Tiny packages

I adore my rats.  They are even more intelligent that I had first believed.  In less than three weeks, I have taught two of them tricks.  Ricki jumps on his box to get his treats and Tavi sticks his head through a tiny hole in another box.  May not seem astounding to most but considering these were animals that were probably rarely handled by humans, it shows a lot of trust.  Each has a personality entirely his own.  Ricki is the more outgoing of his brothers and was the first to climb onto my lap.  Ticki, a little more subdued than Ricki but still not a wall flower.  He tends to take his treats and hide while he eats them.  Tavi is the most shy of the three.  He still will not climb into my hand.  Ricki, will kiss your nose and never mistakes hand for treat.  Ticki, frequently gets excited while taking food and has bitten me several times on accident.  Tavi, the more cautious of the three takes his treats very delicately.  It may come to a surprise to you that at one point and time I was quite terrified of rats.  It wasn't always that way.  I've wanted rats since I was a child.  But along came a blind albino rat named Subway.  I was badly bitten by him one evening when I picked him up and startled him.  I was very untrusting of the rodents from that point on and guarded my fingers.  For whatever reason, I have had very little fear of my three boys.  Even the first night we had them and I took them out of their box, I was certain they would not bite me.  And thankfully, to this day, there has been no blood shed.

Tags: rats, subway