A Belated Halloween Greetings

I did a Halloween photo-shoot with the boys, but didn't get all the photos sorted out for posting until now.  I fail, I know.  Ah well -- better late than never?

I'm still working on getting really great photos like the drool-worthy offerings over at The Dapper Rat.  I've got a long way to go, but I'm getting there.  At least, I've figured out the focus on my camera, so that's progress right? 

Without further ado, a very ratty Halloween:

Socrates poses with a gargoyle. 

Socrates is my least-photographed rat because he's always busy being a handful.  A mountain climber at heart, if you leave him alone for two seconds he will find some way to climb furniture, shelving, drapes, laundry, or any other vertical surface he can get near.  Whenever he does finally sit still, you realize how big and handsome he is; he looks much smaller when he's leaping and scurrying!

Normoth is more excited by treats than the prop

Normoth is the spazzy white brother to Socrates and Amadeus.  He lives with Ginji, Ban, and Einstein.  He looks like a PEW, but he's actually hooded --a very pale champagne, maybe, or dove.  At any rate, his eyes are ruby, not pink, and if you catch him in the right light you can see the hood.  He squeaks in protest at being picked up and held: He'd much rather be out exploring.  He's also a huge ham and is always acting like a doofus for a laugh, which makes him fit in rather well with his roommates.

Amadeus refused to pose with the gargoyle

Amadeus is the last of the brothers, and the biggest.  He's a chubby dumbo with a constant "who, me?" expression.  He's best friends with Basil, and has been named heir to the colony -- he and Basil seem to alternate as to who's the alpha most of the time.  Amadeus squeals like he's dying whenever anyone comes near him while he's eating, no matter if they try to take the food away or not.  His food obsession probably explains why he's about twice the size of his brothers...

This whole thing is just too tiring for Basil

Basil is 28 months old, and is slowing down a bit to age, but he can still show everyone who's boss.  He thought the whole notion of posing for Halloween pictures was terribly silly, and he wasn't interested in being bribed with treats.  He just sort of flumped down with a "fine, just get it over with" look and let me take some pictures.  He has that attitude about most things involving humans.  Basil doesn't like people nearly as much as he likes rats, and seems to think that interacting with humans is ill-fitting for his regal dignity. 

Einstein is camouflaged into the backdrop

Einstein is my other "old guy."  He's around 27 months but is hardly showing his age: He's as big of a pain in the ass as ever, and just as cute.  He loves cuddles and will throw himself out the cage door to beg for attention.  He also thought that the whole posing idea was really dumb, but he put up with it because I kept bribing him with snacks.  Unfortunately, as soon as I gave him a snack he would run off and eat it in a corner, so the only thing I could get a picture of was his furry butt. 

Ginji chows down with fervor

I'll tell you a secret.  Ginji looks like he was posing very cutely with the prop, right?  Well, actually he was just so hyper-foused on eating that he didn't notice or care when I just moved the gargoyle next to him.  He hardly looked up, actually.  In another life, I think Ginji might be a competitive eater.  "Rat vs Food" maybe.  I'm not sure who would win in an eating contest next to Amadeus...only one way of finding out.

At least Ban can behave himself

I only got 3 pictures of Ban during the entire photo shoot.  All the rest of the pictures I tried to take ended up being of the tip of his tail, or lumpy blankets as he burrowed his way into them.  He was infinitely more interested in the skeleton fleece than anything else I tried to give him.  Once I plied him with food he consented to sit still for a few snapshots, on the agreement he could go back to the blanket immediately after.