Rat Ville - Rats rats rats

5:16:15 PM PDT
Ok, i made a mistake. We last left off on my 2nd gen rats, well.... sometime between my 1st and 2nd gen rats i adopted two darling capped girls - Patsy and Eddie, my first non-feeder rats. These two rats were my first 'official' rescue.

For the life of me i can't remember how i got involved with rescueing these two darlings, i may have seen an announcement on one of the groups and replied.  Well, Dan from RAG (rodents are great) A wonderful website i might add. Was being the middle man for this rescue. Apperantly a women had contacted Dan because she could no longer keep her rats because she was moving. So i guess i talked to Dan and agreed to take them and the women delivered them to my house.  Dan and i thought something was strange, that maybe she really just didn't want her rats anymore... but, i can't say for sure, that's neither here nor there however.  So, i got these two adorable girls. They were already named but i switched their names to Patsy and Eddie, after two characters on a fav British telivision show i adore. Side Note:  Saffy was also named from a character on this show- Saffy's real name is Saffron, but i never call her that lol.

Lets Continue. ....

So i rescued these two darlings and Patsy turned out to be one of the most lovable girls and not to mention a big squsih of a girl. I fell so in love with her.  Eddie wasn't the friendly type but i adored her as well.

I can't say for sure how old they were but the women told me they were a year.

Patsy was so wonderful. If i left the room and came back, she'd come running up to me with the most lovable eyes- "Momma, Momma Momma, here i am, scritch me, love me" She had a huge heart in that little body.

Over time Patsy started getting old, i think at this point she was about 2 years, maybe even older. She died one night in my arms. That was so hard for me....  Sometimes i don't understand why the powers that be would brake up such a wonderful bond... but, that is a part of life isn't it.  We chose to love these little creatures but in choosing that, we also choose tears. That goes the same for loving any animal; dog  or cat... but rats don't live as long as they do.  To go and fall in love with something that you know will only live 2-3 years, 4 if you're lucky is a bitter sweet. For, those of us you have chosen to love rats, get the best gift in the world, a little ball of love that will love you unconditionaly like know other animal out there but at the same time we know in the back of our minds that will be short lived but leave us with a lifetime of memories.

I'd give anything for just one more moment with her, and many others.

Now Eddie, went on living for qiet some time after Patsy died, i think she may have even been close to 3 years old. Eddie developed a heart condition. I can't remember right now if she died in my arms but i know i was with her when it happened. Eddie never bonded with me but i know she was a happy girl, she just was a loner.

They were both so beautiful. Soon as i can start uploading, i'll share their pictures with you.

Rebecca



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5:32:45 PM PDT
Ok, here we go. I dedicated this entry to a good friend- Cindy.

So, we left off with my two fawn boys - Ben and Baby Hudson.  So, i beleive a few months passed, maybe less and i got new rats, what i call my 2nd generation rats- Lola, Lelu, Lucy, ,Matilda, Duncan, Adonis, Miko. I may be forgetting someone but it will come to me.

So i got these few rats over a few week period.  and Sadly beautiful Adonis passed away wo weeks after i got him. He was a beautiful Blue rattie, a blue berk/self.  I really never got to know him because he wasn't that friendly.

Side note:  Ok, i also got a rat called Baby Star and liam during this time, the same day i got Lola. So ok back to where we were....

Lola showed signs of being extremely friendly right away, she was a young lazy girl not hyper like normal girls lol.  She did explore and what not but she always ended up back on the bed with me.  Miko also showed signs of being a loverboy.

One day, before i had bonded with Miko. I was laying on the bed and all of a sudden Miko jumped up on my chest went and laid by my neck and started bruxing, that was it!!!!  I was in love. Miko came to be one of my most treasured boys and sadly he passed about 2 months ago of a sudden heart attack. His death was very hard for me because it was sudden and unexpected.  He was VERY obese so i figured he wouldn't live to be three but i never thought i'd lose him at two years old. When Miko died, it about killed me. He was a wonderful lover-boy of a rat. And a big squish.

Lelu turned into a HUGE love bug, a rat with the leargest heart i've known. She is still currently with me but has an inoperable tumor and her time is limited. She is happy and spoiled. I make her as comfy as possible. I know my days are number with her so i treasure each day i have left with her. Lelu become part of a group of my very special three girls, as many of you know- Lola, Lelu and Saffy. They are my heart!

Lets see... ok Duncan and Lucy really weren't extremely friendly, specially Lucy but Duncan was very sweet and he had/has his lovable moments. He is now a very healthy big squish of a boy. Lucy is more of a rats rat. And let me tell you a little secret, shhhh. Duncan and Lucy live together lol. Duncan has never been a rat to 'mount' a girl, he never showed an interest and Lucy is so darn old, i thought what the heck. The reason i did it was because, one day they accidently gotto gether and they bonded immediately and who am i to seperate two soul mates like that. They have lived together for 6 months now- NO PREGNENCIES. Miko was the same way, could care less about girl rats. Shhhhh he he. They spend almost every single minute of the day together, always cuddled, always looking for one and other- true love, ya think?  I do, i like to believe every living creature has a soul mate and sometimes we have more then one at different levels, heck i have had about 60 soul mates- My rats:)

Ok, so we move on to..... uh, let me go back above and look at the list. Oh Matilda, dear sweat Matilda. Brace yourself, this will be a tear jerker.  It's still hard for me to talk about.
I got Matilda sometime during that same era i got all these other rats. OMG, i saw her at the pet store- A feeder rat of course. And i had never seen a rat with this color, a dark blue/grey. That was it she came home with me. I took a cab ride home and took her out for the hole rise, she was comfy as can be.

Now Matilda was never super friendly but during her life, at about a year or so, she developed Myco and as a result had heart and lung damage.  She was ok for some time with the help of lasix and other meds. but, as time went on she got worse and worse and lost so much weight.  Now, during this time she started bonding with me. She was getting worse and worse so i just let her live on the bed with me as i normally do with Ill rats and special rats.  All of a sudden she did not want to be apart from me. When I'd lay down, she crawl up on my neck and lay flat against my neck. I think she did this for security and she could feel my pulse there and it was warm. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to find her sleeping accross my neck.  When i'd sit at the computer she'd jump from the bed even though she was so weak and sit on the back of the chair just to be with me *tears*.

And when i'd go back to the bed, she stayed on the computer chair because she new I'd be back for i was always there. A few times when she was on the bed and i left, i'd find her on the computer chair way on top at the tip- waiting. Waiting for me to return because she new I'd always come back to the computer. Bless her darling heart. This rat did not want to be anywhere but with me, so strange for a not-so-friendly rat in her young days.

She continued to get worse and died in my arms one night.  And till the end she only wantedme.  I thank her so much for giving me that last gift of just wanting me. It strengthens my belief that rats and all animals are capable of love, compassion and every other emotion that us humans have.  She knew she was safe and secure with me. And it also strengthened my belife that even the not-so-firendly and timid rats recognize what we are to them, they just don't show their love the same way the super firendly, cuddly rats do.

She's been gone jsut about a year now. She died right before my very first rat Ripley died and after Laim.

Matilda, you little darling- Mommy loves you and misses you.

On two Liam AKA Sweetboy, who sadly had the same health problem as Matilda but he had actual heart attacks every so often. Liam was so unique, he was not friendly but he was so sweet, wait... he was a gentleman, if that makes any sense and he did bond with me in his own way. He was just a sweet boy! He was so petite for a boy, he never did grow to is maximum because of his heart problem.

One time when a rat whom i will talk about in the next entry- Patsy got ill in her odl age, i let Liam be with her. He would lay on top of patsy and wouldn't let a single rat near her, hence - why i call him a gentlemen. He protected Patsy as if he was born to do that.

Liam was a beautiful Agouti berk... with eyes that would warm you on the coldest day.

He started having mini-heart attacks. He'd panic and run around... i gave him mouth to mouth once and revived him. Each heart attack was worse.  His breathing was bad so him and i would sit in the bathroom breathing steam from the shower, he hated that but it had to be done.  

One day, when i was sitting here at the computer, i noticed Liam running around his cage in a panic, i knew this was another heart attack but i never dreamed these would be his last moments on earth, here with me.  He died pretty quick, but he was so paniced, so i held him as much as i could and then he was gone.  I have a beautiful pic of him but i can't seem to uplaod but i will.

And then that leaves my Lola. My soul mate, the love of my life. Lola is my one true love.  She is the msot cuddly rat I've ever had, even more then any Boy I've had. As most of you know she'll cuddle with me for an hour watching TV. And she is a house-rat. She does not live in a cage. She has free roam.

I'll be talking more about Lola in this journal.

When Lola goes, i just don't think i could handle it but she is hear and healthy, healthy but FAT lol.  Everytime i hear her brux as she lays with me, i close my eyes and say "Remember this moment and never forget it"

Stay tuned for more rattie stories and the story of my rats :)

Rebecca






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7:52:43 PM PDT
Ok folks... moving on.  

Lets see, after i got my first boys and Jerimiah we are at about Janurary/febuary 2003. I can't believe i can remember all this with such detail. Don't ask me what 22 devided by 4 but, memories and details i am good at.

About Jan/feb, soemwhere about there i got two beautiful Fawn boys.  I had gone to the pet store and i saw two fawns, the only fawns in the bunch. They were a beautiful pastel orange color. At this point i had never seen that color. So, of course i took them.

When i got them home, i thought one of them was a girl, i named her Mable and the other i named Ben. These two babies were so darn sweet and nothing like my previous 6 boys. These two fans were playful and friendly.

Soon after i got them, i noticed Mable had some extra packaging lol. Mable was a boy ....

So, i changed Mable to Hudson, baby hudson which i call him now because he never lived longer then being a baby, so he'll be a baby for ever.

I started notcing that Hudson was a bit smaller then Ben but i wasn't to worried about it, they were both still growing. About 2 months later i noticed that Hudsons eye was bulging, i new this could be from an inner ear infection so i started him on antibiotics but he kept getting worse and worse.  Then one day out of the blue he was fine, well almost fine. He seemed healthy and great.  That night i had hudson on my chest and he was playing with a bottle cap and also trying to catch my breath when i blew on him. He would hop up and down on my chest as if he was so happy. He must have felt loved and secure. I'll always remember that little time he spent on my chest that night.

A few days later Hudson took a turn for the worse again. Ben, his brother was 4 times larger then little baby hudson. He was so tiny.

Evnetually baby Hudson passed away and right now i don't really remember how it happen, but i am sure i was with him. Maybe i am just blocking it out right now.

Goodness, he was so sweet, so adorable and loving and playful. Even though he was sick most of his life he lived his life as good as he could, he was always happy even though he didn't feel good. I'd give anything to go back in time and maybe medicaly treat him differently.. maybe then he would have grown up with his brother ben. Baby Hudson, was an angel and i guess the heavens needed him back.

On too some good memories...

Ben, was also so friendly and as he got older he became a cuddler, my only boy cuddler. I am sure Baby Hudson would have also been a cuddler. Not only did they look exactly alike but their personalities were very simuliar.

Ben was one of my favoritte boy rats, i loved him so much... but eventually he developed a pituitary tumor. He couldn't feed himself anymore. And prednisone really helped with that, he was able to feed himself again.  I took care of Ben 24/7, even when i went on vacation, and took all my rats with me, i cared for Ben 24 hours a day. And i thought he may be getting better and that maybe it wasn't a pituitary tumor. But, as we know pituitary tumors grow and i guess his started growing again because he went back to not being able to feed himself anymore... but, not as bad as the first time.

On my birthday, OCt 4th, when i woke up in the morning. I reached under the covers where Ben slept everynight next to me and my hands found a cold Ben, i knew right away he had passed. It broke my heart, i loved him so much and that's all i really want to say about Ben right now, it hurts to much still.

Ok ok, i know a lot of my journal entries have been sad but that is because i started with my first rats and they have all passed on along with a few cases like Hudson and Powder. I promise you there will be happy and fun stories down the line.

I dedicate this journal entry to Ban and Baby Hudson.
Their pictures are above. the first 3 pictures are of hudson. ( Oops pictures will be uploaded later- sorry)

Rebecca

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9:08:30 PM PDT
Ok so we move on in my story.

So at this point i had Ripley, Olivia, Mackenzie, Saffy, and willow. Remember, Powder had passed.

Also at this point i had started joining rat groups and was making friends and learning about rats. Well, i kept seeing
everyone talking about how cuddly boy rats are. My desire to get boy rats was getting stronger and stronger. So one day
when i had some extra cash, i made the decision. And off to the pet store to get some boy rats. Now,
when i say "some" rats i left the house thinking 2 boy rats..

I got to the pet store and first i picked out a new cage for my new boys. Then i picked out 5 BOYS he he.
I won't get into details about how i picked them out, it would take to much time and i really don't remember why i picked
who.

I got the boys home and set up their cage with all the fun things i had bought besides the new cage. The boys were about 4-5 weeks old.
They were small but suprising to me much bigger then the girls i had at the same age and i couldn't believe how big the baby boys feet were. Their feet were so big
compared to their body size. I thought it was sooooo adorable.

I thought the boys were going to be friendly and cuddly, after all that's what i kept reading on the rat groups.
Well, would you belive not a single boy was cuddly and they really never became friendly, at least not till they were real old.
I was disapointed but i loved them anyway, they all had their own personalities. Someone on the rat groups told me
that the boys may become friendlier and cuddly as they age.

I named my 5 new boys- Luca (black berk)  Elijah (PEW)  Rory, Logan and Bailey (all black and white hoodies).
I called Rory, bailey and Logan the triplets because they all looked so much alike. i am sure they all came from the same litter


Well, remember i got these boys at the pet store and i still hadn't learned that pet store rats could be ill.  About 2 weeks after i got the boys Logan took ill.
Typical myco symptoms. e was treated accordingly but sadly he didn't survive. Then about a month or two later, take or leave a week Bailey took ill as well.
SAME SYMPtoms same treatment was given but his myco was to severe. Bailey had actually started to bond with me a little bit. And the night he died about 15 minutes before he
passed away. He begged to come out of the cage. I opened the cage door and he jumped into my hand and ran up my arm. I was shocked!!!!
I didn't realize at the time that he probably new he was going to die and didn't want to be in the cage, but with me when it happened. About 15-3 minutes later
Bailey passed away right next to me on my bed.   He was a sweet little guy.

It's hard to talk about ratties dying but i love talking about each and everyone of them because as i talk to you all, for a few minutes they are alive again in my story, living threw these very words that
i type.

Luca, Elijah and Rory all lived long lives. ELijah passed away while he was comfy cozy sleeping
in his hammock. He simply passed in his sleep. It was so sad but i was happy he passed in his sleep and not ill, just comfy and quetly like the
gentleman he was. Elijah was a gentle and sweet boy who did bond with me when was about a year but not tightly, we just had a way with each other.


Luca and Rory died a few months ago they were just about two years or just over two years, i can't remember right now.
They both died in my arms about a month apart or so.

Back to when i first got the 5 boys.....

A few weeks after i i got my 5 boys. I went to this old mom and pop pet store, they mostly sold fish. But they had 'feeder rats' . I decided one day
to go check them out. They had about 50 black and white hoodies. Except one fawn hoodie. He caught my eye so i took him. I named hin Jerimah. He was a good boy but never ever bonded with me. He was one of those rats who
wanted nothing to do with humans lol. Jerimiah passed away a few months ago at the age of about 2.

So, that is the story of my first boys. I still cannot believe ALL my first boys are gone. It's so sad but i am thankful for
the beautiful memories they gave me. Both Rory and Luca started bonding with me about a month before they died. Strange how that happens.
but i am so happy i got to bond with them before they passed.

Let me share a few pictures of my first boys. The pew is Elijah, wasn't he just beautiful?
The ne black berk is Luca. The next picture, with the rat in my hand is Rory. And after that, the rat standing is either Logan or bailey. I don't have a lot of pictures of them. This was before i really started getting into
rattie photography.

I hope you enjoyed the story of my first boys. It was nice talking about them. I miss them all so much.

My next entry will be the story of Ben and Hudson. They were my next rats after geting the 5 boys. So stay tuned.

Rebecca


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5:57:27 PM PDT
Feeling Happy
Well, here is a pic of Saffy but i am having problems uploading Mackenzies picture. I'll figure something out, maybe a link to my fotki site to see her.
So, isn't my saffy just beautiful?  This same picture is up on the wall at Dr. Riena's vet office saying thank you for removing my tumors. I sent that to him after Saffy's first tumor removal.

Saffy is one of my all time fav rats. Saffy, lola and Lelu are my special girls and my oldest rats. They are so so so special to me. lola is my sleeping budy, she is my soul mate as well.
I'll talk more about Lola in another entry.

Rebecca



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12:28:34 PM PDT
OK back to the story...

So we left off with Powder and Willow, powders sad passing.  So, ok... let me think here.  At some point i new i wanted more rats..
i think it was around Nov 2002.  As before, i went on a trip to the pet store.  I don't remember to much
about being there but what i do remember, is picking Saffy out.  I thought, - i already have a black berk but something about this
little black berk caught my eye. I ask to hold her. I held her firmly and securely in my hand and she just looked at me. IT was so cute, it was
as if she already new me.  This is saffy, ok.  So, i said to the little rattie- "So you want to come home with me?"
And she just continued looking at me, as if she was looking threw my soul.  OF course, i took her.  

I don't remember much about picking Mackenzie out for some reason. Mackenzie was never a friendly girl. She pretty much left me alone and wanted nothing to do with me. She lived to be almost two years old
About a month before she died, she decided to bond with me. That touched my heart so much. I am finding that a lot of
rats who never bond with you or are not friendly tend to bond a month or so before they die. Maybe they know their time is comming and it's their way of saying Thank You. What do you think about that?

Anyway, so i got the babies home and right away i knew Saffy was special. She bonded with me
right away. She was so hyper and playful and curious and SO INTELLIGENT. Saffy, is probably one of the most intelligent rats i ever had.
And of course, most of you know Saffy is still with me, she is a young 32 months old (2 yrs 8 months), which is an old lady in rat years.

Saffy recently had her second tumor removal. She did great threw surgery although, the vet said it was a hard surgery because ti tumor was ulcerated and it was stuck to some ofthe bone
and tissue. But, Saffy did great. She is now 10 days post op and now she decides to take her stiches out lol. So, i have to take her back to the vet today or tomorrow. They don't look to bad but i think one of them needs to
be re-stiched, the other one may be ok. We'll see what the vet says. I sure hope he doesn't
charge me for the restitch because i am low on cash right now ugh! USually he'll let me just pay when i can.

So that's Saffy and Mackenzie's story. Threw out this journal i will be telling many Saffy stories. She is a character and
did some silly, crazy things during her life. Pretty funny things. So stay tuned for many many saffy stories.

I'll add pics of Saffy and Mackenzie later. It seems AOL journals can't upload pictures right now. Maybe they are having technical issues. But
soon as i can i'll post their picstures.
Rebecca


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10:08:12 AM PDT
Feeling Happy
I woke up this morning not to find Lola in her little bed (which is next to me, on my bed). She was on the floor
wondering aimlessly. I think she had a big shock this morning to find all her stashes under the bed, and her nests were all gone
Poor girl doesn't know what to do with herself. I feel kinda bad, but it had to be done, it was becomming a health hazard lol.
She'll eventually make new stashes and nests for me to clean.  She keeps going back under the bed, maybe she thnks if she goes away
for a while and goes back, her stashes will be there. Aww poor Lola Benona. She'll be fine. But, for me...
it sure feels good to have it all clean under there.

I'll make sure Lola gets extra hugs, treats and kisses to make up for all her stashes being cleaned up. Hey, but Lola gets extra hugs, treats
and kisses EVERY DAY. She's my special girl.

Rebecca

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2:17:14 PM PDT
Feeling Anxious
Well, i thought I'd take a brake from the story of my beginning with rats and do a regular journal entry.

Today's subject- Cleaning stashes lol.

Every month or so, i have to clean under the bed because the rats put their stashes uner there.
I think they each of a stash under the bed. Not to metnion they take any piece of paper they find and take it
under the bed for a nest.  Well, i got lazy and didn't clean under the bed last night, big mistake lol.

I have a very bad back so i have to be so carefull moving the matress, basicly i kinda rolled it off lol.
After i rolled the matress off i couldn't believe my eyes. I said to Lola and Saffy, who are the main stashers in the house
"Look what you guys did, OMG, i have never seen such a mess" I wish i had stuck to the monthly cleaning
because i just couldn't beleive the mess that was under there.

Can you believe i threw away to large trash bags of stuff from under the bed!!

I found dog biscuits, cat food, piece of bread, all kinds of papers, and 2 dollar bills i had
been looking for lol. What else, uh.... pasta noodles (cooked) lol and other old nasty food- I hate that part

So i cleaned it all up real nice, now under my bed is spotless. Boy are the rats gonna be in for a shock when they
go under there "HEEEEY, What happen to all my nests and stashes" And of course, they will simply start their stashes and nests
all over again lol. But, this time i will not let it go two months, i learned my lesson.

I also found a black widow spider under the be,d thankfully i saw it before i got bit or
one of the rats got bit. We have a bad spider problem in the house. MY closet hasn't been cleaned in so long because i am
terrified of all the spiders that are in there. When i open my closet a little but i can see spider webs and it scares me.
But, i know someday i have to go in there and clean.

I am so glad i got it all finished and i don't have to worry about it for another month. Anothe goal of mine is to stop leaving unfinished food around and pieces of paper because
anything left out, the rats take under the bed. Darn rats!!!! Gotta love em' he he

Any tricks you guys have for keeping under the bed stashless and nestless?  I wish i could board it up but, that
would be hard to do and they really enjoy it under there, not sure i'd want to take it away from them. If they'd just keep
it clean lol

Rebecca

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6:31:37 PM PDT
Feeling Happy
Ok, here we go. Are you sure you want to get stuck reading my story? Once you start there is no turning back
he he he.  Just kididng. Ok. So you know the story of Ripley and Olivia. Well, about Oct/Nov of 2002 i felt i wanted
a few more ratties.  So, i went back to the pet store and i saw the most adorable PEW, so bright eyed and energetic. And i also saw this
peppered colored rat, not agouti, but more like greyish pepper. I got them home and immediately named them- Powder and willow. ok
Can you guess which one i named Powder lol. Yea, the PEW. Powder is still to this time, one of my fav rats.  

Well, not soon after i got them home powder started having symptoms of myco. At first i tried to
treat it at home but then decided it was time to take her to the vet. I also took Willow because they were
together and i thought maybe Willow could have or get what Powder had. At this time, i was still
so new to rats, i had no idea about Myco, SDA, Sendai Etc...  So the vet treated Powder with an Antibiotic jab, and sent powder home with
Baytril. Powder recovered wonderfully. And Willow never showed symtoms and never developed myco.

A about a month later, two weeks before xmas powder started getting ill again, so i started her on atb's.  over the next few days
it seemed she was getting better. Then over the next few days she developed a head tilt. I still didn't know to much about rats at this point, i can't remember if
i knew how t treat head tilt and what it was.  Either eay, the atb's should have done the trick.
I also noticed she was walking funny.

Eventually powder because 100% paralyzed. She couldn't any part of her body, or she didn't want to, but it
seemed to me she was paralyzed, she could eat, mover her mouth, brux etc.

Otherwise she seemed fine but it was braking my heart seeing her like that but i still had
hope she'd get better. I moved her to my bed where she stayed over the next two days, sleeping next to me.
When ever i would pet her or talk to her she would start bruxing, she was such a happy rat even though she was
paralyzed, such a wonderful outlook on life she had.

Here's where the tears start...

I woke up in the morning about 6 am, i turned over to check on powder and she was fine. I petted her and whispered to her "I love you"
She started bruxing, as if she was telling me in return i love you to. I wish i had known that would be our last loving exchange.
I fell back to sleep and woke up an hour later to find powder had died. I was so shocked i couldn't move. I couldn't really get out of bed for the next three or
four days, i was so devestated. I think this affected me so deeply because powder was my first rat that died that i was close to.

It took a while for me to recover from that. Powder was an amazingly sweet girl, so wonderful, playful
I still think of her as one of my soul mates. You can see a picture of powder attached to this entry.

Oh, i failed to mentioned that inbetween Ripley/Olivia, and willow/powder, i had actually got two
rats (this was before i got powder and willow) The ratties were named Gillian, jesse and lilly. They all died with int wo weeks of each other.
At the time i didn't know howbad pet stores were and how most of their rats were sick but i eventually learned that. And without proper quarantine
getting rats from pet stores cna be dangerous to the rats you all ready have. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE PET STORE RATS/FEEDERS. In fact, i have a special place in my
heart for them sense most of my 1st gen and 2gen rats were feeders. But, now i don't rescue feeders
from pet stores because i don't have proper quarantine abilities in my house (different air supply). But, someday when
i do have proper quarnatine methods, i will surely rescue a few feeders now and then. Sadly, it took me a
while to learn and understand how pet store rats could be ill and transmit disease to your rats at home. And once i learned
this i still took a chance without quarantining, i learned a very sad lesson which i will go into another time in this journal.
I finally learned my lesson and no longer rescue feeders. Only becaues i can't quarantine them.

Ok, so a few weeks after i got Powder and Willow, i got two more girl rats. I brought home there very famous SAFFY, you all know
and love saffy. Who is doing great after her surgery, she is 6 days post op. And i also brought home Mackenzie, an agouti berk.

The next entry will be Saffy and Mackenzies story however, i probably don't need to tell you much about saffy, you all already know her as if she was your
own rat lol. But, i'll still tell a short version of her and Mackenzies story.

This entry was kind of hard to do, because Powder was so specialy to me and i got teary eyed a few times
writing her story here. This won't be the only entry that gets me teary eyed. We have chosen to love
an animal who doesn't live very long, so we have a lot of heartbrakes... but the love rats give us in their short time here
is so worth it, don't you agree?

Stay tuned: Saffy and Mackenzie.

PS- Sorry for the bad spelling, i am rarely in the mood to spell check lol.





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1:12:45 PM PDT
Feeling Happy
May 2nd, 2005

My first two babies- Ripley, the black berk and Olivia, the hymilian (sp).  (seen in the two picture for this entry)

So, i brought my two babies home from the pet store. I was so nervous, i just wanted to do everythng right
. At first i had them in a 10 gallon tank but soon realized they would need something bigger.
The first night i had them home, i was sitting at the computer and i had both of them wrapped in a blankie on my lap and
they started making this noise. Well, at this time, i knew nothing about bruxing. So i IM'd a friend of
mine and told her very anxiously "My rats are making some strange noise, like teeth chattering" My friend said in return
"Aww they are comfy and safe, that is bruxing they are doing, they do that when they are happy"

So, that night i pretty much fell in love with rats and knew i would probably have pet rats till
the day i died. A little old lady with rats lol.

Let me tell you a little bit about my first babies.  Sadly, both have passed on. Ripley was the real reason i fell in love
with rats. She was amazing. She wasn't extrememly friendly but her and i had a way with each other, we understood each other. Ripley's one passion
in life was Chocolate lol. Boy did she love her chocolate.  She used to like to go up in thecloset
and sleep on the plastic hanger, how she did that i still dn't know lol. But, of course i could never ger her out of there. So I'd use her one weekness
to get her out- Chocolate. I'd take a bite and chew a little then blow in her direction. I never saw a rat move so fast, she would dart over to me.
She was such a great girl. Ripley passed away in Febuary of 2004. I Can't believe it's been ver a year sense she passed. I really miss her.

Ok, Olivia. Now Olivia wasn't friendly at all. She pretty much wanted nothing to do with me, she was a rats rat. So, i really never got to bond with her but
you can see from her picture she was just beautiful. Olivia passed away when she was about 8 months from a severe case of myco.
Even with medical treatment she wasn't able to recover from it.

So, thats the story of my first two rats and the reason why i fell in love with rats. I can't imagine life without rats, i can't imagine what
my life would have been like if i hadn't decided to go get two ratties. I don't even want to imagine.
Rats are the best thing that ever happen to me. I've always loved animals and had all kinds of pets but no animal/pet affected me the
way rats do. They just got into my heart and held on tight.


Stay tuned for the story of the 4 rats i got after Ripley and  Oliva. My 1st generation rats.
After i finish the story of my rats this journal will become more of a journal, in journal format. But, to under stand me
you have to understand my beginning with rats. Wich is why i decided to start journal telling my beginning with rats.

Stay tuned:  My 1st generation rats.





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