Got a new rat

She's dark gray, and she's maybe five or six weeks old. I had her in a separate cage for a few days in case she was going to start sneezing or showing other signs of illness, then introduced her to the girls on the dining room table.

The girls are Vixen and Reese - beige hooded dumbo rats who are sisters. For those who aren't up to speed on rat breeds (which was me eight months ago, heheh), dumbo rats have slightly larger ears that are set more toward the side of their head:



That's Vixen when she was a baby. What a cutie!

So the introduction went very well. I let the baby go in the adults' cage to see how things would go, and they all got along just fine. The older ones groomed the baby and dragged her into their box a few times, and she went along with it like they were her mom(s).

In fact, she became more confident and animated once she was in with them than I had seen her in the three days she was in her own cage. It just goes to show how incredibly social rats are. They love people, too, so if you're looking for a pet that enjoys being handled and is great with kids (with supervision, even my two-year-old holds them), think about getting a rat. I've never met one I didn't like.