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Rats that are – or have been – part of our family.

 

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Skye

Skye is a female rat. She’s of the variety of rat known as a Brown Rat, despite her fur actually being grey and white; the colour and markings known as Berkshire Pearl in rats. The name Skye is an English name taken from the Norse word “skie” which means “cloud” – we picked it partly because cloud is a good meaning for a grey and white animal’s name, and partly because we just like the name. Skye is a very nervous little rat, but very affectionate once she learns she can trust you, though she can sometimes be a bit rough with her nibbles of affection. She really loves making nests using any materials left in reach of her paws and teeth: sawdust, hay, paper, bits of blanket... Anything works in her opinion. Skye also enjoys climbing the bars of her cage, and eating. Her favourite foods are cheese, cheerios, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, carrots, and dry pasta.

 

R.I.P. Skye: 31st August 2014 - 31st January 2017.

 

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Star

Star is Skye’s sister and littermate. Like her sister, she’s a female rat of the variety of rat known as a Brown Rat, despite her fur actually being grey and white; the colour and markings known as Berkshire Pearl in rats. There’s a slight difference in colour between Star and Skye, plus a slight difference in the shape of the area of their underside that’s white, but the easiest way to tell the girls apart is by the mark on Star’s forehead. It’s that mark that gave Star her name; it’s known as a blaze in rats, but that type of mark would be called a star on a horse, and we didn’t know until we looked it up afterwards that it was called a blaze and not a star for a rat... Hence the name Star. Star is a lot more outgoing than her sister, and loves getting attention and cuddles. She also loves climbing the bars of her cage, jumping on and off things, exploring in general, eating, and gnawing on anything she can get her teeth on; especially bits of wood (though her preference for those may be more because that’s what we keep readily available). As for her favourite foods... Star enjoys anything edible that’s on offer, though carrots, anything that has cheese in it, peanuts, dry pasta, pumpkin seeds, and cereals are high on the list of foods she loves.

 

R.I.P. Star: 31st August 2014 - 2nd February 2017.

 

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