Back in my college days, I was owned by a delightful rat I named Jasmine. She went everywhere with me, including Economics class. (Having long hair and conspiratorial friends helped a lot!) Back in those relative “dark ages,” it was hard to find reliable information about maintaining them as pets, but I must have done something right because even though she was an adult when I got her, she lived five wonderful years with me. I wasn’t ready to get another right after her death, and then one situation after another conspired to prevent me from feeling like it was the right time for another.
Everyone around me knew I had wanted another rat, so I shouldn’t have been surprising when the grapevine told me about a hairless male that was looking for a home. A vet involved in raptor rescue had received him as a feeder, but he so enchanted both her and her assistant that they decided he couldn’t be fed to the hawk. Neither felt they could keep him, so they put the word out. I decided this was the sign I needed, so I agreed to take him. He lived several hours’ drive from me, so I adopted him sight unseen.
I set up a cage so full of toys it more closely resembled a baby’s crib, and waited. And waited. And waited.
Turned out the vet tech wasn’t quite ready to let him go, and after weeks of staring at the empty cage I decided to go ahead and get a young furred male. I had planned from the start to get one as a companion for the hairless - even named them Adam and Jamie - so all I was doing was reversing the order I’d get them in. And if the hairless placement didn’t come through, as it looked like it wouldn’t, I’d just go out and buy a second male later. Right? Right?
That’s how Adam One joined the family
He was the smallest rat I’d ever seen sold alive, and won over even the most rat-phobic members of the family immediately. One teeny tiny rat, one giant cage full of full-sized rat toys, and insane amounts of cuddling and bruxing. He reminded me of just how much I’d loved my Jazzy, and how much fun a rat can be. Then I heard that I was getting my hairless after all. There was much rejoicing throughout the house.
When the hairless arrived, the only thing I could think was:
SHE was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, both a vet and a vet tech misidentified the gender of a hairless rat. Jamie turned out to be absolutely as delightful as promised, but it was immediately apparent that she’s also the most hyper ADHD rat you’ll ever meet. Merge the speed of a Thoroughbred with the reflexes of a mongoose and the drive of a Fortune 50 CEO, and you’ll get the basic idea. There was no way she was going to manage without the companionship of another rat.
That’s why laid back, cuddle bug Eve joined the family
I had seen Eve while “rat shopping” for Adam, loved her, but at the time wasn’t looking for a female. Clearly the fates had other plans, and a sense of humor (she was originally destined as snake food). The girls bonded almost immediately, and much mischief was made. But what about lonely Adam?
At first, we thought Adam’s strong social bonds with humans would be enough to sustain him. That was before he began demanding four hours or more a day with his humans. We started joking that he was more of a fashion accessory than a pet. Now, I adore my rats, but I do occasionally have to accomplish tasks that are not assisted by the presence of even a well-behaved rodent on my shoulder.
Meet Lucas. He really is supposed to look like “that,” which is to say, a space alien refugee. I’ve even heard one of the local vet techs confirm to another “It’s a rat! Really, it’s a rat!”
Now collectively known as the Twitchy Nose Brigade, they’ve brought me more joy than words can possibly express. If you live in the NW burbs and happen to see a pet store shopper with a snazzy leopard print fleece bag around her neck, which looks almost but not quite like a purse, be sure to stop me and say Hi to whichever Brigade member happens to be inside.
Enough talking. You’re here for the pictures, right? Well, here they are!
Shhh… glimpses of the Jamie rat holding still are rare and precious
Is that a dove egg I smell?
(Note: my girls are some of the sweetest, gentlest animals you’ll ever meet - unless there’s a dove egg involved. Then they transform into Great White Sharks feeding on sea lions. All I have to do is walk near the bird cage for Jamie to plaster herself against the glass in anticipation).
Where did my sweet baby rat go? Who is this giant changeling?
Unclear on the concept of “exercise wheel”
There’s my sweet baby rat! He hasn’t entirely been subsumed by the rapidly growing changeling
I guess I won’t be getting one any time soon.
