My Rats and Other Beasties

Here is a picture of Sally (on the left) and Rena (on the right). Sally was only born with a right eye and she appears to be constantly winking. I got them from a breeder in Tokyo in October 2007.

Rena died on Saturday the 19th of September, 2009 at about 2 years of age. One of the last things she did was eat some berry yoghurt.

Sally died on Thursday the 22nd of October, 2009 at about the same age. Before she died she rolled on her back and attempted to scratch herself with her hind paws. Immediately after that her breathing grew weak and she left. I like to think she went out kicking.

Here is Sally's baby picture. I expect she was no more than 5 weeks old here. She was very tame on the first day she arrived so she must have got special attention from the breeder. She's a real pocket dynamo and hardly stays still for one minute.

Here is Rena's baby picture. She was very shy for a few weeks and still has her skittish moments if something surprises her. She's generally confident and mellow.

Here's Harry the guinea pig. He had a very stubborn and often moody character but he mellowed with age. I got him in April 2002 and he lived for a good 5 years.

Here is my gerbil. It's either Guinness or Murphy sleeping. Both were identical except for a small white fleck on the chest. I got Guinness and Murphy in 2000 and they lived for over 4 years.

They are enjoying their first of the season strawberry. Gerbils really are extreme gnawers.

I've lost a lot of images through multiple moves but here's a scan of Bumbum taken in Autumn 1998.
He was about 8 months old in this picture. 

My first rat was called Cloud and we met in Spring 1995. At that stage my knowledge of rats was very limited but I quickly appreciated that this species was incredibly social and displayed a range of animal cognition I would have never considered. Other treasured rats included albinos (Kabu (Japanese for turnip), Daikon (Japanese for radish), chalk, cheese, and a host of hooded and full coloured varieties. Sally and Rena are the first female rats I've had and it's been a different experience in a number of ways.

Here's a picture of an African Soft Furred Rat / Natal Rat (Praomys natalensis) from the ramshornstudio family. There are numerous other images of beautiful pet fancy rats on their website.

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