Naming the Rats

As before mentioned, Tim and I came home with two rats when only originally planning on bringing home one. We saw all of the rats snuggled up together in their cage and we instantly knew that we could not tear one rat away from the group and expect him to be happy in his solitude. We would learn later that we made a good decision in getting more than one.

We really did not have any choice in the matter of which two we would take. A very pregnant PETCO lass merely folded up two paper carrying cases, reached in and carefully grabbed which ever two tails she could get a hold off first, and handed our new pets over to us. Opening them when we got home was much like Christmas all over again. The rats were a mystery because it was only a matter of seconds between cage and box and we were unable to get a good look at them.

In the car on the way home, Tim and I tried to think of names for our little guys. It was only fair that he got to name one and I got to name one. Tim has an obsession with monkeys and it did not take long for one to assume the name of his favorite animal. It's silly I know, but Monkey would certainly live up to his name. Mine took a little longer to obtain a name. I did not have much experience naming anything more than my beta fish that I had in my younger years. They would always bear names like Bob, Larry, and Ronald, because I have this thing for typical male names. I felt the need to remain with this trend. For some reason Blue's Clues popped into my head and my rat was soon named Steve. He is definitely a Steve.

Thus begin our lives with Monkey and Steve. The two little white-haired, pink-eyed and pink-tailed creatures whose lives and ways are foreign to us, but we are so willing to learn and discover. Tune in next time for more adventures of Monkey and Steve!

New Pets For Newlyweds

My husband and I are recently married, so of course money is tight. We are both animal lovers and our apartment seems so empty without a dog or a cat, but our means does not allow us to splurge on one. There are expenses to consider--food, pet care items, vet bills--things that we could not afford. So on January 2nd I talked to Tim (my hubby) and asked if we could afford something smaller like a guinea pig, hamster, gerbil or rat. I entered the conversation believing that he would tell me that it was out of the question, but thought it was worth a shot. To my surprise Tim said that it would be possible, seemed equally interested, and thus we ventured off to PETCO that afternoon.

After a car ride conversation we agreed that a rat would probably be best for us and walked into PETCO with a plan. Our original plan only involved one rat, but we walked out with two and a My First Super Pet starter kit for rats. We felt like to little kids and their first pet. As a matter of fact this was the first time for the both of us in having such a pet.

So everything is new for us and I thought that it would be fun to document our experiences and times with our new pets. It might be a little funny that a newlywed couples' first pets are rats, but I think it is good to start small and work up. We love having them and find ourselves drawn to them curiously like little kids.

More to come!