Hoskin rattie history

A bit of background concerning me little ratties. In 2000, my youngest wanted a rat as his school had one. Rats... ick, not my favorite animal after reading about "Big Brother" in 1984 ... anywho, being the mom I am and having had guiney pigs, I said what the hay.

I started with 2 girls, as the male rats looked--disgusting to me at that time. It grew to 6 girls as I really enjoyed their play and how smart they were. A purchase of the twin devil sisters who were PG (didn't know they were PG and they were devilish because of their condition) sent me into a tailspin (between the 2, they had 31 babies). After giving away what I could, I retain the rest giving me close to a total of 20 ratties.

Before these little devil sisters had their litters, I purchased 2 black sisters (Baby Girl and Big Sis) who were way younger than any of the other girls I'd purchased. Baby Girl and Big Sis, I kept in a separate cage from all the others. I was determined not to be afraid of rats and to have them as pets rather than something cute that I cleaned and fed only (I was too afraid to pet them after being bit a couple of times). Baby Girl was my 1st true pet rat who gave me more insight in 2 years than any time previous.

The first couple of years where the "learning" years as I needed to get over being afraid to where I could get the full enjoyment from these adorable little critters. Ratties in general:

• Get tumors (females as young as 3 months);
• Females can be rather ornery and nip (like us ladies during "that time of the month")
• Nipping does not mean bitting ... turns into a bite if you pull away
• Male ratties can become mean if the other males pick on him when he is small

Through the years, I've gone through a bunch of rattie-pets who have died because of tumors, just because (meaning I'd find them deceased with no tumors), and from old age. There are some I'll never forget such as Ms. Piggy who was hairless, not real large, and looked like a little piglet. Rascal, also hairless (Ms. Piggy's brother) who thought he was top-rattie. Baby Girl who was so sweat and special that it broke my heart when I had to put her down. My Pink boys (3 brothers) who were not hairless but had a fine felt type coat and ruled any roost (cage) they occupied. Bright Eye (she had one pink eye and one black) who, when purchased was PG and had the 3 brothers mentioned previously.

To be continued




Page last modified: Friday, 26 Aug 11 @ 21:22:31 (EST)