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Crunchie the very first rat we ever had. We were living in a flat (no pets allowed) and we love having little animal friends around us, so we decided to get a rat, like you do. After buying a book on rats we decided we were ready. We found Crunchie in a small local pet shop, he was sitting in the corner of a tank looking a bit shy.
After finally getting the courage to pick Crunchie up we popped him in his home.
Once there he sat looking
lonely, poor Crunchie was a free range rat, having the freedom to leave his cage pretty much from breakfast (which he ate with us) to bedtime. He chose to spend most of his day with Lindsay riding around in her sleeve or a pocket, popping home for a quick snack. Oh the joy of sitting down to watch day time telly and share your dinner with a little rat friend. For more information about rat care visit:
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Once
home we decided to place his travel box in his new home and let him find
his own way out, hey it works with gerbils! Half an our later Crunchie was
still sitting in his box. So we gave him a gentle nudge, this resulted in
Crunchie disappearing under a nearby coffee table. Having no practical
experience of rats we were unsure of what to do. With bits of
cardboard we blocked of all escape routes in an attempt to catch him. We
didn't want to frighten the little chap and get bitten. Crunchie had other ideas
he walked up to a piece of card and grabbed it in his hands and carefully moved
it out of the way. Derek gasped 'Oh my god he's using his hands!'
That is when we got an inkling of what we were letting ourselves in for.
chap had a lot to teach us. Lindsay could not bear his sad
little face, gently picking him out of his home she wrapped him in an old towel
(for comfort, he ended up loving that towel) and sat with him on her knee.
An amazing friendship was born.