Pet Rodent Count
I still have:
Monty (rat), brought him home from shelter May 2005.
Bobbie (mouse), brought her home from shelter June/July 2005.
Mindy (rat), brought her home from shelter in November 2005.
Zoe (mouse), brought her home from pet store in November 2005.
Jingo (rat), brought him home from pet store in November 2005.
Two white mice, as yet unnamed, brought home from shelter to foster on 12/31/2006*
Mia (brown) and Tria (white) (both rats), brought the girls home from shelter 1/28/07**
That's five rats, four mice.
* The two white mice are unnamed as I haven't decided if they are males or females. I thought they were females so I brought them home to live with Bobbie and Zoe, but upon closer inspection, they might be boys who are just really great at sucking them in. I'm unsure as males aren't supposed to get along with other males, but so far so good, though I have another cage on hand at the first sign of fighting.
** These baby ratty girls were probably only 6-8 weeks old when I brought them home so they were likely born in December 2006. The shelter bought them to feed a snake. I remember seeing the brown one when I went to the back to see if there were any little animals that could use some veggies. Sometimes they put pregnant or nursing hamsters back there so I always check. I saw Mia's cute little face, squealed, pushed the towel back further and saw the note "feeder rats for the snake." I got pissed, but I was so stunned I just walked away. A few weeks later one of the caretakers asked me if I remembered the snake. I glared and said, "yeah." She said that it had been adopted by a vet at Pender who only feeds frozen, to which I quickly replied, "good for him!" She continued by saying that the two rats were never eaten by the snake, the pet store wouldn't take them back, and they couldn't technically put them on the floor for adoption and would I like to take them. I was loathe to get more girls because they are so heartbreaking with the tumors, but I'm also a sucker so I said sure.
Mia has lost a bit of her tail so I think the snake did manage to traumatize her. Originally, she was the easiest to hold and thus everyone thought she was the friendliest. This is not true. She's terrified so she freezes. If I'm not careful, she'll pop out of my hands and is very difficult to catch. She'll hide behind her wheel like a dork too. I went to clean the cage so I removed the wheel, and what did I see? She was still flattened out, slightly curved as if she were still hiding beneath/behind the wheel. She's really silly. I'm going to have to employ the two-shirt forced socialization with this one, I think. Otherwise, I can't trust to let her out for out time if I can't catch her when it's time to go back in the cage.
Tria is extremely curious, adventurous, and friendly, and thus, gets lots of treats. Mia will occasionally come out to get a treat, but she's so shy about it and trying to catch her is like trying to catch a guinea pig or a gerbil.
Tria and Dexter seem to get along (with protection of cage separating them). Dexter watches and Tria does this popcorn thing that ratties do when they are happy. Dexter will jump on top of the cage to sleep and his fur pokes through the top and Tria will tug at it. This doesn't seem to bother Dexter too much and it makes Tria very popcorny. I have very silly animals where Dexter is concerned.
Monty (rat), brought him home from shelter May 2005.
Bobbie (mouse), brought her home from shelter June/July 2005.
Mindy (rat), brought her home from shelter in November 2005.
Zoe (mouse), brought her home from pet store in November 2005.
Jingo (rat), brought him home from pet store in November 2005.
Two white mice, as yet unnamed, brought home from shelter to foster on 12/31/2006*
Mia (brown) and Tria (white) (both rats), brought the girls home from shelter 1/28/07**
That's five rats, four mice.
* The two white mice are unnamed as I haven't decided if they are males or females. I thought they were females so I brought them home to live with Bobbie and Zoe, but upon closer inspection, they might be boys who are just really great at sucking them in. I'm unsure as males aren't supposed to get along with other males, but so far so good, though I have another cage on hand at the first sign of fighting.
** These baby ratty girls were probably only 6-8 weeks old when I brought them home so they were likely born in December 2006. The shelter bought them to feed a snake. I remember seeing the brown one when I went to the back to see if there were any little animals that could use some veggies. Sometimes they put pregnant or nursing hamsters back there so I always check. I saw Mia's cute little face, squealed, pushed the towel back further and saw the note "feeder rats for the snake." I got pissed, but I was so stunned I just walked away. A few weeks later one of the caretakers asked me if I remembered the snake. I glared and said, "yeah." She said that it had been adopted by a vet at Pender who only feeds frozen, to which I quickly replied, "good for him!" She continued by saying that the two rats were never eaten by the snake, the pet store wouldn't take them back, and they couldn't technically put them on the floor for adoption and would I like to take them. I was loathe to get more girls because they are so heartbreaking with the tumors, but I'm also a sucker so I said sure.
Mia has lost a bit of her tail so I think the snake did manage to traumatize her. Originally, she was the easiest to hold and thus everyone thought she was the friendliest. This is not true. She's terrified so she freezes. If I'm not careful, she'll pop out of my hands and is very difficult to catch. She'll hide behind her wheel like a dork too. I went to clean the cage so I removed the wheel, and what did I see? She was still flattened out, slightly curved as if she were still hiding beneath/behind the wheel. She's really silly. I'm going to have to employ the two-shirt forced socialization with this one, I think. Otherwise, I can't trust to let her out for out time if I can't catch her when it's time to go back in the cage.
Tria is extremely curious, adventurous, and friendly, and thus, gets lots of treats. Mia will occasionally come out to get a treat, but she's so shy about it and trying to catch her is like trying to catch a guinea pig or a gerbil.
Tria and Dexter seem to get along (with protection of cage separating them). Dexter watches and Tria does this popcorn thing that ratties do when they are happy. Dexter will jump on top of the cage to sleep and his fur pokes through the top and Tria will tug at it. This doesn't seem to bother Dexter too much and it makes Tria very popcorny. I have very silly animals where Dexter is concerned.