 Our Beloved
Hezikiah was bought from Animalkind around the time we got married in 2004. He was supposed to be a brother to our cat Parn, but he didn't stay with us very long.
We got Julian, our blue hooded rex buck, March 02, 2005. Melissa wasn't supposed to get a fourth rat. In fact doing so made her very sick from allergies, but we got an air purifer and all was well again. We consider his birthday January 26th although being a PetsMart rat there is no way for us to know. Ever since the day Melissa picked up her little boy, he's been in her heart.
Julian was a VERY relaxed and mushy boy. He adored to lick people fingers and brux, not to mention snuggle with anything and everything. It's not hard to see how relaxed he is in all of his pictures. Unlike Jasmine, it wasn't hard to get some cute pictures of him.
Julian's trick was to make people his slaves. All he had to do was lick their fingers, brux, and eye boggle for a minute or two and they were all his. Can you say "mind control"? No one could resist that little cutie's affections, especially not Melissa.
Food is to be sat in more than eaten in his opinion. Julian had this off habit of sleeping in the food bowls and pretty well ignoring the fact there was food at all. That didn't please anyone ELSE in the cage but hey, why should he care? It was so comfy to cuddle on.
He just kind of pounced on everyone and made a hassle of himself. Somehow I don't think anyone in the cage minded. Although every once in a while they'd shove him off and run away.
Katrina was our Albino. We got her around January 3, 2004 when Melissa finally decided she could no longer live without rats anymore. She was probably only a few months old at the time so we like to think of her birthday as November 3, 2003 even though there wa no way to know her real birthday.
This little girl was the heart of our mischief. She was the squishiest and oldest. Katrina's favorite thing in the whole wide world to do was sit in someone's lap and have her back rubbed. Out of all our babies, she was the only one who would quietly wait a whole half hour, if need be, to be stroked. The others would go insane after a few mere seconds. She's also the only one who would lick anyone's fingers for minutes on end. There was nothing more soothing.
One of our favorite "tricks" that she would do was play follow the leader. What happened was we brought her outside on a nice warm day, set her on the ground, and walked swiftly away from her. She'd chase after that person's feet as if playing follow the leader or tag. It really was so adorable.
Katrina's favorite food was pretty much all food. However, she really enjoyed eating apples, spaghetti (with homemade sauce), apple crisp, muffins, chicken, and all vegetables. The one time we gave her a piece of a homemade cider donut Jason almost lost his fingers in the process. ;) Anyone who happens to be eating around Katrina either has to run away quickly or will get their tasty tidbit stolen away!
Katrina was an alpha. She was also the "Stealer of Food", the "Storer of Food", the "Nest Maker", and the "Runner of Wheels". It was her job to make sure all of the food, including treats, were stored in random spots at the bottom of the cage. In addition, she had to grab everything she could reach through the bars of the cage to stuff into the nest. Common materials were Melissa's mother's pillow (got too close to the cage), paper bags, coats (again needed to watch them), cat tail fur (the cats forgot how close the rat cage was to the sofa), and of course the sofa itself.
Melissa got Jasmine, our blue mismarked berkshire, June 11, 2004 from a breeder by the name of Jinelle. She's since given up breeding in order to take care of her own child, but at least Melissa got to meet Jasmine's parents. Her father's name was Flower and her mother's name was Miss Priss. Since we got her from a breeder we also got to know her exact birthday. It was January 5, 2004.
This little girl was our hyper rat. She was absolutely off the wall with energy, just like her mother. Melissa could, however, get her to settle down for a pet once in a while. Mostly she just tried to explore the couch she held her on. She didn't mind though. What she minded was when Jasmine dribbled pee on her. It wouldn't bother Melissa so much if it didn't always set her allergies off. We'll always love her though, no matter what. She was our little wiggle rat!
Jasmine was a master magician. She knew how to make food dissappear in a flash. All you needed to do is hold a piece of something tastey between your forefinger and thumb, put it within three inches of Jasmine's nose, and viola! The food would magically dissappear.
Like all the other rats, Jasmine had absolutely no food preference other than it be within reach. She was especially fond of chicken, chicken bones, anything sweet, and vegetables. Although apples really don't impress her much. Not like the way they did to Katrina. Once she got a treat, Jasmine would run like lightning into a corner to eat in peace. Otherwise her dearest sister would snatch it away to store it.
Jasmine's title was just plain "Hyper". Anything else would take too long to say and she'd be gone by then anyway. ;)
We got Gideon, our amber mismarked berkshire, September 29, 2004. Our previous rat girl, Serenity, died on September 19, 2004. We were both heart broken and couldn't even think about getting a new rat for a week or so. Then Melissa suddenly had a void she needed to fill and got Gideon to fill it. We had meant to find another girl, but our search was turning nothing up at all. No girls and no boys. The last place we looked was PetCo and there he was, the only rat left and a male besides. When Melissa picked him up she just knew he was for her, so male or not he was coming home! We think of his birthday as August 25, 2004. Although once again we can't be sure.
Gideon was a mix between mushy and hyper. Sometimes he goes insane and gets Jasmine just as bouncy as he was. Other times he was just as mellow and snuggly as Katrina. Either way he was the only one who would both brux and give kisses, which was so nice. That rat couldn't've be any more of a ladies' man. He'd chase both girls down for hours just to give and receive kisses.
Gideon has learned to bungee jump...without the bungee. For this trick to be preformed, we would merely set him down and he'd be off at an incredible pace for the edge of whatever he was on to jump for the floor! That rat had no fear of the floor and would more than gladly preform for any audience. ;)
Now word from the kitchen said Gideon liked nothing more than spending hours and hours eating to maintain his portly figure. If ever there was a rat who didn't care what the dinner was it was him. Everything was a treat, including his usual food. At least we didn't ever have to worry about him not eating on us.
This cute little boy thought the world was made to look at him and if the world didn't think so he'd darn well chase the world down. Hence his addiction to rat racing. Katrina and Jasmine became targets for him as he ran around the cage trying to get them to pay attention to him and groom him. Usually they gave in after a while. Probably from exhaustion. He was most definately the "Ladies' Man".
We got Angel a long time ago, sometime in 1996 and she was born December 23, 1995. At the time, Melissa was having some anxiety issues and wanted something in the house that could warn her if danger was approaching. So when one of the mother's of a child her mother babysat for had an accidental dog pregnancy, her parents got her one of the puppies. That puppy was the first one to lick her nose. While it took a while for Melissa and her mother to decide on a name, eventually they both liked Angel so that was it.
Angel was a very stinky dog. She enjoyed rolling around in anything that smelled bad that she could find, eating rotten food out of the garden which gave her gas, and just generally being greasy and gross. Giving her a bath wouldn't help because three days later she'd smell just as terrible, so soon she had to be in the basement if she came inside. Otherwise she could just play outside without a worry.
The problem with all this was, Angel honestly didn't seem to realize how much we hated her smell. So she'd come over to be pet and rubbed all over you until you smelled just as bad as she did. Along with indulging in horrible smells, this half bouvier half black labrador puppy enjoyed playing fetch. You could throw or kick the ball and she'd be off to grab it, chew it a moment, then spit it out at your feet and wait for the next one to be thrown.
Angel's trick was the stink bomb. All it involved was her being near you and your nose would want to fall off. While she knew a variety of other tricks common to dogs, such as sit and down, this was the one fairly unique to just her.
Her favorite foods were anything already rotten and thrown on the garden as fertilizer. No matter how grossed out everyone else was, she was happy to dine on what no one else would. What wasn't eaten was probably rolled in or just simply saved for later.
We honestly loved our stinky doggy even if being too close for too long was hard on your nose. She was a great guard dog, a loving member of the family, and the perfect walking companion. Even if her choice in perfume was absolutely rancid, she herself was well worth getting to know. No dog could've ever been sweeter.
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