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The Rat Fan Club
Rat of the Week
You can submit
your rat for Rat of the Week by sending a photo and a little story about
your rat by email or snail mail to the addresses at the bottom of the
page. Please include your name
and where you live.
Benny lives with Ramona Szilagyi in San
Jose, CA. Ramona writes, “Benny is a
cuddle bug lately. He was on the move ever since I got him, but for the
past 2 months started to like me more. OK, so he was bruxing from the
moment I got him. He bruxes when playing, running, eating (something yummy)
pooping—basically he bruxes ALL the time…except when I touch
him. He has 2 personalities.
#1. Cuddle bug for about 2-3 weeks:
these times he NEEDS my attention constantly. He follows me, checks
me out and let’s himself petted and loved.
#2. Annoyed by my presence for 1 month or so: the moment
I get closer to him he get out of his way to scoot farther so I cannot
touch him. In the beginning I
was concerned, but this seems to be a pattern that he follows.
“Officially the big ferret cage is for sitting on
top and looking through the bedroom. The only reason to get into the cage
is to check out the food dish to see if contains yummier stuff then the one
in the couch.
The couch back pillows are his sleeping quarters and the
playground is mainly the bottom of the couch. The big playground that I
made for him in the middle of the bedroom (hide-holes, tents, tubes, cat
bed, ferret bed, cola boxes and peek tent under a big comforter) is to hide
from me when he is in his #2 personality stages.
“The cat gyms are useless lately since he is not
interested at ALL to get on them. He is using them to get on top of couch
or the cage when to lazy to jump around to get there. The living room and the kitchen
table are the favorites, however, ONLY if the table contains any fruits,
especially bananas. He would go through all the trouble to try stashing a
whole banana into his bed. And believe me, there is a fight if I try to get
it away from him. It’s
unbelievable how strong they become when want something badly.
“He is not a big fan on being picked up or laying
on his back for me, but if he is in his couch pillows, I can keep my hand
inside for how long he is OK with I can do whatever I want to him. He will
flip on his back, he will let me hold him and pet him and even kiss him
(but I cannot disturb the pillows to much or to long, cause then he gets
antsy).
“He has the most beautiful lips I have ever seen,
but sadly I do not have the permission to kiss them EVER. The only way he
will let me kiss him is if I ate something that he likes…then I get
the ratty kisses and the rodentistry at his terms….
“His fur is snow white and he is determined to
show me every time I touch him, that he needs to get my smell off his body.
He goes into lick frenzy after he lets me pet him… BUT he never-ever
(at least not that I have seen him do it) cleans his tail. Interestingly, his tail is clean
most of the times (except when he passes over his lunch and his tail trails
over all the sticky things). Sometimes I take a moist towel and wash it
off.
“He wakes up with me in the morning at @ 3:00 AM. We spend time playing, cleaning and
preparing fresh food. Then he is in this cuddly mode until I leave for work
at 5:45 AM. When I get home at 3:00 PM he is waiting for me running to the
door to see if I got him food. We spend time cleaning, playing and
preparing food. Strangely, ever
since I got him, at exactly 9:00 PM
he will disappear into his ‘bed’ (the side pillow of the
couch), as he would say, it is time for bed.”
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