My Lone Girlie

To continue with my updated furkids photos, here's little Izzy. Dizzy Izzy I most often call her. A friend of mine helped me rescue her from a less than ideal situation at PetCo, and a probably worse one had I not taken her home.

Izzy is special... she has a neurological problem which causes her neck to go up and back really far as she interacts with me (from the safety of her cage, which is where she's most comfortable), and when she's hanging out in her cage doing what ratties do. She also walks in circles most of the time, like a pattern, and she's not very steady on her feet. Other than those challenges, she's a perfectly happy and normal little girl rat. LOVES her dog biscuit treats, and her Total cereal. hehe She is one of the most gentle little ones I've had as well... never even a tasting nip.

Last night I started the process of introducing her to my neutered and very gentle boy rattie, Holden. They are both living alone and are lonely. (Rats are not meant to live their lives alone, they need at least one companion.) I have put this off because I've worried about her "problems," and how this would work with another rat... but, it's time to try. So, the three of us spent a half hour in the bathtub last night (neutral territory), with the two of them being introduced. It went so well that we will be proceeding with the process tonight. Since Izzy hasn't been with another rat since she was weened, she doesn't know how to reciprocate with grooming, but she sure loves to be groomed by Holden. He "power groomed" her at one point, and after a couple of small squeaks from her, she completely relaxed and her eyes closed. Wow! This from a rattie who only relaxes when she's sleeping, otherwise she's walking in circles and jerking her neck all around. Being around Holden also caused her (I don't know how / why) to walk in a straight line, from one end of the tub to the other, following him around! Wow again! She'd follow him and when he'd stop, she'd rest her head on his. The cutest thing!

OK, so I'm very excited about all this, and very happy that it seems they enjoy each other's company and should be able to move-in together within the week or so. I still have to supervise playtimes for now and make sure he is gentle with her (he's 2x her size), and that there's no aggression shown from one to the other.

Anyway... here's updated Izzy!