So it absolutely KILLS me to have to do this, but I am eventually going to need to find a new home for a few of my girls. I got these lovely rats last semester when I thought for sure that I would be around for the next few years to care for them, but life changes in an instant and now it seems I'll be moving back to Italy in the near future. My mother, the wonderful woman that she is, doesn't think she can take care of more than 5 - which is a lot for her - so she'll be keeping the 4 boys we have and my heart rat, Bo. So that leaves Sushi, Bug, Birdie, and Gadget to find homes. Just the thought of giving them up absolutely kills me, but I know its best for everyone. I apologize now if I seem super nitpicky about who I give them up to, but I would be absolutely miserable if I wasn't sure that they were in good hands (and I know that there are a lot of you out there that would be just great for them!)
Let me start by saying that all of these girls are rescues/shelter finds. None of them are the "perfect" rat, but the love you give them they give back x 1000 in their own ways. I'm going to be honest about their "faults" (for lack of a better word), I want whoever it is that takes them to be absolutely sure about wanting them... they're all amazing and deserving of the best life possible. They do not necessarily have to go together if they are going to homes with other rats, although I think it'd make things so much easier for them. But if the right homes end up being separate homes, then so be it.
1. and 2. - First, the sisters, Birdie and Bug, who are about 10-11 mos old. Bug is a black hooded girl, super hyper and outgoing, LOVES to ride around on your shoulder and never sits still. She's the typical girl rat, much rather be moving than cuddling, but she comes up to me every 15 minutes or so during play time to get her head scratched for 30 seconds before she's off again! Her sister, Birdie, is quite the opposite. For some reason she's never come around to hands, I think she had a really bad experience before I got her because she has always been SO uncomfortable being held. That said, she'll tolerate it, and she's never once been agressive or nippy, but she'd much rather do her own thing and she's happy that way, so I dont push her to be something she's not. She got her name because she came to me with one of her front fingers healed "upside down", for lack of a better way to describe it, so it looks like she's giving "the birdie"
. It must have been broken and just healed sticking up, but it doesn't stop her in the least. Both of these girls have been healthy so far, never needed any medical treatment, but they're background is completely unknown.
3. Then there's Sushi, who's about 7 mos old. She's a siamese (or himi? I dont know the difference) petite girl who also loves to be out running around, but she's been known on a rare occasion to tucker out and come snuggle in my arms. She's more shy than Bug, but has her hyper girly moments, and she's for sure a momma's girl. Her eyes are a bit more sensitive than my other rats so I just have to make sure that the things she sleeps in (hammocks, etc) are always clean, otherwise she starts to get a little porphyrin, but its never anything more than that and since I figured out why it was happening and made sure to change out the rat "laundry" more often it has stopped. She's never had any resp. problems.
4. Last, but not least, is poor old Gadget. She's adorable, a greyish-black hoodie rex dumbo with the hugest ears in the world. I dont have any idea on her exact age but I'd venture a guess somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2. She came to me from a pretty pathetic situation this Christmas, she belonged to a client at the vet where I work and I got suckered into taking her. She had basically been treated like a hamster, lived in a tiny cage, never got any attention, and she started out with pretty bad resp. problems and the worst case of mites ever seen. She HATED being held, and would fear poo if you just looked at her wrong, so we've come quite a long way. She still would rather you not pick her up, but she comes rushing to the door to greet me and likes her head scratched. She also was probably fed through the cage bars because she's quick to put her mouth on anything that comes towards her, though she doesn't bite, just gently puts her teeth down, but still I wouldn't have her with young kids. Her coat has cleared up marvelously, and she's been off meds for over 4 months now, but she gets congested every so often. She gets "wheezy moments" where she sounds congested, usually right when she wakes up, that last about 20 seconds, but she's been doing that for months, and the vet says that as long as she's not showing any other symptoms (lethargy, loss of appetite... which definitely isn't the case, she's a piggy!) then she doesn't need to be on meds and isn't a risk to any other rat. If I can't find a good retirement home for her, my mom has agreed to keep her too, but if there's someone out there who thinks she sounds like your kind of gal, lemme know.
Anyway, I've got a few months I think before I'll be heading over seas, but I thought I'd post this early so that I have enough time to find the perfect home/s. I never thought in a million years that I'd be someone who'd have to rehome their rats, it just kills me to know that I can't keep the promise that I made to them when I brought them home to give them a long happy life in their forever home, but I will do my best to make sure that they get that with whoever they end up with. I'm willing to drive wherever and do just about anything to get these girls into good homes.
So let me know if you're interested. I can send photos, more info, whatever you might want.
