Age: around 27 months oldSex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: fawn
Markings: veriberk
Behind the name: Greek god of death.
Thanatos
Age: around 27 months old
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: fawn
Markings: veriberk
Behind the name: Greek god of death.
About: Thanatos was my very first rat. At first he belonged to my friend, Katy. She had to get rid of him because her other rat was beating him up, so I offered to take him. He certainly is an interesting sort of rat-fellow. He loves his food, above all else, and his tummy is proof of this.
Hypnos
Age: around 25 months old
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: Greek god of sleep, brother to Thanatos. (Thanatos and Hypnos are not really brothers.)
About: I got Hypnos shortly after I got Thanatos, so Thanatos would not be so lonely. For the longest time, he was the most anti-social boy. Not properly socialized, I suppose. But I think he finally resolved himself to the fact that I was going to pay attention to him, whether he wanted it or not.
Gaspar
Age: 23 months
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: blue
Markings: bareback
Behind the name: one of the 3 magi.
About: Gaspar is one of my 3 first dumbo rats. After getting Thanatos and Hypnos, I started researching rats, and discovered that there were rats that had ears lower set on their head, and bigger, called dumbos. I thought they were absolutely adorable, and went in search of a breeder that was near me. I love Gaspar dearly, but unfortunately, he really doesn't want anything to do with me. He's been a fairly unhealthy rat most of his life, and his sickness always seems to perpetuate his anti-social tendancies.
Balthasar
Age: 23 months
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: bareback
Behind the name: one of the 3 magi.
About: Again, Balthasar's story is much the same, being brother to Gaspar and Melchoir. I had, however, not originally planned on getting him. Once I discovered that by taking Gaspar and Melchoir, I would be taking all of the remaining boys in the litter, except for him, I felt bad and begged my parents to let me bring him home as well. Poor Balthasar is a sort of confused little rat. About a year ago he got a severe inner ear infection and developed a permanent head tilt from it. I also believe that the ear infection caused him to go deaf.
Ollie
Age: around 22 months
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: lilac
Markings: blazed berkshire
Behind the name: no importance, really. I like "Oli" names. I knew of several rats named Oliver, but no Ollies.
About: Ollie is the most anti-social of all of my rats. He really does not like to be held, touched, or fussed with at all unless I'm giving him some sort of food. He's getting slightly better about being held now. I can now hold him for about a full minute before he freaks out, as opposed to about 10 seconds.
Othello
Age: around 8 months
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: russian blue
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: from William Shakespeare's "Othello".
About: Othello is one of the 3 babies I kept from an accidental litter of rats that one of my females had. He's a sweet, hyper young ratlet. Slight obsession with mouths and noses.
Paris
Age: around 8 months
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: beige
Markings: blazed berkshire
Behind the name: from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet".
About: Paris is Othello's brother, also much more dependent. He likes to think he's alpha of the cage, but I think he's probably wrong.
Argos
Age: around 6 months
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: rex
Color: PEW (pink-eyed white)
Markings: none
Behind the name: a city in ancient Greece.
About: I was at the pet store with my friend, walked past the tank with little Argos in it, and fell in love instantly. He is, quite possibly, the most adorable baby rat I've ever owned. He's really shy and quiet, and refuses to stray very far from me, or his "comfortable zones". Quite adorable.
Lucifer
Age: 5 months
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: self
Behind the name: he's all black, so, um. I'm original?
About: Lucifer comes from a litter of rats that my best friend had from an accidental pet store litter. For whatever reason, he doesn't like people much. He much prefers the company of other ratties.
Noel
Age: around 19 months
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: beige
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: I really just love the name.
About: Noel is the sister to Ruby. Still, at over a year old, she's manic. She never, ever, never wants to be in her cage, and if you open the cage door you can bet that she'll be gone in 2 seconds. Also, she likes food. A lot. I'm surprised she's not part of my rattuspheres.
Aleksia
Age: around 14 months
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: champagne
Markings: banded
Behind the name: Danish/Norwegian, "The defender, or helper of mankind."
About: I bought Aleksia in an attempt to cheer me up after a super horrible situation. She was such a tiny little runt of a rat, and turned into a big, grouchy mom of a rat. She is mother to Othello, Paris and Ophelia.
Somebody Blue
Age: around 12 months
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: american blue
Markings: irish
Behind the name: just a cute name. 'Cause she's blue.
About: Somebody Blue is Isobel's sister. I bought her along with Isobel so she could have company, and because she's blue. And blue rats are pretty. Blue's really doesn't like being held, or really even touched. And if she doesn't stop stealing all of the food and hiding it in her blankets, I'm going to give her a boot to the butt.
Ophelia
Age: around 8 months
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: russian blue
Markings: veriberk
Behind the name: from William Shakespheare's "Hamlet".
About: Paris and Othello's sister. She was a girl that I was not planning on keeping, but originally could not find a home for. Then we fell in love with her, and she had to stay. She's the hyperist of all hyper rats, and if you touch her when she's in heat she screams like you're tearing all of her skin off.
Scarlet
Age: around 7 months
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: siamese
Markings: siamese points?
Behind the name: named for her deep red colored eyes.
About: Scarlet originally came to me named Sierra. Her original owner ended up having to move, and to could not take her rats with her. She went to a friend of mine. She developed a cold and my friend could not afford to take her to the vet to get her medicine, so I offered to let her come live with me. She's been here ever since. I renamed her Scarlet because I despise the name Sierra. Her favorite place seems to be in the pocket of my sweatshirts.
Kismet
Age: around 5 months
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: siamese
Markings: siamese points?
Behind the name: I thought it was a cute name.
About: Kismet came from the same owner that I got Scarlet from. Her rat, Talulah, was pregnant when she got her from the pet store. Kismet was from the resulting litter. She's quite the nasty little trouble maker, but she's adorable so I guess she gets away with it.
Star
Age: around 6 months
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: lilac
Markings: variegated
Behind the name: The spot on her head reminds me of the 'star' headspot on horses.
About: Star came from a friend of a friend, from what I'm assuming was also an accidental litter from a pet store. I fell in love with her, she's so beautiful. She's a quiet little girl, mostly just keeps to herself. She likes to pretend that she hates me, but every so often I'll catch her being a sweetheart.
Luna
Age: around 7 months
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: I have no idea, I was not the one that named her. I'm pretty sure the name came from a video game. Final Fantasy, perhaps?
About: Luna came home with me when I got Star. She was originally living with Scarlet, one of the girls that the woman I know had to get rid of. She, too, went to live with my friend. She kept biting him, and he could no longer deal with her, so I took her in. She's a quiet, shy rattie, and prefers to stay within the company of her companions and her cage.
Harlequin
Age: no clue, really
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: half blazed? banded
Behind the name: she quite reminds me of a harlequin dog. Or something.
About: Harlequin came from a pet store. My cousin got her from there, and shortly after discovered that she was pregnant and that she didn't feel she could deal with caring for a nursing mother and babies. So, I took her in. She had her babies a week ago, 11 healthy little monsters. I've still not got her decently socialized, she's a great work in progress. I've gotten her to warm up to me a bit, but she's still quite skittish.
Ghost
Age: no clue, really
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: capped
Behind the name: My cousin and her fiance named her. But apparently Ghost comes from the fact that she looks like she's wearing a mask. I found it appropriate, so kept it.
About: Ghost came to my home along with Harlequin. At the time I brought her home, my cousin and I both thought she was pregnant. She was a little buldgy in the middle, but it turns out that she's just got a buldgy tummy and was, in fact, not pregnant. She's still quite unsure about the human type. I have a very hard time trying to hold her, but I'll keep up the socialization. Hopefully it'll prove successful.
Harlequin's Litter
DOB: 07/18/04
Sex: 4 girls, 7 boys
Ears: standard
Coats: standard
Colors: black and beige
Markings: 2 blazed bandeds, 1 capped, 1 dalmation, 2 berkshires, 2 berkshires with headspots and 3 banded (not sure if there are any facial markings yet).
Star's Litter
DOB: 06/14/04
Sex: 2 girls, 11 boys
Ears: standard
Coats: 8 standard, 5 rex
Colors: black
Markings: all babies were either black berkshires or black selfs.
Bink
DOB/DOD: 10/??/02 - 8/28/03
Sex: male
Ear: dumbo
Coat: rex
Color: siamese
Markings: siamese points?
Behind the name: a character from the book A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony.
About: I was absolutely in love with my Bink. He looked like a sweet little lamb. Last summer he had a spinal cord injury (or so the vet said, but I still doubt) and had to be put to sleep. He lost all mobility of his back legs, and was having trouble with his bowels and such. Having him euthanized was such a horribly painful experience to me, and I still wonder occasionally if I did the right thing.
Amerie
DOB/DOD: 02/??/03 - 10/08/03
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: PEW (pink-eyed white)
Markings: none
Behind the name: just a name that I thought was beautiful.
About: Poor, poor Amerie was a girl that I took in because a boy didn't want her anymore. He stopped caring for her, and it was either come with me or be put to sleep at 2 months old. She was always scared, rarely ever trusting me. She died of what I believe to be a severe respiratory infection.
Kennedy
DOB/DOD: 05/??/03 - 11/06/03
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: hooded
Behind the name: just another name I liked.
About: Kennedy was my crazy bar chewing rat. I got her to be a companion for Aleksia, and it turns out that she drove me completely nuts. A few months back I discovered blood in the cage, but had no idea who it came from. The next morning I found her dead, having died from what I believe was some sort of uterine infection.
Siggy
DOB/DOD: ??/??/02 - 12/10/03
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: rex
Color: himilayan
Markings: himalayan points?
Behind the name: named after the most adorable little girl that I babysat once.
About: Siggy's death took a fairly bad toll on me. She was always a grumpy rat, but she was sweet to me in her own little way. Ultimately, I think she died of some sort of cancer. I had found lumps on her about a week before she died. One night I found her, dying. I laid in bed with her and stroked her back, waiting for her to die. Watching her death was a terrifying experience.
Miracle
DOB/DOD: 12/30/03 - 01/13/04
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: hooded
Behind the name: named by my mother. Seemingly aptly named, because he did seem to be a "miracle".
About: Little baby Miracle was the rat from Misty's litter we were sure was going to make it. But hand feeding baby rats is just not as good as a momma rat's milk, and I think he really just never got as many nutrients as he needed. He made it a full two weeks, and left.
Iollan
DOB/DOD: 12/??/03 - 2/26/04
Sex: male
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: lilac
Markings: hooded
Behind the name: Irish, "one who worships a different god."
About: I originally got Iollan to keep Miracle (see directly above) company. Miracle needed a rat companion, and I needed to find the youngest, smallest male rat that I could find. This one's a spazzy little freak, he is. Unfortunately, shortly after I got him, I noticed that he was bleeding from his penis. I took him to the emergency vet, but he could not figure out what was wrong with him (he did not specialize in rats). He was put on baytril, but never made it through the night. I'm fairly sure he died of a bladder infection.
Melchoir
DOB/DOD: 08/23/02 - 03/25/04
Sex: male
Ear:dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: beige
Markings: bareback
Behind the name: one of the 3 magi.
About: Melchoir was the sweetest and most laid back of all of my rats (much different from his brothers, Gaspar and Balthasar). No matter how exciting a current task may have been during playtime, he would always come back to check me out, to make sure I was still there, and to give my fingers some kisses. In my most heartbreaking rat loss yet, he developed pneumonia. I fought it with everything I could, but in the end, his poor little rat lungs proved too weak.
Misty
DOB/DOD: ??/??/03 - 04/09/04
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: standard
Color: black
Markings: hooded
Behind the name: short for Mistletoe, as I got her Christmas Eve 2003.
About: I got Misty from a pet store because I noticed she was stuck in a cage with male rats, and pregnant. They were going to sell her as snake food, so I brought her home in hopes that I could give her a home, and hopefully raise her babies and give them good homes. She gave birth to 9 babies, but within a day 5 had died, and she was not nursing the remaining 3 properly. I took over their care and hand fed them. Unfortunately, all 3 of them died. There's not much to say about Misty, other than she liked to chew. She had been very poorly socialized, so she bit a lot and I was never able to get her to warm up to me. Eventually, she died of some kind of infection. (Bladder, uterine? The vet wasn't sure.)
Ruby
DOB/DOD: 11/25/02 - 04/28/04
Sex: female
Ear: standard
Coat: hairless
Color: would be beige
Markings: would be hooded
Behind the name: her eyes were a beautiful ruby sort of color.
About: Ruby was quite an unexpected purchase. I went to pick up her sister from a breeder, and her and her other hairless sister were along for the ride. I fell in love, and had to have her. Ruby's motivation was that of grooming fingernails. A few months before she left me, I noticed she was developing a lump in her armpit. A biopsy of it showed that it was lymphatic cancer, there was nothing I could do. So I made her life even better than it had been before, and I loved on her to no end. One afternoon, I found her gasping for breath, and slowly fading. Shortly after I found her, I took her into the vet to be put to sleep.
Willow
DOB/DOD: 10/??/02 - 06/10/04
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: rex
Color: dove
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: I love willow trees.
About: I brought Willow home with her mom (see above, Siggy) and she is the sister of Bink (see above also.) She was large and in charge. No, really. She was kind of fat, and definitely alpha of the cage. She was usually on the grumpy side of things, but never turned down a chance to lick my fingers until her tongue was ready to fall off. About a week before she died, I noticed that she was quickly declining. Her back feet were becoming clumsy, she was starting to have trouble keeping herself righted, she was starting to have trouble holding food with her front feet, and she was rapidly losing weight. I took her into the vet and he suggested that she had either had a stroke or a pituitary tumor. We discussed it a bit, and I decided it would be in her best interest to just have her put to sleep.
Isobel
DOB/DOD: 07/??/03 - 6/29/04
Sex: female
Ear: dumbo
Coat: standard
Color: lilac
Markings: berkshire
Behind the name: from a Björk song.
About: I got Isobel from a pet store, under the impression (because this is what I was told) that she had "problems" and nobody wanted to buy her. She was adorable, and I didn't care if she had "problems" so I bought her. It turns out she did not have problems, but that was just even better. Isobel was my runner, she definitely loved her wheel. My poor girl died without me, and I don't even know what happened to her. I just found her one night, dead in her cage. No outward signs of anything being wrong.