Nicodemus

Nicodemus "S.R." Sewer Rat was only with me for two short weeks, but he managed to completely steal my heart in that time.  

After Athena died, I was rat-less for a few months, the only time I've had a rat-free home since I started.  I was so lonely and miserable that my friends all conspired to get me new rats for my birthday.  Armed with a gift card, I headed to that same Petco where I'd gotten Squeakers and Athena.  I had decided this time around that I wanted boys, and no white ones.  I wanted something as different from the girls I'd had as possible so there'd be no bad memories.

Well, that didn't quite work out, because as soon as I got there I fell instantly and immediately in love with a little black hoodie female.  And just as instantly in love with this handsome dumbo agouti rex male.  They were all housed together (at the time, this Petco didn't separate its genders - that has since been changed).  I waffled on it a lot, but finally decided I'd take them both and neuter the male.  

Unfortunately, he didn't survive the surgery.  The vet I took him to advised me to withhold food and water the night before surgery; this is unnecessary in rats, and downright dangerous due to their high metabolism.  Whether that was the reason he never came out of the anesthesia, or if there was some other health concern going on, I will never know.  It still breaks my heart to think of how little time we had together.  

He did however leave a legacy behind: 8 baby rats, mothered by the black hooded girl I brought home.  It was incredibly dumb of me to leave them together while waiting on the neuter, and I don't advocate anyone breeding their rats, ever.  But it worked out OK in the end.  I found homes for all of the babies with close friends, so I was able to keep tabs on them for their whole lives, and raising those babies taught me a TON about rats.  I did so much more research, between trying to find peace of mind about his sudden death and then educating myself about babies.  This is when I found The Dapper Rat, and started to get really serious about rat care. 

The babies: