Hi I'm just a funky lil guy and my rat is my best friend. I'm boring but I love to talk about my girls- but forewarning for my info dump, I talk about rat injury and death a bit (and uh malpractice, too) but I try not to be too graphic or sad. I got both of my lovely girls for $3 each as feeder rats. The first was because the pet shop owners were neglectful, she lost a leg and her siblings were eating it😰 she had gangrene really bad and they were going to feed her to one of the shop snakes regardless (yeah,, do not do this) so I bought her instead. I was expecting to just give her a peaceful last few days or so but I put her on antibiotics and somehow she pulled through, we named her Long John Silver and as soon as she lost the dead part of her leg we got her cagemate, Little John. (They're,,,, pirats,,) Silver was the sweetest ever, the best little adoptive mama, she went absolutely bonkers for dried worms and she only ever seemed to realize she lost a leg when she tried to scratch with it 💛 but unfortunately she had a habit of standing in her potty tray when she ate and when she was a year or so old she developed bumblefoot, and when I took her to a vet, he was apparently unaware that iodine can't treat bumblefoot topically. He told me to just apply it on top of her blister daily; I later found that the blister has to be opened and drained for iodine to do anything and he should have done so at the clinic, not just sent it home with me. I didn't find out until too late and we lost her. Which is just really awful after she worked so hard to make it through losing her entire leg, and if I'd googled it sooner I would have immediately known I wasn't doing it right. It's very frustrating, but I'm proud of her, she lived for way longer than she should have two times over and she was going full tilt until the last day.
Sometime during this the owner of the pet shop punched someone I know (long story) so I wasn't able to get Little John a companion for a while, though she was able to play with ferrets until recently and she's very hand friendly and interactive with people so her spirits have been up. Now that I've moved though, I'm absolutely looking for cagemates- so if anyone knows about baby rat girls in Oklahoma, feeders included, I'd appreciate a tip off!! I'm hoping to get two babies so that when/if (she's very powerful idk) I someday lose John, I won't have another lonely rat.
For now I'm mostly trying to keep her busy with toys, lots of time in the spare bedroom, and pestering my roommates to hang out with her so she gets to have more interaction than just me. I love her so much but she's also an evil creature and she thwarts me at every turn, so I'm looking forward to her being an excellent role model for the babies. Also, an aside- she uses her mouth very gently, like a little hand, she's never ever bitten anyone intentionally (although everyone makes mistakes n she may not recognize your toes as a part of you while ur wearing socks) but for example, if you put your hand near her cage bars she will very gently pull your finger into her cage with her mouth and hands. I think it's very sweet and funny, but most people are used to being bitten by anxious rats so they're understandably a little jumpy about it. Is this a common thing? It's very cute and it makes me happy that she clearly knows not to bite down, she's a very good girl. ("M.p PM oloop" this was a message from the lady herself, u've been blessed.)
Thanks for reading, sorry for length and content!
Sometime during this the owner of the pet shop punched someone I know (long story) so I wasn't able to get Little John a companion for a while, though she was able to play with ferrets until recently and she's very hand friendly and interactive with people so her spirits have been up. Now that I've moved though, I'm absolutely looking for cagemates- so if anyone knows about baby rat girls in Oklahoma, feeders included, I'd appreciate a tip off!! I'm hoping to get two babies so that when/if (she's very powerful idk) I someday lose John, I won't have another lonely rat.
For now I'm mostly trying to keep her busy with toys, lots of time in the spare bedroom, and pestering my roommates to hang out with her so she gets to have more interaction than just me. I love her so much but she's also an evil creature and she thwarts me at every turn, so I'm looking forward to her being an excellent role model for the babies. Also, an aside- she uses her mouth very gently, like a little hand, she's never ever bitten anyone intentionally (although everyone makes mistakes n she may not recognize your toes as a part of you while ur wearing socks) but for example, if you put your hand near her cage bars she will very gently pull your finger into her cage with her mouth and hands. I think it's very sweet and funny, but most people are used to being bitten by anxious rats so they're understandably a little jumpy about it. Is this a common thing? It's very cute and it makes me happy that she clearly knows not to bite down, she's a very good girl. ("M.p PM oloop" this was a message from the lady herself, u've been blessed.)
Thanks for reading, sorry for length and content!
