# Cute Rats



## Sdaji (Dec 21, 2009)

As long as we're breeding rats for snakes, we figure we might as well enjoy it, and since the snakes don't care about colours or patterns, I have a bit of fun choosing the unusual ones.























































We have lots of different colours too, as well as some pretty cool 'pattern pictures', but I think that's enough pictures for now!

Does anyone else have some unusual rats in their colonies?


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## richoman_3 (Dec 21, 2009)

aww very cute


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## chickensnake (Dec 21, 2009)

Awesome rats.... I breed them and every litter there is a new pattern that i havent seen so i keep it then i end up having too many (because i like to keep all the kool patterned ones lol) so they usually end up as snake food anyway. The snake is just like MEH food yum...lol


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## Chris1 (Dec 21, 2009)

aww, teh more ratty pix i see the more i wanna starve my snakes,...just kidding, ... i could never do anything other than defrost them tho.


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## Sdaji (Dec 21, 2009)

chickensnake said:


> Awesome rats.... I breed them and every litter there is a new pattern that i havent seen so i keep it then i end up having too many (because i like to keep all the kool patterned ones lol) so they usually end up as snake food anyway. The snake is just like MEH food yum...lol



Hehe, it's a bit like that. Snake keepers seem to prefer the albino rats for some strange reason (I think there's a misconception out there that white rats are from labs, or are somehow cleaner than coloured/patterned rats), but if it's not fun I am not interested, so I breed the pretty ones anyway. They behave the same as albino rats, they're equally nutritious, they grow and breed the same, but it keeps me interested. Some of the pet rat enthusiasts would stab their own grandmothers to get their hands on some of these fancy rats, they're a bit like albino snakes to us. That makes it feel a bit weird feeding them to the snakes, but it's either that or albinos.

Do you have any pictures of the new patterns you have produced? I would love to see them.


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## Sdaji (Dec 21, 2009)

Chris1 said:


> aww, teh more ratty pix i see the more i wanna starve my snakes,...just kidding, ... i could never do anything other than defrost them tho.



I know how you feel. We actually end up keeping a lot of them as pets, or sometimes we sell them to pet rat keepers. None of the ones in the pictures above are likely to end up in snake bellies.


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## Nephrurus (Dec 21, 2009)

So, choosing rats for colour and coat eh? It's a slippery slope you're on Sdaji. You'll be calling them "fancy rats" soon and going to meetings with other rat fanciers. Then you'll get rid of the snakes to focus on your rat breeding... <shudder>

-h


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Dec 21, 2009)

I like the racoon form sdaji,


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## billiemay (Dec 21, 2009)

Aww I got to handle some lab rats last week that had never really been handled before and they were so sweet and inquisitive. Might have to get a pet one  Also got to handle lab mice bred from wild lines and they were bloody psychos. Definitely going to feed mice for as long as I can.


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## chickensnake (Dec 21, 2009)

Sdaji said:


> Hehe, it's a bit like that. Snake keepers seem to prefer the albino rats for some strange reason (I think there's a misconception out there that white rats are from labs, or are somehow cleaner than coloured/patterned rats), but if it's not fun I am not interested, so I breed the pretty ones anyway. They behave the same as albino rats, they're equally nutritious, they grow and breed the same, but it keeps me interested. Some of the pet rat enthusiasts would stab their own grandmothers to get their hands on some of these fancy rats, they're a bit like albino snakes to us. That makes it feel a bit weird feeding them to the snakes, but it's either that or albinos.
> 
> Do you have any pictur
> 
> ...


 






here is the only one that stands out in this litter (sorry about the size and poor quality of the pics, im getting a goog camera on pay day lol) havent taken any pics of any others lol but their snake poo now


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## Sdaji (Dec 21, 2009)

Eek! I'll have to work quickly on getting a new snake morph ready for market to distract myself from these furry abominations! :lol:

I've actually spoken to a few rat fanciers, they are insane, they make reptile people look like rational, sensible, intelligent folks. If I was to stick to their breeding rules my rats would end up sickly and genetically ruined. They are well intentioned for the most part though.


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## Chris1 (Dec 21, 2009)

Sdaji said:


> I know how you feel. We actually end up keeping a lot of them as pets, or sometimes we sell them to pet rat keepers. None of the ones in the pictures above are likely to end up in snake bellies.




phew, i think im about as relieved as those cute lil rats would be to hear that!!


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## Ewan (Dec 21, 2009)

Beaut rats Sdaji. I love the whites with head spots (sorry I don't know the fanciers name). The black ear'd one is excellent. Is it from a BEW line or hooded line?

Kind regards.


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## rubysnake (Dec 21, 2009)

how cute! love the little patch!
hope you dont mind i add my little mice babies! there so adorable, my rats just had there first lot but there still pinkies! the variation in these lot are amazing! love how cute they all are.
in the second photo they are all kinda dapled, it doesnt show up that well but they look the best!


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## Asharee133 (Dec 21, 2009)

love the odd eyed, and the blaze, and the mismarked one xP and the 8th pic (the grey one) thats a mink, and its not really a pattern its just his coat changing color, he will go a dark grey and even out in color, i got three of em lol


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## Asharee133 (Dec 21, 2009)

rubysnake said:


> how cute! love the little patch!
> hope you dont mind i add my little mice babies! there so adorable, my rats just had there first lot but there still pinkies! the variation in these lot are amazing! love how cute they all are.
> in the second photo they are all kinda dapled, it doesnt show up that well but they look the best!


hehe cute, you got agouti bubs


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## Sdaji (Dec 21, 2009)

Ewan: She is from a black-eyed white line, but only one in every few hundred seems to come out like her. I may be able to make them more consistently with more selection. Time will tell.

rubysnake: Nice mice! The ones with the stripes are called brindleds, we have a lot of those too  You can get a lot of variation in the colour of the stripes ranging from black, brown and many shades of grey (all with specific labels used by the mouse fanciers) and also in the ginger background ranging from rich ginger through to almost white. The amount of striping ranges from barely there at all through to completely coloured with just a tiny amount of the background ginger colour showing. They can also be more stripey or more blotchy. 

Asharee: The odd-eyed is pretty cool  We make lots of ruby-black odd-eyed, but pink-ruby is very rare. We have made thousands of minks over quite a number of generations  The molt patterns are very cool, even if only temporary  Sometimes they end up looking like racing stripes 

Here are pictures of a range of our brindleds, all in black, just to show the variation in the amount of brindling (not showing any variation in colour)

Barely brindled





Slightly more brindling.






This boy is what I would describe as a typical brindled mouse. 






Heavily-marked brindleds. We produce a lot with this amount of brindling, and the patterns can get interesting at this level.






Slightly more brindling again...






This final mouse has almost full brindling dorsally and on his left side, with a few larger patches of base colour on his right.


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## deebo (Dec 21, 2009)

heres a couple of my rats...have lots of hooded ones ( white with black and white with creamy ones) and some nice chocaltey brown ones with white stripes/patches on there belly. The brown ones start of quite brown and as they age they seem to get darker and darker. It is quite fun breeding rats and seeing all the diffrent colours/patterns that there are......im sure they all taste the same though!

Also have some brindled mice but nothing quite like those last few sdaji...

Cheers,
Dave


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## miss_aimee (Dec 21, 2009)

Ooh that little light grey patch on the 2nd ones head is really cool, David! I fed a really pretty rat the other day. At first I thought it was just a normal white one,but on closer inspection it had a really lovely,very pale lilac color. I fed it to my favourite snake  which of course he didn't care about! I don't think I could ever breed and kill my own rats/mice. I'd end up falling in love with every litter,and become verrryyy over-run with them. Haha. Damned softie that I am


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## caustichumor (Dec 21, 2009)

This is exactly the reason I don't let my kids in the shed anymore, every second rat would get a pardon...


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## melgalea (Dec 21, 2009)

its refreshing to see that even though we can still breed the rats as "snake food" they are still a respected animal / pet. 
all my breeders are still handled and petted. and loved. i love watching what new colours arise. and its nice to put my hand inside the rats cages and not get bitten. 
great pics sdaji and everyone. 
cheers
mel


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## No-two (Dec 21, 2009)

Heres some 
Rats are great, they're much better than mice, allthough we have some cool coloured mice. 
This one you might like Sdaji 














And some mice
























These are some of my faves, marked dove brindles


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## Tail_less (Jan 7, 2010)

*Unusual marked rats*

You are right about rat fanciers going mad about those markings. The rats with the white stripes down their faces fetch upwards of $35 each, the black eyed whites about the same, if not more (I would expect about $50 each) and the odd eyed ones set your own price, at least $35 upwards.

So you see you can make a tidy profit on them as 'pets' rather than snake food. 
I guess you have to be willing to possibly ship, which the buyer pays for, and all you need to do is crate them up and drop off at airport. But a lot of buyers will come to you and collect as well.

Something to think about


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## grizz (Jan 7, 2010)

caustichumor said:


> This is exactly the reason I don't let my kids in the shed anymore, every second rat would get a pardon...


 
Correct... I have to keep moving my lot to new locations, one step ahead of the kids.


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## Southside Morelia (Jan 7, 2010)

Personally, I don't like the Albino rats and have almost breed all my "whitey" genes out as I too like to work the colours and pair up accordingly.....just an off shoot to the real Business of feeding the snakes. That is except for Grandpa....who is one of the founding males in the colony who is over 2.5 years old from what I remember and still loves the girls.
I will never cull him as he is a great old BIG boy and I love him to bits, he's a beautiful guy!
As long as he is still alive and doing the deed, there will be some whites still amongst the colony....lol
Nice ratties Sdaji!


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## pyrodarknessanny (Jan 7, 2010)

omg there soo cute, yeah there some realy cool rat "breeds" getting around now days my faves are the double rex (hairless) and siamies (white or cream with dark points) 

but theres more rat breeds than you can poke a stick at now


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## DanTheMan (Jan 7, 2010)

Haha, I was hoping at the end of all those rat pictures there would be some with them in a snakes mouth


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## Sdaji (Jan 7, 2010)

pyrodarknessanny said:


> omg there soo cute, yeah there some realy cool rat "breeds" getting around now days my faves are the double rex (hairless) and siamies (white or cream with dark points)
> 
> but theres more rat breeds than you can poke a stick at now



There's plenty of morphs, but very few breeds, and no one bothers breeding true to any of the breeds in the fancy world, they just stick to morphs. We have rexes, but deliberately avoid making double rexes, as they grow slowly, stay small, have reduced health, and we generally don't like them, but they're certainly very popular! Siamese rats are something I would just about kill for, but unfortunately they haven't turned up in Australia yet  If you know of any in Australia, name your price!

As for naming your price for blazed rats, or any other type, I find it amazing how little value rat people put on special rats. I would happily pay hundreds for a Siamese rat, but most of the rat people think it is insane to spend a premium on a good rat. Most of them fiercely oppose any rat being sold for more than the going rate for the basic ones. Of course, an occasional person is willing to pay a premium. My best ones are the kind of thing some of those rat people would stab their own grandmothers for, but they still won't pay extra  I wouldn't sell a live rat for less than about $150, because after all the time you spend dealing with their million questions, emails, etc, it just isn't worth the time. If you think herp tyre kickers are bad, don't even think about bothering with a ratter! I certainly don't. It's funny when they say "Name your price! I'll pay anything, even if it's $40 per rat!" :lol: It reminds me of seeing someone unexpectedly hatch a new albino, and someone else saying "I want that albino Rough-scaled Python, name your price, I don't care if it's FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! I'll still pay it!" :lol:


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## Lonewolf (Jan 7, 2010)

Sdaji said:


> Eek! I'll have to work quickly on getting a new snake morph ready for market to distract myself from these furry abominations! :lol:
> 
> I've actually spoken to a few rat fanciers, they are insane, they make reptile people look like rational, sensible, intelligent folks. If I was to stick to their breeding rules my rats would end up sickly and genetically ruined. They are well intentioned for the most part though.


 
Ahem, thanks heaps Sdaji...  

Nah, we're out of fancys now. Coastal Rodents is officially closed! Horrid creatures those fancies are.. They either bite you, scratch you or cost you a fortune in vet bills. All the rats i've bought from feeder breeders have turned out to be the best damn rats i've ever come across. Hettys for example, i bred a few i got from her and didn't hold them once, until today, and they are the best tempered rats! 

So, i'd much prefer a boring old PEW from a feeder over a fancy any day! 

Ooh and i bred my first BEW rex odd eye!! He's definitely a keeper


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## montay (Jan 7, 2010)

Gorgeous pics. I have toyed with the idea of breeding my own rats for my snakes, as it is getting pretty expensive, but I just wouldn't be able to sacrifice them!
I am feeding rabbits now to the larger snakes, and they look like puppies, same size, same beautiful faces. It's heart breaking, but that's the circle of life, I guess.


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## Sdaji (Jan 8, 2010)

Lonewolf said:


> Ahem, thanks heaps Sdaji...
> 
> Nah, we're out of fancys now. Coastal Rodents is officially closed! Horrid creatures those fancies are.. They either bite you, scratch you or cost you a fortune in vet bills. All the rats i've bought from feeder breeders have turned out to be the best damn rats i've ever come across. Hettys for example, i bred a few i got from her and didn't hold them once, until today, and they are the best tempered rats!
> 
> ...



Yeah, unfortunately the rat fanciers don't know what they're doing, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to do a good job of it with the restrictions they put on themselves. There are a very few good ones though, and there are certainly bad feeders around. If a feed rat breeder knows what they are doing though, they quickly end up with good rats. It's certainly not difficult to cull any which bite or even look like they might be thinking about it, and within very few generations you have rats which are perfectly tempered, even without any socialisation. Tell that to the ratters though! :lol:


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## Lonewolf (Jan 8, 2010)

I personally think that the feeder breeders do all the work for most of the rats the fanciers have. All the fancy types are bred because feeder breeders inbreed, mix and match etc it opens up new genetic possibilities. Technically, they aren't improving the rat population at all. They're killing what few good types we have. 

Sorry, had to vent lol 

Now, with your no freight, or if you have to it's 150 per rat, do we get a discount if someone can pick up?  Nah, just kidding. I'd be happy paying 150 for good quality ratties. They're just so hard to find these days.


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## Sdaji (Jan 8, 2010)

Lonewolf said:


> I personally think that the feeder breeders do all the work for most of the rats the fanciers have. All the fancy types are bred because feeder breeders inbreed, mix and match etc it opens up new genetic possibilities. Technically, they aren't improving the rat population at all. They're killing what few good types we have.
> 
> Sorry, had to vent lol
> 
> Now, with your no freight, or if you have to it's 150 per rat, do we get a discount if someone can pick up?  Nah, just kidding. I'd be happy paying 150 for good quality ratties. They're just so hard to find these days.



$150 doesn't include freight


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## Jen (Jan 8, 2010)

Fancy rats as feeders? This could be a way to get those female snakes who like to be wined and dined into the er, sack.... A male who rocks up with a nice fancy rat for a romantic dinner is more likely to get some action....ok, ok, I took it too far


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## cris (Jan 8, 2010)

Sdaji said:


> If you think herp tyre kickers are bad, don't even think about bothering with a ratter! I certainly don't. It's funny when they say "Name your price! I'll pay anything, even if it's $40 per rat!" :lol:



I would have ethical trouble dealing with them, could end up like a hostage situation :lol:

Other than that can i buy a rat, i axed my last lot after getting myco contaminated pet shop additions, almost had nice a nice healthy super lightning stripe line going  I will pay $40 per rat


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## Sdaji (Jan 8, 2010)

cris said:


> I would have ethical trouble dealing with them, could end up like a hostage situation :lol:
> 
> Other than that can i buy a rat, i axed my last lot after getting myco contaminated pet shop additions, almost had nice a nice healthy super lightning stripe line going  I will pay $40 per rat



No worries! While you're over, bring some Chondros, I'll give you $400 each!


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## gold&black... (Jan 8, 2010)

Lol in the simplest of words, Sdaji's become a softy.... Hi bro, how r the adders coming along???


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## Sdaji (Jan 8, 2010)

Most of them are just albino or hooded blacks though, the snakes don't care... but yeah, we have our pet ones too! Don't worry though, I'm still the one who does all the culls! 

Those Adders are coming along beautifully!  Fingers crossed for some gorgeous babies in a few months  Mating season is coming to a close, so it is a case of sit and wait... and hope! Would you believe it, I have been slack with getting pictures, and still barely having anything (well, plenty of mug shots, but nothing pretty). I really have to get around to taking some good ones. I used to take countless 'pretty' Adder shots until a couple of years ago. Strange, huh?


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## gold&black... (Jan 9, 2010)

Good to hear from u bro... Most importantly good to know the adders are coming along well... Do email me a few pic's.... Would love to see how they've grown... Especially loved the pic with the spectacles drawn... Lol must be (Sorry has to be) a snake worth dying for now....


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## Sdaji (Jan 10, 2010)

Haha! I didn't realise I'd sent that one out! :lol: I don't know what I was thinking when I drew the glasses on the snake, but I vaguely remember the picture  I can't even remember which snake it was, but if I check the picture I'll be able to tell, and I'll send you pictures of the same one all grown up  Their colours changed a lot as they grew. I'll put a few up on the forum before too much longer as well


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## Tail_less (Jan 25, 2010)

I can understand what you mean about indiscriminate breeders/fanciers who will happily sacrifice temperament in order to get a special marking, colour or coat type. For me, you have to be able to handle them foremost, with a stable and trustworthy temperament. And ditto for a healthy body.

You know the manx rats (tailless) have a form of spina bifida? And dumbos (with ears on the side) are considered 'sooo cute' but actually have downs syndrome?
Who would want to perpetuate that? It's downright cruel breeding these genetic freaks and mutants as a 'fancy' breed when they are something that should be culled out.

Rexes and patchwork hairless aren't properly stabilised yet as a breed...they do end up runty and sickly from inbreeding. And blues are still very dodgy. They had this bleeding problem like haemophilia where if they got cut the blood wouldn't clot. This also happened internally. Ugh.

I used to be a member of a rat fancier's society but I quit because of the lack of ethics I was seeing in the other breeders. When I reported what I knew to the head honchos, they just turned a blind eye. I thought hell, what is the point? If we are not here to promote the healthiest, nicest natured and best of the breed...then why bother?

I am always prepared to pay anything for a sane, nice natured and well bred, healthy rat of any regular colour. Thankfully there are some fancy rat breeders out there who are ethical and realistic. It's just a matter of sorting out the wheat from the chaff.


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## moosenoose (Jan 25, 2010)

I must say I've got a bit of a soft spot for the ol' rat and mouse. They are quite adorable.

The trouble is I think I've fed off a few potential show-winning champions in recent years :lol:


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## No-two (Feb 13, 2010)

Heres some cute ones all grown up. 


































I like rats.


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## thals (Feb 13, 2010)

Not a real rodent fan here, but that pied baby in your first post Sdaj is adorable, somewhat 'bull terrier-esque' lol, love it!


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## Noongato (Feb 13, 2010)

No-Two, that mink blazed odd eyed one is spectacular!!!


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## Herpgirl (Feb 13, 2010)

Is anyone selling any of theirs as pets? I am lookin for some good patterns


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## Noongato (Feb 13, 2010)

Wherebouts are you? There surely would be someone nearby.


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## Herpgirl (Feb 14, 2010)

How much are you selling the pet ones for? If you do sell i'd love one


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## Lonewolf (Feb 15, 2010)

Herpgirl, it may help if you state your location. There might be someone near you that has what you're looking for.


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## Herpgirl (Feb 15, 2010)

I'm in Petersham NSW, I am looking for 2 mote females with great patterns and 2 males.


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## Herpgirl (Feb 15, 2010)

More* I am looking for one albino male and the others can be other cool colours


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## Herpgirl (Feb 16, 2010)

Please anyone know a breeder in sydney I could contact if no one here has any?


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## naledge (Feb 16, 2010)

They're so cute.

I am now sad.


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## Herpgirl (Feb 17, 2010)

is sadji for sale? Cause Im on a rat club and they like them


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## Herpgirl (Feb 17, 2010)

Gimme gimme


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## Sdaji (Feb 19, 2010)

Herpgirl said:


> is sadji for sale? Cause Im on a rat club and they like them





Herpgirl said:


> Gimme gimme



Sorry, I'm not for sale!


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## Mudimans (Feb 19, 2010)

Sdaji said:


> Sorry, I'm not for sale!


Everyone has a price


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## Sdaji (Feb 19, 2010)

:lol:


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## Herpgirl (Feb 19, 2010)

Yeah, I got some rats comming soon. The 2 males from JrFear and 2 more females from a rat fanciers club in ermington.


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