Well, I got a little ahead of myself and already introduced you to Bunnyman, so i guess its time for you to meet the rest of the boys.

When my sweetheart Penelope died I was really depressed. She and I had a special connection that is hard to explain. While I love all of my girls, none of the ones who remain are especially people-oriented. Dinky is the sweetest and most affectionate of the lot, but she is still sort of shy and would rather hide out than hang out.

I decided to get another pair of rats. Boys this time so that we wouldn't have the tumor issues that have plagued the girls and because I wanted to experience a group of boys.

I contacted a couple of breeders to let them know I was interested, Linda B. of the Crafty Rat in San Jose and Connie Perez of Rat Genesis in San Francisco.

Linda had some adorable blue dumbo boys that would be ready soon and arranged a play date so that we could meet our prospective adoptees when they were 3 weeks old.

Right after I heard from Linda, I heard from Connie. She had pictures of some beautiful Burmese and black-eyed Siamese and Himalayan pups that would be available. I somehow convinced John that we should get one of these guys too, but then realized that one would be lonely during quarantine, so it should really be two. (hmmm.... you see the pattern here???)

I was so anxious for our first play date that I couldn't stand it. Every day I was counting down how many days were left before I could go. When I got there I met Linda in person and she invited me in. Rat heaven. Three cages of adorable baby rats. One was the blue litter, one was a down-under litter and another litter had just been born with more potential down-unders. I played with the boys and girls in the blue litter. It was hilarious the way they swam out of their cage. I really enjoyed talking to Linda, very knowledgable, funny and down-to-earth. She handed me a little agouti-hooded rex guy from the other litter. He curled up on me and started bruxing. I fell in love with him right then but I figured he must already be spoken for. On the next play date the same thing, came out, cuddled up and started bruxing as soon as I petted him. I tentatively asked if he was available. Linda said "Well, I hadn't told anyone about this litter, but yes, he's available." That was it. I knew Bunnyman was coming home with me. I still couldn't decide which of the blue boys was the one, though. They were all cute and sweet and playful. John came with me on the second playdate and fell in love with a little blue agouti hooded guy, Otis.

I told Connie the personality types I was most interested in and let her choose which boys to bring. We met midway at the San Mateo train station. It was also the first time I had met her in person. I have admired her knowledge and kindness on the list serves where she posts and it was nice to have the chance to meet her.

Oggie and Buster were so tiny. With their big eyes and ears, they almost looked like little mice. Initially they were shy, but soon warmed up to us.

We introduced the two pairs of boys after they had both had a chance to settle in and they bonded immediately. No huffing, puffing or posturing from anybody. In fact, the two bigger boys of Linda's seem to realize that they need to play a little bit more gently with the little guys and are very tolerant of Oggie's relentless Kamikaze attacks on them.