Over a Month Later: New Rat, New Semester...New Puppy?

NEW PUPPY:

My winter beak become suddenly busy when I began babysitting an additional pet while everyone else was at work/school: a new puppy. My sister managed to convince my parents that a puppy from her friend's accidental litter should permanently stay with us. Now, while Chloe (two Chloe's now!) is adorable and altogether a smart, well-behaved puppy, you can imagine the chaos of watching an 10-week-old puppy while cleaning out a Martins R-670 and brand new but hard to assemble mouse cage. Most of my days went become a monotony of this:

1. Wake up to puppy whining
2. Sprint downstairs to alleviate puppy whining - let dogs out
3. Clean up puppy mess in the puppy kennel
4. Entertain puppy for about an hour until she passes out
5. Grab rat from cage and cuddle while making food while reading while puppy sleeps
6. Rat happily grooms puppy until puppy wakes up - puppy is terrified of rat's sniff attack - put rat away
7. Play with puppy again - shut all doors so puppy cannot harrass rat
8. Puppy sleeps - pet half-asleep mice and feed meeces and rat/change water
9. Puppy wakes up...etc.

On top of this, I was trying to make plans with friends for times when I wasn't puppy sitting, or letting the puppy in and out every 20 minutes, trying to make sure she didn't run out into the street.

NEW RAT:

Ricky visited York during the break, so I decided to to take it upon myself to expose him to a five-week old litter of adorable kittens (baby rats) at the local pet store. I had visited the day prior and the lady knew I possessed more rat knowledge than her, so she readily let me reach into the tank and pull out a black-hooded girl. Except…

Me: “Ricky?”
Ricky: “…what?”
Me: “One-eyed rat. One-eyed rat. One-eyed rattiiieee.”
Owner: “She only has one eye? I can’t really sell her then. She’s free if you or anyone else wants her.”
Me (now terrified one-eyed rat is going to be snake food in the next 5 minutes): “Ricky. Call your mom.”

And he did. Now, Luffy, named after a character in One Piece (we are nerds) is now Ricky’s favorite rat and he dotes upon her like nothing else.

Although I DO NOT recommend buying rats or any other small pet from a pet store, especially large chains like Petco and Petsmart (I'm being a complete hypocrite here - 4 of our 6 rats are from a pet store), here are some tips if you decide to do so.

1. Check out the pet store first. Ask the owner or an employee if they buy from a reputable breeder or take in rescues. If they have no idea – bad sign. Peaches and Pumpkin were from a local breeder (who I think used to have a larger rattery), and Bridget was a rescue at the local petstore in Chestertown. Luffy was also a rescue, as she would have been snake food.

2. Ask what the pet store uses for bedding and what they sell rodents for. They should only be selling rodents as PETS – NOT FEEDERS. My rant about that will come later.
Good Bedding: Aspen shavings, Carefresh, Eco-bedding, Yesterday’s News
Bad Bedding: Pine and Cedar Shavings, using nothing at all
Good Food: Harlan Teklan lab blocks, high quality dog food, high-quality grains, minimal amount of seeds, fresh foods like fruit and veggies
Bad Food: Most of the pre-made mixes you see at Petco (Fiesta, etc.). No no for the rodents.

3. Approach the rat cage. Do the rats come up to? Are they interested? Will they let you pick them up? Do they have runny eyes? Runny nose? Lots of sneezing? Sores and bitemarks?
Remember: A healthy rat means less vet bills. A typical check-up can cost $30-50. Save your monies for other things, like hammocks and toys.

This is not to say that all pet stores are bad ones. That Pet Place in Lancaster, PA (they also have a web site www.thatpetplace.com) is FANTASTIC. I could hang out there and play with their baby rats for hours. So cute.

On a sad note, Ron Howard, our oldest rat, passed away on January 7 in her sleep. She had steadily been recovering from the worst of her pneumonia symptoms, but after being taken off medication slowly faded once again. She was the last of the original pair Ricky rescued from Petco, and will always serve as a reminder that loving rats can come from the feeder tank, but are also riddled with many health problems.

Because I don’t want to end this post on a sad note, we have more good news!

…We’re getting a playmate(s) for Luffy!

We recently discovered Blue Stone Siamese, a rattery in Glen Burnie which, as the name suggests, specializes in Siamese rats. We are on the wait list for either a standard or rex coat Siamese female, and we are ridiculously excited.

I also have a reservation on a female from Blue Heaven Rattery, another excellent rattery and rescue in Philly. Once the babies are born, we can pick her up at the end of March.

Babies! Yay!