Mia and Portia are our oldest girls. They're sisters, just a little over 2 years old. We adopted them from Huron Valley Rat Rescue about this time in 2007. They had been the pets of a young girl, but apparently weren't handled correctly, because Portia began biting. They're the sweetest girls! They love giving us kisses, and Portia loves running on the floor. Portia is a black hooded girl, and her sister is a black mis-marked bareback:
Their only cagemate is Nanao, who also came to us from HVRR; she's about a year and a half and doesn't get along with any of the other ratties. She really only seems to like me very much (she hasn't bitten me, anyway). Nanao has a lot of attitude, and she lets us know when she's not happy. She's also a black hooded:
Yuna was our first from HVRR. She's around a year and five months. Yuna's a little skittish, but she's still sweet and she gets along with all of the other rats just fine - she lets them know who's boss, though! Yuna mothers and protects one of our younger ratties a bit and he loves her. She's a PEW:
Shin is our most skittish baby; he wasn't handled much before being surrendered to HVRR, so we've had to work with him a lot to gain even a little trust. He's about 6 months now and hides behind Yuna a lot, and runs when we start to say his name. Shin comes to us when he knows we have a treat he likes, though (especially if it's Cap'n Crunch - he loves it!) He's a blue agouti capped boy, with the cutest white spot on his forehead:
Akiya and Nao had been surrendered at the same time as Shin, by the same people. Nao had been given to the rescue, and had a litter of nine babies! She was just a baby herself, but her foster family said she was a wonderful mama. Akiya and Nao are more trusting of us then Shin, and Akiya seems to be the alpha in their cage; he's also the biggest boy we have. They don't like to be picked up, but neither minds being pet in their cage. Akiya is an agouti bare-back and Nao is an agouti berkshire:
Isane is a year and a half, and a wonderful, squishy girl. She and her sister (who we just lost) had come from a breeder, but when their owner couldn't take care of them anymore, the breeder refused to take them back. She loves to eat, and she loves her wheel and hiding in my sleeve. When we hold her and talk to her, she sits still, like she's listening to us; sometimes she'll sigh, too (like when we tell her how pretty or how cute she is - it's as though she's saying "yes, I know, I've heard this before. Will you put me down now?" X3). Isane is a Siamese dumbo:
We also have Ukitake. He's a little over a year old, and an absolute sweetie! He's curious, loves attention, and stores every piece of food he gets. If we turn our attention away from him for even a second, he'll find a way to get down to the floor so he can run around. Ukitake's not afraid of the cats - I think they're afraid of him! Even with all his energy, he'll hold still for scritches (and return the love with lots of kisses.) He's a blue cap-stripe:
The newest additions to our family are Paws, Lightning, Rin, Shizuku, Lucky and Sai.
Paws and Lightning are sweet boys who came to us from a family who didn't have enough time for them. They were very well taken care of and are happy, social boys. Both of them are about 4 months old; they love to play! Lightning will grab my fingers with his teeth and wrestle with my hand, and Paws is curious about everything outside of his cage (he still seems a little weary of the cats, though.) Lightning currently has stitches in his nose, because Akiya's idea of a welcoming included biting him. He's doing well, though, and gets his stitches removed on Tuesday. Paws is a silvered black berkshire, and Lightning is a beige hooded:
Rin and Shizuku are sisters, about 7 months old. Shizuku had had a litter of babies (all but 2 of whom have been adopted out). They're both curious, though Rin is the more out-going of the two. They love to sleep in the Run-about ball I hung in their cage (I think it's Shizuku's, though ^_^). For some reason, no one had wanted them when they were at HVRR; they have a home now, though, and even though they've hardly been with us a week we already love them. Rin is a champagne hooded and Shizuku is a black hooded (she has the neatest markings):
Lucky is, as his name suggests, a lucky rat. He's about 3 months old and was rescued from outside. A kind lady saw him and knew that white rats aren't wild rats; she's scared of rats, but she still didn't want to see anything happen to him. She caught him and took care of him until she could get him to HVRR. He nips a bit, but we're working with him. Lucky loves his cagemates, Rin and Shizuku (Rin especially). The sweet boy is a handsome PEW:
Sai is also a very lucky rat. About two weeks ago, some people had been evicted just a few blocks away from us. They dumped their rats outside to fend for themselves. Neighbors caught one - a hairless white boy - and one neighbor got our number from our vet's office. By the time we got her message, they'd already found a home for the boy. A week later, the neighbor saw another little boy and immediately called us. By the next day, we were able to catch him (thanks to HVRR lending us some live traps). He was dehydrated and half starved, and has mites. Other than that, he's in good health, though, and he's making a quick recovery. He's in quarantine until he recovers further. Sai is still nervous, but he doesn't bite and he's curious about us. We think he's about 4 months old. Sai is a powder-blue capped velveteen/teddy rex (considered poor rex outside the US) dumbo, with two little white spots on his forehead:
Those are all of our babies! Wow, this was a long post X3 We'll have plenty of pictures and cute stories to post about them, too - they're quite a group.
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