Hello!

Hi there! I'm taileile and I joined this forum once about three years ago and then made this account last month and forgot to come back :'D Oops?

I brought home my first rat when I was fifteen. She was a brown hooded petco rat named Plague and my family absolutely loved her. That sort of set us off. We learned that rats shouldn't be kept alone so my brother got a black and white rat he called Oreo. Plague passed away about two years ago, while Oreo died last year. We went through a period of a few months without rats and then my parents caved and let us get four rats- one for me and one for each of my siblings! I'm a nineteen year old college student now, so I've had rats for almost four years now, except for the months between Oreo and the current rats.

One of the rats, my brother's rat Sugar, had an unfortunate accident, but the other three are doing great. We recently bought a double Critter Nation to replace their old handmade bookshelf cage and they absolutely love it! It's so gratifying to see them running around.

It's been a few months since we've gotten them. Right now we have two albino Petco rats named Iris and Weiss, and a black hooded rat named Pearl. Weiss (my brother's) is a bit timid and a sweetie pie, but Iris (mine) is gaining a lot of weight and having a few issues with nipping recently. :| We're not sure why, but she's bitten my sister and one of my brothers multiple times now. She won't bite me, but that could change. Right now we're just keeping an eye on her and trying everything to get her to stop. Pearl (my seven-year-old sister's) is really outgoing (she was socialized from a young age. I'm not sure if that's why, but I can really see the difference) and loves to ride on shoulders and meet new people.

We're possibly going to be adding another rat to our little family tomorrow, and googling advice is what brought me here! I'm really excited about joining this forum. It's nice to meet you all!