Meet Romulus and Remus

So we finally decided on names: Romulus and Remus!

That's my arm that makes the shot look odd. Romulus is licking it.

Romulus is the black one and Remus the grey. These were the names that just seemed to stick while we were trying out all of the names. Though I personally call them "Bounce" and "Scurry" when we play. Romulus' playing style is to bounce around and Remus' to scurry away and come back.

They are very fun. They like to rough house and I can rough house with them. Romulus is not very shy or easily scared (he sometimes acts like he is, but he isn't). So he likes very much to be in the middle of things. He is pretty brave about coming out and being held and running around. Remus is a lot more withdrawn and shy. It takes him longer to want to follow Romulus out to run around, but he is curious enough to try eventually. Sometimes I make him come out so he can get used to it. The picture above was during a game where they ran up and down my arm. Sometimes they tried to chew on my shirt and my jewelry, and Romulus likes to chew on my hair. He also tried to use my glasses as a springboard to get on top of my hair... Remus didn't get that adventurous, but he did get to my shoulder and chew on my earrings and stick his nose in my ear. Then he promptly ran away when I laughed. He was brave enough to try again, however.

It is fun to watch them grow and learn. They are smart little critters and very playful. Remus has started to be more pushy (but sometimes Romulus lets him have the upper hand). Romulus is already a little bigger and heavier then his brother, so I try to sneak Remus a little extra food.

We are ordering a large cage for them. Male rats can get pretty large and since there are two, they definitely need the space. Also, males can be more prone to laziness (and maybe a little to over-eating) so if they don't have the space, they won't run it off. Appropriate cages are difficult to find and are often expensive. Camarattery has a lot of information about appropriate cage sizes. We are going with a Martin's Cage called the Rat Tower which can be found on this page: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/. It is a little pricy, but worth it for the boys. Side note: according to Camarattery (and I believe them), the galvanized finish will absorb urine and therefore are harder to clean than the powder-coated. I know it is more expensive, but if the smell is important to you, go with the powder-coated finish.