Smile

These new photos really make me smile. And I hope they make you smile too.

Sneezy Rats

Reno & Rusty have come down with the sneezies since (I think) two days ago...I'm so scared that they might be sick. Rats are notorious for getting really bad respiratory infections. I just hope it isn't that and it's just the dusty bedding (which I took out) or the pollen in the air. We do keep our windows open sometimes. They sneeze consistently and only when they are active. But that's all there is- there's no other symptoms. They eat, drink, are playful and mischievous. But I feel like I'm analyzing them so much now that they started sneezing and it's making me think that they are more lethargic than they actually are. I don't know. I just hope my babies are okay.

Sleepy Heads

My friend Josh took this picture while I was at work. Aren't they just the sweetest? Today was a great breakthrough. Rusty was already making quick progress by taking and eating treats from my hand and not running to the farthest side of the cage away from me like Reno does. But he took it a step farther today and actually sat in my hand while eating his treats. He also decided to take a stroll outside of the cage onto my arm and my shoulder. It really surprised me. I think Reno picked up a thing or two because he crawled out of the cage (although painfully stretching his body so that his back feet would still be latched onto the cage door) and ate treats from my fingers. It's funny though, because he tries to take great big bites and uses all his strength to rip those pieces away from my fingers so that he can run to the other side of the cage with it and eat it. It's so funny. :) I've noticed that they're already started to get bellies! Did Petland not feed these guys or something? Reno is a little bigger than Rusty now, but they started off the same size. It's hilarious to watch Rusty run through tight spaces and Reno to barely squeeze through them.

Reno & Rusty

Ratties

Well, it's certainly been a while. Maybe I got tired of "complaining"? I feel like this is all I blog about, all the bad things that happen to me. Like the fact that the window of my car was smashed in while I was in Milwaukee for St. Patrick's Day and my gps was stolen. But I won't get into that. I want to turn this blog around somehow, make it more positive and less . . . this. For my birthday from Greg (which was given early, but I'm SO fine with that lol) I received two adorable baby rats. Their names are Reno and Rusty Shackleford, or "Rusty" (Greg, haha). I've only had them for about two days and I love them already, even though they aren't too fond of me yet. I'm afraid that they'll never like me, but they'll probably come around soon. After all, I've barely had them and they're just babies. They're at the stage where they'll come up to the cage and eat treats out of my hand and climb on me a little, but that's about it. The other day I sat in the bathtub with them so they could run around and get used to my scent at the same time and today Greg and I made a makeshift rat playroom in the hallway of our apartment. We put a blanket down for the mess and blocked off the only exit. They ran around a while and climbed on us. And then one time for seriously fifteen minutes they sat in a corner and cleaned themselves, it was the cutest thing. They really make me smile. :)