Pet rats

So tonight I handed over the pet rats that I'm looking after to another couple from Little Mischief Rescue who I am fostering them for. I haven't had them for very long but I'm going to miss them! When I come back from all my travels I'll get them back and see how much they've changed.

They have great personalities, very different and obvious. Anyway, here are two pictures right after they had a bath.

Their names are Salt and Pepper. I read this morning on the newsgroup for the rescue that someone in Victoria is dumping rats. These are domesticated animals and will probably die quickly out on their own. Its just the owners way of killing them without actually having to think they are responsible and its disgusting. Someone even dumped the rats, in their cage, into the dumpster! How can you do that! You aren't even pretending to yourself that the rats are going to run free and live off the land.

Anyway, my experiences with the rescue makes me aware of how beneficial it would be to adopt an animal from them (or others). You'll get an animal who's personality has been assessed and the rescue wants to suggest a good match to people who are adopting. The animals are well socialized, Salt and Pepper are litter trained already and used to handling. All in all, you get animals that have had a lot of attention and care unlike a pet shop, especially one of those big generic ones.

So I will miss the stinky boys (they are rats after all) in the evenings, when I sit at the computer and Salt or Pepper will run up my arm to sit on my shoulder and just hang out. So cute!