Today, DH took me to our good pet shop, and helped me to pick out new additions to our furry little family!! My mom had sent me a few dollars for my birthday, so I put it to use, filling our empty rodent cage.
I was suprised that our baby rats only cost $2.99 each. So, I had enough money to buy our babies some good food, a new water bottle, and a hamock to sleep in.
Anywho, this is Olivia a.k.a. "Speedy". She earned her nickname very quickly (no pun intended) because she managed to get away from DH and she ran behind our fridge. Yes, she scared the crud out of me, and I was pretty freaked out while DH pulled out the fridge and went back there after her. Thankfully, DH was able to fetch her. I was so worried that she would get stuck somewhere and die. Woo! That'll teach us, for wanting to handle babies too quickly after just coming home from the shop.
Next, we have Samantha. We are calling her "Sammy" for short. It may be hard to tell by the poor picture quality, but she has the prettiest fur. She is the softest butter-cream color and white mix. DH saw her and just thought she was adorable.
Sammy is the more calm of the two rodents, and was the easiest to hold. She spent about an hour, nestled in the pocket of DH's shirt, grooming herself. A real quiet lady, Samantha seems content to just enjoy life at a slow pace, even when Olivia is standing on her head. lol
My intention was to only buy one rat, but DH suggested that we get too, because they are such social creatures. Because I decided that I wanted female rats, it works out well because they are a little smaller than the boys. We have a decent home for them, but I would still want more room to move around if we were to put two boys in there. I hate to see animals cooped up. Maybe that is why I liked to take Henry to the park so much, so he could hop around in the grass and play tag with me.
After Henry, the girls seem so very tiny to me. They are very young, and very small. After hefting that big guy around so much, I'm slightly afraid to hold on to them. DH jokes that they are the size of gerbils. And to think that he tried to talk me into getting mice while we were at the shop. Goodness! lol I told him that I would worry that the critters could get out of our cage because they were so tiny. I'm just not used to baby animals. lol
Anyway, I am really glad that we were able to get the girls while they are still very young. They are already becoming more accustomed to being handled, and I will be diligent to handle them every day. The only other option that I would have had was to drive way out, to visit a rattery. While that would be wonderful, to have a ratty that has been handled since birth, it just didn't make much sense to make the long drive. So, instead we chose to keep someone(s) from becoming snake food. As it is, DH already had to remind me about that, when I asked a clerk why he would put an adult rat in a paper bag upon sale. DH just leaned over and said, "he's food". I confess, I'd have a real hard time eating meat if I had to kill it myself. I still think that I could kill chickens though, sometimes. They would have to be ornery chickens. I might even be able to eat beef if I got cow-kicked. *chuckles*
