Our Past Litters
Some of the litters listed we bred and raised by Tess Miller, co-founder and former breeder at DT.
December 2004 - Happy Birthday Litter
Boogeyman of DT (x) AnnaBell of DT
Litter of 4
This litter was
the first litter officially bred and raised by The Dumbo Tree Rattery,
and it deserves a place of honor simply for that reason. This
litter was between our AnnaBell, a standard Black Berkshire; and
Boogeyman, a Black double rex dumbo. Anna gave birth to four fat
babies on December 5, 2004. This was the smallest litter that
Ashley and I had experienced up to that point. Anna's babies put on
weight fast. AnnaBell is my (Tess's) favorite female,
and Boogeyman was very, very beloved by Ashley.... so needless to
say we kept the pick of the litter, DT Ruben!
Goal of this litter: To pass on the temperament of Boogeyman, the coloring of AnnaBell, and promote the dumbo trait.
April 2005 - Black & Blue Litter
SGR Gentleheart "Spike" (x) SOL Sputnik of DT
Litter of 7 surviving
Sputnik is my (Ashley) favorite female of all time, so I wanted to make sure that when I bred her, I bred her with a high quality male to produce the best babies possible. Sput and Spike didn't disappoint anyone! She went into labor the morning of April 4th and delivered 8 babies, although the runt did not make it through the first 24 hours. Her 7 surviving babies put on weight quickly and by the time Sputnik took over raising Rain Cloud's runt (DT Where's The Beef?), her babies were twice the size of Rain Cloud's. Sputnik reared her 7 babies and her adopted son without further complications. Tess got her perfect little boy, DT Serge "Templeton" and I got my perfect little girl, DT Princess Lida.
Goal of this litter: To begin our Russian-based lines; to pass on Spike & Sputnik's temperaments; to promote the dumbo trait.
April 2005 - Fast Food Litter
SGR Gentleheart "Spike" (x) JCH's Rain Cloud of DT
Litter of 13
Spike was such a great
looking boy that we couldn't help but use him with Rain
Cloud. When we took a look at the genetics, we were surprised to
see the large variety of colours that these two could possibly produce,
among them being Pearle, which was pretty much the deciding factor for
us... both of us loving the colour. On April 4th, 2005, several
hours after her sister litter was born, Rain Cloud gave birth to twelve
healthy babies, and one significantly smaller runt. Shortly after
Sputnik's runt passed away, I handed off Rain Cloud's runt to Ashley
for Sputnik to foster. It worked like a charm, and in the end
Sputnik's foster son became the pick of the litter! You can find
the two babies from this litter that are staying on our Males page
under DT Where's the Beef? "Beefcake", and DT Whopper "Dewey".
Litter of 13.
Goal of this litter: To promote the Dumbo trait, to experiment with the American Mink genes.
October 2005 - Water Babies Litter
ShMR Mote of DT (x) SFR Darwin
Litter of 7 surviving
This litter was the first born from our
October Sister Litters 2005, and our first co-breeding with another
rattery. This was going to be our first Russian Silver Litter,
and all of the babies turned out wonderful and healthy. After
raising the large litter of 13 from Fast Food 2005, it was nice to have
a smaller litter with only the seven babies needing to be fed.
The first baby was a stillborn, who we were able to resuscitate,
however he didn't live beyond his first four hours. The rest of
the babies thrived, and all grew to be beautiful young adults with
their mother's shiny coat and beautiful bright eyes.
Goal of this litter: to begin our Russian Silver Lines, to promote the Dam's bright eyes in our RS lines, to round out our Dumbo ears.
October 2005 - Halloween Litter
SFR Raphael the Raven (x) SOL Sputnik of DT
Litter of 8
Raphael
was on loan to us from Dayna of SFR so Sputnik could have her last
litter include Russian Blues. Sputnik was a very attentive and
laid-back mother for her first litter and her babies were healthy and
beautiful, so we could not wait for this litter to be born. Sputnik
gave birth the morning of October 10th to 8 pink bundles of joy. Since
Sputnik lost her runt from her first litter, I was prepared with small
animal formula and syringes in case one or more of her babies were too
weak to nurse, which ended up being the case with one of her daughters.
This time, everyone made it! All of her babies grew up just as friendly
and beautiful as her first litter. Our female keeper is DT Spook "Pogo" .
Goal of this litter: To promote the dumbo trait, to expand our Russian Blue lines.
December 2005 - Classic Cars Litter
SRR A Likely Story of DT (x) SRR Danny Boy of DT
Litter of 6 surviving
This was the first litter of
Downunders here at The Dumbo Tree. When we adopted the rats from
SRR, A Likely Story (or Story) was already pregnant and ready to have
babies at DT. There were 8 babies born, 1 of which did not
survive the first night. After three days I learned that Story
was having difficulty nursing her babies, so I began to hand raise
them. Luckily, the babies survived after that. It was
amazing that all of them survived having been hand fed from such a
young age, and it was a difficult and scary process. But it added
well to the socialization of all of the babies, and they have grown to
be big, healthy and sweet. We currently have DT Pontiac GTO
staying with us to add to Ashley's Russian Blue lines. I
have kept DT General Lee (Black Berkshire Dumbo) and DT Chevy Monte
Carlo (Black Downunder) nearby, and may add them to our breeding lines
later one.
Goal of this litter: To begin our Downunder line; to promote the dumbo trait.
January 2006 - Sophisticated Litter
SRR Aramis of DT (x) SRR It's Only Me of DT
Litter of 12 surviving
This litter was our first Downunder/Dalmatian crossing, and we weren't disappointed! Mae gave birth to 14 little babies on January 3rd, but sadly, 2 of them did not make it. I suspect Mae had a very difficult delivery as some of the babies were bruised, and Mae was completely exhausted (not that giving birth to 14 babies didn't earn her a right to a nap!). We had a great time watching the markings develop on these babies, and I had a blast picking out their names. We ended up keeping 5 babies from this litter because we were so pleased with the babies! Our keeper boy is DT Jacques and our keeper girls are DT Guinevere & DT Margaux.
Goal of this litter: To begin our Dalmatian/Downunder crossings; to promote the dumbo trait.
March 2006 - Nursery Rhyme Litter
SRR Aramis of DT (x) SRR Dreamtime of DT
Litter of 4 surviving
This litter was our second Downunder/Dalmatian crossing, and we were just as happy with the results as the first one! Dreamtime delivered 8 babies, 2 of them still born and another 2 who passed shortly after. She raised the remaining 4 without difficulty and the babies grew nice 'n' plump quickly. We were surprised to find that both parents carried RED, which resulted in three blacks and one beige in the litter. Our keeper boy is Old Mr. Dunderbeck and our keeper girl is DT Little Bo Peep.
Goal of this litter: To continue our Dalmatian/Downunder crossings; to promote the dumbo trait.
March 2006 - Astronomy Litter
DT Whopper "Dewey" (x) DT Anya the Impaler
Litter of 16
Anya gave birth to 16 bouncing babies on
March 24th! Anya raised her large litter without complications. The
babies were all healthy and beautiful and we had a lot of difficulty
deciding who to keep. We finally chose two females, DT Nebula and DT Pleiades M45, though we kept a male, DT Equinox close by with a breeder friend of Ashley's.
Goal of this litter: To continue our Russian-based line; to begin our platinum line, to promote the dumbo trait.
April 2006 - Herbs & Spices Litter
Litter of 12 surviving
Battlestar gave birth to 17 babies on 4/30, unfortunately, after 48 hours, only 12 survived. She raised the remaining babies without further complications, though there was one runt. There were 8 females and 4 males. The babies were American mink, havana (ruby-eyed Mocha) and mink-based platinum dumbos. Our keeper male from this litter is DT Tasmanian Pepper.
Goal of this litter: Extend our American Mink and Platinum lines, promote the dumbo trait, pass on the temperament of both parents.
May 2006 - Video Game Litter
Litter of 12
Jill gave birth to 12 babies on 5/2! There are 6 females and 6 males. There were a wide range of colors in this litter: cinnamon, havana, American blue, American blue agouti, platinum and platinum agouti. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that Jill was a dumbo carrier (her grandmother was a dumbo). She raised her beautiful bunch without any complications. Our male keeper was DT Duck Hunt and our female keeper was DT Halo.
Goal of this litter: To produce new colors and more markings in smooth coats; to pass on the temperaments of both parents.
July 2006 - Mickey Mouse Litter
Litter of 11 surviving
Pogo gave birth on 7/12! 12 babies were born, but the runt (much smaller, blue in coloration due to lack of oxygen and unable to nurse properly) did not make it through the first night. The surviving 11 babies were healthy and thriving. There were 4 males and 7 males; 6 standard coat and 5 rex; 7 Russian blue and 4 black. Pogo did a wonderful job of raising her babies, as her mother and half-sister both did before her. Our female keeper was DT Melody.
Goal of this litter: To further the RB lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait.
November 2006 - Classic Movies Litter
Litter of 4 surviving
Guinevere gave birth to 4 babies on 11/29! There were 3 males and 1 female. 3 of the babies were split caps, like their mother, and 1 baby (a male) was patched. All babies were black dumbos. Unfortunately, she was not able to deliver the rest of her babies and they had to be removed via c-section. Guin did not recover quickly from her ordeal, so 3 of her babies were fostered by Debbie Fratini of Sweet Genes Rattery and her female MW Silver Mist who had 4 babies of her own at the time. Guin was left with a single baby in the hopes that her milk wouldn't dry up, and after a week, she was able to take her 3 babies back so that the family of 5 was together again. Our male keeper from this litter is DT 2001 A Space Oddyssey and our female keeper is DT Breakfast At Tiffany's.
Goal of this litter: To further the marked lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait.
February 2007 - Astronomy II Litter
Litter of 4
Nebula gave birth to 4 babies on 2/14! 1 male and 3 females. All mink-based platinum berkshire dumbos. Nebula was a good mother and the babies grew quickly. It was difficult to tell them apart, so I used non-toxic markers to make little spots on each baby so they could be identified as they grew up. Our male keeper is DT Blue Moon and our female keeper is DT Corona.
Goal of this litter: To further the mink-based platinum lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait.
May 2007 - Music Genres Litter
Litter of 7
Melody gave birth to 7 babies on 5/3! 4 males and 3 females. All babies were Russian blue. There were standard ears & dumbos, and selves and berkshires. Elvis, the sire, is a very handsome and easy-going male. Melody is an energetic and playful female. The babies should be very typey and with good personalities, like their parents. The babies were named after different music genres. My keepers from the litter are the male DT Blues and the female DT Hip Hop.
Goal of this litter: To further the Russian blue lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait.
September 2007 - Hillbilly Litter
Litter of 8
Melody gave birth to 8 babies on 9/13/07! The babies were Russian blue and Russian beige dumbos with standard and rex coats, as well as self, berkshire, broken hooded and bareback markings. Goat is a ham and loves to be the center of attention. Melody is an inquisitive and friendly girl. This was a father-daughter breeding to bring out what other colors could be carried in this line. The keepers from this litter are: the male DT Jed, and the female DT Penny Sue.
Goal of this litter: To further the Russian blue lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait, to experiment with recessive colors in this line.
December 2007 - Cryptozoology
Litter of 7
Hippo gave birth to 7 babies on 12/26! 4 males and 3 females. The babies were Russian blue and black dumbos. There were selves and berkshires, and all the babies had standard coats. Moonie, the sire, is a very quiet fellow who enjoys spending time in his tubes and boxes. Hippo, the dam, is a very playful and friendly girl. The babies had gorgeous coats and nice ears. The babies were named after cryptoids. My keeper from the litter is the female DT Yeti.
Goal of this litter: To further the Russian blue lines, to pass on the temperaments of both parents, to promote the dumbo trait.
