# another tragic tale of a pet store rat...



## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

http://www.ratforum.com/showthread....a-pet-store...-and-you-know-how-the-rest-goes.

well... some of you might remember. a while back, in june, i brought home a tiny and absolutely sweet russian blue rexy boy from a local pet store. he was in a tank with his siblings, being sold for a $5 "adoption fee". he nibbled my fingernails and climbed up my arm when i put it in the tank. i had enough resources and cage capacity at home... i couldn't resist, and i took him home. 

he was hands down the most placid rat i've owned so far... i could pick him up, flip him over, cup him between my hands, basically smother him... and he would never move or make a peep. he was happy to lay on his back in my hands until i let him go. he was always very small, but full of personality... he loooooved to run around, climb, and explore... but always ran back to the safety of my lap when something spooked him. i never did end up picking out a name for him. we just called him "new guy", haha. i felt like he was going to be my next heart rat, to replace my long gone boy miles. he had obviously never been in a cage before... he had no idea how to climb. within weeks he was a climbing machine. he would climb anything and everything... including the big cage, even when bernard huffed and tried to nip him through the bars lol!

he never quite got along with ben and bernard... i was in the middle of introductions when bernard got really sick with his uti, so i put intros on hold... and then i moved out on august 17th, and everything's been kinda hectic, so i didn't continue them until last week. they were all in the bathtub together, sitting in the corner grooming each other... it was so cute, and i regret not taking any pictures of it. they had a little corner in my new place blocked off by all our unpacked boxes to run around in... the night before last, he was running about popcorning happily and eating sunflower seeds on my boyfriend's lap. 

everything was fine last night, i said goodnight to him when i filled up his water dish... he threw himself at the bars, obviously wanting out to play... and this morning he was gone. curled up peacefully underneath his hammock. i am absolutely crushed. he didn't even have a name. i was soooo not prepared for this...


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

Ah, that is so sad but he was so lucky that you took him home. What an angel, literally now. It is so hard when you lose them.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

You have such bad luck with rat health :/ So sorry for the loss, at least his time spent was loved time, and not banished to some dark corner of a pet stores back room :/


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## SlashGlambert (Aug 24, 2011)

He's so precious! I'm sorry for your loss  Sounds like he was very happy with you though, I agree he sounds like he was a very lucky boy.


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## prairieorchid (Jul 19, 2011)

aaaww....what a handsome rattie boy. I'm sorry for your loss. As a new rat owner myself, I'm already wondering how I'll handle the shortness of their little lives! Don't feel bad for not giving him a name...he couldn't feel his name, but I know he could feel the love!


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

I'm so sorry  I often take a long time to name pets by the way, so definitely don't feel bad, I like to find one that really suits them which is hard to do right away.


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