As Halloween is right around the corner, I started pondering on the reason why rats are such a favorite animal in a lot of Halloween folklore and why they’re still such a popular animal to display next to the fibrous spider webs, scream masks and hanging ghosts in the local holiday stores.
Snowy was adopted, along with his cage-mate in January and homed with two other boy rats. The owner had just moved into a new house, but after the introduction of her rats, her roommate began to feel sick. It turned out that she was allergic to rats and could not live with them.
For those of us who understand the truly special bond that exists between us and our pet rats, the experience of owning and loving rats only gets stronger with time. Someone who can attest to this is Sue, an adopter of Rattie Ratz Rescue and longtime rat mom.
Bitey was one of my first rats, along with his brother, Pablo. Pablo passed away last year, and I wrote about Bitey’s journey in finding new friends in Disco and Biscuit, who I adopted from Rattie Ratz.
In the summer of 2017 a large group of domestic rats were dumped in Tujunga California. Nobody knows why the animals were dumped, but because of the sheer number of rats, it was clear that someone had gotten in way over their head. Unfortunately, instead of being responsible for the situation, they chose to release the rats.
Anastasia and her family started their experience with rats, as many people do, at the pet store. After their much-loved ratties left them way too soon, they were filled with a deep need to fill the rat-shaped hole left in their hearts.
I have been a rat lover since I was seven years old, when my second grade class adopted two pet rats named Boo and Bambi. Long story short, by the third grade, both Boo and Bambi came to live with me permanently. I adore all pets, but there is something about rats that keeps me coming back for more.
Antoine and Bijou are two special boys with a very special role: teaching the next generation how wonderful rats are. Antoine and Bijou are brothers who began life, as do so many of the babies brought to rescues, as part of an “oops” litter. However, they had a lucky start to life--a much different story from what most rescue rats go through. The two beautiful brothers were born into a loving family with children who doted on them every day.
I became a rat mom last year when I adopted my first two rats, Bitey and Pablo. I remember bringing them home from Vacaville, stopping at a BBQ place on the way and feeding them little bites of everything through the holes in their tiny carrier. When we got home I made them a little house out of an Amazon box inside their cage.
This month, instead of sharing someone else’s adoption story, I thought it was time I shared one of my own. I adopted Hazel from Rattie Ratz Rescue back in August of 2015. I needed a companion for a sanctuary rat who had just lost her sister. Hazel was the runt of the litter, a tiny black and white hooded baby, and my family fell in love with her instantly. Thankfully, my sanctuary girl Rowan also fell in love with little Hazel. They were happily living together within hours of being introduced.
