Pele

Pele - November 10, 2015 to February 8, 2018

To my beloved girl….thank you for the most wonderful 27 months. I loved each and every one of them with you. Your life started after I was told by Kaia, a Texas rescue, about a person looking for a home for a mom and her new litter. When I contacted the woman I found out this young mom had been bought to feed the husband’s snake and then she gave birth. The wife decided this meant that she needed to be rehomed instead of eaten, and I came into the picture. I went over right away and found the mom in a horribly smelly wet critter keeper with her pinkies and I took them home.


Miracle the mom (or Mira for short) was an amazingly gentle giving mom, and she even took in some orphaned babies only a few days younger than her litter. At one point Mira was nursing successfully 20 tiny babies. Pele had a LOT of siblings.

I will admit for the first 16 days, you were just “one of those cute PEW babies” but on Day 17 both our lives changed. I took you to my mom’s for the weekend with your mom, your new step-sister Syla, and your siblings. Put you on the desk in a small cage. I didn’t realize that there was a wild male rat that had gotten into my mom’s house and when you poked your curious nose through the bars at 3 am he bit you and tried to drag you out of the cage to kill you. I woke up on the couch nearby to the sound of gasping. I rushed to the cage and found you bleeding profusely and gasping through the blood and swelling. I turned on all the lights, moved the cage to a safer place and pulled you out. I was able to give you Metacam from my travelling rat med kit, but the bleeding and swelling was seriously dangerous and I held you until you finally stopped gasping and we dozed. You were never able to nurse from your mom again, and I agonized over you. You slept on me all weekend at my moms, I would put you back with your mom hoping you would nurse but you weren’t able to due to the swelling.
So from that day on, you and I were always together. Once you got over the worst, I saw you were Special, unable to do a lot of normal ratty things. There was a disconnect between your paws and your mouth, you were always flapping your tongue out of your mouth constantly, and it only stopped when you were deep asleep. You were my special needs girl that would always need soft foods, lots of love and special care to survive and thrive. You had lots of ratty friends, but especially loved the oldies even as a very tiny wee, and would share soft foods and cuddles with them. Almost all rats loved this tiny brave loving girl but there were some that either didn’t like her or were too rough for her gentle soul. In the end I split her from her remaining siblings and she became the ultimate Bed Rat. Her top incisors fell out from the damage and I had x-rays done of her head as I was sure there were fractures to her skull but it turned out that her skull grew deformed due to the injuries instead. We had to trim her bottom teeth which grew fast but luckily grew outside of her mouth so there was never any internal damage. J

Pele at 3 weeks

Her x-rays for the medically inclined


Pele molting – a pink hoodie?

She and I grew closer and closer over the years, we were always together although occasionally I had to cage her with her current companions, but she went away with me on weekend visits to my Mom, …developing our patterns of behavior. She had and lost any older friends but she and I always had each other. Sharing my morning coffee was a definite ritual.She would often insist on cuddles or back scratches even before eating her lab block mush which she got twice a day. She would put her little paws on my hand or curl into my hands then lick me.

She loved to sleep in my hands, over my legs, on my stomach, or especially draping herself over my foot. LOL. In the last year or so I would curl up on my side to sleep, and I would pick her up and put her front feet and body on my flat hand. She would then shift until all her feet were on my hand, I would stroke her, we would both take a deep breath then drift off to sleep knowing all was right in the world. She would wake me up in the morning, and greet me when I got home from work. Weekends were super special for both of us. I cannot describe how much just being with Pele would balance my sometimes topsy turvy world. A few cuddles and kisses and I would feel at peace again. Life will be a little difficult for the next while, but it was time for my beloved to move onto her next life as my little Miracle was able to live almost 27 wonderful lives when she really should’ve left me at 17 days of age so for that I will always be grateful.


Pele and old man Nigel, the first of many older companions

My little “hamster-head” loved babies

She was able to lick flat things but she couldn’t lick out of a dish for the longest time but was able to eat out of cups on their side


More of that infamous tongue LOL

A month and a half old and the lap cuddling begins






Sleep sweet my love.

Cordy

December 2014 to February 2nd, 2017

Drove to Owen Sound with Jenny in mid-May, 2015 and picked up agouti rex mom and her daughter Cordelia from Owen Sound breeder that was moving to NS, and getting out of breeding (lied and reopened under Rat Crew Rattery again).  Used as a breeder by another breeder.  

I renamed her Cordy as I already had a Cordelia at the time.  Cordy and her mom were super sweet girls, but nothing crazy special.  Not sure WHY anyone would use them to deliberately breed from, but thankful I got them in my life.  They helped my feral mudroom rats figure out that People Aren't So Bad  :)  Bonnie loooved to run, but Cordy often preferred to hang out with me and cuddle by my neck <3  She was sooo good with newcomers as well.
from left to right, Roo, Ria, Bonnie and Cordy.

Wombat

Wombat - April 2015 to January 25, 2017

There was an ad for 3 girls online on August 8, 2015.  Girl was rehoming them because they kept escaping their tiny aquarium and boyfriend was threatening to feed them to his snakes if they did it again.  They had no names even though she'd had them for ages, :(

They were looovely girls.  Possum was always sweet and motherly, Squirrel took time, as she was suspicious and wary, and Wombat was an automatic love.  Super sweet, playful, a real explorer and lover of life.  So not fair that she of all of them had her Joy cut short by a rapid and unresponsive PT.  I hope you are bouncing wherever you are Wombat...actually I am sure of it <3

Cuddled between Squirrel, and Violet

Wiley

Wiley -  August 2014 to January 23, 2017

Jenny texted me from her volunteer job at the SPCA asking if I would take in a sick old boy.  His respiratory infection was really bad and he wouldn't get the treatment he needed there as he needed intensive care.  I said yes and newly named Wiley came home with her to be fostered for awhile.  He was sick, unsure but very sweet and absolutely looooved hammocks.

Even here this was a very common sight.  Just his head poking out from his hammock, incredibly content.  But being out was almost as good.  He would cheek tip so well, he would almost tip over doing it LOL.  He loved scratches but always had to contort himself to try to lick you in thanks...making any scritching difficult LOL

I knew he was old/elderly when I got him, from his body shape and declining condition, but he enjoyed the 4 months he stayed with us.  He was gorgeous and absolutely sweet, a light silvered type of fawn, and had the best expressions.  He is missed.

Svana - not quite dead yet :P

Svana - Dec. 2013 to March 1, 2017

Svana and her sisters were picked up by Jenny along with a baby boy and a slighter older baby boy, and 4 tiny malnourished orphans that she raised.  The owner was habitual at dumping these poor rats at the Hamilton Animal Control and one of the 5 girls actually escaped in her car, and she found her in the glovebox, so she had to bring her back again.  I agreed to take the 5 little HAC girls who were around 8 weeks old.  They were funny and gorgeous and all had different personalities.

Svana was licky, courageous, sweet and friendly.  She loved her sisters and me equally.  When she got older I started getting the love-edge.  She was always healthy, no respiratory flareups, no lumpies or bumpies.  It seems age will be the taker of my girl.  She's had a lovely long life with many friends and adventures so I cannot be sad for my sweet lady.

At Jenny's comfortable wherever she was :D

Svana baby licks

MY puff!!!

Svana and Saga

Does she look 34 months old to you?

or 37 months?

Saga

Saga - Dec. 2013 - June 2, 2016

Saga and her sisters were picked up by Jenny along with a baby boy and a slighter older baby boy, and 4 tiny malnourished orphans that she raised.  The owner was habitual at dumping these poor rats at the Hamilton Animal Control and one of the 5 girls actually escaped in her car, and she found her in the glovebox, so she had to bring her back again.  I agreed to take the 5 little HAC girls who were around 8 weeks old.  They were funny and gorgeous and all had different personalities.

Saga was a sweet, active, little trickster, a real explorer, and gorgeous to boot.  She had the oddest belly band marking I was always trying to catch in pics LOL  They all had baby faces but I think hers was the baby-est LOL.  I called her Silly Saga :D

At Jenny's

Home

Catching clear pics of this active girl became an adventure in itself LOL Once she grew older it became a tiny bit easier.

Svana and Saga

Pretty girl :D

 

Inga

Inga  - Dec. 2013 - Aug. 17, 2015

Inga and her sisters were picked up by Jenny along with a  baby boy, and 4 tiny malnourished orphans that she had to handfeed and raise.  The owner was habitual at dumping these poor rats at the Hamilton Animal Control and one of the 5 girls actually escaped in her car, and she found her in the glovebox, so she had to bring her back again.  I agreed to take the 5 little HAC girls who were around 8 weeks old.  They were funny and gorgeous and all had different personalities.  

Inga was a lovely, gorgeous agouti, sweet, funny, licky.  I adored her.  She seemed to be the leader of the mob and was firm but gentle and was very good with timid Pala. 

At Jenny's

Home!!

The agouti crew were loving and outgoing, the 2 hoodie sisters were both timid and very different LOL

Inga, Saga and Svana

Pala

Pala -  December 2013 - July 22, 2015

Pala and her sisters were picked up by Jenny along with a baby boy and a slighter older baby boy, and 4 tiny malnourished orphans that she raised.  The owner was habitual at dumping these poor rats at the Hamilton Animal Control and one of the 5 girls actually escaped in her car, and she found her in the glovebox, so she had to bring her back again.  I agreed to take the 5 little HAC girls who were around 8 weeks old.  They were funny and gorgeous and all had different personalities.  Pala was the shyest of them all, a no-touch or I bolt type of girl for most of her life, but she LOVED her sisters.  She was the first of the 5 to leave me.

They were monsters to any rat outside their cage, huffing, grabbing and screeching, but they actually have helped some of my older male rats that needed to lose weight.  One boy would lie staring at them out of reach, taunting them with his presence...while they got sooo frustrated. I am sure he was laughing inside LOL

At Jennies, she is the black hoodie looking at camera, always looking shell-shocked.  She was incredibly timid.

Baby Pala

Pala and Inga

Her family

Old Pala