Ratified

When Ryan and James were little, Carol asked them to take care of her daughters' rats, Bella and Alice, while they were on vacation.

One month later, we had rats of our own. Go figure.

The rats were well loved, but rarely seen outside the family until one fateful day in early 2011. Someone - I think it was James - came into the studio with a rat on his shoulder. Much to my annoyance, the rat ended up on my work table. So I did the only thing I could do under those circumstances: I put a saddle on her.

She didn't mind, so I did it again.

And then again and again and again, over the course of many years with multiple generations of rats.

Our last saddle rat, Pixie, died unexpectedly in 2016. She was young and healthy, and we were all traumatized by her passing. After a lot of discussion, we decided not to replace her. It was the end of an era.

Last month, Ryan moved into a townhouse. He loves animals, so I knew it was only a matter of time before he got a pet. I thought it would be a cat, but instead, he bought a pair of rats.

When he invited me to come meet them, I asked if I could bring a saddle.

"I don't think they're ready for that," he told me. "They're young and fast and not all the way socialized."

That wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but his rats, his rules. I left the saddle at home.

When I arrived, both Yoda and Soda were sleeping in their tube. 

We woke them up, and for the first few minutes, they were calm, quiet and inquisitive.

Basically, they looked like perfect saddle rat candidates.

Then they woke up for real, and it was a circus.

Oh, I had forgotten how fun - and fast - young rats can be! I had so much fun playing with them. I didn't realize how much I missed that.

Thank you for sharing your babies with me, Ryan. With or without saddles, I think they're amazing.

Pixie

Our last little saddle rat, Pixie, died last night. 

This was very unexpected, as she wasn't sick or elderly and didn't have tumors.

Although Pixie wasn't a big fan of saddles, she was comfortable in hats...

and made several...

appearances on this blog.

She was such a good girl.

We will miss her.

Seven

Today is the Braymere blog's seventh birthday.

It's been a bit of a rough go this year, but I'm still here, still blogging. That's worth celebrating, right?

Raturday

Margaret sent me a new saddle rat.

Today we introduced her to Pixie. 

Cold shoulder.

"Come on Pixie. Say hello."

"Hmmmmm."

"I guess you're okay... 

but I'm still not going to share my Yogies." 

Since both rats were getting along, we decided to stage a modified Hurry Skurry competition. The new rat got stuck on the first jump...

but Pixie easily climbed up... 

and over. 

Yogies for the champion. 

She's such a good rat!

Jellybean

The only thing I don't like about rats is their short lifespans.  Our sweet little Jellybean died peacefully in her cage earlier this week.

She was a very good rattie.  We all miss her.

Happy Halloween

This is Pixie's first Halloween, and she wanted to go trick or treating.

So she put on...

her super hero cape... 

and set out looking for candy. 

Trick or treat! 

Where is the candy? 

Is it here?

Or in there? 

What's this?

 A pixie stick for Pixie!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Camerat shopping

Somewhere in Arkansas, my beloved Nikon D90 developed the dreaded blinking green light of death (BGLOD).  Because I'd brought my battery charger, I was able to continue taking photos, but it was clear that something wasn't right.

As soon as I got home, I contacted my local camera repair shop.  They listened to my list of symptoms and advised me to buy a new battery.  Unfortunately, they didn't actually have the battery in stock so I had to wait until yesterday to see if that would solve my problem.

It didn't.

Further diagnostics indicate this is not something I can fix locally.  The camera needs to go back to Nikon, which means I will be without it for three weeks.  Three weeks!  How will I survive three weeks without a camera?

Obviously, I can't so I decided to search Craig's List for a cheap-but-decent "purse" camera to use in the meantime.  I ended up going with this forty dollar Canon Powershot A560, which was recommended by Nichelle Jones in her model photography tutorial.

James and I bought the camera and were on our way to the barn to try it out when we got a text from Ryan stating that we needed bedding for the rat cage.  As luck would have it, we were less than a mile from PetsMart.  We stopped in and one thing led to another...

Yeah, we got a new rat! 

We never made it to the barn, but here are some comparison pictures.  New rat with the Nikon...

and new rat with the Canon.  Not bad for forty bucks!

The kids are absolutely delighted with the new addition...

and I am never allowed to go to a pet store again. 

So that's the story of how I went out to buy a camera and came home with a rat, because--obviously--these two things go together!

P.S.  New rat needs a name.  We're thinking Licorice, but we're open to suggestions.

Last rat standing

We're down to just one rat now, our slippery little Jellybean.

Jelly's always been something of a slacker, but now that Peppermint and Nutmeg are gone, it's time for her to step up and start pulling her weight.  Jose introduced her to the saddle this weekend.

First he sacked her out...

then he saddled her up!

Jelly did pretty well.

She's no Nutmeg, but I think she'll be fine.