by Alyssa Nader
Alyssa Nader is a volunteer with Rattie Ratz Rescue in the bay area of California. Each month KRL will be featuring at least one animal rescue adventure story, and every other month there will be one from Rattie Ratz.
When people are not familiar with Rattie Ratz, or the idea of a rat rescue in general, some of the first questions they always ask are, “How do these rats come to you? Why would a rat need to be adopted?” 
One of the most common situations leading to rats needing homes is an accidental litter. As we wrote about before in KRLM in the story of Lily & Samantha, the age at which baby rats are weaned from their mother is very close to the age at which rats are able to reproduce. That doesn’t leave much of a margin for error and can lead to up to 15 accidental babies per female!
Beyond this, there is another reason why accidental litters may occur. It is not always easy to determine the gender of a rat when he or she is young, which can lead to males being paired with females. That almost certainly means an “oops litter,” and that was the case in our story today.
Someone contacted Rattie Ratz in need of help. They thought they adopted two male rats, but it turned out that one of the new ratties was female. Instead of the intended two rats, they ended up with mom, dad, and 7 babies: 9 in all!
Mom and one of her babies
They decided to keep the original male and one of the male babies (Rattie Ratz made 110% sure that he was indeed male!). The mom and her babies were rehomed to their forever families through Rattie Ratz.
Rebecca and her family adopted the mother and one of her babies this January 2017, who they named Ms. Peachy Bob and Charlotte Rose. When we reached out to her to talk about them, she said that the year flew by and that they had a great time with their ratties.
Charlotte Rose in the playpen
Both of the girls are very friendly, and always come to say hello when their human family comes near the cage. Charlotte Rose was quite hyper when she was younger but seems to have grown up a bit now. She still doesn’t really love to be held; she would rather wiggle out. Besides, she’s very clever. Charlotte is a master of stealing treats away from her mom.
Ms. Peachy Bob
Ms. Peachy Bob is the more mellow one of the bunch. She’s happy to be held. She loves to nest, and spends many hours arranging the paper in her bed. Her unique name comes from two different Weird Al Yankovic songs. “Peachy” comes from “Albuquerque,” where he says – “Everything was just peachy!” at the beginning. The Bob portion comes from his song “Bob,” from the fact that Bob is Bob spelled backwards.
Charlotte Rose and a very big rat
Charlotte Rose and Ms. Peachy Bob are still very close, often cuddling together and wrestling. They both love to explore the playpen when their family has them out. They love Rice Krispies and will come right away when their humans offer them. The ratties like to climb up on top of their family’s shoulders and even heads. They dare to explore dark places, like armpits. Rebecca has trusty rat-sitter friends whose boys have nicknamed the ratties Dr Evil and Captain Hammer. They suspect Charlotte might be Dr. Evil. The rattie girls met their friends’ dog but didn’t seem very impressed.
Although the more ratties the merrier may be true for some, not everyone can sustain a baby boom quite like the story today. Thanks to Rattie Ratz, these ratties are able to spread their love and companionship far and wide.
Rattie Ratz is an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to help all domesticated ratties who come to us find a loving, forever home.
Rattie Ratz: Rescue, Resource, & Referral
Click here to email us at: info@rattieratz[dot]com
Call us at: (415) 340-1896
If you would like to know more about Rattie Ratz Rescue you can visit their Facebook page. If you are interested in adoptable rats or volunteering for Rattie Ratz Rescue you can visit their website: www.rattieratz.com.
Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section & watch for more stories from Rattie Ratz every other month. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to Rattie Ratz.
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