need a little redhead to match Miss PIB.

D'aw! So cute! Maybe one of these days someone will really, really work on temperament with these cuties and produce some almost as loving as our norwegian ratties.