Ratsicles
Posted : 12/8/2006 10:17:36 AM
ORIGINAL: mmthomason
Wow! I absolutly LOVE rats.
If I didnt have so many dogs/cats and could spend lots of time with it I would get another rat in a second.
Nicodemous was such a cool pet. I miss the guy...My mom absolutly hated rats (she was one of those people who scream when they see a rat), but I brought Nicodemous to her and after he passed away she got another one, she missed him so much.
I love the birthday cake picture.
Rats are definitely my first love. [
] I've had them since I was little. My mom was terrified of them too, until she got to know them...now she snuggles them and coos over them every time I happen to bring some to her house. I bred show quality rats (mostly blacks, agoutis, good PEWs and RED based minks, but I was moving in the direction of minimally marked, recessively blazed BEWs and blues) and also did the occasional rescue for 6 years, and finally decided to quit a couple of months ago after SDA (a deadly rat virus) struck my rattery and I ended up losing over half of my rats. My lines have basically been destroyed. I went from 38 rats in August, to 17 as of right now. I also lost Ovaltine, my heart rat, to pneumonia in October and that doesn't really help. Now I plan on taking care of my remaining group, and eventually I'd like to just keep a small group of 3 or 4 at a time. I've worked with agressive biters, abuse cases, nursed rejected babies, and pretty much everything imaginable...as sad as it is that I've lost 6 years of work, I'm actually kinda relieved to be able to call it quits and just enjoy having a few pet rats around.
That birthday picture was Cupcake's first birthday. He's getting pretty old now, and I think he'll probably succumb to the secondary infections he has (caused by SDA) before long. He's one of only 6 remaining rats out of my lines, and the oldest one remaining as well. [
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Anyway, sorry for the thread hijack. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. [8D]