# 2 Female Hooded Rats need a new Home. (Chicago Area.)



## HappyAsLarry (Dec 31, 2015)

We have two female hooded rats, Maggie and Cuddles, who we love to bits. We will be moving abroad come fall, and sadly can't take them with us. I am looking to find happy forever homes for our girls.

Cuddles is 8 months old, and as clever as can be. She responds to her name, and is quite well socialized. We originally got her along with her best pal, an albino, from Petsmart back in August. They were tiny at the time, and they got on wonderfully. The albino, April, was incredibly affectionate, and was the ring leader in their mischief. Sadly, she had health problems from the very beginning, and she passed away on New Years day this year.
Cuddles was absolutely bereft. We decided to get her a new friend. 
Enter Maggie! 



We researched how to get an old rat to accept a baby friend, so armed with a small, temporary cage, we headed back to Petsmart. (I know, not the best place to get rats, but there are no breeders locally.)
We spotted a tiny, trembling baby rat with a chunk missing from her ear. Perhaps a snake hurt her, or maybe she was bullied for being a runt. We figured that having suffered such trauma in her short life, she deserved to come to a happy home.
We placed her little cage next to Cuddles' big one, and just let them observe each other for the first day. We gradually let them explore each other's cages. We scrubbed down the big cage to remove all old scents, and within 3 days they were happy to curl up and cuddle together in bed. We would see Cuddles was delighted to have a new four legged friend. Maggie followed Cuddles around, as though she was her mother. It was darling to watch. 



Maggie is still very jumpy, no doubt due to the horrible injury she suffered before we took her home. She knows her name, and will come to you, but she runs for her life if there is a loud noise or any sudden movement. Unfortunately, her nervousness has rubbed off a little on Cuddles. Cuddles will roam a room with humans all around, climb all over you, and is very tolerant with children- but if Maggie bolts off in terror, Cuddles follows suit! 



We currently have them housed in a You & Me rat habitat. They love to play on their wheel. Each night I bring their cage into the master bath, and let them roam freely in there by the light of a night light. They are usually exhausted and and snoozing by morning time. We feed them Kaytee Supreme fortified food (they hated the blocks!), and fresh fruits and veggies. They like banana chips and nuts as treats. They also love avocado and green beans. 



With our move overseas coming in the autumn, I am beginning the search for a new home for our sweet ratties. I would love to keep them together, if possible. I'm leery of putting them on craigslist, because they could end up as snake food. Yikes! There is no way I would risk that happening. 
If anyone can chime in on adoption options, it would be much appreciated. We are in the NW suburbs of Chicago. There is a no kill shelter by here, but they deal exclusively with cats and dogs.

Have a great weekend, all!


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