Flower, Russell, and Agnes

Callie had suffered a few losses recently and was looking to fill the gap with some more rats.  She let me know about this and I set out my "feelers" and it didn't take too long to find someone looking for new homes for their little ones -- this time out in El Paso.  Two girls and a boy (housed separately) that needed to be gone ASAP. 

I crawled out of bed early, loaded up on some coffee, and headed out into the unknown.  After getting lost several times (I have the homing instinct of a goldfish, which makes the rescue thing even more adventurous) I finally found the parking lot we'd agreed to meet in. 

The lady who was rehoming turned out to be a pretty cool person.  She had obviously taken great care of the little ones and loved them a lot.  They're middle-aged, but overall in good shape, and she talked about them fondly.  Unfortunately, she had a rat-phobic family member who had to move into the house, and no way of arranging things to keep them separated that would have been fair for the rats.  So, they came home with me. 

They got to spend a weekend at my house before heading off for Callie's.  The girls are tiny, especially Agnes, who is the sweetest vari-berk.  Flower is more out-going and dominant; she's the mis-marked capped girl.  And, of course, Russell. 

Ahh, Russell. 

He's a hooded rex.  Black, but faded with age, and going bald in patches as all rexes do.  Balding rex fur is soft and woolly, like a baby lamb.

He stole our heart when he arrived, and my boyfriend almost didn't want to give him up, despite us being at full capacity in the house.  He'd lived alone all his life as he had been bullied extensively by her other male, but he adjusted well enough.  I normally wouldn't advise having a rat live by himself -- they're always so much happier with friends -- but in Russell's case he was very much a "people" rat and since he was an older fellow, I relented to let him go home by himself.  He spends pretty much every waking moment out and about with Callie or her boyfriend, anyway. 

Agnes has been having respiratory issues on-and-off since she arrived.  She's being medicated right now, hopefully she's able to fight off the secondary infection so she can deal with the myco or (I'm afraid) Car-B on her own.