New Addition's Brother

On Tues. I DID go and get Hardy's brother from that pet store, and I have named him Caleb. After a brief reintroduction that they had to go through... smelling each other and rolling around... then some pinning down and "power grooming" of Caleb by Hardy, they are little buddies. And, it has been determined that Hardy is the Alpha rat. They also have two very different personalities, which is good. Keeps me giggling and on my toes. They look a lot alike, until I flip them over... it's almost like having twins! haha I did figure out that Caleb's back feet aren't as white / pink as Hardy's... they are more greyish... so that really helps in figuring out who's who.

I'm glad I went back to get the brother. Not only so they can be together, but because I realized that they were being mistreated... NOT SURPRISINGLY! When I got Caleb, the owner of the shop picked him up out of the aquarium BY THE TAIL! That's something one must NEVER, EVER do! It pulls muscles that lie beneath their tail, and it's mistreatment of these little creatures. I let the lady know this as well. (Like that wasn't bad enought... they're kept in aquariums (very poor ventillation), and they were living on pine bedding (which causes Upper Respiratory Infections in rodents, which leads to Myco / Pneumonia). IDIOTS! Needless to say, they are both sneezing, and therefore are both on antibiotics.

Here's a couple of pics of Brother Caleb in my pillowcase. (And, yes, he WAS sitting up like that. haha)