I posted this update on Facebook today:
I think living alone but in close proximity to other rats who hate him is making my poor Marshmallow neurotic. I was vacuuming the pet room today and he just started going beserk! He was running around his cage so fast he was literally bouncing off the walls. It was like a cartoon, and if it wasn’t for how obviously terrified he was it would have been funny.Â
I ended up having to put him in a holding cage in another room so I could continue cleaning. He’s never freaked out around the vacuum cleaner before which is why I believe he’s becoming worse without a buddy to live with. I am trying so hard to find one but these people who post on FB and Craigslist saying they have babies available are unresponsive when I contact them.Â
I’m not getting another rat from a pet store because they are always sick. When Marshmallow came home he was so sick he gave it to my other rat and he died. Then I had to pay over $100 on medicine to get Marshmallow well. I’m not going through that again.Â
The good news is I found a new home for the brothers. The bad news is their new owner isn’t taking them until August.
Later in the day I finally heard back from a lady on Craigslist who has agreed to hold a baby rat for me until we come back from vacation later this month. He’ll be five weeks old at that point. I’m so excited!
I hope it all works out. I will miss Steve and Doug when they go to their new home in August (a coworker of Joe’s who took care of our first two rats when we went on vacation years ago is taking them) but I won’t miss the tension their presence has caused. I just hope the new baby and Marshmallow get along!