Eggwas adopted along with his brother Poptart on January 27th 2022. Both rats were shy at first but after getting used to their new surrounding, they warmed up real quick, treats was a big motivator. After a week Poptart began to show breathing problems, even taking breaths from his mouth. Because the pet store had a health guarantee, I brought Poptart back to the store so that he could receive treatment and the guarantee meant I did not have to pay. Egg was on his own for a month while Poptart was receiving treatment.
Reintroducing Poptart to Egg went smooth at first, but Egg showed his dominance by picking on Poptart, it was clear that he no longer remembered him, so we placed a cage barrier inside the main cage to keep them separate but still be able to see and smell each other, after about 2 weeks of this routine, Poptart and Egg were best friends, but Egg will still more outgoing while Poptart was shyer.
Egg loved to come out of the cage, especially if treats were involved. He was quite the shoulder rat, he would stay on our shoulders if he was eating treats like french fries or cookies, or even if Derrick were doing mundane tasks like doing the dishes. Like Poptart they would like to loaf around on the couch if one of us were laying around or to watch what was on TV. When both rats were out, Egg was the one in charge, wanting to grab the treats first.
As both rats got older they began to show their age and lose some weight. To keep the rats company while in their old age, I would often place both of them in a cat bed that was kept on the kitchen chair, this kept both rats in view while both of them would watch us go about our business. On his second birthday Egg was still willing to cuddle, but began to sleep a lot as the weeks went on. On March 21th I noticed Poptart was sleeping on and off outside of the box shelter I always had in their cage. After examining him I noticed his breathing was off, and I could tell from his behaviour that he was going to leave soon. After an hour or so Poptart passed away.
Egg seemed to notice that his brother wasn’t around anymore, so we gave him extra attention and time in the cat bed, even bringing it downstairs while we watched TV or played games. He had no desire to leave the cat bed and was content to eat all the treats he wanted, including lots of apple. In early May Egg was pretty much the same, lively at times and sleepy on others. He was very bony, but given his age we let him eat whatever he wanted. In the middle of May Egg gave me a slow bite but added enough pressure to break the skin, I don’t know if it was delirium, but he continued to live for another week until May 16th. In the morning I seen he was laying around in his box, but in the evening when Derrick went to take him out for cuddle time, he bit Derrick hard and latched on, after examining Egg, his eyes were grey indicating he was blind and attacked anything that touched his face. I placed Egg in the hospice cage and he passed an hour later.
Egg's body was donated to a Nature preservation business that preserves bone and fur for sale, his hide will be used to be posed for taxidermy though I will not be bringing him home, so he will have a home with someone else. Egg will have another life after his death and people will get to see how special he was.
