Monday, July 19, 2004

Mrs Dingle - I think I've fallen in love...

I have to admit I had no idea that the pet rat world is as big as it is. I started doing research Friday night when we found Mrs. Dingle and it seems there's as much information out there about rats as there is about dogs! They make just as good pets as dogs do - Mrs. Dingle is proving to be just as loving as any other animal I've ever had. She's totally starved for companionship along with being starved for food. She's nothing but a skeleton currently. You can feel every bone in her poor little body. But she's plugging away eating and pooping like crazy.

She is SO affectionate! I've been moving her cage around the house wherever I am so if I'm at the computer I put my fingers in the cage and she'll come up to front and lay her head on my fingers and just go right to sleep. And if I take her out of the cage she'll climb onto my arms and just snuggle in. After climbing around for awhile and having some reconnaisance first that is!

The dogs aren't too happy about it though because when I take her out of her cage I'm in a room that I've blocked off with a baby gate so that they can't jump up and eat her - which I don't think they'd do, but you never know. Everyone has come nose to nose and she's not afraid of them when she's in her cage.

So all this leads to the obvious question - am I keeping her? I'm torn. I think I've bonded with her, but she definitely needs a girlfriend, so I'll need to get her a habitat big enough for 2 rats to have a high quality of life. I had an email from a friend who said that there's a rat breeder who will give me an adult rat as a companion for her if I keep her. Pet stores are out of the question for obvious reasons - I won't even buy her cage at a pet store that sells live animals, so I'm for sure not going to buy a live animal there!

It's also been 3 days and the cats have shown absolutely no interest in her yet. That's got to be a good sign, right?


All this food is mine - I will be pooping it out at 6pm! Posted by Hello


A close up of the sores on her back which she's scratching Posted by Hello


What a face! Posted by Hello

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