These girls came to us on 6/1/21 after being retired from a veterinary care and rodent handling program.

Fostered by Theresa in Limington, ME.

UPDATE 9/16/21:

“This is a family of sweet rats, each one full of personality. They love to run out and hang off the cage to greet and inspect you. They are certainly very curious about humans, and they will willingly take treats from the hand. There is no aggression – if you put your hand into their cage they will sniff it with lots of interest and exploration, and they are very gentle when doing so. As of yet, they are skittish of sudden movements and sounds and they don’t like to be picked up. I’m confident that, with a little work, they’ll come along nicely and turn into a very confident group! While they all technically look very similar, it is pretty easy to identify them after a minute of observing their behaviour (and a bit of coloured sharpie on the tail doesn’t hurt either!).

Pixie is the mother of the group. She is probably the most timid of them all – probably due to being older and not having had much human interaction. She will approach (and look at) you with some caution and skepticism but, like all the girls, is happy to take a treat from the hand. She will also frequently come out when she hears someone walking up the stairs, just to see what you’re up to and ask where you’ve been.

Brave is the bravest of the group (unsurprisingly). She has come the closest to voluntarily leaving the cage, and will climb up onto your hand if you put it into the cage. She is the first to run out when the cage door is open and the first to re-emerge when they scatter from a loud/sudden noise or movement.

Fearless is named for her amazing fearlessness when it comes to heights. When we first named all of these babies (Pixie had already been named), we used sharpies to colour their tails so we could identify them. Fearless just wanted to leap out of my hands into the abyss, no matter how high up she was! Since then, she has continued to demonstrate this love for jumping inside the cage.

Strafer is the littlest of the group. She is named for her constant ‘strafing’ behaviour: she will bob her head from side to side whilst giving you an intense stare. This makes her very easy to identify quickly! She is extremely sweet and gentle, which makes her particularly endearing. Before we named these babies, we had noticed one rat in particular who would take treats and shamelessly stash them! After naming them, we finally discovered who it was… and it was Strafer! So, keep an eye on her when feeding treats!

Bolt is fast! When excited, she runs around the cage at such a speed that you can hardly keep your eyes on her! Sher seems to get this ‘zoomie’ behaviour not only when startled, but also when happy and investigative.

Blue is a sweet rat who is happy to laze around with her sisters all day. She isn’t the first to explore when we visit them, but she comes out eventually and joins in with the fun. Blue is the most apt to be a very cuddly rat in the future.”

ADOPTED:

#2021694N, “Pixie”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 10/01/2020, Spayed/Neutered?: No

#2021695N, “Brave”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 03/01/2021, Spayed/Neutered?: No

#2021697N, “Strafer”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 03/01/2021, Spayed/Neutered?: No

#2021699N, “Blue”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 03/01/2021, Spayed/Neutered?: No

#2021696N, “Fearless”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 03/01/2021, Spayed/Neutered?: Yes 11/11/2021

#2021698N, “Bolt”, Rat, Pink-Eyed-White, , Standard Ears/Standard Coat, Female, DOB: 03/01/2021, Spayed/Neutered?: Yes 1/20/2022

Pixie

Brave

Fearless

Strafer

Bolt

Blue