Smudge’s new roommates

It was silly to have little old Smudge living alone in her rather large cage, especially with two new boisterous young rats in the house. We didn’t want to move Smudge from her home – even though she spends all her time in her rat igloo – it just didn’t seem fair to her after loosing her rattie sisters. So, we moved our new arrivals Tula and Tilly in with Smudge.

Smudge is a very easygoing little rat, and she’s not that big so we didn’t anticipate any problems with introducing the young rats to her. And I’m pleased to say everything has gone smoothly. We kept the girls separate for a few weeks just to give them time to settle in and make sure they were healthy and then they pretty much moved straight in with Smudge.

I’ll admit Smudge was a little unsure at first. She is very old and the girls are young and bouncy, but it only took a few days for everyone to work it out. Smudge is still happy spending most of her time in her rat igloo, while the girls make the most of the rest of the cage.

Within a week they were already grooming each other and sleeping curled up together. I’m really happy for Smudge, I know it doesn’t make up for the loss of her sisters, but having lived with so many other rats it really wasn’t healthy for her to suddenly be on her own.

Tilly and Smudge

They make a funny little trio, and they are all very small rats, they do seem very happy together and I’m really happy Smudge is no longer on her own.