# Givers?



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

If I had to sum up my first rat, Gregor's personality, I would use words like, "friendly, mellow, loving."

Gus, being a young 'un, is more of an energetic, "play-with-me" rat.

And I discovered something about his personalitty:

Gus is a "giver." 

The first thing he gave me was a piece of cookie, when I came back from a particularly difficult dental procedure.

He has a place on the bed where he digs up foam (for no particular reason,) and I have been presented with foam on 3 different occasions. (I save all this stuff in little bags.)

It's so cute to see their posture...they toddle up to you, carrying the thing in their mouth or in one hand, then sit up right in front of you and stretch, while holding the "gift" in the front two paws! So very darling! "I got you this, Mommy." 

Last night, he gave me something...well...very weird. There aren't too many things that a rat can make all on his own, but I can think of a couple. Let's just say that his latest "gift" gives new meaning to the words, "worthless crap."

But he was SO PROUD when he gave it to me! So, I acted excited, and thanked him, and pet him. I also told him that he was a little bit of an oddball, but that's OK.

It's almost like he's an alien, learning about culture on Earth. "I do your human custom of Giving Of Gift." 

Anyway, do we have any other "givers" here? What kinds of gifts do you get?


----------



## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Gus is ADORABLE! No givers in this family, plenty of takers though *nods*


----------



## tungstenrat (Mar 13, 2007)

The weirdest thing 'given' to me by Pickles was dentistry. She sniffed at my lip and, why I have no idea, I opened my mouth and she proceeded to lick and nibble my teeth. Front and back. She even nipped at the little 'nub' on the inside of my cheek. She didn't bite through but gently tugged for a second before letting go.

I get 'stares' from Mrs. Dash in the morning. It's like she's saying 'Why aren't you out of bed pettin' me?'

Mulberry gives me chitters and bruxing when she's in her wheel.

All of them give me joy though. I make sure I give them the best I can in return.


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

:lol:

Gus does that! (With the teeth.) I never knew why...

Maybe our breath smells good.


----------



## tungstenrat (Mar 13, 2007)

Crocodiles have little birds that clean their teeth for them. Why shouldn't our babies take care of our teeth? Perhaps the fear of a little rattie trying to make off with that shiny new filling is a good reason. They can't possibly like the taste of toothpaste!


----------



## Inesita (Feb 18, 2007)

Aw, Gus sounds so cute! Haha, worthless crap..


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Believe it or not, I had to HIDE the toothpaste from Gregor when he was out! Deee-licious!


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17773580/from/ET/


----------



## tungstenrat (Mar 13, 2007)

Mental note: o O (Don't let the babies loose in the bathroom unattended. Hide the Listerine, floss and put the cap on the tube ... )

Then again, how cute would it be for Gregor to stretch, yawn and have that *ting!* on his now-sparkling pearly whites?

('ey baby. 'ow YOU doin'? *ting!*)


----------



## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

ohmigoodness you have the most human rat that i have ever heard of. it could be the way you just talk to them like they are little people (which i do, and it gets me funny looks, lol). just the way you word stuff when you tell stories is hilarious. LOVE IT.


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

I try to say what I think they are thinking.


----------



## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Our youngest sometimes takes paper towels (for "nest" making) or treats to our eldest, but never to us. We are not worthy :lol:


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Aw, that's cute...she or he is taking care of the elder rat!


----------



## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

Holly said:


> Aw, that's cute...she or he is taking care of the elder rat!


Yeah, and then the next minute she'll climb all over her trying to get her to play :lol: She is very cute, though. She's a little darling sometimes.


----------



## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

i've had rats give other rats stuff. even rats that took care of the older or sick rats but they never give me anything other then trouble and love. i think Nezumi was the one that gave the most to another rat, Pocket. 

when i got nezumi she had been horribly abused and absolutely no reason trust humans. when she went in with my other rats myght ignored her, dust pushed her around a bit and Pocket acted like a big mommy. she pushed Dust right back and made her leave Nezumi alone. as Nezumi was getting more confident in her place in the rat group and with me Pocket took ill. after the emergency tail amputation on nezumi i didn't have the funds to get Pocket treated so i did as many home remeides i could think of while trying to gather more money. in the mean time thuogh pocket didn't want to leave her bed more and more, not even to get yummyumms at a lower level. but that was ok because Nezumi fetched them for her instead. though she was very sick she didn't lose much weight because of the way nezumi took care of her. i've never seen another rat more attentive to an ailing rat since. when Pocket finally made me understand that i she was getting sicker faster then i could get money to treat her i had her put down. i think she understood. even in her weaken state she bruxxed and gave me kisses all the way to the vet. when i gave her to the tech to take in back it almost looked like she was smiling. and when i came home and didn't put Pocket back in the cage Nezumi immediately understood that she wasn't going to be coming back. she went to the very top of the cage adn went as far away from the bed cage as possbile and STAYED there. she kept her back to me and the other rats and didn't even take strawberries (her fav, treat) from me or the floor infront of her. i think hse took Pocket's death the hardest of the ones left behind but they were all affected. Myght. who was the resident gorbie went off food for a couple days and Dust who only ate when there was something particullaryt good or it was someone elses camped by the food dish and piled on the weight. she even ate foods that she would never have touched before. i spent more time with them all and i told myght to watch outfor everyone and she did. though she never brought gifts to nezumi she would bring up her food to eat beside nez and "lose interest" in it before she finshed it. she would also just sit there with nez or lay there next to her for hours on end though before Pocket's death she had pretty much ignored Nez's existance. eventually they all got over it and nezumi became one of the most affectionate rat you would ever meet and was a firm favorite aunty of Spider's and Snickett's babies. but to people who say "oh, they're just rats" or "its an animal, they can't feel" i tell Nezumi's and Pocket story. if there was ever a firmer case of rats showing greif, and compassion i haven't seen it. for one rat to care for anorher when they're sick and to show such obvious signs of greif at their passing. how more "human" do they have to show for people to get that they feel and have souls as much as any human? since then all these rats have passed (except spider) and with each death there was a different way that they mourned. when i woke up in the morning to find Dust dead at the bottom of the cage it was because no one's nose greeted me from the hammocks when i turned the light on in the morning. instead they were all at the bottom laying around or near Dust. When i took Nezumi out to be put down after it was clear that her illness had gotten hte better of her the cage was very quiet for a day or so. but no one went off food. they just didn't move around much. but her death was much more expected. after i took Myght out it was cranky Snicketts that changed most, she became, for at least a time, extremely affectionate and BIG sook. after a few days she went back to being crabby. then when i took Snicketts out it was her sister Spider that seemed out of sorts while Kaushi and Iedani went about normally. they all had different reactions to each different rat that passed. but they did react. 

and i swear that wasn't a COMPLETE ramble. the point i was trying to make first with gift giving then with mourning is that rats, as most of us fuly know anyway, most definately have as much of a soul as any human would have. they understand our emotions and the feelings of their fellow rats. and they respond to them. with Holly gus gives presents to make her feel better or just laugh. its not just some odd habit of his, he knows exactl what he's doing. the same is true when Nez gave food to Pocket when she was sick and didn't want to move. and again when though Pocket was facing death and was so ill and wea she was concerned with my pain and tried to make me feel better. you can't say that these rats don't understand what's going on and that they don't care. what's mopre, this is pretty much true with all the rats and other animals i have had the experience of. i've seen the same thing in cats, dogs and horses, even in a goat and pig. but this is probably preaching to the choir. i'm sure you all understand this with your own pets. i'm sure you can see their souls shime through everytime they look at you. 

ok, ok. i'm done my rant now. sorry it was so long


----------



## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

That story made me cry!  That's so sweet and so sad, all at the same time.


----------



## chrisstrikeagain (Apr 10, 2007)

it was a long story, but a cute one. rats are amazing. how intellegent and understanding and sweet.


----------



## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

One of my friends has a girl (Lily) who is a permanent free-ranger, and sleeps with her at night like a dog or a cat. Lily likes to pick up random pieces of paper around the room and present them to her mama, on the bed. I think she's just trying to provide nest material. Also, once she presented me with a half-eaten cricket. Yum...


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Awwww!


----------



## dreadhead (Mar 1, 2007)

Lucy grooms my facial hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes... and usually always sticks her nose in my ear and chitters everytime she gets on my shoulder.


----------



## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

That is adorable XD


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

What a beautiful big girl! What an adorable photo!  IMHO, that's worth getting blown up to poster size, framing, and hanging on the wall.

My Gus would love your Lucy! He's sort of turning out to be a big guy, and she's pretty sizable, too.

(Maybe I'm wrong about the size thing when I say "big," but my only other rat was Gregor, and he was small.)


----------



## dreadhead (Mar 1, 2007)

Yah know what... I didn't even realize how big she has gotten until I started looking at the pictures. If you think she is big, you should see her sister now... she's a beast. I'll try and get photos of both of them up soon.


----------



## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

I think Odin is larger:









I need to also get pics of all my ratties together.


----------



## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

I love 'em all, big or small!  I swear, every "rat picture" I see on these forums makes me want the rat in the picture!

Gregor was small, and died young, before he could grow much. Perhaps his faulty genetics contributed to his small size (he was incredibly tumorous very young, and nothing was visible from the outside.) Still, he had the biggest heart:










I think some of the larger mice are about as big as Gregor, almost.

Gus is LONG, and I think he will become fairly big, although you can never be sure. (And he has the biggest heart, too!)










----------------------------------------

Dreadhead, I'm shocked to see that you don't, in fact, have any dreadlocks:










When I saw the pic of you with Lucy, I imagined a mane of blonde dreadlocks falling from your head, but out of the range of the picture. :?

I have to ask: will you grow them back?

(I wanted dreadlocks, but the girls at the salon where I go for braiding just laughed at me, because my hair is fine, and slippery like satin, and it would simply fall out of the style, and back into straight, shiny hair. Guess I can't escape being myself!  )


----------



## dreadhead (Mar 1, 2007)

Yeh they were gettin' pretty long... and FINALLY maturing... BUT a good friend of mine is opening a 4-star restuarant here at the beach, and I don't think the yuppies would appreciate a nappy dreadhead preparing there beurre blancs and vichysoisse  Hey money talks, i'll walk around in a pink tutu for this job. I don't think I will ever regrow them, having someone backcomb them for 2 days straight, then the dry scalp, and sore arms from twisting them all day... constant maintanance, you would think they were low maintance... not if you wanna rock nice tight clean dreads. I could here my scalp screaming "THANK YOU! MOISTURIZERS! YESSSSSSS! *herbal essence commercial status*" when I finally washed my hair with normal soap for the first time in two years! I kind of enjoy the dreadless life for now... the people at the D.A.R.E. booths ask for my money (accidently pulled out my bag looking for money in front of them...oops! lol), old ladies smile when I hold doors for them now, and I don't have 348,984,3487 people asking me if I smoke pot or wash my hair.

Your Gus looks like he will get much bigger, my females started out as slinkees... they have plumped right up though. Odin is a beast lol. Once I get moved out I want some big fat blue rat boys.


----------

