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Pictures Welp, we now have our first non bird

CallieCadmoor

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@faislaq as requested!

Where to begin...

On the 20th February, my family and I went away to spend the weekend in Underberg (in South Africa). There are many snakes in the area - so when the lodge kitten went running down the passage way late that Saturday night, we thought that she had been bitten by a snake due to the high pitched squeal coming from her.

Her mouth looked swollen and during inspection, this little rat fell out! We didn't have much hope because of how small he was. And his skin had bee pierced in several places (top of head, between ear and eye). We planned on just giving him a warm place to pass away.

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The next morning, however, he was very much still alive. We fed him mashed kitty pellets and took him to a vet as soon as we got back home. They prescribed a syringe with puppy formula.
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It was just so hard to feed him. We eventually switched to a paintbrush and it was a million times easier. His wounds were scanning and healing over.
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But he just looked skinnier and skinnier. I had done a heck ton of research by this point and everything recommended isomil 1 formula. But as the clinic said the puppy formula, we trusted their opinion. Eventually though, I couldn't sleep (and it had nothing to do with feeding him every 3 hours). We rushed out to buy some isomil 1.
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It definitely seemed to help. His development though was definitely delayed. It is also assumed that this was due to an infection caused by the cat bite and that most of his energy went into fighting it instead of growing. And at long last, his eyes and ears started to open!
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And so we started him on solids.
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Despite his patchy coat (due to the formula), he was a bundle of energy PERMANENTLY. And had no regard for personal space (still doesn't).
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We were gradually reducing his formula and started to get him to drink it himself. It was not a tidy affair.
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He also sleeps a little strangely - shhhh
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One day, we noticed just how odd his fur was looking. We hit the baby moult!
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He's now properly on solids and tries his luck to steal our food
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CallieCadmoor

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His moult honestly has me in stitches. He looks like he's a ridge back try on a fur coat
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He really is a funny creature. Also unbelievably quick and impossibly agile!
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The name Pluto?
For 3 reasons:
All my animal companions are named after mythological beings
He defeated death
He was so small we doubted that he was even a rat (much like the planet being too small to be considered a planet)
 
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sunnysmom

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He's adorable!
 

faislaq

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What an incredible beginning to such an amazing little life! :loveshower: I love Pluto and his story. Thank you so much @CallieCadmoor for posting this. :heart2: I look forward to hearing more about him as he grows. And any pictures are fine by us, even if they're energetic blurs. :D
 

Sylvi_

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What an adorable guy, and a beautiful story! Fantastic job. :hug8:
 

Teckechick

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He looks very happy! Glad he was able to recover well! :heart:
 

Gigibirds

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Aww, so cute, and such a great story! hahahha, his little ridge is so funny!! Great job taking care of him!!
 

Mockinbirdiva

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Oh my goodness.... you killed me with an overload of cuteness!!!
 

Destiny

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Rats make amazing pets. They are so under appreciate. Smart, funny, affectionate, and adorable. They have it all!
 

faislaq

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tka

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He's adorable! And such a little fighter too - I can see how he's completely charmed you.

I'm aware of someone in the UK who raises abandoned wild litters and she finds that the wildies are often much more agile than pet rats. You can have lots of fun creating interesting layouts for him - mine liked pipes and hammocks in particular. Rats also love foraging: hide some food in a toilet roll with the ends folded in, in cupcake cases and similar. I scatter-fed mine, which means that I didn't use a bowl and instead just chucked food in the substrate and they had to nose around for it. They had to work to find their food and they'd get incredibly excited about finding a pumpkin seed.

Rats are really socialable and I think he'd like a couple of friends. A trio is good because it gives them more friends to play with, and in my experience, rats tend not to pair up and will instead fall asleep in a big snuggly heap. Make sure they're all the same gender otherwise you will end up with a LOT of rats!
 

MR. Mango

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So cuteeeeee
 

DesertBird

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He is so cute! I love his name. You did a great job saving him!
 

Fergus Mom

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Well, I never thought I'd say this but that little guy is a doll! I LOVE the name Pluto! Thanks for sharing this incredible story. I will bet you have a friend for life. What a start he had with those cute little closed eyes.
 

Zonlover

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Awww! He is so cute! How long have you had him for?
 
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