Bandit & Wombat

Bandit

Things hadn’t quiet gone to plan with our six silly guys and while I love taking care of them I do miss having some playful rats in my home and when Derek and I happened across these two gorgeous boys it seemed like it was meant to be. Normally I find husky rats irresistible, but I guess with my other boys being a terrible bunch of hermits I was worried about getting some more cage loving rats, and wasn’t sure what to do. Fortunately Derek knows me to well, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, leaving me outside at the car he went to find out more about the gorgeous rats we had seen.

The first thing Derek discovered is there’s nothing shy or timid about these two, even before he’d put his hand in their tank they were up and about putting on a silly show for him. There had been a large wooden tunnel in there tank and they climbed up on it and started shoving each other to see who their new visitor was first, and when he did put his hand in they just wanted fuss, Derek was sold and these two handsome boys have joined our family.

Wombat

Once home and completely unfazed by the journey, Derek amused our new guys while I put the finishing touches to their new home. These guys are going to live in our office and will have lots to explore, but first they were more excited to discover where they were going to live. The guys were straight in their cage, and from all the exploring and rearranging it seems like they are very happy.

From what we can tell Bandit is the more confident of the two, not that Wombat is particularly timid, but so far Bandit has been the first to get into everything, which explains his name. Wombat is the more considered of the two, and while I know all that can change his name suits him very well. They are such beautiful boys and I am sure we are going to have lots of wonderful adventures together.

Wombat working hard

I am thrilled to confirm our lovely new boys are full of fun and adventure. At first the boys were a bit unsure about leaving their cage and it took a bit of encouragement to get them to leave, even then when they did they’d get into a bit of a panic if I moved and would run back to their cage. I’m not sure if it was because of the pet shop, where they received lot of love and handling, but obviously weren’t allowed to wander off. Not that it matters, the boys are full of adventure now and it’s wonderful.

Their cage set up allows them to come and go as they please, without their cage having to be put on the floor. It’s good fun and exercise for them, as they have a tunnel and a series of shelves to negotiate to reach the floor. Derek and I work from home so the guy can come and help us as and when they want, and they do. Messing with computers and wires always seems to be a favourite rattie past-time and these guys are carrying on the tradition. Bandit is the worst culprit, he’s terrible for getting into everything. Luckily neither of the boys seem to be chewers so, fingers crossed, our wires are safe!

Our office is so alive and full of mischief it makes for a brilliant working environment, though you do have to do a rattie check before you leave your desk, don’t want anyone getting squashed.

This seat is taken

The boys have a hammock in their home that they never use and as the end of summer approaches I thought I would treat them a nice new super warm bed. I found these lovely fluffy lined hammocks online and knew they’d be perfect and I wasn’t disappointed when they arrived.

What's going on here?

After a wash I put the new beds straight in the boys cage, it took them a day or two to investigate them but when they did there was no getting them out, even though it’s still summer!

The real Bandit & Wombat enjoying their cosy bed

Bandit on his adventure

Today our super brave boy, Bandit snuck out of the office! With having two cats in the house we are usually very careful to keep the office door blocked, so no rats can leave nor any cats get in. Our cats are pretty soppy creatures and probably wouldn’t hurt any of our rats, but it’s best not to take a chance. Still all our precautions didn’t stop Bandit sneaking out of the office today and having a good explore. Rather than tell him off and send him back, we blocked off the stairs to keep him safe from cats and let him have a good look around.

The first thing Bandit encountered was a cardboard cat house we bought for our little cat Inkie. Bandit thought it was marvellous and was soon running from one end to the other. When Wombat heard all the fun he came trundling out too, though he was a little more cautious of his new surroundings.

After the cardboard house Bandit discovered the cats room and had a wonderful time exploring in all their cat beds, tunnels and cushions. He really is a very brave boy, and is defiantly living up to his name.

'Where's Bandit gone now?'

It is with a very heavy, broken heart I have to share that our beautiful boy, Wombat has passed away. After a short illness, he slipped away in my arms yesterday afternoon.

Our fun loving little guy was so very young and full of life. Together with his cheeky brother, Bandit, he brought so much silliness and laughter to our office, even when we were trying to work. As brothers the boys were inseparable, whether snuggled up in their bed together, finding mischief to get into, or generally being underfoot.

I don’t know how we or Bandit will cope with this terrible loss, but we will try to encourage Bandit to carry on his silly adventures in his beautiful brothers memory.

Best friends

Our cat, Inkie has always been fascinated by our rats, and for Bandit the feeling has been mutual. Since the sudden loss of his brother I have been spending a lot of time with Bandit sitting on my knee and the door to the office open to cats. As Bandit hasn’t been interested in wandering off I wasn’t worried about him getting hurt so saw no harm in letting our two silly cats near him and I was right. As soon as she came in the room Inkie could tell Bandit was on my knee and she crept up to us with wide eyes, jumping up on my desk to get a better look. Rather than being afraid Bandit was very interested in the visitor and he climbed up on the desk to be with her, which Inkie was not very impressed with at all.

Since that first encounter Bandit has been more and more interested in Inkie, something Inkie is not to sure about - Bandit is a little rodent after all. Between the two of them they seem to have struck up a very odd friendship, with Bandit following Inkie around the house and me following Bandit trying to keep him safe.

Whatever is going on between the two of them, as long as Bandit is safe I’m just thrilled to see him having some fun and running around.

Bandit and Inkie

There is no stopping Bandit at the moment. He has always been fascinated by the stairs and looking down them, but has never quite plucked up the courage to go down even one step. The other day I popped him down a few steps, to see what would happen, but he was not happy with me and ran back into the office.

Today he’d been sitting on my knee and had snuck off while I as in the middle of something on my computer. I didn’t think he’d get very far - I was wrong. By the time I went looking for my sneaky little rat he was all the way downstairs! Fortunately both the cats were outside, because he was happily playing on their cat post. When I caught up with the wayward chap he wasn’t at all sorry for sneaking off, instead he wandered off into our living room and had a good explore in there.

It’s great to see Bandit doing so well on his own and though we both still miss Wombat terribly, I’m enjoying all Bandit’s new adventures.

Just like his dear brother Wombat, our sweet boy Bandit has passed away suddenly. We had no real warning anything was wrong. I actually thought he was doing a bit better after the death of his brother, but earlier today he suddenly came over all weak so I wrapped him in a soft towel to hold and comfort him, but he slipped away in my hands before we could even understand what was happening.

Having barely had the two boys a year and then loosing them less than a month apart it’s hard to know what to think. All I know is I am going to miss them so very much, I cannot express the joy and laughter they bought to our lives with their fun loving antics.