Fennec Fin Funkymonkey

For my birthday this year, I asked my parents for another rat to join my mischief. I found a neutered 8-9-month-old boy who was being taken care of by Mainely Rat Rescue. He and his two brothers, Gideon and Galen, had been given up because their person 'had too many pets'. First of all, I don't understand how you can have too many rats and second, why get so many animals if you cannot care for them all??? Whatever the case, Fennec (or, as he was known at MRR, Cronus) was given up for adoption. His brothers were bullies and I think that's why MRR had them all neutered - neutering can completely change a male rat's personality from hormone-driven biting and aggression (at either people or other rats) to a big snuggly lap rat. So, I reserved Fenn as soon as I could and I brought him home on August 12.

Since he has already spent too much of his life alone, I decided to introduce him to Cricket right away and brought her in the carrier to pick Fenn up. There was some squabbling on the ride home - little 4-month-old Cricket getting upset about the fact that she may not be the dominant rat anymore - but they snuggled most of the ride and by the time we got home I felt safe just throwing them into the same cage. It was a picture-perfect introduction, the type that every rat person wishes for when they get a new rat. Intros usually take a few days (at least for me) and sometimes a few weeks before everyone is happy with each other. So moving in together on the first day was great.

Unfortunately, he didn't get along with all my rats as well as he did Crick. I was unsure if I should introduce him to Fin as she is getting old and is quite sickly with multiple large tumors and hind leg degeneration. After a lot of thinking, I decided to try it out - see if they would get along as easily as Fennec and Cricket. I put them all in the bathtub together and, after sniffing everyone, Lark and Cricket made it their mission to jump out of the tub. I was very occupied with putting them back in every few seconds and wasn't paying as much attention to Fennec and Fin because they seemed to be ignoring each other (which is what you want in an introduction). Then Fennec went into the box that Fin was trying to sleep in and something happened. I don't know if it was because Fin was trying to sleep and he was disturbing her, she didn't like him in her box, or if he was trying to dominate her (which I don't think Fin would take lightly from a new rat). The outcome of their scuffle was that Fin had 3 bites. I gave her some ibuprofen and a lot of treats and then left her alone for a while because she didn't even want Lark near her. I'm not going to try and introduce Fin to Fenn again because she sadly isn't going to be around much longer and it isn't worth the stress. When Finny passes away, I'll move Fennec and Cricket into the big cage with Lark but until then, Lark and Fin get the big cage and Cricket and Fennec get the small one.Having 2 cages does make my life a lot harder, though. Lark and Fin come out for 1 1/2 to 2 hours every night and then Fennec has to be let out for another hour or 2. Cricket, because she gets along with everyone, gets the joy of being out for 3-4 hours every day. I also have to clean 2 cages and since I clean both cages every other day, I am stuck with cleaning a cage every single day. All of this means that the rats sometimes push my bedtime back to 11 on a school night and sometimes 3 when it isn't a school night. Like I said, it makes my life hard but I am happy to do it for my babies.

Fennec is getting more confident around me by the day. When I first got him he didn't want to be touched at all but we have now gotten to the point that he will come onto my lap and will let me stroke his back as he eats baby food. We are working up to being held. I'll post some Youtube videos of him soon!

Cricket and Fennec in the carrier. In this photo, Cricket is really
trying to show him who's boss and Fennec is just sleeping through it

Best photo I have of Fennec yet!

There are no breeds of rats like there are of dogs, but there are many many different color, pattern, fur, and ear variations. Fennec is a champagne self rat. He has standard ears (not dumbo) and standard fur (not rex, double rex, harley, or naked).