First came Elli, or her given name, Cinderelli. I saw her in a local pet store when she was still hairless and no bigger than a peanut out of the shell.
I asked the pet shop attendant, “When can I take her home?”
He answered, “When she has hair.”
I continued, “When will that be?”
His reply, “Four weeks.”
Four weeks later I picked up our tiny new critter. She fit in the palm of my hand.
Now some people find it odd to own a rat. Most can’t get past the tail. But as far as rodents go, rats do make the best pets – no contest. Mice will bite and hamsters are as dumb as doorknobs. Rats, however, are intelligent and affectionate. And our Elli is no exception: she’s sweet as can be, loves being held and kissed on, comes to her name and blends well with all the other critters in the house (that’s a Conant house rule: all critters and their people must play nice!).
Next came Squeaky. Squeaky got dropped off at the local Petco with about five other Guinea pigs, cage and all. They were all huge and here was this tiny little guinea. I took him home on an impulse. My husband was very gracious but insists that he go to the pet store from now on to get our pet food and supplies!
They said not to put our rodents together; that they would fight. But we couldn’t help but give it a try, besides, they hadn’t heard of the Conant house rule.
Well, it was love at first sight! Squeaky actually purrs when he gets near his beloved Elli. We did almost have a near tragedy, however. He was a little hungry and mistook her tail for a carrot or something like that and took a bite. (It was an honest accident, really). It took hours to get the bleeding to stop. Now the play dates are chaperoned.
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