| Reliving precious memories | Falling in love for a short time |
My whole life I have suffered terrible hay fever allergies to the point where bodily fluids will just pour out of my eyes and nose like a tap. I would say I suffered about 85-90% of my childhood with hay fever. I guess it was chalked up to pollen in the air since that is generally what causes it for most people. Now as an adult, I know what my triggers are. Dust and pet hair from cats, dogs, rats and mice.
I did not grow up in a very clean home, infact the only time I ever saw my mother clean was for a house inspection which back then was about once or twice a year. We had 3 dogs, all of which were allowed in the house. Carpet throughout. A mouse infestation and to top it all off, we had pet rats.
You can see exactly why I suffered with such bad allergies. There was certainly no Dyson in my childhood home either.
But this blog isn’t about my allergies, the allergies are merely a reminder of a special someone from my childhood.
We had had a couple of pet rats in the past but on one random trip to the petshop, peering through a glass cabinet, we noticed a mother rat caring for a bunch of pink jellybean babies- all but one which was left out in the cold.
One that she had neglected.
My mother asked if we could take it and the pet shop attendant advised that since it was unlikely to survive, we could take it for free.
She rummaged under her desk and retrieved a small empty battery box, propped it open and poked a couple of holes in the side, lined it with tissues for warmth and then placed this tiny, bald jellybean baby in the centre.
With our little Wincell box we hurried home to care for it and on the drive home decided to name it Cellwyn (Wincell chopped and skewed) which later was skewed again to become Shem Shem.
Hours of round the clock care, turned into days and she started to grow more fuzz and open her eyes.
She was all white but had black eyes, not the typical red eyes that most all-white rats and mice have.
The days turned into weeks and she continued thriving and growing.
It’s such a shame that rats are generally disregarded as pets and labelled “dirty” when infact they are incredibly clean animals as well as intelligent companions. I used to have a basket that Shem Shem used to love hanging out in and one of her many tricks was to sit on top of the handle and swing herself under and back around ontop again!
She had the smoothest silkiest coat and she was gentle and floppy. Just the best pocket pet honestly.
One day we decided to get her a companion. We brought home another female rat, this one hooded with a black face and black markings down her back.
She wasn’t very friendly and after having her for a couple of days it became evident that she wasn’t ever going to be, despite efforts to talk to her through the bars of her cage where she felt safe, offer her food and treats and try to pick her up.
After about a week or so, we noticed she was getting abit rounder around the belly… She was pregnant.
We didn’t know how far along she was so we just provided her with her own separate house right away just incase. Well, a few days after that I came home from school to find an absolute massacre in her cage!
Trigger Warning.
She had birthed her babies (somewhere in the double digits) and must not have known what was happening to her, because she then ate parts of almost all of them. She was very young and must have been very afraid. There were some heads without bodies and some bodies without heads. There were tiny, tiny little limbs no longer attached to their bodies and lots of fluids everywhere!
I remember my mother swiftly rummaging through the disaster to see if there were any babies still alive and luckily managed to save 5 babies.
We then had to hand- raise those 5 the same way we had raised Shem Shem with round the clock care, feeding them and cleaning them every 3 hours.Oh the joy when they got a little bigger, to open the cage door and 5 little fuzzies came running out to greet you! They would all grab onto my fingers with their tiny little hands begging for cuddles and tickles.
It was such an accomplishment to raise them from day one and watch them grow from tiny little pink jelly beans with their eyes stuck shut, to little fuzzy fluffballs running around all trying to get cuddled at once.
My memory gets abit fuzzy here but I’m pretty sure we kept one of these babies and sold the others because at some point, Shem Shem went on to have babies of her own.
She had 10-12 babies of her own and what an amazing mother she was! She also allowed us to be very hands on with her babies which was great because they all grew to be very friendly aswell. I used to sneak up to the cage and do my absolute best to open the door without it making a single sound.. which is near impossible to do but the second they heard the slightest of noises they all came running and clambering out the door! It was the cutest thing.
I used to sing out to them all; “Lots and plenty, fifty, twenty!” a silly way of implying there were so many of them!
Of all of these babies, Shem Shem blessed us with one to keep and I named him Chaddy. Chaddy Rurine.
It’s so unfortunate that we fall so in love with these tiny little hearts that fill us with so much joy, only for them to leave us in a few short years. A rat’s lifespan is only around 4 years before they cross over the rainbow bridge.
The circle of life- a vicious yet beautiful cycle.
I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to experience finding, raising and loving Shem Shem. She was such a beautiful and integral part of my childhood.
She will live on forever in my memories, as just a small part of my life.
Love Trina x