GrayLightNewDay
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
I was an active member of the Rat Shack about four years ago and I recently got some new babies after losing my last colony, so I'm back! I forgot how difficult it can be to be a rat owner without people to share your love of rats with, and since most of the people I know don't really care for them that much, I wanted to rejoin the forum.
When I was a member before I had four female rats and a newly acquired male (I had him neutered). I lost two of my girls due to tumors and cancer (it was crazy, I spent thousands of dollars for surgeries and they ended up needing to be put down because of reopening wounds, reoccurring tumors, and necrotic tumors). Because the loss of my ratties was so overwhelming to me, I decided to not get anymore unless someone I knew needed to rehome their rats (and no one I knew would own rats, so I didn't expect that to happen).
Flash forward to now, I have moved across the country and made friends with all sorts of people with all sorts of animals. Here's the story of how I ended up with my current babies, after swearing them off...
A couple months ago, one of my dear friends just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and she also had a litter of kittens who were orphaned that she was hand feeding, as well as a couple baby chicks that lost their mama. She had a brand new baby, three kittens, and two chicks that she was feeding! I went to her house to meet her baby and help out with the orphaned animals. The kittens and chicks were in a cardboard box together, keeping each other warm, playing together, and grooming each other (the kittens were only three weeks old and the chicks maybe a week old). When I went to feed the kittens I noticed a little baby rat in the box, as well!!! My friend wanted to surprise me because she knew that I loved rats. This little baby rat was brought home by her young sons, who didn't want her to be food. She was only two weeks old when she was taken from a feeder box in the pet store. :[ My friend was obviously not happy, but she didn't want the poor little baby to die, so there was another mouth for her to feed. The rat was four weeks old when I met her, and she was strong, bright eyed, and super snugly. I immediately fell in love. My friend hadn't planned on getting a pet rat and she knew they required more care than she could give, especially given her situation with all the other baby animals, and said she loved the rat and only wanted her to go to the best home she could think of, so she offered her to me. I couldn't say no, and so I ended up with a four week old baby.
I took her home and had to scramble to get all the things I needed, while looking for a companion for her. My partner and I bought a single critter nation and all sorts of other goodies for the cage, as well as Oxbow young rat food. We were able to find her a sister a couple weeks later, who has the complete opposite personality. Our first girl Violet is so sweet and quiet, she loves to cuddle and she wants nothing more to be on us. Matilda, who is a week and a half younger, is insanely hyper and wont sit still (unless she's pooping) when she's outside of the cage. It can be difficult to handle sometimes, because she's still small and super fast, so I worry she's gonna get lost or hurt, but she is very fun to watch as she popcorns all around. Violet is grey and white, and she seems to be capped on one side and bareback on the other, with a grey spot on her back. Matilda is a black veriberk with dumbo ears. We have had them for about two months now, and everyday I am more and more happy that we decided to adopt them.
I was an active member of the Rat Shack about four years ago and I recently got some new babies after losing my last colony, so I'm back! I forgot how difficult it can be to be a rat owner without people to share your love of rats with, and since most of the people I know don't really care for them that much, I wanted to rejoin the forum.
When I was a member before I had four female rats and a newly acquired male (I had him neutered). I lost two of my girls due to tumors and cancer (it was crazy, I spent thousands of dollars for surgeries and they ended up needing to be put down because of reopening wounds, reoccurring tumors, and necrotic tumors). Because the loss of my ratties was so overwhelming to me, I decided to not get anymore unless someone I knew needed to rehome their rats (and no one I knew would own rats, so I didn't expect that to happen).
Flash forward to now, I have moved across the country and made friends with all sorts of people with all sorts of animals. Here's the story of how I ended up with my current babies, after swearing them off...
A couple months ago, one of my dear friends just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and she also had a litter of kittens who were orphaned that she was hand feeding, as well as a couple baby chicks that lost their mama. She had a brand new baby, three kittens, and two chicks that she was feeding! I went to her house to meet her baby and help out with the orphaned animals. The kittens and chicks were in a cardboard box together, keeping each other warm, playing together, and grooming each other (the kittens were only three weeks old and the chicks maybe a week old). When I went to feed the kittens I noticed a little baby rat in the box, as well!!! My friend wanted to surprise me because she knew that I loved rats. This little baby rat was brought home by her young sons, who didn't want her to be food. She was only two weeks old when she was taken from a feeder box in the pet store. :[ My friend was obviously not happy, but she didn't want the poor little baby to die, so there was another mouth for her to feed. The rat was four weeks old when I met her, and she was strong, bright eyed, and super snugly. I immediately fell in love. My friend hadn't planned on getting a pet rat and she knew they required more care than she could give, especially given her situation with all the other baby animals, and said she loved the rat and only wanted her to go to the best home she could think of, so she offered her to me. I couldn't say no, and so I ended up with a four week old baby.
I took her home and had to scramble to get all the things I needed, while looking for a companion for her. My partner and I bought a single critter nation and all sorts of other goodies for the cage, as well as Oxbow young rat food. We were able to find her a sister a couple weeks later, who has the complete opposite personality. Our first girl Violet is so sweet and quiet, she loves to cuddle and she wants nothing more to be on us. Matilda, who is a week and a half younger, is insanely hyper and wont sit still (unless she's pooping) when she's outside of the cage. It can be difficult to handle sometimes, because she's still small and super fast, so I worry she's gonna get lost or hurt, but she is very fun to watch as she popcorns all around. Violet is grey and white, and she seems to be capped on one side and bareback on the other, with a grey spot on her back. Matilda is a black veriberk with dumbo ears. We have had them for about two months now, and everyday I am more and more happy that we decided to adopt them.
