Rattitude

I’m happy to read in my comments today that more people were horrified at the woman who flushed the rat down her toilet.

I sometimes forget that a lot of people, even people who love fancy pet rats, think of wild rats as nasty sewer living creatures.  I forget that not everyone feel like I do, that wild rats are just as adorable, and just as deserving of love as their domesticated cousins.

Remember this one:

She was an injured wild rat my MIL found in her yard.  We took her in and tried to save her.  Her back end was paralized and I intended to let her go if she regained use, or keep her forever if she didn’t.  She was a wild animal, but never even tried to nip at us as we tried to help her.

To me she is every bit as cute as Nibbitz and One of Two playing in the bathroom.

Now I’m not advocating letting wild rats run rampant in your home.  Even I dont want them living in my walls where they can chew wires and cause major damage. 

However, I cannot think of someone flushing a rat down a toilet without it making my blood boil.  So does the idea of people using glue traps, which is a slow, painful horrific way for rats to die.  Imagine your body beign stuck to the groud while you slowly die of thirst and hunger.  That is AFTER trying to chew your own body parts off in an effort to escape what has you pinned down.

In a perfect world everyone would use a live trap to catch a release.  In a slightly less perfect world everyone would use snap traps that kill instantly MOST (sadly not always) of the time.

Um…what was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, rats are cute……even wild ones…..please don’t flush them down your toilet.

Well, it should be well known that if I had the time, space, and finances I would start my own rat rescue.  I love the little critters, and want them all to have happy forever homes.

Well, I don’t have the time, space or finances for a rat rescue.  I have the space for one big cage, the time to clean that one cage regularly and to spend time with the rats living in it and the finances to keep them well fed and in clean bedding.

But, I just can’t say no.

My cousin called me last night, asking if I still had my rats.  I told him yes, I have three right now.  He asked if I wanted another one.

Me, want another rat?  Thats like asking a random stranger if they want a $100 bill, no strings attached.  Of course I want another rat.

Turns out his girlfriend has 3 rats.  2 hairless boys and one “fancy” female.  He said he thinks she wants to rehome the female.

Well, it just so happens that I have room for ONE more rat.  Exactly ONE more rat.  Their cage can hold 4 comfortably.

So, I told him I could take the female rat.

Here she is (a pic he sent me):

Her said her name is Madame Curie.  And I don’t know WHEN I might actually get her, since we live in different cities,and I don’t visit there too much, and he doesn’t visit here as often since he doesn’t work here anymore.

I MIGHT get to go visit home around the 12th and 13th of September, which I could arrange to take a travel cage with me and bring her home.

That is IF his girlfriend does decide to re-home her with me.

Francis got to meet Nibbitz and One of Two, and this is the single most easy introduction EVER.  Nibbitz did force groom Francis some, but there have been no fights, and no squealing from ANY of them!  Its amazing!

I introduced them in the aquarium that I put the girls in when I’m cleaning their cage:

In this first one Nibbitz looks like she is smiling!

Nibbitz and Francis interacted more than One and Francis did. (one is in the back)

Francis says she wants to get out now:

And here is some video of lots of sniffing an a little gentle grooming.

After work today we went to pick up Francis.

Here she is!

She is a beautiful dark grey rattie.  If you look at the picture below, you can see she has a small notch missing out of one ear.  Cute!

She is still small, and her fur is still super soft, so she’s got a little bit of growing to do still.  Not a lot, but some.

I tried to get several pictures of her when I first got her here, but she was acting a little nervous.

She was probably shaken up from the ride home, plus she hasn’t been handled too much recently (since the woman I got her from is allergic)

She was very curious, and kept wanting to jump off of everything I put her on to take her picture, and was sniffing EVERYTHING.

I haven’t introduced her to Nibbitz and One of Two yet.  I was going to let her get settled down and kind of used to a new place before I sprung that one on her.  She’s been living alone.  I hope she enjoys having sisters to play with when they meet!