# Claudia!



## MinorRobot (Aug 13, 2014)

Finally got around to making one of these. Pretty sure people on my social network accounts are getting sick of the pet spam, so it's about time!








This is Claudia! She is a Rattus rattus, almost 5 months old.

She came into the refuge where I volunteer at 1 week old. I took over her home care around week 3 or 4. She was so tiny and adorable, and an escape artist from a young age. I don't any pictures from then, because I never intended on keeping her. Even when my manager first encouraged me to keep her, I was totally uninterested. I had never really thought much about rats. The only person I knew who had one was someone I disliked very much, so I guess I thought they were lame by association? Obviously I was completely wrong!

I'm not sure what changed my mind, but I'm very glad I did. It has been a really rewarding experience. I spend almost all day everyday with her, she is like my best friend (I feel so weird saying this but I'm sure you guys understand). It's been a bit of a struggle coming to terms with her short life span, but I'm trying to focus on getting the most out of the time I have with her.

Anyway, on to the pics!
























Some from when she was small
















BFF4lyfe


















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I love those last two. It's so cute when she cuddles up with me.


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## Ilovemybabyrats (Feb 5, 2013)

She's so beautiful. Is she a wood rat?


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## Ilovemybabyrats (Feb 5, 2013)

I meant to say roof rat. My friend gotchea had one and it was amazing the bond they had


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## MinorRobot (Aug 13, 2014)

Yep she is a roof rat! And yeah, when I first came on the forum I messaged gotchea and she was super kind and answered some questions I had. I has also read all of her posts about Wilder, they did seem to share an amazing bond.

I feel like I've got a close bond with Claudia, but I've never had a rat before so I have nothing to compare it to!


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## MinorRobot (Aug 13, 2014)

It's been a while but I thought I'd give you guys a Claudia update!

Claudia is about 7 months old now. I have spent a lot of time with her and really feel like we've bonded. I feel very "in tune" with her and I feel like she reads me well also. She knows her name (or at least understands what it sounds like when I call her) but has "selective hearing" when she isn't done exploring. It's amazing to me how close we are and how tame she is considered she is technically a wild animal.

She was a single rat for a long time until about 2 months ago when I introduced her and Paula, another wild female roof rat I kept from a litter I had raised. Paula is much shyer than Claudia. I feel this is because I didn't separate her from her siblings early enough, and she began to get some of her wild instincts. She doesn't crave my attention or like being on my person the way Claudia does, but she trusts me enough to climb on me, and even though she won't let me pick her up, she will climb into my hand. It's funny, because she is way more quick to climb into my hand on me if Claudia already is. I actually used that to my advantage once when she was small and hid up under and inside the recliner and wouldn't come out (for 12 hours!). She would climb into my hand, but when I went to take her out she would jump off again. I finally got the idea to put Claudia on my arm, and then she was fine. It's rewarding to see how they have bonded.


I feel like Claudia was fine as a single rat because of all the time I was able to spend with her. I was actually really nervous to bring another rat into the mix because I was afraid it might cause Claudia to lose interest in me or, worse, "wild out" and become less tame. This has not been the case at all. She is as affectionate as ever, and still begs at the door when I walk by the cage . And if nothing else, having another rat means when I am too busy to give her lots of attention or need to go out of town I don't have to worry so much.






















































Here you can see Paula in the back. 

Here is a picture I love and think is so cute. I'm linking to it instead of posting it because it does show my bra. There is no nudity and nothing suggestive, I don't think it's inappropriate at all but I realize not everyone thinks the same as me and we have young members and people at work. Anyway, Claudia loves sleeping IN my bras and I think it's so stinkin' cute.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

That picture you linked has to be the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Wood rats seem to have a very strong bond to the person who hand raises them!


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## Smarion0006 (Nov 13, 2014)

How neat! Claudia is such a cutie! It seems she and Paula are getting along well together. I'm sure she really enjoys having other rattie company! Btw, It is NOT weird at all to have a rat as a best friend. Besides my husband, I have a hand raised/bottle fed rattie that is my best friend. I love her to pieces!


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