The Rat Pack

I was never a big fan of rats. Don't get me wrong I have a reason. And I think it's a really good reason.

At Petco, I would come in to see a rat lifting it's head out of the ribcage of a partially devoured dead rat. That image was forever implanted in my mind.

It didn't help that I was bitten by a Rex Rat when I worked at my current pet store. Rex is not short for T-Rex. But it would have fit considering how much blood he managed to draw. My manager thought I had murdered something. Rex Rats are known for their curly rough coat and curly whiskers.

After a while, I began to warm up to them. They weren't evil, gross, or carrying the Black Plague. But I still wasn't going to consider keeping one as a pet.

Until I met Six. Six came to me after killing a snake. The owner of the snake then wanted to kill him. So I took him. He was a mess. Covered in scratches and blood. The vet at Banfeild told me it was a neurological issue. But then Melissa taught me about rat mites. After treating him with ivermectin every three days and cleaning his cage every day, he was better. The name Six came about when Mom suggested Subject Six, the surviving rat from I Am Legend. He was a blue and white fancy rat. He was my grumpy old man but he rocked.




Six after taking a bath


Dopey was the second rat. He was also used at snake bait but surviving by killing the snake. I fell in love with his big Dumbo ears that moved as he ate and would pout with him if I passed the cage without giving him a treat. He was a gray Dumbo rat.

Black Rat was the third. He was actually Dopeys brother. But he had been isolated for what looked like blood coming from his eye. Rat tears are actually pigmented with red so it wasn't blood. Just a really teary eye. He went to the vet once in the five months that he was in isolation for some antibiotics that had no effect. When it got to the point that it was euthanization, I decided to bring him home. We had a lot of trouble with his name. I considered Sewer Rat, Bilge Rat, Scabbers, etc. But while I considered names we just called him Black Rat and it stuck.

Dizzy came next. He was a special one with that definitely had some neurological issues. He walked in circles and swayed his head back and forth. His name was pretty easy to think of.

Sadly, Rats only live a couple years so all four of the originals have passed.

I have two at the moment. The brothers that were dropped off at my doorstep in a bank box. At least I think they were brother because they were the same age and had very similar markings.

Weasley is a gray and white chunk of a Dumbo rat with a white stripe down his face. He is a greedy gut with a lot of spunk. He likes to chase the dogs and tease the cats.

Potter is another problem child. The black and white Dumbo rat has a white lightning stripe down his forehead earning him the Harry Potter name. But he never got chunky like his brother. Because his bottom incisors are growing too long and stabbing into the roof of his mouth. Causing infection and definitely making it painful for him to eat. My mom and I have been trimming his teeth frequently. In theory, if I kept his bottom teeth short, his upper teeth would come back in. But they haven't yet. I'm beginning to wonder if he even has upper teeth. So I'm hoping to save up some money to get him x-rayed to find out.