Post by zoologist on Jul 28, 2010 23:42:26 GMT -5
Oh Alton, you were awesome.
Poor boy had a rough life from the start... till he came to me anyway. He was a flea market find and along with his brother Ryan went home to a woman who over fed them to make up for lack of time and love. When Karen (Daiz) rescued him from his first owner I drove halfway across Florida to pick him up for my roommate. My roommate, being a zoo major, thought she knew everything there was to know about rats and put both Alton and Ryan on such an extreme diet that Alton had to steal Ryan's food just to survive. When Ryan passed away from starvation I rescued Alton from my roommate and planned on giving him back to Karen. That's when I fell in love with the little bugger.
I remember him being so skittish you could barely touch him without him bolting for the nearest cover. He was so thin you could plainly see his shoulders, hips and spine. the first day I got him I let him run a path from couch to couch and tried to interact with him by offering him cheez-its and hot chocolate. After an hour or so he trusted me enough to take the cheez-its out of my hand and sit by me to drink from my mug. using these two bribes I also taught him to come to kissy noises (he was a fast learner and the only one of my crew who would come when I called). He was a fantastic shoulder rider and my companion on the beach as well. He would come to pottery class with me and was perfectly content sitting on the table, hidden by a pot, and bruxxing and boggling while I worked on my rat figures for Rat Camp.
Alton had been so traumitized by the loss of his brother he despised all other rats. He was a loner until I moved back to Florida. I opened up my three different traveling boxes of rats when I stopped at Hanna's (Wyss) house and was SHOCKED when he hopped over to Tabitha's box and sat with her without attacking her. I was even MORE shocked when he hopped over to Buck's box. They played on the table and for the first time since I had all of them, no injuries ensued. From that day forward All three of them got along well and Alton had new cage mates to cuddle with.
I have to say my favorite memories were of his last month or so. I moved him onto my bed to give him more attention and he couldn't have been happier. He bruxxed and boggled constantly. he would snuggle up under my pillow and watch me. My absolute FAVORITE memory was when I was laying on my stomach playing on my laptop and he hopped up onto the small of my back and just sat there bruxxing for a half hour straight. Eventually he got adventurous and would hop down off the bed nightly so I moved his home to the floor where he would scamper around at night and get into trouble during the day.
He was a sweet boy with a good personality thrown into a bad situation. He was a people rat, but not really. He enjoyed the company of people but did not seek out their attention. He always prefered to be alone unless it was on his terms and that is something I came to respect. He changed my views on rats and he will always be missed. RIP Alton-Palton. Know you were loved by many people, and you will be forever missed. :kisses:
Picture time!
He loved sleeping in his tissue box
Rat Butt
He LOVED looking out the window
Apparently this was comfortable
He tolerated bathtimes. Not his favorite thing
Toweling off
Such a patient rat
Poor boy had a rough life from the start... till he came to me anyway. He was a flea market find and along with his brother Ryan went home to a woman who over fed them to make up for lack of time and love. When Karen (Daiz) rescued him from his first owner I drove halfway across Florida to pick him up for my roommate. My roommate, being a zoo major, thought she knew everything there was to know about rats and put both Alton and Ryan on such an extreme diet that Alton had to steal Ryan's food just to survive. When Ryan passed away from starvation I rescued Alton from my roommate and planned on giving him back to Karen. That's when I fell in love with the little bugger.
I remember him being so skittish you could barely touch him without him bolting for the nearest cover. He was so thin you could plainly see his shoulders, hips and spine. the first day I got him I let him run a path from couch to couch and tried to interact with him by offering him cheez-its and hot chocolate. After an hour or so he trusted me enough to take the cheez-its out of my hand and sit by me to drink from my mug. using these two bribes I also taught him to come to kissy noises (he was a fast learner and the only one of my crew who would come when I called). He was a fantastic shoulder rider and my companion on the beach as well. He would come to pottery class with me and was perfectly content sitting on the table, hidden by a pot, and bruxxing and boggling while I worked on my rat figures for Rat Camp.
Alton had been so traumitized by the loss of his brother he despised all other rats. He was a loner until I moved back to Florida. I opened up my three different traveling boxes of rats when I stopped at Hanna's (Wyss) house and was SHOCKED when he hopped over to Tabitha's box and sat with her without attacking her. I was even MORE shocked when he hopped over to Buck's box. They played on the table and for the first time since I had all of them, no injuries ensued. From that day forward All three of them got along well and Alton had new cage mates to cuddle with.
I have to say my favorite memories were of his last month or so. I moved him onto my bed to give him more attention and he couldn't have been happier. He bruxxed and boggled constantly. he would snuggle up under my pillow and watch me. My absolute FAVORITE memory was when I was laying on my stomach playing on my laptop and he hopped up onto the small of my back and just sat there bruxxing for a half hour straight. Eventually he got adventurous and would hop down off the bed nightly so I moved his home to the floor where he would scamper around at night and get into trouble during the day.
He was a sweet boy with a good personality thrown into a bad situation. He was a people rat, but not really. He enjoyed the company of people but did not seek out their attention. He always prefered to be alone unless it was on his terms and that is something I came to respect. He changed my views on rats and he will always be missed. RIP Alton-Palton. Know you were loved by many people, and you will be forever missed. :kisses:
Picture time!
He loved sleeping in his tissue box
Rat Butt
He LOVED looking out the window
Apparently this was comfortable
He tolerated bathtimes. Not his favorite thing
Toweling off
Such a patient rat