Basil

Wesley and Basil came to me at 8-9 weeks old.  Their mother was a Petco rat who had gotten loose and had a litter out in the store.  The babies were discovered and raised on a foster mom, but were likely to end up snake food.  Someone from the store emailed me about the situation and asked if I might take a few.  I was new to the whole rescue thing at that point, and kind of bumbled my way through it, but I did bring home these two boys.  Wesley passed away earlier this year, but Basil still lives with me.

Basil went from being a tiny mink baby to a BIG mink grown-up!  As a youngster he was a gentle nursemaid rat, always making friends with everyone.  Once Token and Sweeney died, however, he assumed the alpha role quietly and without incident.  He's never gotten along well with Einstein, who's always insisted on challenging his authority despite being unable to actually maintain any kind of power.  He had to play rough with the hoarding boys to keep them in line; Locke, Stock, and Beryl were kind of wild and needed to be taught how to be nice.  They always drew blood when they fought with each other, but Basil was able to keep them all under control without shedding a drop.  He has a firm, fair paw.

Basil's always been more of a "rat's rat" than a "people rat."  He resists being held and would rather come say hello on his own terms.  He gets comfort from other rats, and is happiest snuggled up with his best friends:  First Token, then Splinter, now Amadeus.  If you do manage to catch him in one of his sociable moods, however, he's lovable and squishy.  He'll let you roll him over onto his back and tickle his belly.  You can hold him like a baby and he'll just go limp in your hands.

He's a little over two years old now, and suffers from congestive heart failure.  He gets exhausted easily, and his hind end is a little weak, but he is still able to climb into his hammock and rules what's left of his colony.  He takes Lasix daily to help with his heart, and it's helping him a lot.  I'm sure one day he'll let me know when he's ready to leave this world, but it's not quite yet.  Hopefully I'll have many more months of sweet, sluggy Basil left.