So, our landlords initiated a whole new adventure for our family. Last summer they had asked the boys to keep the weeds pulled in our yard and for doing that they would give them their old fish tank. The boys thought that sounded like a good deal and held up their end of the bargain, mostly. Summer, fall and winter came and went. Our landlords kept saying they would get the tank to us, but that it needed to be cleaned first. Finally, in March they left a card at our house that apologized for never getting the tank to us, but gave us a gift card to Petco instead. I think they hoped the boys would pick out fish, but they did say they could get whatever they wanted. Now this really opened the door.
Tegan immediately insisted that he wanted "a rodent, any rodent will do." Conner and Riley weren't sure what they wanted, but they were pretty sure they didn't want a fish. Off we went to browse Petco. We made it very clear we weren't buying anything the first time we went there, but were just looking at the possibilities. Tegan immediately went to the rodent section and said he would take any I would approve. Riley found many reptiles he thought he would like, but after more discussion he decided they wouldn't be cuddly enough. Thank goodness!! Conner fell in love with all the birds.
For Easter, we surprised the boys and spent the gift card on a rat cage and a bird cage. We also got all the feeding supplies and a book on rats since none of us had ever owned one before. A few days after Easter we left for the wedding in Alabama so we told the boys they could pick out their pets when we returned and they had read the book on rats if that's what they wanted.
One thing we learned in all our research was to never buy a pet from a pet store, except maybe fish. So, when we returned from Alabama we got on Craigslist and found a poor mom trying to sell 14 baby rats that she didn't know her son's rat was going to have. At this point Riley had decided he wanted a rat as well, so we drove to south Denver to pick up our two baby rats for $15. The boys were the first to pick out of the litter and thankfully chose black and gray ones, not the albino white ones with red eyes - I don't know if I could have handled those. They were only the size of mice when we got them and even I had to admit they were so cute. After going through several names on the way home Tegan finally settled on Christopher Columbus, because his rat is an explorer. Riley gave his rat a name that is eight names long, with different ones added each day for a while, but he finally said no more names. I don't know his rat's full name, but he goes by Nibbles every day now, and he lives up to his name with the way he eats. Christopher and Nibbles have since grown much larger and are not nearly as cute, but as far as rodents go for pets I have to say I kind of like them. They are cuddly and sweet and even a bit smart. The boys have been great parents and make sure to spend time with them each day.
Conner decided on a bird as his pet of choice. He really wasn't too sure about the rats, especially after they got bigger, but now he says they are okay. Anyway, a lady who works with Andy was in the process of raising some baby Bourke's Parakeets when we were going through this whole family expansion. We met some of her babies when she was hand feeding them while they sat in a towel on a cup warmer in her office. They definitely weren't cute, but they were sweet. Baby birds are just plain ugly. She offered to give us one of those when they were old enough so Conner decided he wanted that. He was very patient in waiting for them to be old enough to bring to our house. It ended up being a full two weeks after the rats came home. We picked Whistler up at the office and received instructions on how to give him his baby food several times a day. He is the sweetest little thing. He is slowly getting his colors in, but still has a way to go. Whistler loves to come out of his cage and hang out with us. It's been a little hard on him since we moved, but Conner makes an effort to spend some time with him every day and let him out of his cage. Andy has completely fallen in love with Whistler too and visits with him each morning before heading to work.
All three new pets.
Nibbles and Christopher as babies
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