Rats and More Rats

A couple weeks back I told you about Hide and Seek, our new rats. After Seek's sudden passing, we had a rough time finding another female rat. I knew Hide was lonely and didn't want her to be alone too long.

Meet Cache

Our rat hunt wasn't any easier than before. We stalked every pet store in town to no avail. Hubby kept saying we should go back to the lizard store and buy another feeder rat, but I was worried about health issues. Like I said before, I don't think feeder rats are held to the same health standards as rats intended to be pets.

I work Sundays but Hubby is off. Sometimes Hubby does crazy things when I'm at work -- like make rat tubes! Last Sunday he made a command decision. He cleaned out an old 10-gallon tank, found the corresponding screen cover and set it up in the dining room. Then he hopped on his Harley and went to the lizard store. Hubby picked out two friendly feeder rats and brought them home -- on his bike. The lizard guy felt so bad about Seek that he offered to replace her for free. He said that sometimes the feeder rats get colds (told you!) and that's probably what happened to Seek.

And Sport

Hubby set the girls up in the dining room. He wanted to quarantine the new rats in case they were sick. He said he bought a second rat "just in case one didn't make it." I told him that sounded pretty harsh, but he felt that taking a chance to live in a loving home was better than the guarantee of a short life ending in a snake's belly. So how do you argue with that?

Well, right away one rat started sneezing. I was glad that they weren't in with Hide. We watched the new rats closely. The white-faced girl had bright eyes and was very energetic, whereas the brown-faced girl looked lethargic and squinty-eyed. After 24 hours we made the decision to move the white-faced girl (now named Cache -- keeping with the hidden theme) in with Hide. They bonded right away.

I named the other girl Sport (since she rode home on a Harley Sportster) and kept a close eye on her. After three days she seemed to be doing much better and we put her in the big cage. So now we have THREE rats. They each have a distinct personality too.

Hide wants attention -- and treats!

• Hide demands attention. She will stomp on anyone to get to the front of the cage when people walk by. She loves having head rubbed just behind her ears.
• Cache tolerates human attention, but doesn't seek it out. She'll sit in my hand and let me stroke her back. She loves the exercise wheel. I hear her running in it day and night.
• Sport is a loner. Hide and Cache will cuddle together on the top level, but Sport prefers to hide in the cubby at the bottom of the cage. Sport doesn't like being held either, so socializing her is more difficult. (She doesn't bite, she's just really squirmy.)

Hide is about a month older and significantly bigger than the new girls. I've already introduced her to the tube. She runs in with no problem and is calm when Jedi sniffs with her inside it. In fact, getting her to come out was more difficult than getting her in. Apparently she liked it in there. I'm going to work on socializing Cache and Sport before introducing them to the tubes.

So, we have our hands full of rodents right now and I'm loving it. Even rat-hating Hubby is coming around. I'll catch him baby-talking to the girls. And he keeps baggies in the fridge of cheese bits and vegetable scraps that he doles out when he thinks I'm not looking. Don't tell him I know, OK? I'll share more later, but for now I have to feed animals and clean cages. That's one of the drawbacks to having your own personal zoo. TTFN, -- K