Alana

Alana - March 1, 2011 to September 30, 2013

Alana was one of the scared but sweet Newmarket ratties that Moon rescued and brought to me. She and her siblings were only 4 weeks old, destined to be snake food, of which their cage was kept on top of the snake tank where some of her siblings had already died. I truly believe these rats were traumatized by this most of their lives. Some overcame it, but most were scared, skittish, wary rats all their lives. Adella is her surviving sister and at 32 months is finally licking me when I carefully and slowly scratch her itches, but even now, she gets that look in her eyes and trundles off quickly.

Just arrived (pretty sure that's Alana on the right)

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She actually was one of the more sociable girlies





And then I screwed up big time...somehow she slipped out of her cage while Zeus and Thomas were out running...and on Septmeber 27th I woke up to the sounds of eeping in her group's cage and she was pulled out quickly along with 12 healthy pinkies. I was mortified but I owned up to it and ended up finding homes for all of them except Alana and her daughter Amity. :(

Alana taught me all about how to deal with a rat with maternal aggression...good learning experience LOL

I learned NOT to put my hand in the cage while putting back babies...but I could hand them to her at the door and she was fine...as soon as my hand went in that door while her babies were around, that was a different story :)

Waiting for her babies to be given to her




Once they were all back, she would carefully check my fingers for more, then hop back into her cage to take care of her bubs.

She was a very good mom, and also very smart :D



Alana stayed with Amity who were joined by 2 younger girls Yuki and Miyu, where she stayed until very recently. She kept up with the younger girls even as she aged, shoving them aside for meds, and treats, and running like the wind while Out...although she would deign to visit me briefly. A very typical girl. :P



She held her own until finally I saw the signs of PT and pulled her out of her group.

She didn't respond to treatment, and while loving the cuddles and hand feedings she left soon after. She had outlived most of her babies, so that's pretty good for a mom.