Fairy Rat Mothers and Assorted Strange Stuff

Fairy Rat Mothers and Assorted Strange Stuff

The boys finally met their Fairy Rat Mother Beffy this summer. She came back from her mission trip to India and came over to schmooze with the wee fellows. They aren't so wee any more.

Helloooo; I'm your Aunt Beffy!

      One of our friends always refers to our male adoramites as 'Beavers' because of their size. Other male friends become insecure when they note the size and proportion of the tackle carted about by boy ratties. They are mucho macho men for certain.

These macho dudes are now fully grown and their personalities have become more pronounced. Mortimer is shy and likes to sit quietly in the lap while being gently stroked and massaged. He grinds his teeth and boggles his eyes in happiness and his little body almost quivers with pleasure. In spite of being the shy one around people, he is definitely the top dog (sic) in the mousehouse. 

Do I know you?

Kneel before your emperor.

 Raoul, in spite of his larger size is second in command to Mortimer. Raoul is NOT the slightest bit shy and is afraid of nothing to the point that we watch him very carefully. He could take it into his fevered ratty brain to make a flying leap off of the play table and straight into the unknown.

I wonder where this goes?

He is also known as 'the stomach' because he will eat anything and lots of it. Mortimer is more discerning and likes to thoroughly investigate any new food. Of course this means we have to feed them separately otherwise Raoul will snarf his food down then sidle over to sample his brother's meal. Mort will leave and let him have at it. For awhile I worried about Mort and whether or not he was gaining weight until I witnessed the day Mort decided he wanted his dinner and kept hip-checking Raoul out of the way.

Hmmm, tastes like chicken.

Today they got a nice visit from Katie who happens to be a sister of their Aunt Beffy. She wanted to come and give them some love before she leaves for her third year of university. These girls are such a sunny spot in my world. 

Katie and admirer

 They have a gorgeous sister Chrissy too who will be home for one more school year before she enters the big bad world out there.

Chrissy is dancing, or acting, or looking innocent.

In the meantime, I will hold down the adoramite station and keep ratty central open for business!

After all, Fairy Rat Mothers, and Kate-O's, and Crunchies all have to come back some time or another and there must be adoramites.  Oh yes, there must.

By ANY Other Name

Pet rats suffer outrageous epithets from those who don't see past the name.  Surely dogs would suffer the same were we to call them 'wolves' as this is essentially what they are.  We have domesticated them to the point that they are tame, affectionate, easily trained, and boon companions, so unless one has a pathological fear of them, the term 'dog' strikes no revulsion or fear.

NOT a wolf

Rats have been domesticated as pets for hundreds of years and in fact they were pets first.  Rat baiters caught rats to throw into pits for terriers to pull apart.  It was a horrible, insane, grisly sport, but in the process the baiters noticed that the rats who had either white or fawn markings were tamer, had milder temperments, and were easier to handle.  Somewhere along the line someone began to breed them and likely one of their children made one into a pet.  It was because of this amiability of temperment and the similarity of rats' diet needs to ours that they became a prime laboratory animal.  This is only a tiny notch up the nasty ladder in my personal system of belief, but in the process of all of this beastliness the good was somehow drawn out by creating the perfect companion pets.

Domestic rats are like small dogs in loyalty, love, train-ability, intelligence, and companionship.  They clean themselves constantly as do cats, and they are cheerfully sweet, showing the capability for humor.  It takes very little time to convert a pet rat hater into a fan.

How sweet is this?

Their biggest drawback is that name.  RATSSSSSSSSSSS conjures up visions of plague, garbage, sewers, poverty, slums, and filth.  

Of late, fans of the pet have taken to calling them 'ratties' to differentiate them from wild rats.  This does not fool the ratophobe however, or the rodent-averse.  They need a new name, a new designation that encompasses their loveable qualities and their cuteness.


My friend Matt came up with the perfect moniker last night.  We were playing with Raoul and Mortimer and  Matt commented on how more people should get to know them and thus learn how wonderful these little animals are.  I climbed on my usual soapbox about the need for a new name.  With nary a blink Matt said:

" Adoramites"

It resonated.  It made sense.  They are wee mites of pets and they are totally adorable.  I've begun to spread the word and shall from here on in, refer to my pet of choice as adoramites.


My own particular adoramites are waiting for me to go and get them for some quality tummy tickling and ear scritching, and as their willing slave I shall do just that.  You really should be checking into these pets.  Get some books and do some googling.  Write into the forums and use the term 'adoramite' and get it around.  Within two years it will change the perception of these small critters from 'ewwwwwwwww' to 'awwwwwwwwww'.

Greg's adoramite Rosie.  Awwwwwwww!