Raven the Fatrat (June 1998 - November 2000)

Theme song: (sung to the tune of the Cops theme)
Fat rat, fat rat, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when she sits on you?
(or) whatcha gonna do when she eats your food?

Raven was a great big cuddly rat who was adept at grinding her teeth until the human petting her was sure that her eyeballs were about to pop out of her head (see the bug-eyed picture above).

Raven was the first rat that I saw when I went into the local pet store that day. She was sitting at the food bowl, eating. "Eating!" I said, having always been told to use it as a sign of health in pet store stock. "That's a good sign! I'll take that one!" Little did I know that this mis-marked Irish was to do her best to eat me out of house and home and become a massive fatrat.

When she was young Raven was always the shyer of the pair and would rarely dash over to greet new people without Mariel egging her on. She was extremely sweet, and loved to sit on my shoulder while I worked at the computer, just clicking her teeth. However, if she decided I wasn't paying enough attention to her, she'd reach up and bite my earlobe. Hard. She was that kind of rat.

One night I was busy loading one and trying to juggle Raven in my lap. Raven sniffed at my arm, and nipped me while she was busy with the computer. Just then, the MIDI began to play. Raven loved the music, and began to click her teeth loudly. When the music stopped, she thought for a moment before leaping down and biting my arm in exactly the same place. (Which shows you what fast learners ratties are!)

Raven and Rose

After Mariel's death Raven latched onto Chase and Rose, refusing to observe any type of quarantine. Thanks to her haste she ended up with mites and was treated to some oral medication at the vet's. The babyrats also accompanied Raven on a trip to the vet's when her general health and coordination began to fail her, but between her beloved babyrats and some medication she lived a full and happy life even in her last weeks. She died one day while I was at school, nearly two and a half years old.