We were planning not to add any more rats to our little family, but as usual things didn’t go according to plan. It all started with our sweet guy Pippin, who was struggling on his own after the loss of his brother Pepper. Pippin had gotten very down and wouldn’t eat or drink and his health had deteriorated rapidly. No matter what we did for him, we could not make up for the loss of his brother. It was obvious the only thing left to do was get him a new companion, so we headed to the RSPCA…
Chestnut & Conker
We had last been to the RSPCA back in March, when we had gone and collected our little girl, Tulip. There had been several other cages of rats there at the time one housed a pair of boys called Sox & Sneaker. One of the boys, Sox, had come to the bars to have a look at us and I had told him that ‘he was very beautiful and if I had the room I’d take him home with me right then.’ As it turned out I got my wish, because when we went back, four months later, Sox & Sneaker were still waiting for a new home. While it is very sad that the poor guys had to wait so long for a new home, at least I got to keep my promise to Sox.
Sox & Sneaker are very timid little guys who had been abandoned at a police station. During their time with the RSPCA they had been hand fed treats, but the staff their don’t have the time to handle and play with the rats, especially nervous ones, like we do at home. So, although the boys have been well cared for they are very nervous about being handled and coming out of their cage.
To make them part of our family we renamed our new boys Chestnut & Conker, and what a pair of little nuts they are. Not having the best start in life has taken its toll on our new guys, but we are going to spend lots of time with them and give them plenty of opportunities to run and play out of their cage.
Because of Pippin’s poor condition we have put our new arrivals straight in with him. Chestnut and Conker seem thrilled with their new brother and are giving him lots of attention and cuddling him while he sleeps. We can only cross our finger for now and hope that two new cuddly friends will be enough to help Pippin through the loss of his brother.
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