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As of April 2006, we are down to 3 male rats: Kaiju (alpha),
Monstro, and Frank. Here is Kaiju, a very assertive dominant fawn
dumbo, hanging on to his cage bars; and Monstro, a sweet, gentle, blue
dumbo peering from the background. Look closely and you can see
Frank's ears. |
| Our last guinea pig, Frances, passed away on November
23, 2006. She
was about 6 1/2 years old. She was technically a texel, which means
she has long curly hair. This picture was taken when she was a
year old. At the time of her passing, due to old age and a bout with mites last
year, her beautiful curly hair was pretty much gone. However, she
remained chipper and ornery, right to the end. |
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Yes, I love rodents...all rodents. Over
the past seven years, my family and I have had the pleasure of adopting and
caring for a number of rodents. They were either given up by their
previous owners, kept in pet stores as breeders (having litter after litter to
replenish the number of rodents sold as pet food for snakes or dogs), kept in
pet stores as feeders (food for snakes or dogs), lab animals who were about to
be euthanized, or abandoned. A few were actually bred by people who care
for animals and their well-being. Here are some of the rodents we've cared
for and who have made us very, very happy:
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Gerbils -- The X-Men Gang: Creed, Logan,
Jean, Raven, Remy, Magnus, Hank, Wagner, Monroe, Bobby, and Dayspring |
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Hamsters -- Edgar, Edward, Poe, and Sam |
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Guinea Pigs -- Frances, Lucian, and Sheldon |
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Rats -- too many to name here, but some more memorable ones are
Ronin, Suki, Okini, Zumi, Dewey, Shogun, Nudists, TinTin, Taka,
Herschel, and Kenkochi. As of this point, we have given homes to
over 50 rats. |
My personal favorite rodents are
rats. They are humanity's best friend in many ways despite the plague.
Regardless, humans like rats enough to bring them with us wherever we have
traveled and settled, so there's a bit of a connection between the two groups.
There is a little bit of information on rats included in the following power
point presentation, which was presented on October 7th as part of the 2005
Science Seminar Series.
Rats! Vermin, Varmints, Pests...Pets, Icons, Saviors
Looking for other links? Try these:
| Rat Fan Club of America |
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| Rat Behavior and Biology |
| Rats Pac Northwest |
Here's Kaiju and Monstro wanting out of their cage
again. These boys were given up by their owner and turned in to a
pet store in Renton. They are probably a year old and are very set
in their ways, as illustrated by Kaiju's dominance and hesitation with
new people. These boys are big, too. They are two of the
heaviest boys we've had in a long time, especially for rats that are not
from a professional breeder. |
| Rattie Rascals Rattery
in Port
Orchard, WA
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| Here's Monstro and little Frank.
Frank is a standard Agouti who seems to be about 3 months old as of
October 2005. Frank is so young, in fact, that his teeth are still
fairly transparent. He was put in a cage with Kaiju and Monstro in
the pet store, and it appears that Kaiju and Monstro have adopted him.
He's very playful, hyper, skittish, and loving (a regular pup).
You can often find him asleep between the big boys Kaiju and Monstro.
He loves perching on human shoulders and snuggling inside shirts. |
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