mickimagnum
Member
My first rat since childhood just passed away from an inoperable tumor. My husband and I and his cage mate gathered around him in his final moments and told him how much we loved him, caressing him gently, and reassuring him before he took his last breath and bounded over Rainbow Bridge.
His name was Rick, and we got him from a local pet store about two years ago. We were going specifically to get rats, but my husband was set on getting girls. That all changed the moment I saw him. He was alone, sleeping on top of a log, fully grown and slightly overweight. Did I mention naked? My husband jokes that I'm always drawn to the ugliest animals. But, all I saw that day was an adorable fellow who was all alone and needed a home and someone to love him. The girl working at the shop told us they had sold his cage-mates a while back and he had been alone ever since. I asked to hold him, and the rest was history. It was love at first sight.
I remember looking at my husband, wide-eyed and teary in a way only love can make a girl, asking "Can I please have him?". He grumbled, but agreed and went off to excitedly picked out another boy rat to live with Rick. His choice was a dumbo fancy rat baby (probably about 6 weeks old or a little more). We named him Carl.
We quickly fell in love with our rat boys. They were silly, charming, cuddly, and affectionate. They loved each other too and were inseparable from the get-go.
Rick & Carl Playing on the couch
Snuggling in their house. Censored for Carl's modesty, lol.
Rick was a really laid-back rat who preferred burrowing and sleeping to causing much mischief. However, when the mood struck him, he was the king of destruction, leveling entire cloth cubes and hammocks in a couple of days and shredding pretty much any other fabric he could wrap his teeth around (including my shirt...while I was playing with him!). He was more aloof than Carl, coming to see you only when he wanted attention and preferring to ignore you when he did not. Rick hated his oil massages, now matter how many times I told him they were completely necessary (hehe). He loved sunflower seeds most of all, and my only regret is that I couldn't get him any in his last days.
Good night, sweet prince. I hope you're having fun at Rainbow Bridge. Mommy will miss you, my silly naked boy.
Carl is comforting Rick in his final moments.
His name was Rick, and we got him from a local pet store about two years ago. We were going specifically to get rats, but my husband was set on getting girls. That all changed the moment I saw him. He was alone, sleeping on top of a log, fully grown and slightly overweight. Did I mention naked? My husband jokes that I'm always drawn to the ugliest animals. But, all I saw that day was an adorable fellow who was all alone and needed a home and someone to love him. The girl working at the shop told us they had sold his cage-mates a while back and he had been alone ever since. I asked to hold him, and the rest was history. It was love at first sight.
I remember looking at my husband, wide-eyed and teary in a way only love can make a girl, asking "Can I please have him?". He grumbled, but agreed and went off to excitedly picked out another boy rat to live with Rick. His choice was a dumbo fancy rat baby (probably about 6 weeks old or a little more). We named him Carl.
We quickly fell in love with our rat boys. They were silly, charming, cuddly, and affectionate. They loved each other too and were inseparable from the get-go.
Rick & Carl Playing on the couch
Snuggling in their house. Censored for Carl's modesty, lol.
Rick was a really laid-back rat who preferred burrowing and sleeping to causing much mischief. However, when the mood struck him, he was the king of destruction, leveling entire cloth cubes and hammocks in a couple of days and shredding pretty much any other fabric he could wrap his teeth around (including my shirt...while I was playing with him!). He was more aloof than Carl, coming to see you only when he wanted attention and preferring to ignore you when he did not. Rick hated his oil massages, now matter how many times I told him they were completely necessary (hehe). He loved sunflower seeds most of all, and my only regret is that I couldn't get him any in his last days.
Good night, sweet prince. I hope you're having fun at Rainbow Bridge. Mommy will miss you, my silly naked boy.
Carl is comforting Rick in his final moments.
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